Former Sweetwater Mayor Greg Wortham drives his truck though Sweetwater. Since 2002, Wortham has led a private effort to prepare the region for the huge influx of oil workers expected to arrive when drilling in the Cline Shale began. At the heart of the Cline, a shale formation once thought to hold more oil than Saudi Arabia, Sweetwater is bracing for layoffs and budget cuts, anxious as oil prices fall and its largest investors pull back.
SHARE Associated Press Oil tanker cars ride past windmills near Sweetwater. The town envisioned becoming a major player in the hyraulic-fracturing boom, thanks to its location atop the Cline Shale, once estimated to be the nationas largest underground petroleum formation. Men work on a pump jack near Sweetwater, where ambitions are fading as the plummeting price of oil causes investors to pull back, cutting off the projects that were supposed to pay for a bright new future. In this photo made Tuesday, Dec. 23, 2014, windmill work on a bluff overlooking the town of Sweetwater, Texas. At the heart of the Cline, a shale formation once thought to hold more oil than Saudi Arabia, Sweetwater is bracing for layoffs and budget cuts, anxious as oil prices fall and its largest investors pull back. (AP Photo/LM Otero) Since 2002, former Sweetwater Mayor Greg Wortham walks in his office in Sweetwater, Wortham has led a private effort to prepare the region for the huge influx of oil workers expected to arrive when drilling in the Cline Shale began. At the heart of the Cline, a shale formation once thought to hold more oil than Saudi Arabia, Sweetwater is bracing for layoffs and budget cuts, anxious as oil prices fall and its largest investors pull back. Dropping oil prices drain town's hopes By Emily Schmall SWEETWATER Just two years ago, this Texas town known mostly for its annual rattlesnake roundup seemed to be on the brink of a transformation. Expecting a huge influx of oil workers, local leaders spent tens of millions of dollars to improve the courthouse, build a new law enforcement center and upgrade the hospital. Hotels, truck stops and housing subdivisions were to follow, all catering to truck drivers and roughnecks. Sweetwater envisioned becoming a major player in the hydraulic-fracturing boom, thanks to its location atop the Cline Shale, once estimated to be the nations largest underground petroleum formation. But those ambitions are fading fast as the plummeting price of oil causes investors to pull back, cutting off the projects that were supposed to pay for a bright new future. Now the town of 11,000 awaits layoffs and budget cuts and defers its dreams. Here we are trying to figure out: Is this a six-month problem or is it all over? said Greg Wortham, head of the Cline Shale Alliance, a private group founded to prepare the region for the oil workers. Industry observers say whats happening in the Cline a 10-county area on the eastern edge of Texas Permian Basin oil field signals a contraction in shale development nationwide. Sweetwater and the Cline are like the first domino falling, said Karr Ingham, an Amarillo-based economist focused on Texas energy. Cline Shale development and all of the marvelous benefits are in the process of being significantly interrupted. Sue Young, economic development director in neighboring Mitchell County, agreed: The frenzy is gone. Back in 2012, Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy triggered a flurry of leasing activity when it projected that the Cline held 30 billion barrels of oil, dwarfing both the Bakken Shale formation in North Dakota and the Eagle Ford Shale in South Texas combined. Wortham, at the time Sweetwaters mayor, founded the alliance in the town 40 miles west of Abilene. Major projects soon began to take shape. The county courthouse got a $4 million face-lift. A $12 million law enforcement center is nearly complete. The hospital is poised to receive $31 million in upgrades, and an extended-stay hotel is under construction. Sweetwater and surrounding Nolan County are no strangers to the oil industrys boom-and-bust cycle. They turned to wind energy in 2001. Today, the nearby mesas have one of the worlds largest wind farms, generating abundant electricity and giving local officials millions of dollars in tax revenue to put toward new development. But no one foresaw the steep oil decline of 2014. As recently as June, the University of Texas at San Antonio projected that the Cline Shale would bring $20 billion to the region by 2022. These days, even the biggest oil-industry boosters are nervously eyeing the partially finished hotels, truck stops and mostly vacant industrial park, wondering whether they are doomed to fail. Growth in that area of West Texas is almost entirely tied to oil and gas. But I think the expectations that a lot of people had were inflated, UT-San Antonio economist Thomas Tunstall said, acknowledging he was among them. Devon, the largest leaseholder in the Cline, started letting its leases expire in September. Asked whether Devon had revised its earlier projections, spokesman John Parrotto would say only that the shale isnt a focus for the company. There was no mention of the Cline in Devons third-quarter financial report filed in November with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Two months earlier, Devons financial partner, Japans Sumitomo Corp., took a $1.55 billion write-down on its Cline investment. Apache Corp., the second-largest leaseholder in the Cline, also ignored the shale in its third-quarter report, despite earlier touting it as possibly the largest oil field in the nation. If anybody saw this as money in the bank, they were sadly mistaken, said Barclays analyst Thomas Driscoll. Success was never guaranteed. Drilling in the Cline is more complicated and expensive because of the depths of the formation, estimated at 10,000 feet. Nonetheless, some of the Clines oil explorers say they are undaunted by the falling prices. Laredo Petroleum Corp. in Tulsa, Oklahoma, cut its overall capital expenditure budget for 2015 in half, solely focusing on its wells in the Cline. We continue to see good economics, spokesman Ron Hagood said. And Sweetwater remains a busy way station for truck traffic to the Permian Basin, about 150 miles west. The BNSF Railway has invested $45 million in the Sweetwater spur that connects the West Texas oil fields to Houston refineries. A new Sunoco pipeline snakes through Meisha Hand Adames Sweetwater ranch past a substation, transmission lines and a cluster of wind turbines. The land costs much more than the income would make me farming, says 23-year-old Adame, who inherited the property in May when her father died. Without the infrastructure, thered be no way I could afford to keep it, she said. Still, Chris Velez, the head bartender at Bucks Bar-B-Que in Sweetwater, worries that the restaurants $500,000 addition will turn out to be worthless. The gas prices are trickling down and hitting us here, he said. Surveying the empty dance floor, he added, Hardly anyone comes in here anymore. SHARE Is Donald Trump's "law and order" campaign just code for racism? The media and Hillary Clinton sure believe so. The New York Times recently criticized him for supporting the deportation of people who have been charged with crimes and portrayed the aggressive profiling of terrorism suspects as racist and counterproductive. The theme is echoed with Clinton attacks that Trump appeals to "xenophobic, racist, misogynistic" people. But who actually cares more about African-Americans, in particular poor blacks, who are the most likely victims of violent crime? High crime rates in urban areas are a result of many failed policies that give African-Americans little hope for advancement and cause young black men to turn to gangs. And on everything from education to jobs to directly lowering crime, Trump's policies would offer a lifeline to people who have been losing ground for decades. Clinton's policies will just exacerbate the problems. And no amount of debating points would change that. On education, Trump strongly supports school choice. This would give inner-city blacks a way out of horribly performing public schools. Clinton attacks charters and clearly opposes other forms of school choice, instead protecting teachers' unions at the expense of students. And who is harmed the most by illegal immigration? Who is most likely to suffer unemployment or wage reductions due to the added competition? Young, unskilled blacks and Hispanics. The biggest beneficiaries? Wealthy people who get to pay less for lawn care and housecleaning. But crime is the immediate, life-or-death issue for so many people trapped in high-crime urban areas. Too many come to physical harm, have their property stolen or lose their jobs as businesses are driven from their neighborhoods. Clinton appears more focused on helping criminals, not victims. She promises to cut the U.S. prison population by more than 50 percent and claims that won't mean more crime. By contrast, Trump says the problem is a lack of police in high-crime urban neighborhoods. He believes in making things riskier for the criminals, not for the victims. Clinton has responded to the Black Lives Matter movement by calling for more restrictions on police use of deadly force. She has refused to support stiff prison penalties for those who knowingly cause bodily injury to police officers. But if you don't believe the police are the problem, making their jobs more dangerous or difficult means police will be less effective in stopping crime in these high-crime areas. Clinton doesn't understand that the most likely victims of violent crime poor blacks living in high-crime, urban neighborhoods are the ones who stand to benefit the most from being able to defend themselves, and her gun-control plan basically amounts to only letting whites, not minorities, get guns. For example, in Colorado in 2013, when the state enacted a tax on the private transfer of guns, all but two Democrats voted down a Republican amendment that would have exempted people below the poverty level from paying the new state tax. High fees to register guns in places such as Washington, D.C., New York City or Chicago have meant that only the wealthy can legally own guns. Or take something as seemingly innocuous as background checks on private transfers. Virtually everyone who fails a background check is someone who is legally eligible to buy a gun, so we're not talking here about preventing guns from falling into the wrong hands. Law-abiding minorities, particularly African-Americans, are the ones most likely to be stopped from buying guns. Clinton claims that background checks have stopped 2.4 million dangerous or prohibited people from buying a gun. But what she really means is that there were 2.4 million "initial denials." About 96 percent of "initial denials" are errors and dropped after the first two stages of review, with more dropped during the three remaining stages. But the Obama administration has ended those reviews, which means nearly all initial denials are likely still mistakes just never corrected. Applicants used to be able to get their gun, eventually, though the delay could be dangerous for someone who needs a gun for self-defense. Now, however, most applicants are forced to appeal their denial, and will likely find it necessary to spend thousands on an attorney to do so. These "initial denials" affect certain racial groups more than others. Hispanics are more likely to share names with other Hispanics; the same is true of blacks. Because 30 percent of black males are forbidden from buying guns because of their criminal records, law-abiding African-American men often have their names confused with those of prohibited people. Democrats clearly haven't served the black community well, and more of the same isn't going to help. If African-Americans are willing to listen to Trump, his logical arguments may have a real chance of winning them over. John R. Lott Jr. is the president of the Crime Prevention Research Center and the author of "The War on Guns." Contact him at johnrlott@crimeresearch.org SHARE The following editorial appeared in the Sept. 26 El Paso Times: Mexico is the United States' third-largest trading partner and our nation's second-largest market for our exported goods. Those exports to Mexico create more than 1 million jobs in the United States. Mexico is the third-largest supplier of imported goods to the United States. That has created millions of jobs in Mexico, improving the economy of a neighbor with whom we share a 2,000-mile border. The drug trade a witch's brew of U.S. demand and Mexican supply is a threat to the stability of both countries. Opioids especially heroin provided by Mexican cartels are wreaking havoc in U.S. communities from coast to coast. Those cartels are killing thousands of Mexicans every year, corrupting civil society and threatening the nation's continued development. The U.S.-Mexico relationship is crucial to the futures of both countries, but the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign has been largely devoid of discussion about that relationship. Instead, we get Donald Trump's superficial bluster about the North American Free Trade Agreement, his nonsensical blather about building a wall between the two nations, and Hillary Clinton's generalities about broad immigration reform and her tap-dancing about trade. With seven weeks remaining in the campaign, the major-party candidates should outline their visions for one of our nation's most important binational relationships. Last week's first presidential debate would be a good place to start. Obviously, we on the border have a deeper interest in the topic than most Americans. But the U.S.-Mexico relationship is crucial for the entire country in this election. Any substantive discussion about the U.S.-Mexico relationship has to start with an acknowledgement of some facts. n NAFTA, while imperfect, has benefited the economies of the United States, Mexico and Canada. Trump's threat to unilaterally breach the trade pact with Mexico and Canada would cause huge economic disruption. Clinton, in the face of a Democratic base that's highly skeptical of trade deals, has ineffectively tried to thread the needle by supporting free trade in concept but criticizing details in specific pacts, including NAFTA. n Immigration, both lawful and unlawful, has complex causes that defy simplistic solutions. Net migration from Mexico has been negative in recent years because of various factors, including a stronger Mexican economy. Any number of factors the economy, security, stability will impact that flow in the future. n An enforcement-dominated approach, including a wall, is incredibly expensive and inefficient. Immigration reform, while necessary, can't address all the factors that cause people to make the wrenching decision to leave their homeland for another country. n Immigration must be addressed in all its complexities, something that the United States body politic including both current major party nominees has long been reluctant to acknowledge. n Both the United States and Mexico bear responsibility for the illegal drug crisis that is taking a horrifying toll on both countries. The problem can only be addressed by close cooperation between the countries. Demonizing Mexico Trump's go-to option is counter-productive. So have at it, candidates. Give voters some details on how you, as president, would approach the vital relationship with Mexico. Two weeks ago, a speeding car slammed into the side of a Milwaukee Public Works utility truck, killing the cars driver and passenger.The public works employees who were in the truck escaped unharmed. But involvement in a fatal accident is traumatic. Immediately, the city's Employee Assistance Program swung into action with the structured approach it takes following such incidents."We went through a list of what the employees might be inclined to experience, said Cris Zamora, employee assistance and resource coordinator for the city, and then we provided advice about what actions the people involved should take. For example, its good to talk about it. Its not good to drink.Employee assistance programs aren't new. They've existed in private-sector businesses and government organizations for decades. Initially, these programs were offered quietly, sometimes almost secretly, and primarily to employees with substance abuse problems.But over time, they've expanded dramatically in scope and now offer services for employees having legal, marital, child care and financial problems.Its night and day. When I started [in the mid-1980s], employee assistance was viewed as a program for those who were in dire need. It had a negative stigma. Now, I dont think that stigma is there," said Gary OBannon, director of the Kansas City Department of Human Resources in Missouri.Requests for help are confidential, but the programs are often aggressively advertised, especially in places like Kansas City, Milwaukee and Fairfax County, Va.Milwaukee's program is fairly typical. When employees have a problem, they can go to a licensed social worker for free short-term counseling. Depending on the issue, the social worker may refer them to nonprofits that contract with the city or help them access further medical assistance that's covered by the employee insurance program. The city offers no financial aid for services used but helps employees find affordable options.While some might think this crosses the privacy line, few such complaints have been made. For many people, technology has blurred the line between their work and home lives, and employee assistance is seen as a natural extension of widely-accepted wellness programs, said Zamora.On top of that, employers are increasingly recognizing that personal problems can hinder employees' productivity. The thinking goes: happier person, better worker.As employees change, so do their needs. In recent years, for example, assistance programs have had more requests from people who are starting to transition their gender. And as the workforce ages, questions about wills, trusts and estate planning have also increased.No government seemingly goes further to help its employees than Virginia.The state pioneered a financial service four years ago that offers employees small loans at about 1/20th the cost of borrowing from the sometimes confusing and misleading payday lending industry.There is a growing awareness among all employers, public and private, that there is an issue with workplace financial stress among employees, said Doug Farry, vice president for employer partners with Employee Loan Solution, which works with the cities of Anaheim, Calif., and Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, to offer similar loans.Surveys show these services have true value in the workplace. According to the firm Chestnut Global Partners , which provides services to EAPs in the public and private sector, employees who received assistance from their employers missed half as much work and 27 percent reported improvement in their ability to concentrate at work.Employee assistance programs can also be a powerful tool for governments trying to bolster their workforces in an increasingly competitive market.Theres beauty in this as a retention tool," said Leslie Amiri, employee relations manager of the Department of Human Resources in Fairfax County. "It stays with employees that the organization really cares." Alabama and Virginia already prohibit employers from forcing their workers to join a union. The states have had so-called right-to-work laws on their books since the days of Truman and Eisenhower. But those states parted ways on Tuesday on whether that policy should be included in their states constitutions.Alabama voters overwhelmingly supported the idea, with 69 percent in favor, while 53 percent of Virginia voters rejected it.The Republican-controlled legislatures in both states proposed the amendments as a way to make the anti-union policies permanent. Doing so, argued the Virginia chapter of AFL-CIO, which represents labor unions, is unnecessary, wastes taxpayer money and would be nearly impossible to reverse.Right-to-work laws dont prevent workers from joining unions. But they do weaken the power of unions by making it illegal to require employees to join a union or pay the union fees to represent them in collective bargaining.Twenty-six states have right-to-work laws on the books, but only 10 of them have such provisions in their state constitutions, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Meanwhile, some of the recently passed laws, like the ones in Wisconsin and West Virginia , are being challenged in court.Alabama, long a home to heavy manufacturing, has one of the highest unionization levels in the South, with 10.2 percent of the population belonging to a union. Thats below the national average but roughly double the rate of any of the state's neighbors. As Alabama competes with other Southern states for auto and aerospace manufacturing jobs, some business leaders worry that the high unionization rate will be an obstacle to attracting more of those companies.Alabama adopted its law after widespread labor unrest in the wake of World War II. Throughout the country, there were major strikes in the steel, auto and railroad industries, to name a few. Between 1950 and 1953, when Alabama adopted its right-to-work law, the country saw more than 400 annual work stoppages. In 2015, by comparison, there were 12.William Canary, president and CEO of the Business Council of Alabama, warned that the recent rise of unions may again threaten the states economy.Workers at a Chinese-owned copper tubing plant in Alabama, for example, narrowly voted to join the United Steelworkers in 2014. Meanwhile, the United Auto Workers has been working since 2013 to organize workers at a Mercedes plant in northern Alabama, with similar efforts underway at Hyundai and Honda factories in the state.It is time for Alabama to enshrine the right to work in our constitution and send a loud message to economic developers and potential industrial prospects that we remain open for business, said Canary.But Bren Riley, president of the 65,000-member Alabama AFL-CIO, doubted that the amendment would attract any more jobs or change much of anything for workers in Alabama. He saw the proposal, which stalled in the GOP-led legislature for several years before making it to the ballot, as an effort directed by the conservative American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC). ALEC did not return calls for comment.Riley also argued that right-to-work laws are a bad idea -- whether they're constitutionalized or not.If a business seeks membership in the chamber of commerce, it pays dues. Folks don't get country club memberships without paying dues, either," he wrote in a statement. "It simply makes sense on every level that those workers reaping the benefit of the tireless efforts of Alabama's unions pay a fair share of dues, as well."The AFL-CIO fought back, specifically targeting white, conservative voters in its outreach and plans on running newspaper ads calling on voters to put an end to government waste and a bloated constitution.Virginia's workforce, meanwhile, is much less unionized than Alabama's: 5.4 percent in 2015. But because Virginias population is much bigger, the two states have a similar number of unionized workers (190,000 in Alabama and 202,000 in Virginia).Virginia, though, is much more competitive politically than red Alabama. Virginia Democrats controlled the state Senate for four years prior to 2013 and took the governorship in three of the last four elections. But the House of Delegates now remains firmly under Republican control, so if the ballot measure had passed, it would have made it harder for Democrats to repeal the policy if they ever take control of the legislature.In 1944, Arkansas became the first state to include the right to work in its charter. Oklahoma was the most recent state to add a constitutional amendment in 2001.Missouri could become the 27th state with a right-to-work law. Missouris Republican legislature failed last year to override a veto from Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon of a right-to-work law there, but Nixons term ends next year. Eric Greitens, the Republican who won the race to succeed him, supports right-to-work legislation. A judge has thrown out the federal civil case accusing Attorney General Ken Paxton of securities fraud, giving him his biggest legal victory yet since the allegations surfaced more than a year ago.U.S. District Judge Amos L. Mazzant III on Friday granted Paxton's motion to dismiss the lawsuit but gave the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission 14 days to amend its allegations against the attorney general. Paxton is still fighting similar criminal charges at the state level.Paxton is accused of misleading investors in a company from before he took office as Texas' top lawyer. One of the central allegations is that he persuaded a group of people to invest in the company, a technology startup known as Severgy, without disclosing that he was receiving a commission.This case is not about whether Paxton had a moral obligation to disclose his financial arrangement with Servergy to potential investors, Mazzant wrote in a 29-page ruling. This case is also not about whether Paxton had some general obligation to disclose his financial arrangement to his investor group.Rather, Mazzant concluded, the case is about whether Paxton had a legal obligation to make a disclosure, and he did not at least according to the facts put forward by the SEC.Paxton attorney Matthew Martens said in a statement that the ruling was a "victory for Ken Paxton." In another statement, the attorney general thanked Mazzant for his "thorough review" and expressed gratitude for his "dismissal of the entire case."Mazzant was skeptical of the SEC's case against Paxton in a hearing last month, at one point suggesting the federal government was trying to fit a "square peg into a round hole." Paxtons lawyers expressed confidence after the hearing that they would beat the SEC case and that Mazzants treatment of it would spell danger for the state charges."Now we turn our attention to Ken's exoneration in the state matter where the prosecutor's burden is even higher," Paxton lawyer Bill Mateja said in a statement, noting the accusations "in the SEC mirror those in the state case."Paxtons legal troubles began last summer, when a Collin County grand jury indicted him on criminal charges of securities fraud and failure to register with the state securities board. So far, his lawyers have been unable to get the state case thrown out, and they are currently waiting to see whether Texas highest criminal court will agree to review it. B Co, 1-252 AR working closely w our State Emergency Response Team during #HurricaneMatthew rescue efforts in Winston & Pine Tops, N.C. pic.twitter.com/zte8tlVRlL NC National Guard (@NCNationalGuard) October 10, 2016 Hurricane Matthew moved close to the coasts of Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, and North Carolina this weekend, making landfall on Oct. 8 southeast of McClellanville, S.C., as a Category 1 hurricane. These areas experienced heavy rain, flooding, and high winds, and the storms death toll in the U.S. has climbed to at least 21, the New York Times reported. Local and state government agencies are working to clear roads, restore power, and rescue stranded residents. On Oct. 8, the Georgia Governors Office reported that state Department of Transportation crews are working to check, clear, and repair roads and bridges. The priority is to clear interstates and state routes first and then support local governments clearing debris. The City of Savannah, Ga., experienced two minor sewage spills related to the heavy rains. It canceled garbage collection for Monday and plans to resume on Tuesday on a modified holiday schedule. Utility crews are working to restore electrical services to all areas of the city. There is no fuel in the Savannah area, and residents returning home were advised to fill their tanks before returning, Savannah Now reported. In Florida, Governor Rick Scott was thankful the Hurricane stayed off the coast. However, many residents are without power, with Flagler County experiencing a 27% outage, Duval County a 20% outage, and Volusia County a 15% outage as of today. A release from the governors office said fuel is available, and all ports have reopened and are resuming fuel delivery. Florida Power and Light worked with partner utilities and contractors to restore power to most of its service area. When restoration is complete, it plans to send personnel to help neighbor utilities in Florida and other parts of the Southeast that were affected. The City of Jacksonville (Fla.) Public Works department worked during the weekend to address stormwater-related issues, tree issues, and malfunctioning traffic signals. The city also said it would deploy an increased number of street sweepers from Oct. 9 to Oct. 15. N.C.-based Duke Energy reported Sunday that it restored power to 600,000 customers, with another 550,000 outages remaining in North and South Carolina. It has set up three "base camps" where crews will eat, sleep, obtain assignments, and restock vehicles. The utility has 5,800 line workers, tree crews, damage assessors, and support people in the field, with additional personnel coming from other utilities. North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory stated that record flooding continues to impact inland communities. More than 1,400 people have been saved by swift water rescue teams and many more are expected throughout today. Floodwaters rapidly rose overnight in Lumberton, N.C., stranding nearly 1,500 residents. Helicopters, boats, and swift water rescue teams were deployed to the area to get people to safety, including teams from FEMA and other states, according to the governor. More than 600 North Carolina National Guard troops and nearly 200 high water and rescue vehicles have been activated. South Carolina lifted its evacuation orders for its last two counties this morning, allowing all residents in the state to return home. The governors office stated that even though weather conditions have improved, motorists should prepare for fallen trees, downed power lines, and standing water in and around roadways. Citizens also should anticipate power outages at their homes or businesses. On Friday, in the afternoon, at Government House, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey hosted an afternoon tea for Queensland students attending the 2017 National Youth Science Forum where the Governor addressed guests. In the evening, at The Queensland Club, the Governor and Mrs de Jersey attended the 2016 Queensland Club Governors Dinner where His Excellency addressed guests. On Saturday, His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC and Mrs Kaye de Jersey welcomed members of the public visiting Government House for an Instameet and guided tours as part of Brisbane Open House 2016. Description GIS 10 October 2016: A talk on Fighting Poverty in the 21st Century: the Sustainable Development Platform, by Dr Romulo Paes de Sousa, Director of the World Centre for Sustainable Development of the United Nations Development Programme, will mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty commemorated on 17 October. Other activities organised by the Ministry of Social Integration and Economic Empowerment in the context of International Day for the Eradication of Poverty include: A participatory community function with beneficiaries of the Integrated Social Housing Project at Gros Cailloux, Petite Riviere, and the award of certificates to a first batch of participants who have followed the Atelier Partage Parents course. The launching of the Atelier Partage Parents course for the beneficiaries of Sainte Catherine. An exhibition to showcase the achievements of the Decentralised Cooperation Programme during the past 10 years. In Rodrigues, International Day for the Eradication of Poverty will be marked by the handing-over of keys to beneficiaries of housing units. Need to understand poverty in its multi-dimensions The 2016 theme chosen by the United Nations is Moving from Humiliation and Exclusion to Participation: Ending Poverty in all its Forms. The theme this year selected in consultation with activists, civil society and non-governmental organisations highlights how important it is to recognise and address the humiliation and exclusion endured by many people living in poverty. It is recalled that the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal to end poverty in all its forms everywhere explicitly recognises that poverty results not from the lack of just one thing but from many different interrelated factors that affect the lives of people living in poverty. This means it is necessary to go beyond seeing poverty merely as the lack of income or what is necessary for material well-being such as food, housing, land, and other assets in order to fully understand poverty in its multi-dimensions. Description GIS 10 October 2016: The Brown Sequard Mental Health Care Centre (BSMHCC) commemorated the World Mental Health Day this morning in Beau Bassin by organising an annual gathering under the theme Dignity in Mental Health: Psychological and Mental Health First Aid for All. The activities comprised an official ceremony and a cultural programme with songs and sketches by the nursing staff and the inpatients. An exhibition cum sale of creative activities and items manufactured by inpatients of the Centre was also held. The objective was to raise awareness on mental health so as to better fight against stigma and taboo. Mental health is deemed an extremely important issue because of its impact on the quality of life of those affected as well as their family. The number of patients treated at the BSMHCC stands at 56,484 while 65,960 people sought treatment for mental health concerns in the regional centres across the country. Commemoration of the Day aims at bringing reflection upon the necessity to scale up psychological first aid and make it a component of the overall response to emergencies. Psychological and Mental Health First Aid provides a framework for the way to respond in a natural, supportive, practical manner, emphasising listening without pressing the person to talk; assessing needs and concerns; ensuring that basic physical needs are met; providing or mobilising social support, and providing essential information. In the context of the World Mental Health Day 2016 the community is invited to join a Solidarity Walk from Promenade Roland Armand in Rose Hill to the BSMHCC on 15 October 2016. The objectives of the Walk, organised by the Ministry of Health and Quality of Life, are to enable people to demonstrate their support for people living with mental illness and contribute to ensure that those suffering from mental health disorders live with dignity and enjoy their human rights. (TNS) -- As the Baltimore Police Department considers whether to continue using a private aerial surveillance program to fight crime, the man who owns the technology is looking to court other clients in private industry.Ross McNutt, president of Persistent Surveillance Systems, said he is considering marketing his company's ability to collect aerial footage of the city to auto insurance companies, to help them determine which drivers are at fault in accidents and whether claims are valid.Beyond shootings and other violent crime, McNutt's cameras have captured between 60 and 70 car accidents per day in recent months, he said. At any given time, the system can record what's happening over 32 square miles."You're looking at people who caused accidents, who are not a very sympathetic group," McNutt said in an interview. "It's not people who accidentally rear-end somebody, it's people who have run three or four red lights and T-boned somebody and put them in the hospital."The prospect of the footage being sold, however, is raising significant concerns among the same civil liberties advocates, surveillance law experts and public defenders already wary of the Police Department's use of the system. They say private clients would be bound by fewer constitutional restrictions including those against unreasonable searches and seizures than the Police Department."How does the public feel about persistent surveillance when it's available to the highest bidder?" said Anne McKenna, a visiting assistant professor of law at Pennsylvania State University and a legal consultant to the U.S. Department of Justice on aerial surveillance issues. "Now we really have potential for misuse, because what if your political opponent wants to know where you are at all times?"McNutt's company conducted more than 300 hours of surveillance between January and July as part of a pilot program on behalf of the Police Department. Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, prosecutors, public defenders and other elected officials criticized police for not informing them of the program.Police officials said Friday that the plane will be back in the air this coming week for Maryland Fleet Week and Air Show and the Baltimore Running Festival , and that they will assess whether to continue the program afterward.McNutt stressed that he hasn't signed any deals to track collisions. But as the use of his technology by the Police Department has come under intense scrutiny, he said he's planning ahead."We will survive no matter what," he said this week, in the midst of preparations for another insurance-related job: flying up and down the East Coast to conduct surveys before and after Hurricane Matthew blows through. He said his insurance clients can use that information to pinpoint locations where storm damage is extensive and large volumes of claims are likely.McNutt said his surveillance company already does $3 million to $4 million in private business a year. Regardless of whether Police Commissioner Kevin Davis decides to adopt McNutt's technology on a permanent basis, the surveillance might continue.McNutt, who declined to comment on the police program, stressed that he has a strict privacy policy which he has no plans to abandon if he lands new commercial clients.The company policy states that surveillance "will be conducted in a professional, ethical and legal manner." It also says that the technology will not be used "to invade the privacy of individuals, to look into private areas or areas where the reasonable expectation of privacy exists."Given the intense scrutiny of his company, McNutt said it would not be in his best interest to violate that policy. "I have an internal incentive to hold to my privacy policy," he said.Along with Baltimore police officials, McNutt has stressed that the cameras he uses only produce low-resolution images, capable of providing police with the ability to track individuals and motorists through the city, but not to identify those individuals. He has also said he is eager to cooperate with any public official the police, public defenders or prosecutors.Critics say McNutt's plan to pitch his technology to commercial clients raises red flags.McKenna said she would be concerned about a private company selling surveillance footage to another private company. She said McNutt would have a financial incentive to relax his privacy policy, because less-restricted access to the footage and higher-resolution images would likely fetch higher bids.Even if McNutt sticks to his policy, she said, others could come along using his business model and offer footage with no such privacy protections in place."If this guy gets to do it, why can't everybody just get a plane and fly over top and sell the data?" she said.David Rocah, a staff attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Maryland, said private use of mass surveillance footage would be "a manifestation of a much larger problem, of private actors, typically corporate actors, accumulating vast amounts of data about us and then monetizing that data."Phone and internet companies do it regularly, he said, but those companies typically collect data "through some transaction that we are involved in with them," such as signing a usage contract with a mobile carrier or logging into Google to use its search engine.With McNutt's proposal, "you can't opt out in any way," he said. "We should have a right not to have all of our movements accumulated, digitized and monetized."The Federal Aviation Administration requires pilots flying over Baltimore to be at least 1,000 feet above the ground and to be in communication with air traffic control because of the city's proximity to BWI Thurgood Marshall Airport."The FAA does not regulate the length of time that an aircraft can overfly an area or the purpose of a flight," the agency said in a statement.Dan Kobrin, one of several assistant public defenders who recently met with McNutt about the police surveillance program in Baltimore, said that "there is no law in the Maryland code, there is nothing in the city ordinances" that would prevent McNutt's commercial expansion.If the Police Department "walks away and says, 'We're not going to do it,'" Kobrin said, "that's his incentive to go outside of the criminal justice system and say, 'OK, Geico, do you want to pay me?'"Maryland Insurance Commissioner Al Redmer Jr. said he is not aware of any existing insurance laws or regulations that would prevent an insurance carrier from working with McNutt."Insurance carriers are going to do what they can do to try to get it right," he said, "and with the advent of new ideas and new technologies, we see all kinds of interesting things."He said his agency monitors the insurance market, but it's usually legislators who lead efforts to change the law."If legislators learn of something that insurance carriers are doing, and someone doesn't like it, then we all pack our bags, go to Annapolis, make our best case and try to get the legislature to outlaw whatever it is we happen to see," he said.Insurance industry observers said they are not familiar with such surveillance systems being used by insurers.Michael Barry, a spokesman at the industry-funded Insurance Information Institute, said surveillance technology is being used in the market with drones."Many home insurers today are using drones to assess damage in hard-to-reach places, and they are even using it for day-to-day work for instance, if there is damage on a roof," Barry said.Kobrin envisioned a scenario in which a public defender would have a duty to review private footage to see if a criminal client could be cleared of a crime.McNutt or his commercial competitor could respond to the public defender's footage request by saying, "Yes, for $200,000, you can have access to it," Kobrin said. "I wonder how the General Assembly would like it if we were forced to put out that kind of money just to do our job." (TNS) -- Small businesses should take the important step of making sure their cybersecurity perimeter is strong.Andrew Bargin, My Digital Shield chief executive officer, spoke to more than 100 small business owners and leaders about how to make their businesses secure at the Small Business-Centric Cybersecurity Summit on Tuesday.A cybersecurity perimeter is the boundary between the private and public side of a network, Bargin said."If you make sure your perimeter is secure, it really drives down the amount of breaches drastically," he said. "It's like having walls around your building, the door, lock."Ever since the creation of the internet, cybersecurity has been an issue, Bargin said."Now we all use internet as a way of life, as part of our business," he said. "The bad guys went, 'Wow, everyone is connected. We can use this to steal stuff.'Business leaders and owners have to adapt to the evolution of technology and figure out how to protect their businesses, Bargin said.Security is not an add-on and should be thought of as a foundation, Bargin said. All technology should be made secure."Let's change our mindset and not look at security as an add-on or an additional function," he said.Physical security has many parts, and cybersecurity is no different, Bargin said. Just because someone has security cameras, it doesn't mean he or she doesn't need locks on their doors."You need all of those pieces," he said. "They all work together harmoniously to create a way of life."It took generations for physical security to evolve, but cybersecurity evolves daily, Bargin said.Because cybersecurity is constantly evolving, small business owners and leaders need to rely on their IT expert and make sure they have one they can trust, Bargin said.In the 1980s, when the internet first emerged, the cybersecurity perimeter was an individual's computer. In the 1990s, local area networks were created, and the perimeter was a firewall with the trusted local network, Bargin said.Today, the local area network has vanished, Bargin said. Devices are used to connect to the internet in multiple locations."You have all these other devices just floating around out there," Bargin said. "They're all part of your network you're supposed to control and protect, but they're not behind your perimeter."Because cost is an important factor for most small businesses, many have perimeters that are fast but are stripped of all security, Bargin said."This is why we have those stats that most breaches are in the small business world," he said.Even though most small businesses do not report cybersecurity breaches, 81 percent of the breaches are from attacks small businesses, Bargin said.Defenses available could have prevented 97 percent of these breaches, Bargin said. More than 50 percent of the next-generation firewalls are set up wrong, making them not as secure."You could have stopped that from happening," he said.My Digital Shield offers a solution to keep all devices secured behind a perimeter regardless of where they are, Bargin said."We removed that physical restriction that it always had," he said. "We moved it and virtualized it to where it's in the cloud. It's like making a private network with a solid perimeter all over the country."My Digital Shield has 12 data centers across the U.S., Canada and Western Europe that the virtualized perimeter covers.This provides unlimited processing resources, so security doesn't have to be sacrificed for performance, Bargin said."We're blocking all the threats way up there before they pollute your bandwidth," he said.The My Digital Shield system is backed with a $50,000 cyber breach guarantee, Bargin said. Two F1 team bosses have made a proposal to end the dispute over the location of next year's crucial pre-season testing. Pirelli is keen to test its bigger and grippier 2017 slicks in the warm and dry climate of Bahrain, and has secured the support of Mercedes and some other teams. Others, however, are opposed to moving the testing away from Europe, mainly on cost grounds. "We are categorically against pre-season tests in the Middle East," said Williams' Pat Symonds. "It is absolutely wrong." Red Bull is also opposed, except in the case that someone else picks up the bill. "If Pirelli wants us to go to Bahrain, then they should assume part of the costs," said team boss Christian Horner. Horner's Red Bull colleague Dr Helmut Marko, meanwhile, told the Swiss newspaper Blick: "If Mercedes pays the 750,000 euros, we will also come to Bahrain." Horner explained: "The extra cost is between 300 and 700,000 pounds, depending on the logistics, and it seems unfair to put all of that on the teams." He said one possible solution is that teams stick with the original pre-season plan in Barcelona, start the 2017 season, and then stay in Bahrain for a post-race test. "The first four races are likely to be quite cool, so I think a more logical solution would be to stay in Bahrain after the race," said Horner. That idea is also supported by Williams' Symonds. "He (Horner) is not the only one who has suggested it," he pointed out. "But I think it's a reasonable idea, although I don't think Bahrain is an absolutely ideal test circuit. "I think if Pirelli has a conservative tyre choice for the first few races, I don't think it would be a problem. But 400,000 pounds extra for testing in Bahrain is a serious problem. "Perhaps not for Mercedes and Ferrari, but for our budget it is a very significant amount," Symonds said. (GMM) BLOOMER Ada M. Reischel, 84, died Friday, Oct. 7, 2016, at MCHS in Bloomer. A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 1 p.m. Friday at St. Pauls Catholic Church in Bloomer. Visitation from 4 to 8 p.m. with Christian wake service at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Olson Funeral Home in Bloomer, and one hour Friday at the funeral, home prior to moving to the church. Donald Trumps chances to win Wisconsin in the November presidential election were decimated when footage of lewd comments he made about women surfaced on Friday, a conservative analyst said. Brian Fraley, who runs the political consulting firm Edge Messaging and has worked on a number of Republican campaigns, said in an interview on "UpFront with Mike Gousha" that the video will cost Trump Wisconsin, a state that was previously within his reach. Hes done, Fraley said. In the video, Trump brags about being able to use his celebrity status to kiss and grope women. But those comments probably wont cause many of his supporters to disown him, Fraley said. I think the erosion of Trump support both here and nationally could be minimal, because Trump being a vulgar, obnoxious misogynist is kind of unfortunately baked in the cake, right? Fraley said. Rather, Fraley said he thinks these comments have cost Trump the opportunity to win over undecided voters. He said Trump had a shot of winning Wisconsin, as he was performing well in the 8th, 7th, and northern parts of the 3rd congressional districts. But Hillary Clinton and Trump have both been polling at under 50 percent, making undecided and independent voters crucial to either candidate's success. Specifically, Trump needed to court independents, suburban swing voters and women in the WOW counties (Waukesha, Ozaukee, Washington) who dont necessarily affiliate with the Republican party but often vote Republican, Fraley said. He was really hurting with those and was targeting them. I dont see them now saying 'Well yeah, sure, Ill join. Ill join the Trump train,'" Fraley said. When host Gousha asked Fraley to comment on the argument that Trumps statements were an example of guys being guys, Fraley argued that Trumps statements are categorically different. He was bragging about how he used his celebrity and his authority and power to sexually assault and grope woman, Fraley said. Its far different than just locker room talk. Trumps behavior will also likely be very damaging in the long term for Republican politicians who have supported him, Fraley said. He said those politicians should make a stand against Trump. I would love to see someone take a principled stand and put either their political career, or their elected office or their position second and walk away publicly, Fraley said. I think it has to be a high-profile person to kind of give a permission slip to everyone else. Gousha asked if Paul Ryan would be an example of such a politician. Fraley said yes, adding that Ryans decision to disinvite Trump from Saturdays rally in Elkhorn was appreciated, but did not go far enough. In the end you are judged not only by the company you keep, but by the decisions you make, Fraley said. Christopher Whiteside MBE is County Councillor for the Egremont North and St Bees Division of Cumbria County Council. The division includes St Bees, Bigrigg, Wood End, Moor Row, part of the Mirehouse area of Whitehaven, and surrounding countryside. He will hold this office until the county council is abolished on 1st April 2023. He is also Chairman of the North-West region of the voluntary wing of the Conservative party. Chris lives and works in Copeland with his wife and family. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate MILFORD At its peak, Bead Industries had 300 employees working in three shifts. At the start, it was just three men and an idea. The company was founded by Waldo Calvin Bryant, his son, Waldo Gerald Bryant, and Gilbert Goodridge, an engineer in the familys business, Bryant Electric Co. in Bridgeport. At the time, the bead chain pull-socket had been invented, but there was no good way to mass produce it. So Goodridge and another engineer, William Gagnon, invented a process called swaging, which produces metal bead chains without leaving any scraps, using all the metal that goes into the machine. What swaging does is it takes flat metal and as it gets into the machine, it gets curled into a roll so its like a tube, said Jill Mayer, Beads corporate president and the fifth generation to run the business. That tube is then formed into a series of links and, finally, into beads. To take advantage of the process, the Bryants and Goodridge created Bead Chain Manufacturing Co. in Bridgeport, at the corner of Mountain Grove and State streets, in 1914. The company started producing metal bead light pull chains. Then, in the 1930s, it became known for creating the identification tag necklaces used by the military in both the U.S. and Canada, better known as dog tags. We started out pumping millions of dog tags, Mayer said. During World War II, Bead produced more than 22 million dog-tag chains for U.S. and Canadian armed forces. In the 1920s, Bead created a separate electronics division. Mayer said the move allowed the company the flexibility to use its swaging process to create contact pins used in fluorescent lighting, radios and other products. The business really took off in the 1960s, when it manufactured millions of contact pins for the fluorescent lighting industry. These days, Bead pins are found in smoke detectors, vehicle airbags, computer chip boards and more. Mayer said the pins her company makes, although small, play a vital role. If that pin connection isnt reliable and that airbag doesnt deploy, there are lives at stake, she said. Its a lot of responsibility and I dont take it lightly. The first woman to run Bead Industries in its 102-year history, Mayer took over from her father, Ken Bryant, in 2014, the companys centennial. She had spent seven years in the companys financial office, serving last as financial controller. Although Mayer is the head of the company, her siblings are just as involved. One sister, Leah Davenport, works in the marketing department and her other sister, Sylvia Pessin, works in the information technology side of the business. All three women worked elsewhere after college before joining the family business. We have this five-year rule, Mayer said. You cant work at the company until youve worked five years somewhere else. Mayer said she has continued the community service her father started, including the companys efforts to provide tours and offer support to youth. She said one of her goals is to crack the puzzle of how to get the next generation interested in manufacturing. How do we get these kids who didnt grow up in a manufacturing family (to understand) how clean it is and how interesting it is? she said. The majority of the 27 employees at its Milford manufacturing center have been with the company for decades. The staff is smaller these days because the bead chains are now manufactured in South Korea. The contact pins are produced in the local facility, which sits directly on the border of Milford and Orange. The company also has a wholly owned subsidiary and producer of plumbing fixtures, McGuire Manufacturing Co., in Cheshire. The companys achievements were recently recognized when it was inducted into the American Manufacturing Hall of Fame, an initiative created by the Housatonic Community College Foundation. It supports the Advanced Manufacturing Program at HCC, which doubled in size recently. Dan Wisneski, chairman of the steering committee that chose the inductees, said including Bead Industries in the Hall of Fame was a no-brainer. Theyve got an incredible run as a family-owned manufacturer, he said. He noted their no-scrap process of creating the beads was a sustainability effort that began decades before being environmentally friendly was popular. Mayer said she looks forward to the next stage of Beads history. Weve been solving problems for a hundred years, she said. Our culture is that we like a challenge. ktorres@hearstmediact.com; 203-330-6227 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH The weekends rains were not enough to clear Binney Park Pond of oil. The booms installed on a stream feeding into Binney Pond from the north by officials from the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Emergency Response and Spill Prevention Division remain in place, more than a week after they were first installed. State officials installed the booms on the stream that feeds into the northern end of the pond near Perrot Library after they traced reports of a chemical spill to I-95, and found evidence that red-dyed diesel fuel had leaked from the highway into the stream north of the pond. Weve been monitoring them, we checked them twice last week, said Kenneth LeClerc, Emergency Response Coordinator with the DEEP. Until we really get some significant rain, the oil is still sitting in the stream and needs to be flushed through. LeClerc said an inch or two of rain would be needed to flush out the stream completely, and until that happened they would keep the booms in place. The rain over the past week or so since the booms were installed only amounted two a couple tenths of an inch, he said. We need a good storm to flush it through, LeClerc said. The fuel spill likely happened days before the state investigated, officials said, and has been making its way down the spring and into the pond since. They were alerted to the incident from a phone call from local resident Sean Goldrick. Goldrick said he reached out to town officials earlier in the week about the oily sheen on the surface of the water and recent fish kills. Denise Savaeau, director of the Conservation Commission, went to the pond to check it out but did not report the incident to the state. LeClerc said all suspected spills should be reported to his office. They can be called in at 860-424-3338 or toll-free at 1-866-337-7745. The minute we got to the highway and saw it clear above and dirty below, we just knew, LeClerc said. It could have been caught a day earlier, unfortunately. pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH Columbus Day was marked Monday with a salute to the Italian flag outside of Town Hall by the St. Lawrence Society and the larger contributions of Italian immigrants to the town. This day is full of memories for us all, but most thoughts point to the hard work of our parents and our grandparents, St. Lawrence Society President Tod Laudonia said, as he led the ceremonial flag raising. Those are the people who worked hard. They were not concerned with self-fulfillment, only working toward a greater good: their families and the community that they lived in, he said. The annual event is in its 29th year. Laudonia said the Italian flag was raised, to stand a partner with the American flag outside of Town Hall. Its a symbol of our ancestors love for their newfound country, Laudonia said. They worked together to move our country further. A crowd of close to 50 turned out for the event despite windy, chilly weather. On hand were First Selectman Peter Tesei; U.S. Rep. Jim Himes, a town resident; and State Reps. Livvy Floren, Michael Bocchino and Fred Camillo. As tradition of the annual Columbus Day event is to honor a notable Italian American resident of Greenwich. Several of the past honorees were part of the crowd on Monday morning outside Town Hall. Greenwich native Sam Romeo, a small business owner, radio host, volunteer and chairman of the town Housing Authoritys Board of Commissioners, was honored this year at the flag raising and at a dinner at the St. Lawrence Club Monday night. Romeo, a volunteer for town organizations for decades, was credited for his contributions to Greenwich. Tesei proclaimed Oct. 10, 2016, as Sam Romeo Day in town. Its been a really rewarding life in Greenwich, Romeo told the applauding crowd. Im so fortunate that my grandparents moved here to Greenwich in the early 1900s. Serving here in volunteer positions has fulfilled me in ways I cant truly express to all of you. I have a wonderful family, great friends and I grew up in the best community in the United States. Laudonia called Romeo a shining example of the philosophy of their ancestors, who came to America and became part of moving the country forward through hard work. He called Romeo, who was unanimously chosen by the St. Lawrence Societys board for the honor, a doer and a thinker and praised him for working behind the scenes in helping his fellow residents. Romeo and Laudonia raised the flag together. The honoree said he was humbled to be honored in front of his family and friends. He said he had never known how many lives he touched until he saw people come out for the event. Tesei joked that the proclamation, which detailed Romeos contributions to The Nathaniel Witherell, Parsonage Cottage, North Mianus School and other community organizations, was put together for those who didnt know his background. After the ceremony, Tesei said Romeo personified the volunteer spirit that is such an important part of Greenwich. This is a very due honor, Tesei said. Sam has given decades of his time to the town for its betterment and I think its appropriate as an Italian American that St. Lawrence honors him in this way. Its a fine tribute to a good man. Public service has been an important part of life, including decades on the Representative Town Meeting, Romeo said. Its a love of the town and a love of people, Romeo said. I like people and I like helping people, especially those who are less fortunate than I have been. Ive got some helping hands along the way growing up in this town and Ive never forgotten that. Its my way of giving back to the community and helping others. I know how much it means to get just a little boost from somebody who can do something for them. Laudonia was part of a group of Greenwich residents who traveled over the summer to the towns sister city, Rose, Italy. Many of the Italian immigrants who came to Greenwich came from Rose, he said. The differences that exist between our two cultures became obvious to me in Italy, but the other thing that became obvious is the respect we have for each other, Laudonia said. We all need to continue to remember the sacrifices our ancestors made coming here to America and assimilating into our society. Tesei also remarked on that history, saying the work of their ancestors in building so much of the town was a great source of pride to him and other Italian Americans in town. Its wonderful to be able to take out one day of the year to recognize those contributions and the sacrifices they made, Tesei said. We have a great town that we hope to leave to the next generation. Laudonia said that as the St. Lawrence Society looks for new members and expands its reach in the community, its important to keep traditions like the flag raising and tribute dinner alive. The only way people will remember what happened in the past is if you continue traditions, Laudonia said. This is a tradition thats very important to us, particularly as we try to bring in new peopl,e and Im happy to say my daughter is one of those new people. Its always exciting to do this. I see some new faces in the crowd this year, and thats wonderful. kborsuk@scni.com WCC General Secretary Visits Aotearoa New Zealand, Australia Contact: World Council of Churches, +41 79 507 6363; www.oikoumene.org/press GENEVE, Oct. 10, 2016 /Christian Newswire/ -- The general secretary of the World Council of Churches (WCC), Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, opened his ecumenical and interfaith tour of New Zealand and Australia on 6 October. The first stop was Auckland with a powhiri at Te Karaiti Te Pou Herenga Waka Maori Anglican church in Mangere. Tveit will visit the region between 6-17 October. Photo: Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit in the Anglican Maori church, Auckland, New Zealand. Tony Franklin Tveit travelled from Auckland to Dunedin where he met with the city's interfaith and ecumenical leaders at a reception given by the mayor of Dunedin, Dave Cull. Leaders from Anglican, Catholic, Coptic Orthodox, Presbyterian, Baptist, Islamic and Baha'i communities attended, including Anglican vicar general of Dunedin Rev. Alec Clark, Catholic bishop of Dunedin Rev. Colin Campbell and moderator-elect of the Presbyterian Church in Aotearoa New Zealand, Rev. Richard Dawson. Dunedin's interfaith community shared the city's history of interfaith cooperation, and heard from Tveit about the WCC's recent achievements in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. WCC visitors also took a tour of the earthquake-damaged city centre of Christchurch, and visited the Christchurch Methodist Mission's Affordable Housing Initiative in Linwood. The general secretary gave a lecture at the Christchurch North Methodist Church on the WCC's high-level peacemaking work in response to situations in Israel, Palestine and Syria. On Sunday, 9 October, Tveit concluded his tour by preaching in Christchurch at a combined morning service in Knox Church, then again at an evening ecumenical service in Auckland's Holy Trinity Cathedral, Parnell. At Christchurch, Tveit described how, as the fellowship of the WCC prays and works for visible unity, they are called to find new ways forward. "We learn from the past, from the strength and the weaknesses of what has been, as we look forward to the only space where we can do something: The future," he said. "Therefore, we also call our common life and work together in this period a pilgrimage of justice and peace. Seeking the way forward together, establishing the relationships that are named by the values of the kingdom of God, this is also a way to visible unity." David Coster, moderator of the Alpine Presbytery, said he learned from Tveit how the work of the WCC breaks down barriers to human understanding and brings about peace and justice. "Of special interest were the initiatives being taken by the WCC with regard to peace in Israel, Palestine and Syria," he said. "It was encouraging to hear that these initiatives had been ongoing since 1948, giving the WCC credibility with all parties and governments involved in the ongoing conflicts." Rev. Dr Tony Surman, cathedral precentor of the Auckland Cathedral of the Holy Trinity, thanked Tveit for "his cultural sensitivity and the thoughtful and artful way he managed to relate the scriptures of the day with the theme of his visit the pilgrimage of justice and peace." Surman added: "We feel privileged to have been a part of his speaking tour and wish him and all the staff and officers of the World Council of Churches success in reinvigorating churches around the globe in the work of justice and peace to which Christ calls us." This week, Tveit will travel to Australia, with stops in Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne and Adelaide, where he will meet with heads of churches, interfaith leaders and community representatives. The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith, witness and service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship of churches founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 348 Protestant, Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 550 million Christians in over 120 countries, and works cooperatively with the Roman Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is the Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit, from the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH The influence of Eastern culture was the focus Sunday at the Greenwich Historical Societys annual Fall Festival. Students from the Japanese School of Greenwich performed a frenetic dance to Soran Bushi, a song sung by migrant fisherman to help improve their catch, and karate masters demonstrated ancient self-defense moves. The activities were connected to a recently opened exhibit, An Eye to the East: The Inspiration of Japan, at the Strickland Road museum that documents the emergence of Japanese culture in the United States at the turn of the 20th century. Members of the Bridgeport-based World Seido Karate Organization overseen by their teacher John McGettigan and Shuseki Shan Christopher Caile, a seventh-degree black belt ran through a demonstration of martial arts routines. Caile told a standing-room-only crowd of Japanese School parents and young Greenwich families the precision required by karate helps practitioners become more disciplined in life. When you see karate, dont think of it in terms of what you can see, said the 75-year-old Caile. What youre really teaching is control and coordination. The students at the Japanese school on Lake Avenue regularly come to the Historical Society to study the history of Greenwich and the colonial period, said Harry Sakamaki, a former president of the Japan Society of Fairfield County and a volunteer guide at the Historical Society. My goal has always been to promote Japanese and American friendship and to spread knowledge of Japanese culture, said Sakamaki, a retired business consultant who lives in downtown Greenwich. Japanese children should also study American history. The new exhibit, which runs through Feb. 26, chronicles through paintings, illustrations, ceramics and clothing the growing influence Japanese art and culture had on America, including on the artists of the Cos Cob Art Colony, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A special focus is the Japanese artist Genjiro Yeto, an illustrator and teacher who studied under John Henry Twachtman at the Art Students League from 1895 to 1899, and at Twachtmans summer classes at the Cos Cob colony, said Anna Greco, curator of education at the Historical Society. The colony was located at the Bush Holley House, current home to the Historical Society. Yeto passed on his distinctly Japanese aesthetics in floral arrangement and painting to colony members like Elmer McRae and Constance Holley McRae, Greco said. As a result of those kinds of exchanges, and with commercial goods from Japan coming into the country, there was a sort of fad for all things Japanese, Greco said. At the festival Sunday, children and parents enjoyed Kabuki-inspired face painting and were able to work on Japanese-inspired arts and crafts by assembling and painting fish kites and paper fans. Cael Renton, 5, of Greenwich, who watched the karate and dance demonstrations, said he was impressed with the maneuvers he saw the karate students make. It was fun, Cael said. Caels father, David Renton, said he brings Cael to the Historical Society for special events and to learn more about the colonial period in New England. This was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon, Renton said. Were all growing familiar with the ways in which automation, big data, AI and machine learning are slowly replacing human jobs. While the general tone up until now has been somewhat negative toward this sort of change, there is a growing number of entrepreneurs who have looked at the landscape and been prompted to think differently about the issue. Will Lee, founder and CEO of Verlocal, an online marketplace for freelancers, says, AI is going to take most of our jobs... but it wont be the end of the world. Lee, an Artificial Intelligence expert who studied at Stanford, created Verlocal to teach and assist people in monetizing their passions to prepare for this shift in employment. I connected with him to find out more about how monetizing creativity through freelance opportunities is the next wave in employment. Here are the top five reasons you should begin to consider that your passion could lead to a fiscally sufficient income: 1. The freelance economy is booming. There is a growing number of people finding their calling in the freelancing marketplace. Lee says that close to 35 percent of the American workforce currently does some sort of freelance work to make ends meet. More aggressive predictions place 40 percent of Americans as solopreneurs by 2020. This kind of growth indicates a few things. First, it shows a growing level of comfort with working independently, something that with time, creates a much more satisfied workforce. It also demonstrates the ability that humans have to adjust based on environment, something that will help navigate the changes caused by AI and robotics replacing jobs. Related: AI and Robots Are Coming for Your Job. Here's What You Need to Know 2. AI/ deep learning is replacing human jobs. Jobs are being replaced at rapid rates by robotic innovation and AI applications. Most people are familiar with physically based positions like warehousing and manufacturing jobs being replaced or reduced in number, but with advances in machine learning, AI will slowly begin to replace knowledge based roles as well. Lee explained, AI is going to start to replace people in thought industries because it can now mimic human intuition. The question is not whether or not this will happen, its just a question of how we will respond. If it can be taught, computers will do it, and thats why human creativity is about to become much more lucrative. 3. If robots cant replicate it, people cant. Creativity is your brand, declares Lee. He explains that while AI is rapidly replacing human labor, one thing it isnt doing is replacing creativity. AI is still capable of participating in creative ventures, but the way AI performs tasks are fundamentally different. Lee put it this way, Replacing a famous artist will not serve AIs purpose, nor will it add any value by doing so. Essentially your creative spark is exactly that, yours, and no machine can replace it. Related: Google, Launching Allo, Bets on AI to Spice Up Chats 4. Your calling is your expertise. When people can do what they love, they will realize their potential, and organically differentiate themselves in the marketplace. A recent Gallup poll estimated the average workweek to be 47 hours. So if jobs are being cut by machine learning, yet people are working more, how do we best capitalize on this? Lees belief is that this is perfect timing for the coming wave of AI innovation. Because people are more accustomed to pursuing what they love, theyre more likely to be successful in the new economy. 5. Entrepreneurship driven by passion is fun. There are plenty of stories of how his time working with freelancers has taught him the value of being a solopreneur. A great example came from a member based in South Korea. She is a pastry chef and was planning a trip to San Francisco. She managed to find a place to rent with a kitchen, so she hosted a Verlocal event where her followers were able to learn how to make her cupcakes that were famous in her hometown. She made enough to cover the rental and fund most of her trip. This is one of the many examples as to why the freelancing economy has the potential to help humans navigate the upcoming changes in employment environments. Lee says that its his goal to, help individuals build businesses and better themselves and their livelihoods through self-discovery. Related: Steve Wozniak: The Future of AI Is 'Scary and Very Bad for People' If youve ever had an idea you wanted to pursue, something that required you to be creative, or to share the things youre passionate about, now is the time to get moving. With more and more online marketplaces allowing you to monetize your passions, theres no excuse to be sitting at your desk wishing you were doing something else. AI might be taking certain jobs away from humans, but that means its freeing us up to do what we love, giving us opportunities to be better humans. Related: 5 Reasons Your Creativity Is Your Greatest Asset From Passion to Money: 4 Ways to Find Your Calling How to Find Your Direction and Follow Your Dreams Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved In a land before time (2005 to be exact) the words "New York Comic Con" did not exist. Fast forward to the future (now!) and New York Comic Con is not only a thing, it is the premiere convention dedicated to comic books, anime, video games, toys, movies and television. People come to the event to collect, nerd-out over sneak peeks, listen to awesome creator panelists and more than anything else, play dress up. I went to the Jacob Javitz Center to check out this year's offering. In an office space overlooking the vast floor of the convention (kind of like a mad scientist's volcano lair, only with more water bottles and beige walls) I spoke with Lance Fensterman, creator of NYCC and senior global VP of ReedPOP, the company that runs the show. While he did rub his hands together and cackle madly gazing over the insanity he created, never once did he threaten to wipe humanity from the face of the Earth. What's New York Comic Con's origin story? In 2006, we were in one single hall downstairs in the Javitz Center. The idea basically came from the question: why doesnt New York City have a big con? The prevailing answer was, Because it is really expensive! But in 2006, we gave it a try. It was a tiny show, tiny hall and big crowd. It did not go well. [Laughs] It was 10 pounds of show in a 5-pound bag. The fire marshal shut it down, people who bought tickets didnt get in, people who didnt buy tickets got in, it was a mess. But there was something there. We apologized, made good with the fans and figured out how to do it better. Now in 2016, weve grown so big that we cant fit in all in the Javitz Center, and are using other venues in the city. Related: Check Out Mind-Blowing Cosplay at New York Comic Con (Slideshow) Was this your first big idea? In a way. Reed Exhibitions was in the business trade show space, and dabbled a bit on consumer trade shows but never in a big way. This was the first consumer show. ReedPOP is the offshoot. We realized quickly that ReedPOP needed its own brand, its own culture, its own identity. We went on to do the New York Anime Festival, acquired a small video game show in Seattle called Penny Arcade Expo, we struck a deal with Lucasfilm to run their Star Wars Celebration and now were in 10 countries around the world with about 30 events. How do you maintain consistency across all of those events in all of those countries? Its the question that is constantly on my mind. How do you get bigger but maintain the thing that makes it special? I think we do it primarily one way, which is to stay close to the people who matter most, which are the fans. Find out what they want, try to anticipate what they might want before they even think of it. If we stay core to that, we wont stray too far from the DNA that made us who we are. Did fandom lead you to doing this? Im a comic book fan, video game guy, huge LEGO collector. But whats interesting though is that you go to these shows and you realize you dont know what a fan is until you start to meet these people. Like I have a lot of LEGO sets, but there are people who have thousands of unopened boxes. Theyre like, You open them and build them?! They look down on me. [Laughs] Those guys are fans. Im an amateur. What does being a big LEGO fan mean exactly? It means that when I was moving once and the last thing I was moving was my LEGOs, because theyre my most precious possessions. So Im in the elevator and Ive got one of multiple loads of LEGOs and this person goes, Oh, your son must be so happy. And Im like, Yeah, my son who doesnt exist Im not weird, Im just a grown man with thousands of LEGOs in this elevator alone! I had a personal bounty of $500 cash to my team for whoever could get LEGO to come to the show. And we got them four or five years ago. And now I get to get their exclusive toy with the logo of my show on the box, and thats like little kid Lance going, Alright, good job adult Lance! There are a ton of businesses out there on that floor. Do you give them tips and best practices? Whats funny is that the smaller guys know what theyre doing. They know how to get customers, bring the right stuff -- they know what theyre doing! The bigger guys are the ones who need a little bit of assistance. Theyre not used to hand-to-hand combat with fans! We definitely lend our expertise to non-endemic brands that are here so that they can connect in an authentic way that will be meaningful. The best way is when you can solve a problem for someone. Like, I think it was Progressive last year, they had professional line standers. Meaning, they had people who would wait in line for you while you walked around enjoying the show. And the fans were like, Progressive, thats awesome! You provided more fun time for me. Thats a great example of a non-endemic activation that fans loved. How far in advance do you plan this? Im looking at my phone and have e-mails about 2017 right now! We are constantly researching and make use of surveys, taking in comments to see what people want and how to make it better. My team, in part, is paid on how much people enjoyed themselves. I found that helps keep us focused. Related: Hulking Great Investments: 12 Comic Books That Are Now Worth A Fortune Any regrettable moments over the years? Um, yeah, OK. Once we did a sponsorship with a toilet paper brand. I thought it was clever, but it wasnt. It was bad, looked like a total sellout. It wasnt, I thought it was funny! And there was another campaign, Im not going to name the brand, that had a clever play on words that was really kind of crass. And it was just stupid. And it was on a lot of our screens in our panel rooms. And our artists and creators would see it on the screen before they spoke and would be like, What the f*ck is that? [Laughs] We realized we should never have taken their money, or happily taken their money and then help them do what they were trying to do in a much cooler way. So yes, there have been regrettable moments! When you talk about Comic Con, the first thing a lot of people think of is the cosplay. Im not sure that people realize those are just fans who built these elaborate and expensive costumes just for fun. Its true! And it is kind of an indicator for us if one of our cons around the world is a success. The elaborate costumes and sheer number of them is amazing, and we see it wherever we go. Its not I like this, its I want to become this. Thats a passionate fan base! Are there any countries where the culture alters what Comic Con is? No, it is generally very similar. Ive been all around the world and there is a strain of personality that goes across all cultures and just loves this stuff. Politics sometimes brings in slight differences. Like in Australia, they have very strict age rules on video games, so there will be bigger walls and different configurations to make sure kids wont be exposed to any of the more mature games. What is the next step for NYCC? We want to move into not just curating great stuff, but become more a part of the creation. Were looking to make this a citywide event, which isnt easy. Hey, you have a great idea for a podcast? Go do it at Barcade in Brooklyn. We want to facilitate and help people who are passionate about this stuff. What do you think when you look out over that floor? Well, its hard not to see the flaws. These people love this, and it is our job to allow them to enjoy it as much as possible. So for example, this morning, the lines to get in were too long. That took time away from people doing what they love and thats not OK. But we fix that stuff and keep improving. An important thing to me is that we help small businesses here. There are a lot of people that are going to make a lot of money here this weekend and thats important. And whats funny is we have an interesting dynamic with these sellers. Theyre not entirely Incentivized to tell us how well they are doing. If they say, Im killing it! then they assume wed be like, Were not charging you enough! So theyre a little cagey. Yeah, its going OK. But trust me, if they werent doing well out there, wed hear it! Related: Everything You Need to Know About Breaking Into the Video Game Industry What does seeing NYCC grow mean to you? We build fun for a living. Theres nothing serious here. I watch the debates, there is some depressing shit going on out there. So I love the fact that people can come here and forget all that, dress up, spend some money and just have fun. I mean, theres a guy in a fucking 10-foot Hulk costume out there! It's wonderful. Who would you most like to be dressed as down there? I think Ill cosplay as a real business man. I'll wear a suit, shave, carry around, I dont know, spread sheets or a binder or some shit? And Id spew things about IBIDA or whatever. Related: Meet the Evil Genius Behind New York Comic Con Check Out Mind-Blowing Cosplay from New York Comic Con (Slideshow) Tune in Tonight for the 6th Annual Streamy Awards Copyright 2016 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate 3 1 of 3 Tyler Sizemore / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 2 of 3 Brian A. Pounds / Hearst Connecticut Media Show More Show Less 3 of 3 At St. Vincents Medical Center in Bridgeport, employees have two choices the needle or the mask. For several years, the hospital has mandated that employees get a flu shot every flu season. Workers can get a medical or religious exemption from the vaccination, but those who opt out have to wear a mask whenever theyre within 60 feet of a patient. Hillary Clinton Lies Her Way Through Debate Cover-up of Private E-Mail Scandal Continues Unabated Former Secretary of State Responsible for Deaths of Ty Woods and Sean Smith at Benghazi ST. LOUIS, Oct. 10, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- After watching Sunday night's debate between presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, Larry Klayman (photo), the founder of Judicial Watch and now Freedom Watch and a former federal prosecutor with the U.S. Department of Justice who was on the trial team that broke up AT&T, had this to say: "When called on the carpet about her constant lying and obstruction of justice in destroying evidence that would have incriminated her in illegally using a private email server to send classified information that obviously was hacked by hostile nations, and which gave up the whereabouts of Ambassador Christopher Stephens, Hillary Clinton answered with a repeated sick smile, and by calling all of this just lies. However, as usual, it is Hillary Clinton who lied, not just about the illegal use of her private email server, but also my clients Charles Woods and Patricia Smith, whose sons were killed along with the ambassador. Hillary Clinton previously called my clients liars when they exposed her lies that the attack at Benghazi occurred only as a result of a video depicting the degeneracy of the Islamic prophet Mohammed, when in fact she knew it was caused by terrorists not just an angry crowd. "Hillary Clinton has been sued for wrongful death and defamation. She will finally be held accountable in court for her illegal and despicable actions. Put simply, Hillary Clinton has blood on her hands and she will now pay a legal price for it." The fate of the Galaxy Note7 is unclear as Samsung stopped production (again) to investigate reports of self-immolating units (again). This led to speculation that the Galaxy S8 launch will be pulled up to fill the gap. If this invite to next year's Barcelona is to be believed, it's business as usual for the S flagship - a Samsung Unpacked event at the MWC on February 26. Of course, that's months away and it's unlikely that the PR team has prepared the invites this early. We hope the rumors are true, though, we definitely don't want Samsung to rush the Galaxy S8 - get it right the first time. The Note7 is, in a way, undergoing a second recall - not an official one (yet), but US carriers have started exchanging it for other phones. Source These are the best offers from our affiliate partners. We may get a commission from qualifying sales. Haiti - FLASH : Sadness and message of Pope Francis Sunday at the Angelus pronounced in St. Peter in Rome at the end of the Mass celebrating the Marian Jubilee, the Holy Father told his "pain" on the "serious consequences caused by the hurricane that hit in recent days the Caribbean, especially Haiti, causing many casualties and displaced persons, beyond the considerable material damage." The Pope expressed his closeness and trust "in the sense of solidarity of the international community, of Catholic institutions and people of good will." In a condolence telegram to Cardinal Chibly Langlois, released October 7, Pope Francis has expressed his "sadness" and assured his prayers for Haiti after the passage of Hurricane and encouraged "solidarity implemented in this new event affecting the country." Text of the telegram : "Cardinal Chibly Langlois, President of the Episcopal Conference of Haiti LES CAYES" Learning the devastation wrought on its passage by Hurricane Matthew, which has claimed many lives and caused considerable damage, His Holiness Pope Francis sharing his sadness and he joined in prayer to the pain of all those who lost a loved one. He expressed his deep condolences and assured them of his deep sympathy in these painful circumstances. He entrusts the deceased to the mercy of God, so that they are welcomed in its light. He assures of his spiritual closeness and his affection the injured and all those who have lost their homes and belongings in the disaster. Welcoming and encouraging the solidarity implemented in this new event affecting the country, the Holy Father entrusts all Haitians to the maternal protection of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and address them as comforting pledge and hope, a special Apostolic Blessing. Cardinal Pietro Parolin Secretary of State of His Holiness" HL/ S/ HaitiLibre Haiti - Health : UNFPA concern about the fate of more than 8,400 pregnant women The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), is scaling up its emergency response to help more than 350,000 people who need immediate humanitarian help after the passage last week on Haiti of the hurricane Matthew. In particular, UNFPA is deeply concerned about the fate of more than 8,400 pregnant women who are expected to give birth in the next three months, as well as 1,200 women who would need Caesarean sections. In addition, among the 1.125 million people affected by the hurricane, more than 280,000 are women of childbearing age, and would need quality health services. "Hurricane Matthew delivered a severe blow to Haiti's health facilities, whether by flooding these centres or blowing off their roofs and putting them out of service," said Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin, UNFPA Executive Director. "Our urgent task is to protect the health and rights of women and girls, and to ensure that their basic needs, which are often overlooked in humanitarian situations, are quickly met. We will work to help women give birth and live, despite this tragedy." UNFPA is also concerned that, with the disruption of services, women and girls in affected areas face higher risks of gender-based violence. To protect women's health and rights, UNFPA is sending 252 emergency reproductive health kits that will provide equipment, medicines and supplies for safe deliveries, voluntary family planning, rape treatment and other services for 450,000 people for the next 3 months. Working with the Government of Haiti and other partners, UNFPA will also provide access to sexual and reproductive health services through one-stop centres that will be staffed with local midwives who have graduated from a UNFPA-supported midwifery school. In addition, the Fund will rehabilitate 15 maternity clinics and support maternity centres and mobile clinics. A total of $5 million needs to be raised for these services. HL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - FLASH : Cuba and Venezuela sent more than 200 physicians in Haiti Following the passage of Hurricane Matthew, the Cuban Government has decided to send in Haiti a medical brigade member of the International Contingent of Physicians (Henry Reeve), specialized in disasters and epidemics. This brigade is composed of 38 Cuban professionals with extensive experience in hygiene and epidemiology, including among others: 3 specialist physicians, ten graduates Epidemiology and ten technicians in vector control. The brigade left Cuba on Friday with the means and resources to fulfill its mission and will join the 600 Cuban medical staff already residing in Haiti. Moreover, the President of Venezuela Nicolas Maduro announced that on Monday 10 October, more than 200 Venezuelan physicians will leave their country to Haiti to help the Haitian people heavily tested by the passage of the devastating hurricane Matthew. SL/ HaitiLibre Tragic Death of Nigerian Nun Inspires Medical Clinic Plan Sr. Calista Utazi, MOJ to be honored posthumously on October 13th in Bronzeville (Chicago) Contact: Nick Costello, 312-952-4855 CHICAGO, Oct. 10, 2016 / Christian Newswire / -- On Thursday, October 13th, Home To Enhance African Life ( HEAL ) will host its 3rd Annual Benefit at Room 43 in Bronzeville from 6-10pm. The event will pay tribute to Rev. Sr. Calista Utazi of the Messengers of Justice Congregation (MOJ), who died at age 39 in southeastern Nigeria due to lack of available medical care for her heart condition. She will be honored posthumously with the "Kenosis Award" for self-emptying service after the example of Jesus Christ (cf. Phil 2:6-11) and the plan to establish a medical clinic in her name will be announced. The Sr. Calista Utazi Memorial Medical Clinic will serve poor and marginalized orphans, widows, and rural villagers in southeastern Nigeria irrespective of ability to pay. Sr. Calista joined the MOJ because of their dedication to uplifting orphans, who she could empathize with due to her own hardship as an orphan. Her skill as a seamstress greatly blessed the community and the mission as she designed and sewed the religious habits for her fellow sisters and the school uniforms and plain clothes of the poor orphans and village children they served. One day in July, Sr. Calista complained to the founder of the MOJ, Deacon Leo Okonkwo, that she felt very tired whenever she walked a long distance. Deacon Leo told her to admit herself to the nearby village medical clinic. She was properly diagnosed with an enlarged heart, but the small village clinic did not have the resources to treat her and looked for alternatives. Unfortunately, hospitals in southeastern Nigeria were on strike due to salary disputes between health providers and the government. Calista was not able to be transferred to receive proper care and died of her condition on July 23rd. Join us on October 13. RSVP at https://heal-2016.eventbrite.com About Home to Enhance African Life (HEAL): Haiti - Mexico : Great first for the Haitian Diaspora Great first for the Haitian diaspora in Mexico at the 4th edition of the National Week of entrepreneurs (from 3 to 8 October 2016), organized by the National Institute of Entrepreneurship of Mexico (INADEM), with the presence in this event of World Business Center (WOBUC) a Haiti-Mexican company. WOBUC, a world-class company, created by a young doctor Haitian Kely Rely, which found that many entrepreneurs, chambers of commerce, investors, Mexican and foreign traders were facing various problems of doing business in Mexico City and with Mexico. WOBUC was able to sensitize more than 75 Mexican companies wanting to find a work area and wishing to develop new sales channels for their products "Our participation in the week of the entrepreneur [...] gave us the opportunity to better know SMEs of Mexico as it is a national event [...] the Embassy of Haiti in Mexico has opened its doors, allowing us to present our portfolio [...] WOBUC has a physical space of 450 m2 that can accommodate simultaneously, business meetings and conferences (Wobuc.com). Added to this is the possibility of organizing prospecting missions, market research, product promotion. In one word a true facilitation center for Haitian exporters, manufacturers, buyers worldwide, whose the negotiations with Mexico remains a challenge," says Kely, who lives in Mexico for over 20 years. Moreover, WOBUC signed a strategic agreement with LINBIX established in the state of Jalisco, whose the young CEO Bertho Cash Saint, also from Haiti, offers similar services in Guadalajara. Bertho Cash Saint ndicated to HaitiLibre that LINBIX was in operation for over three years and he already had many customers in Latin America "The agreement signed with WOBUC in Mexico will allow us to better assist Haitians wishing to do business with the State of Jalisco, the second State of Mexico." WOBUC LINUX and also want to take advantage of the approval of the agreement of promotion and protection of investments (APPRIs) signed in May 2015 between Mexico and Haiti. SL/ HaitiLibre Haiti - News : Zapping politics... Haiti wants to centralize money donations n a circular, the Chancellor Pierrot Delienne, communicates to diplomatic missions and consular posts of Haiti the account number opened to the Bank of the Republic of Haiti (BRH) #111250057 BRH in order to make the transfer of all donations received. Food kits bearing the name of Jovenel Moise Friday, the last day of electoral campaign Jovenel Moise, presidential candidate under the banner of PHTK, accompanied by his team went to provide assistance to the people ofIle-a-Vache, distributing food kits in plastic bags identified with his name and inciting to vote for him. 30 firefighters rescuers of France in Haiti 30 firefighters rescuers of the French civil security just landed to Port-au-Prince to help people affected by the hurricane Matthew. They will be joined Tuesday morning by a second team of 30 firefighters rescuers spread in two special planes carrying 32 tons of humanitarian supplies. Kenneth Merten mentioned the case of Privert In an interview on the Voice of America Kenneth Merten, Haiti special coordinator of the State Department, spoke about the obstacles that may arise in cooperation between the United States and a country that has no elected president democratically recalling that "Privert knows he is not at the National Palace by the outcome of an election but a political solution," Merten affirms ignoring if the United States would be willing to sign a bilateral agreement with the interim President, while avoiding to comment on the status of Jocelerme Privert "We are not yet at this situation. I do not want to go into controversial issues in Haiti. We have a good partnership with the government in power led by Prime Minister Enex Jean-Charles." A food caravan of Minister of Justice Sunday morning, the distribution of food kits, courtesy of Camille Edouard Jr, Minister of Justice and Public Security, has continued to Les Cayes (Gabion). The caravan will then go to Cotteaux and Port-a-Piment. Medicine Delivery On Friday, the Ministry of Interior and Territorial Communities convoyed medicine and food products to the departments of the South and Grand Anse, to assist the population. The priorities for the first emergency response phase, remain for the Government distribution of water, food and medicine to people in temporary shelters and communities. HL/ HaitiLibre Login or sign up to follow actresses, movies & dramas and get specific updates and news Login Sign Up New Ad-free Subscriber Login Email Password Password Username Your E-mail will only be used to retrieve a lost password. Stay logged in Help Published on 2016/10/10 | Source Added new poster and stills for the upcoming Korean movie "Twenty Again - Movie" (2015) Advertisement Directed by Park Heung-shik With Kim Seung-woo, Lee Tae-ran, Hwang Young-hee,... "Twenty Again - Movie" is a co-production between Korea and Italy Formerly known as "Second Twenty" Synopsis Director Min-gu goes to Turin, Italy as a jury member for a film festival. He runs into his ex-girlfriend Min-ha by chance on the plane and greets her cheerily. She, however, treats him like a total stranger. She pretends she has never known her boyfriend of 13 years, but after spending time with her stepdaughter in Italy, she goes back to Turin to meet him. Confirming their love for each other-now a 48-year-old man and a 40-year-old woman-they look at Caravaggio paintings and travel to Tuscany together. When talking about the past, they realize why their love couldn't work and confirm that they each have their own lives and families, so they promise not to contact each other again when back in Seoul. "Twenty Again - Movie" is a delightful love story of people in their forties, with cheerful performances by leads Kim Seung-woo and Lee Tae-ran in a new film from Park Heung-shik, whose previous "The Railroad" won the Best Actor Award at the Torino Film Festival in 2007. (NAM Dong-chul) Festival 20th Busan International Film Festival (2015) Panorama Section Release date in Korea : 2016/11/03 More Harlow is a former New Town in Essex with a population of 86,000. Located in the upper Stort Valley, it was built in the decades after the Second World War to ease overcrowding and London and provide homes for people bombed out during the Blitz. It includes Britain's first pedestrian precinct and first modern residential tower block, The Lawn. Old Harlow, the historic part of the town, was mentioned in the Domesday Book. David and Victoria Beckham's former home, Rowneybury House, nicknamed 'Beckingham Palace', is nearby. 09:44, 30 OCT 2022 Do Hawaii's special-interest-controlled politicians really want a hospital on Maui? by Jan Shields Do Mauis special-interest-controlled politicians really want a hospital? My experience campaigning for approval of a second hospital on Maui provides some clues. In the late 2000s, I worked as a neo-natal nurse at Kaiser Oahu. My immediate supervisor and top Kaiser management threatened me when they found out I was trying to get a hospital on Maui. When I would not stop, I was told, I could quit now. I did. Kaiser never wanted Maui to have a hospital. This would hurt the finances of Kaisers multimillion-dollar facility on Oahu. We started AIHM (Association for Improved Healthcare on Maui) and I worked full time at getting a new hospital. AIHM appealed to then-Senator David Ige. Ige was totally against a real hospital on Maui. Ige is Union bought and paid for. Senator Roz Baker accidentally told an AIHM member to his face (not knowing he was an AIHM member) that Baker "would never allow another hospital on Maui". Baker is another union puppet. One night after working at Maui Memorial, I stopped my car to talk to a 'sign waving' then-Senator Shan Tsusui. He saw my scrubs and stethoscope. He said, "Don't worry, I will never allow another hospital on Maui". He was intimating: I'll protect your union job forever. Hawaii Pacific Health turned down the purchase of MMMC when suggested by AIHM back in the mid 2000s. However, HPH would have taken over Maui Memorial and done a great job. Then, HPH changed their minds, and started talks. Kaiser didn't think HPH would succeed in taking over MMMC. When Kaiser saw HPH would succeed, Kaiser jumped innate the last minute to destroy the deal. Kaiser probably offered Wes Lo a better "Golden Parachute" to take over instead of HPH. We all wondered how this happened all of a sudden? Why the switch from a good system to a so-so hospital chain? (Kaiser = Think McDonalds. Not great, not particularly good for your health, but you always know what to expect.) When I met with the board of MMMC, the entire board wanted a non-government hospital owner except Wes Lo. Dont feel any pity for Lo. He is part of the problem. He waited until MMMC was circling the drain, bleeding money, and THEN he wanted a private public partnership. Now he gets his buddy Tony Kriegs job at Hale Makua handed to him on a silver platter. We better keep a close eye on Hale Makua. Wes Lo has not proved his qualifications for the job. I believe that Kaiser always meant to let the unions win and stop the deal. I was totally waiting for the other shoe to drop with this Kaiser deal. I believe Governor Ige and LG Shan Tsutui are part of this. Kaiser is afraid that if Maui gets a hospital, Hawaii Island will also. Kaiser is afraid if Maui gets a real hospital with a level one-trauma center, Hawaii Island patients will fly there instead of further on to Kaiser. This means they will not purchase Kaiser insurance. Hawaii Island should have its own real hospital with a level one Trauma Center. Either way, this also means that Maui and Hawaii Island people will stop paying Kaiser premiums, which would cause Kaisers Oahu facility to fold. Please understand, I am not putting down the doctors and nurses at Kaiser who are for the most part good and honest. I am most definitely aiming this at the management of Kaiser. Sadly, the Maui union workers are clueless that all union monies flow to the corrupt Oahu unions and pockets of the politicians who wont really help them. MMMC workers do not realize they would have a much better job and income working for a non-government hospital. I have worked for privately owned, non-profit hospitals, MMMC, and Kaiser. I vote privately owned non profit hospitals to work for, hands down every time. They take care of everyone and do a great job of it. Maui Union Workers: you are getting played like a Ukulele ! Its all about the money. Medical tourism is a huge profit machine. Maui residents fly over to Oahu, bring thousands of our medical dollars there, stay in Oahu hotels, eat in Oahu restaurants, and use Oahu stores and transportation. Whole families go over to Oahu. It is a guaranteed income for Oahu hospitals. Oahu is desperate to keep their medical tourism. ---30--- HC interviews Jonathon Hadley, Partner, Gadens, for his insights on managing underperformance where a bullying complaint has been lodged. 1. Can a disciplinary process be conducted concurrently with a bullying investigation? One of the most common issues arising from a performance management process is a complaint of bullying or harassment. The complaint can either be in relation to a person conducting the disciplinary process, or another person within the organisation. Complaints of bullying or harassment will more often arise as a result of the disciplinary process, however it may also arise shortly beforehand if an employee senses that they may be the subject of an investigation. In either circumstance, employers are not automatically restricted from proceeding with both processes concurrently. There are no specific legislative requirement which requires the suspension of either process. In some cases, it may be operationally vital that the disciplinary process is undertaken and finalised expediently (for instance, where an employers policy requires it). However, when assessing whether it is appropriate to continue both processes concurrently, employers are encouraged to first consider whether the claim of bullying could be related to, or adversely affect the legitimacy of, the disciplinary process. An example of this may be where the disciplinary process relates to performance issues, and the complaint relates to the person responsible for assessing the employees performance. A workplace participants conduct will generally be classed as bullying when that conduct is: (a) repeated; (b) unreasonable; and (c) a risk to health and safety. Reasonable management action undertaken in a reasonable way is expressly excluded from, and does not constitute, bullying. For the most part a managers actions during a disciplinary or performance management process, if undertaken reasonably, will be considered reasonable management action. Notwithstanding this, employers wishing to proceed with both processes concurrently should ensure a number of precautions are taken to minimise the risk of a formal claim. 2. If yes, how should HR proceed while handling these two processes? Employers wishing to proceed with both processes concurrently should ensure that the following steps are taken, where appropriate: (a) Both processes are kept separate and distinct. It is essential that the persons involved in the disciplinary process are not also involved with investigating the complaint. Where human resources cannot facilitate this, or where the complaint involves senior management, employers should consider engaging an external resource to investigate the complaint. In some cases, external legal assistance may be most appropriate, should privilege be sought over the contents of the investigation. (b) Follow internal policies and procedures. Employers should ensure that they follow all internal policies and procedures when undertaking both processes. This will greatly minimise the risk that the management action (even if reasonable), was undertaken in a reasonable way. (c) A clear and defined process for investigating the complaint is established. Employers should ensure that there is a clear process in place for investigating the complaint. (d) If possible, remove the subject officer from both processes. It is often the case that the subject of the complaint will be a person intricately involved in the disciplinary process. Where possible, this person should be removed from a decision making role in the disciplinary process. If employers are unable to properly investigate the complaint without the involvement of the subject officer, external assistance should be sought. (e) Keep clear and comprehensive written evidence of decision making process. In addition to further bullying claims, employers also risk a claim under the general protections provisions where disciplinary action has been taken following a complaint of bullying. Where such a claim is made, the employer is required to show that the disciplinary action taken was for a reason other than the making of the complaint. The question here is directed that the decision makers subjective state of mind at the time the action was taken. In these circumstances, it is essential that employers are able to rely on clear, comprehensive and contemporaneous documentation to support the real reasons the disciplinary action was taken. 3. If no, which should be conducted first and why? In circumstances where an employer has made the decision to only proceed with one process, it is normal practice to resolve the bullying complaint first. The primary reason employers may first wish to investigate the complaint of bullying is to ensure that the alleged conduct has not contributed to, or jeopardised the legitimacy of, the disciplinary process. Where it is possible that the outcome of the complaint could change the outcome of the disciplinary process, it is recommended that the complaint be resolved first. Should employers first wish to resolve the bullying complaint, the above steps should still be taken where appropriate. 4. How should HR proceed to minimise risks such as further bullying claims or adverse action in this scenario? In addition to the tips outlined in response to question two, employers should: (a) undertake regular and scheduled reviews of their policies and procedures to ensure they remain up to date, and in line with the current legislative framework; and (b) ensure they are aware of, and in compliance with, any grievance resolution or response procedures outlined in the applicable enterprise bargaining agreement. Jonathon Hedley will be speaking at the Employment Law for HR Managers masterclass 2016. 2 November I Dockside Darling Harbour Sydney 10 November I Four Points by Sheraton Perth 22 November I Stamford Plaza Melbourne 24 November I Brisbane Marriott Hotel Lightning will strike at the Jones House on October 21 , following the ASU Homecoming parade, when Mike Lightnin' Wells gives a performance of Piedmont blues and vintage tunes of the 1920s. Wells grew up in eastern North Carolina, where he learned to play harmonica and guitar, while developing a strong interest in traditional blues and folk music. He started performing in the Chapel Hill area in the early 1970s, and he has not looked back since. Lightnin Wells came to Boone for our first Black Banjo Gathering in 2005, when he accompanied the legendary Algia Mae Hinton, says concert organizer, Mark Freed. He is one of the most knowledgeable players of the guitar styles of the southeast. Wells is particularly fascinated with the Piedmont blues tradition, which includes 1920s and 1930s recording artist, Blind Boy Fuller. Fuller got his start playing in Durham around the tobacco warehouses and auctions, Wells says. He put North Carolina on the blues map. Reverend Gary Davis was another important blues player active in Durham during the 1930s, and Wells has studied his style as well. Fuller and Davis were not alive when Wells came onto the scene in the 1970s, but he sought after other North Carolina blues veterans, producing commercial recordings for Hinton, Big Boy Henry, and George Higgs. Wells made his own first solo recording, Bull Frog Blues, in 1995, followed by Ragtime Millionaire in 1998. Wells had two more blues releases in 2002 and 2008, and he also recorded and album of childrens music in 2008. Wells is also an avid researcher and teacher of American roots music. Well versed on the guitar, harmonica, ukulele, mandolin, and banjo, he has taught classes and workshops all across the country. He is a regular faculty member at the renowned Augusta Heritage Center and Swannanoa Gathering. He served 10 years on the Music Maker Relief Foundation board of directors, and he is a North Carolina Arts Council and American Traditions National Roster through the Southern Arts Federation touring artist. Wells will be giving a finger-style blues guitar master class on Thursday, October 20 , at the Jones House Cultural and Community Center in downtown Boone, starting at 7:30 p.m. Wells will also be giving a house concert at the community center on Friday, October 21, following the downtown Boone homecoming parade. Tickets for the concert are $20 per person. The venue can seat 40 people, and due to the limited seating, advanced reservations are recommended. All open seats will be available at the door, which opens at 7:00 p.m. on the night of the concert. The Jones House is located at 604 W. King Street in downtown Boone. For more information on the workshop, performance or the Indoor Concert Series, including a complete schedule of performances, please visit www.joneshouse.org or call 828.268.6280 Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket The subject of growing industrial hemp in North Carolina will be discussed during a Lunch and Learn session for farmers at the NC Department of Agriculture Piedmont Research Station in Salisbury on November 2, 2016. Legislation enacted by the General Assembly in 2015 established an agricultural pilot program for cultivating industrial hemp. Founders Hemp, based in Asheboro, is the first vertically integrated hemp company organized in the state and sponsor of the event. We are pleased to work in conjunction with the Department of Agriculture and NC State University in hosting this event, said Bob Crumley, president of Founders Hemp. This is an exciting new opportunity for farmers to fill the void left by tobacco, and will be an economic win-win for our state. Industrial hemp has a wide variety of uses. Fiber is used in twine, paper, construction materials, carpeting and apparel. Seeds and leaves are used in making industrial oils, cosmetics, medicine and nutritious food products. Hemp is grown in more than 30 countries, and it has been legal to import hemp products into the United States for many years. The Federal Agricultural Act of 2014 called for universities and state departments of agriculture to begin cultivating domestic industrial hemp. The lunch session in Salisbury will include discussions of the roles of the Department of Agriculture and NC State University in researching hemp production, concerns for law enforcement and farming information from experienced hemp farmers. Speakers will include Sandy Stewart, director of the Research Stations Division of the NC Department of Agriculture and a member of the NC Hemp Commission; Angela Post, Small Grains Extension Specialist at NC State; Keith Edmisten, professor of crop science at NC State; Sam Page, Rockingham County Sheriff; Bob Crumley, president of Founders Hemp and Scott Shoulars, agronomist. Other presenters include Tom Hutchens, president of Kentucky Hemp Seed Research and Development; Rick Trojan, Colorado hemp farmer and Garry Meier, Canadian hemp farmer and processor. To make a reservation for the Lunch and Learn, contact Waylon Saunders, director of Farming Operations at Founders Hemp at (336) 580-4950 or email [email protected]. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket The following is a release from the Watauga County Board of Elections office. WATAUGA COUNTY VOTING FACT SHEET Voter Registration Deadline: October 14 Vote by Mail: Anyone can. Fill out an Absentee Ballot request form and well mail a ballot to your house. No reason needed. Requests must be received by November 1st. One Stop early voting: October 20 November 5. Same Day Registration is available. See our website for locations, dates, and times. Same Day registrants will need to provide proof of their voting residence by presenting any of the following valid documents that show your current residence address: a North Carolina drivers license; a photo ID from a government agency; or a current bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document. ASU students that live in on-campus housing will be sent an email by the University. This email is slated to be sent October 17 and will have the following Subject/Header: Proof of Campus Housing for Voter Registration and Voting. There will a short statement that should the student need this information to register they can provide the email notification to the election official. In the event that a student deletes the email (and discards it from their Deleted folder, that student will likely need to go to the Housing office located in the JET (John E. Thomas) Building No Voter ID: Voter ID is not required to vote in this election. *First-time voters, who at the time of their initial voter registration did not provide their North Carolina driver license number or the last four digits of their social security number, or who provided a number that could not be validated, are required to show identification when they vote. This identification does not have to be a photo ID. The requirement for first-time voters to show identification is a requirement of the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) of 2002, a federal law not unique to North Carolina. Acceptable forms of HAVA ID include:A current and valid photo identification; or A copy of one of the following documents that show the name and address of the voter: a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document. Only 1 ballot: No need to change parties to vote for a candidate, everyone gets the same ballot. You must be registered in Watauga County: In order to vote in Watauga County, you must be registered in Watauga County. If youre registered in another county you will need to vote there or change your registration to Watauga County. Same Day Registration Requirements: Complete a voter registration form, including the attestation requirement that the person meets each eligibility requirement. Such attestation is signed under penalty of a Class I felony; and Provide proof of residence by presenting any of the following valid documents that show the persons current name and current residence address: a North Carolina drivers license, a photo identification from a government agency, or any of the documents: a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document. Checking your registration status: Are you registered to vote and where go to https://vt.ncsbe.gov/voter_search_public/ and enter your information . Where do you vote on election day?: Go to https://vt.ncsbe.gov/pollingplace_search/ . The Watauga County Board of Elections (828)265-8061 Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket The Women for Trump bus tour took a pit stop at the Hardees parking lot in Boone on Monday after rallies in Charlotte and Gastonia earlier in the day. A few dozen folks turned out for the event. Prior to the event, Women for Trump Director Nancy Schulze said in a release, Were women who care deeply about the real America the one that Hillary Clinton, Saul Alinsky, Barack Obama and George Soros are trying to transform. We are not at a crossroads in this election, we are at the edge of a cliff and in just a few days women who outvote men by a lot will determine whether we go off that cliff, or begin to rebuild this country. Speakers included Latoya Coffield an African American convert to the Republican Party, Dorothy Woods, Gold Star Widow of Tyrone Woods, killed in Benghazi, who will talk about what Hillary said and did off-camera, and Gold Star Mother, Karen Vaughn whose Navy Seal son, Aaron, was killed in Afghanistan aboard Extortion 17. At the Charlotte rally, Dorothy Woods, also a U.S. Navy Veteran, said that Democratic Presidential Candidate Hillary Clinton turned her back while saying it was time to move on from Benghazi, the Charlotte Observer reported. Its not a choice for me, Woods said. I am voting for Donald Trump.I feel like the mainstream media forces voters to get bent out of shape about how Trump says things. But Hillary Clinton is a woman who has repeatedly acted in a way that disqualifies her from being our next commander in chief. Are we basing our decision on how someone sounds, or on actual evidence of how someone acts? He deserves a chance. She had hers. The Women for Trump rallies on Monday come a few days after the Washington Post published a 2005 recording of a hot mic capturing some extremely lewd comments toward women made by Trump while he was on the set of Days of Our Lives soap opera. Share this: Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Reddit Pocket (HedgeCo.Net) The Securities and Exchange Commission has voted to propose a rule amendment to shorten the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions from three business days after the trade date (T+3) to two business days after the trade date (T+2). The proposed amendment is designed to reduce the risks that arise from the value and number of unsettled securities transactions prior to the completion of settlement, including credit, market, and liquidity risk directly faced by U.S. market participants. Todays proposal to shorten the standard settlement cycle is an important step in the SECs ongoing efforts to enhance the resilience and efficiency of the U.S. clearance and settlement system, said SEC Chair Mary Jo White. The benefits of a shortened settlement cycle should extend to all investors, not just those directly involved in the trading, clearing and settling of securities transactions. The proposal amends Rule 15c6-1(a) of the Exchange Act of 1934. The public comment period will remain open for 60 days following publication of the proposing release in the Federal Register. The Commission will consider whether to propose a rule amendment to expedite the process for settling securities transactions. Currently, the standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions is three business days, known as T+3. The proposal would shorten the settlement cycle to two days, or T+2. The proposed amendment is designed to enhance efficiency and reduce risk, consistent with a multi-stakeholder process underway to move to a shortened settlement cycle. Highlights The Commissions proposal would amend Rule 15c6-1(a) of the Exchange Act to shorten the standard settlement cycle for broker-dealer transactions from T+3 to T+2, subject to certain exceptions. As proposed, the amendment would prohibit a broker-dealer from entering into a contract for the purchase or sale of a security (other than an exempted security, government security, municipal security, commercial paper, bankers acceptances, or commercial bills) that provides for payment of funds and delivery of securities later than two business days after the trade date, unless otherwise expressly agreed to by the parties at the time of the transaction. The proposed amendment is designed to reduce a number of risks that arise from the value and number of unsettled securities transactions prior to the completion of settlement. Shortening the standard settlement cycle to T+2 could result in a further reduction of credit, market, and liquidity risk for all U.S. market participants, which in turn could reduce systemic risk for U.S. market participants. Background The Commission originally adopted Exchange Act Rule 15c6-1 in 1993 to establish a standard settlement cycle for most broker-dealer securities transactions (subject to the exceptions provided in the rule), effectively shortening the settlement cycle for most securities transactions from five business days to three business days after the trade date (T+3). The Commission cited a number of reasons for standardizing and shortening the settlement cycle, which included, among others, reducing credit and market risk exposure related to unsettled trades, reducing liquidity risk among derivatives and cash markets, encouraging greater efficiency in the clearance and settlement process, and reducing systemic risk for the U.S. markets. Whats Next The Commission will seek public comment on the proposed amendment to Rule 15c6-1(a) for 60 days following publication in the Federal Register. The Commission will then review the comments and determine whether to adopt the proposed amendment to Rule 15c6-1(a) as a final rule. Political appointments are a problem. The management boards of companies also show how power tends to centralise in this country. We've got a number of well-known professional board members whose names appear on the [boards] of many businesses. They often have ties to each other [and] may orchestrate bonuses for their buddies, she says to Uusi Suomi. Maria Ohisalo, a deputy chairperson of the Green League, has voiced her concerns about the role of buddy capitalism in Finland. At least that's how it looks to the outside, she adds. The issue came to the fore after a debate about the transitions of policy-makers to the health care sector aired on YLE TV1 on Thursday. Several members of the National Coalition Party, for example, have recently moved to the private health care sector: Lasse Mannisto, an ex-Member of Parliament, was named the head of outsourcing services at Mehilainen in 2015, and Laura Raty, an ex-Minister of Social Affairs and Health, the head of operations at Terveystalo in 2016. Joonas Turunen, a special adviser to the National Coalition Ministerial Group, announced late last month that he will be appointed as a development manager at Terveystalo. The appointments have drawn criticism especially, but not exclusively, from the ranks of the opposition not least due to the looming reform of health care and social welfare services in Finland. There's a lot of hidden corruption in Finland, tweeted Ohisalo. I think it's interesting that also those who swear by free market economy oppose such buddy capitalism. Even they don't consider this as free market economy. There's no free competition between companies in a monopoly or oligopoly position, she adds in an interview with Uusi Suomi. Ben Zyskowicz (NCP) underscored during the debate programme that the National Coalition has spoken in favour of greater freedom of choice for patients because it considers it important, not because it wants to pave the way for its members to transition to the health care sector. The National Coalition is an advocate of the care reform and freedom of choice because it is best for the availability and quality [of services] and ultimately the taxpayers, he said. Ohisalo calls for a common set of rules to guarantee the transparency of appointments and to ensure no conflicts of interest arise. The rules must be the same for everyone, she stresses, We need a lobbyist register and greater transparency. The public must be able to trust social institutions and, especially, decision-makers. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Handout / YLE Source: Uusi Suomi The Government can do a lot, and it must not stand idly by as jobs disappear in Finland, Andersson, the chairperson of the opposition party, says in a press release issued by the three Members of the Finnish Parliament. The resurgence of the shipbuilding industry should be regarded as an example of the rewards of a more active growth, industrial and ownership steering policy, state Li Andersson, Annika Lapintie and Kari Uotila of the Left Alliance. The Finnish Government, she points out, was active in assembling a consortium of investors to rescue the crisis-stricken shipbuilding industry in 20122014, the results of which are currently evident in the swelling order books of Meyer Turku. Uotila, a former chief shop steward at the shipyard, estimates that the shipbuilding industry is part of the industrial backbone of Finland. Shipbuilding forms the core for a broader cluster of maritime expertise that consists not only of shipbuilding but also the offshore, port and maritime industries. It is important that this expertise remains in Finland and that no know-how and skills leak abroad as a result of corporate acquisitions, he states. Lapintie, in turn, points out that the value of order books at Meyer Turku is up to 4.6 billion euros. It is clear that adopting an active ownership policy is rational when it comes to an industrial sector of such importance. The maritime industry is an important employer for all of Western Finland with the capability to overcome headwinds also in the future, she says. Aleksi Teivainen HT Photo: Markku Ulander Lehtikuva Source: Uusi Suomi A Brazilian man will appear in court today following the fatal stabbing of a young father-of-three. Gardai have also appealed to two women who may have information about the violent death of James (Jay) Banville (28) in Waterford city at the weekend to come forward with information. The deceased is from Raheen outside Clonroche in Co Wexford. The attack took place at 3.20am on New Street in Waterford on Saturday. Mr Banville was killed just hours into a "purple flag weekend", an initiative aimed at highlighting the city as a safe and vibrant place to socialise. He was pronounced dead in University Hospital Waterford shortly after the incident. Arrested A 35-year-old man, who is understood to be a Brazilian national and who lives in Waterford, was arrested near the scene of the crime. He is expected to appear before Waterford District Court today. The Mayor of Waterford, Adam Wyse, offered his condolences to the victim's family. He urged witnesses to the incident to contact the authorities. "Anyone who could have seen anything or who knows anything about it should contact the gardai and let them know any information," he said. A teenage St Patrick's Day reveller who was found by gardai collapsed on the ground before he became violent towards them had his case further adjourned for him to engage with the Restorative Justice Programme. Jordan Joyce (19) was ordered to attend Restorative Justice Services, but at a sitting of Swords District Court it became apparent he had not. His solicitor, Fiona D'Arcy, said he had thought he had already attended all the meetings he was supposed to. "He should have rescheduled the meeting," said Ms D'Arcy, adding that Joyce has not come to garda attention since and has "turned his life around completely". On St Patrick's Day, Joyce became aggressive and violent and ripped one garda's epaul- ette when he got to his feet, Swords District Court heard. He was with a large group of youths who were draped in tricolours and carrying bags of alcohol in Rivervalley Park in Swords. Apologised Gardai were on bicycle patrol when they came across the youths, who ran off and left Joyce in a collapsed state on the ground due to intoxication. His violent behaviour continued in the garda station. The court heard he apologised to the gardai the following week. He has no previous convictions. Joyce, of St Cronan's Close, Swords, pleaded guilty to the offences. Ms D'Arcy previously told Swords District Court that the teenager suffers from anxiety and depression and was drinking heavily at the time. "He is now getting counselling and has stopped drinking," she said. Joyce undertook to attend all appointments with the Probation Services and the Restorative Justice Services, but Judge Dermot Dempsey warned him that if he is in breach of this he can be held in contempt of court and could face up to three months in prison. He remanded the case to December 12. Flowers, messages and toys left at the scene of the fire which resulted in the deaths of 10 people at a halting site on Glenamuck Road South, Carrickmines The joint funeral of Tara Gilbert and her children Jodie and Kelsey The scene of the tragic fire at Glenmaluck Road, Carrickmines. A year on from one of the country's worst fire tragedies, which killed 10 people and left three families devastated, a group has warned that a similar incident could occur. A Travellers rights group has warned there are "other Carrickmines waiting to happen" if the crisis in Traveller accommodation isn't addressed. A number of vigils will take place around the country today to remember the five adults and five children killed in the devastating blaze that broke out on a temporary halting site in Carrickmines in south Dublin. Unsafe Martin Collins, director at Pavee Point, has called for a "huge increase" in funding in Tuesday's Budget for Traveller Accomodation to help avoid another tragedy. "We still have 1,300 Traveller families - approximately 7,000 or 8,000 people - who are living in sub-standard, unsafe accommodation right across this country," he said. "We have to fight very hard to make sure that Travellers and Traveller accommodation stays on the agenda. "If you look at the narrative around the national housing crisis, it is predominately spoken about in relation to settled people, and Travellers have become almost invisible. "It's an ongoing struggle if you like, but that's what we're faced with," he said. Pavee Point delivered a pre-Budget submission which raised issues about cuts to health initiatives, early years accommodation and accommodation. "I know people are focused on Carrickmines because of the terrible tragedy, but there's other Carrickmines out there waiting to happen," Mr Collins said. The Carrickmines victims included Thomas Connors (27), his wife Sylvia (30) and their three children, Jim (5), Christy (3), and six-month-old baby Mary. Sylvia's brother, Willy Lynch (25), his partner Tara Gilbert (27), who was pregnant at the time of the fire, her daughter Jodie Gilbert (9), and their daughter Kelsey (4) also died in the fire. Willy and Sylvia's brother Jimmy Lynch (39) also passed away. "We need a new approach because the present structures are totally ineffective," said Mr Collins "I see Housing Minister Simon Coveney on the media quite often being very critical and putting pressure on local authorities [about the housing crisis], but I'll be frank - we don't see that kind of enthusiasm and commitment when it comes to Traveller accommodation," he said. "It's a hand-off approach." Cutbacks Mr Coveney has not yet visited a halting site since taking over his new brief in May. Funding for Traveller accommodation plummeted from 35m in 2009 to 5.5m this year - a drop of 84pc. A spokesman for Mr Coveney said he is "hopeful" of a significant increase in funding for Traveller accommodation in tomorrow's Budget. "The Minister has sought a substantial increase in funding for Traveller accommodation in 2017, as part of the Estimates process and is hopeful of realising a significant increase on the 2016 capital allocation of 5.5m," he said. A review of how Traveller accommodation is provided by local authorities is due to be completed by mid-2017. It follows a fire safety audit that took place this year in the aftermath of the Carrickmines tragedy, which uncovered fire safety failings in more than 80pc of 2,000 units. No update was available this week on how many of the homes identified with fire-safety issues, such as no smoke alarms, had been rectified since July 2016 when the report was compiled. As of July 1 however, there were still 380 units which needed a smoke alarm and 525 which needed a carbon monoxide alarm. The department was unable to say whether these had been updated. They were also unable to state how many of the 451 units at temporary of unofficial sites had been upgraded to permanent sites to date. The scene of the fatal knife attack. Photo: Collins Dublin. Gardai have arrested a man they were seeking after a brutal stab murder in Dublin. Leo Carolan (25) died after he was assaulted at a property on Dublin's South Circular Road last Tuesday. A second man, Swiss national Ludovic Thomas, survived the attack but was rushed to hospital with serious knife injuries. A 23-year-old man was arrested by detectives investigating the murder over the weekend. Scene It is suspected the arrested man fled the scene of the double stabbing and gardai had been trying to locate him since. He was arrested after stepping off a ferry from Holyhead at Dublin Port on Saturday afternoon and is being questioned in Kevin Street Garda Station. "He is currently detained under the provisions of Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984," a garda statement said. Gardai have trawled through hundreds of hours of CCTV footage in an attempt to catch the killer. An eyewitness told the Herald how they saw a man stagger across the road from the property before collapsing on the footpath. It was being investigating whether the killer may have dumped his blood-soaked tee-shirt in a nearby rubbish bin after Tuesday's bloodbath. Officers are also wondering if the aspiring DJ's killer is someone he had been in contact with online - possibly a person that Mr Carolan had tried to sell something to. "The victim in this case regularly used 'buy and sell' websites. All contacts that Mr Carolan had, both online and elsewhere, in the days before his murder are being looked at," a source said. It also emerged that the suspected killer may have bought shoes in a charity shop after the savage slaying. Hospital Detectives spent a number of hours in hospital earlier this week interviewing Mr Thomas. Mr Carolan was living in the apartment for some time after returning from France. He studied Anthropology at Universite Lumiere in Lyon before continuing his education in Creative Music Production at IADT in Dun Laoghaire. It has also emerged that the victim had been due to meet a close female relative of his at around the time of his murder, but this arrangement had been cancelled. Actor and writer Michael Collins, who shot to fame as Johnny Connors in Glenroe, has described the Carrickmines fire as a tragedy 50 years in the making. He has just finished a run of his play Ireland Shed a Tear? which fictionalises the aftermath of the blaze that killed 10 people. The play focuses on a family who meet with council executives to have their site audited for fire safety - the family are hopeful that the problems on their site will be addressed. But instead they are evicted. Starring Michael and his son Johnny (11), the play has been met with standing ovations and was inspired by the national response to the devastating events of last October. "What happened in Carrickmines was a tragedy waiting to happen for 50 years," he said, referring to problems with Traveller accommodation. Following the blaze, Michael said he hoped that Ireland's attitude to the Travelling community would change. "Everyone was so saddened - the flags were flying at half mast, our politicians came out - I actually believed there was a turning point. And three days later the turning point just collapsed and the underbelly of racism raised its ugly head," he told the Herald. "I felt so saddened about that, the social media was terrible, the radio programmes allowing people to come on and says things about Travellers which they didn't have to, and then to go to Wexford town (for the funeral) and feeling like we didn't belong." Some businesses and pubs in Wexford town closed on the day of the funeral of members of the Connors family. Members of the Lynch and Gilbert family had been laid to rest days earlier in Bray. "There's a line in the show that I never felt so alien, alien in my own country. I never felt so angry in my life coming out of Wexford," Michael said. "The respect in Bray was brilliant. The local people worked with the Travellers shoulder to shoulder that day. When we buried our dead we went in and had a cup of tea and a sandwich and went home. "These victims and families shouldn't be forgotten, and the way they were treated by Irish society and the Government is an Irish shame. I would call it an Irish shame," he said. WASHINGTON -- For many condominium buyers and sellers across the country, the Obama administration delivered what seemed like encouraging news last week: The Federal Housing Administration, once the primary source of mortgage financing for moderate-income and first-time condo buyers, is coming back, big time. But the real story was more complex. Under new reform proposals, FHA plans to loosen some of its controversial and strict eligibility rules that have caused condo associations nationwide to abandon the program. It also wants to revive so-called "spot loans" -- mortgages for individual units in condo buildings that haven't received blanket certifications from the agency. That change alone could open up low-down-payment financing for millennials, minorities and others in many of the estimated 150,000-plus condo projects in the United States. The Community Associations Institute estimates that just 14,000 condo projects nationwide -- less than 10 percent of the total -- are now certified for FHA-insured mortgages. The proposals would also throw a lifeline to senior owners of condo units who need a reverse mortgage to supplement their retirement income. Since FHA's reverse mortgage program accounts for an estimated 90 percent-plus of all reverse mortgages, the recent inability of seniors living in uncertified condo buildings to obtain reverse mortgages has effectively denied them funds they'd otherwise be able to access. To real estate professionals such as Norva Madden, an agent with Long & Foster Real Estate in the Maryland suburbs of Washington D.C., reopening FHA financing to more condo projects -- after nearly eight years of rules that scared them away -- can't come soon enough. She's had multiple, well-qualified buyers eager to buy condo units in the affordable $155,000-$160,000 range walk out the door when they discovered they couldn't use FHA financing because the building where they hoped to live had left the federal program. Rather than selling quickly for close to list prices, units in non-certified buildings often languish on the market for 90 to 180 days, she said, and then sell below the asking price. In one recent case, an elderly owner was forced to sell her two-bedroom condo to a low-ball bidder for $13,000 less than she could have otherwise obtained from FHA-qualified buyers. Lack of FHA certification "puts a hardship on the sellers" in middle-income buildings, Madden told me -- it costs them real money. But the new proposals may not be as favorable to sellers and buyers as they appear at first glance. A key test of eligibility for FHA is a building's percentage of owner occupants versus renters. In recent years, FHA has required that at least 50 percent of a building be owner-occupied to qualify. Housing industry critics have said that's too high and excludes too many financially sound, well-managed projects. This past summer, Congress passed a bill by unanimous votes in both chambers requiring FHA to drop the threshold to 35 percent within 90 days or provide justification for anything higher. Here's the sticky wicket: In its proposal Sept. 27, the agency didn't address that mandate but offered a starkly different approach. It plans to select limits from an owner-occupancy range between 25 percent and 75 percent, and vary them whenever it chooses by issuing a "notice." FHA said the current 50 percent limit "has worked" but did not explain what that meant. The congressional deadline for compliance with the 35 percent requirement is near the end of October. Whether the agency intends to stick with its current rule or accept Congress's more lenient standard is unclear. But under FHA's proposal, the mandatory owner occupancy percentage could be raised to more than double what Congress directed or it could be 10 percentage points less. One long-time expert in the field, Chris Gardner, president of FHA Pros LLC, a Northridge, California-based national consulting firm that helps condo associations obtain certifications from FHA, had mixed feelings about what the agency is up to. If it follows through on its spot loan proposal, he says, it will be a "landmark" decision because it "will make so many more purchases happen" in projects currently lacking certification. But Gardner is concerned about FHA's proposed range of 25 percent to 75 percent on owner occupancy. It might be "intended to give [FHA] flexibility without having to involve Congress," he said. But it might also be "an attempt to bypass Congress." Bottom line: Don't bank on any immediate changes until FHA announces final rules. If the agency is playing a runaround game, it's up against the wrong opponent: a Congress that is determined to revive the affordable condo market. Comings and goings: Boot Barn in the works; Clorox plant opens New store could be the third to move into Valley Plaza this year. HICKORY The Batwa tribe in Uganda live a marginalized existence, treated as less than human by the rest of the country. They live in extreme poverty and are often displaced and subjected to brutal treatment. One local mother, Sonya Schweighardt, 45, seeks to change that through her non-profit, Hope Ministries Uganda. They cant go to local medical clinics, they cant go to local schools, Schweighardt said. They dont have voting rights, the women often die in childbirth and they are very looked down upon. Schweighardt said the Batwa tribe used to live in the rainforests, until the Ugandan government forced them out in order to create a sanctuary for endangered apes. The original intent of the government was that the Batwa people would get some of the funding from the sanctuary, but they never have, Schweighardt said. I meet with local officials when I go, and I try to meet with ones higher up each time I go. Schweighardt works on the non-profit 20-30 hours a week, often late at nights or early in the morning. When she is not working, Schweighardt raises and home schools 15 children, 12 of whom are adopted. Her childrens ages range from 9 to 21. Those people over there are like family, Schweighardt said. Theyre not just faces to me. Schweighardt said she was first inspired to make a difference in the world in May 2004 after contemplative prayer. Its like when you discover what God created you for, Schweighardt said. I think everyone has a destiny, what we were created for. When you discover that, it brings a lot of life into you She made her first trip to Uganda in May 2015. Now she travels to the country an average of four times a year. These people are some of the most amazing people I have ever met, Schweighardt said. They are not just helpless people who arent doing anything. They have humongous hearts. Since then, the non-profit has built a new orphanage for the tribe and set up three meals a day for children. Schweighardt said they plan to build a school, a medical clinic and a church. The non-profit also intends to collaborate with Chombox to build housing for the tribe. Additional projects include clean water access, first aid training and sanitation. Our ultimate goal is self-sustainability, Schweighardt said. The key of what were trying to do is get the word out about the tribe. Schweighardt said her husband, Russell, had never been to Uganda, but hopes he will be able to one day. We are open to moving over there as full-time missionaries, Schweighardt said. But we have got to get everything established over on this side first. This domain has expired. If you owned this domain, contact your domain registration service provider for further assistance. If you need help identifying your provider, visit https://www.tucowsdomains.com/ Last week, I wrote about the role of gender in the American presidential election. I couldnt have known how much the topic would explode a few days later with the release of a tape from 2005 in which Donald Trump is recorded making horribly lewd remarks about women. Many of his Republican supporters are outraged and have withdrawn their endorsements. Though Trump has managed to weather many scandals and gaffes over the course of his campaign, this may be the October surprise that scuppers his presidential bid. The offending tape was recorded while Trump was about to guest star on a soap opera. Should the tape prove decisively damaging to Trumps campaign, it will be ironic that he is undone by his involvement in the institution that has both catapulted him into the limelight and been subjected to his tireless vitriol: the media. Trump has invoked many bugbears during his campaign, from Mexican immigrants to Chinese manufacturers to Muslims. But no group of people has been so much the target of his unrelenting scorn than the media. He routinely attacks journalists and broadcasters in his speeches, accusing them of liberal bias and lying about him. At every one of his rallies, he goads his supporters into hurling abuse at attendant reporters, cameramen and photographers. Even throughout the second debate, Trump accused the moderators of giving him less time than they did to his opponent and made the charge that the mainstream media favoured Hillary Clinton. A Gallup poll in September suggested that 68% of Americans didnt trust the mainstream media. Trump took some credit for the high figure: I am really proud to say that I think I had a lot to do with that poll number. Much as Hindu nationalists on Twitter call members of the Indian media presstitutes, sepoys and boot-lickers, Trumps legions of internet supporters send venomous messages to journalists, including racist, anti-Semitic, sexist and violent threats. And yet no presidential candidate has been more enabled and empowered by the media than Trump. In the early 1990s, he posed as a fake PR executive to share news of his own romantic exploits with the tabloids. He later inflated his name by embarking on a successful career in reality TV. His political career was based on a very public, racist quest to find Barack Obamas birth certificate. His stunning victory in the Republican presidential primary upsetting more established, bigger-spending rivals like Jeb Bush came on the back of an estimated $2 billion worth of free media publicity. Networks found Trumps reckless and discombobulated style a welcome break from traditional political rhetoric. Chasing ratings, they lavished him with airtime. In a leaked email, Colin Powell the Republican former secretary of state under George W Bush attacked the media for dancing to Trumps tune. After declining in December 2015 to appear on a Trump-related segment on CNN, Powell wrote: Its time to start ignoring him. You guys are playing his game, you are his oxygen. Powell predicted what then seemed an outlandish possibility, that Trump would win the Republican candidacy. Dean Baquet, the executive editor of the New York Times, admitted that Trump has flummoxed the media. Hes been hugely challenging. I dont think weve ever had somebody who in my time as a journalist so openly lies, and that was a word that we struggled to actually utter. American coverage of presidential elections is predicated on the competition of two more-or-less symmetrical parties. As the media scholar Jay Rosen has observed at length, Trumps campaign has massively distorted that paradigm. A political style that mocks the idea of a common world of facts is an attack on the very possibility of honest journalism, Rosen writes. Campaign journalists have to find a way to oppose this style without becoming election-season opponents of Trump himself. To their credit, networks like CNN and establishment newspapers like the Washington Post and New York Times are belatedly trying to push back against Trumps manipulations of the truth. Of course, journalists are never beyond reproach. The American media was hugely culpable in delivering to the world the debacle of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Journalists, just like the political class, warrant trenchant and regular criticism. But the hate stirred by Trump against the media has little to do with engaging with its shortcomings. Trump demonises the media not because he actually believes it is worthy of vilification, but because he knows his supporters revel in bashing the chattering classes, in arraying themselves against a seemingly unaccountable elite. Their disavowal of the media is, perversely, a refusal to have their own beliefs questioned. Already, Trumps apologists are blaming the media for inflating the significance of his appalling sexist remarks. They want to turn a revelation about the depravities of a man who hopes to be president into proof of a media conspiracy against their dear leader. Their deep, emotional rejection of inconvenient news (and its messengers) reminds us that Trumps campaign is not only animated by racist, xenophobic, and sexist passions, but also by a 21st century authoritarianism. Kanishk Tharoor is the author of Swimmer Among the Stars: Stories The views expressed are personal SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Chhattisgarh government on Saturday transferred Shiv Anant Tayal, a 2012 batch IAS officer, for writing a social media post on the founder-member of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh (the BJP is the successor party of the Sangh), Deen Dayal Upadhyaya. I dont find the Facebook post critical at all, but for those who want to judge themselves, heres what Tayal wrote: [I] cant find a single work of his [Pt Upadhyaya] authorship or scholarship to gauge his ideological stance and that there is not a single election where he won by a popular vote. Read: Chhattisgarh govt transfers IAS officer over FB post on Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Tayal should not have been punished for this innocuous post for five reasons: First, the post is not critical or offensive by any stretch of imagination. It is at best an inquiry about a leader, whose birth centenary is being celebrated with fanfare by the Union government. Second, Tayal, along with being a central government servant, is also a citizen of the country. He, like any one of us, has every right to question leaders or debate their contribution to national life. No leader is above reproach and every generation has the right to re-evaluate their legacy. Third, Tayal did not break any rules. The All India (conduct) Rules, 1968, says no member of the Service shall in any radio broadcast or communication over any public media or in public media or in any document published anonymously, pseudonymously or in his own name or in the name of any other person or in any communication to the press or any public utterance make any statement of fact or opinion which, one, have an adverse criticism of any current or recent policy or action of the central government or a state government. Asking/crowd sourcing information about Upadhyaya shouldnt have been seen as criticism of the governments stand on Upadhyaya Read: The All India Services (Conduct) Rules, 1968 Fourth, Tayal was also not flouting any central rule on posting on social media. A 2014 notification from the ministry of communications and IT are free to post response in their personal capacity but they must identify themselves, should not divulge confidential information and for transmission public records, they must use an email identity connected to a server located in India. Fifth, by punishing Tayal, the government has sent out a very wrong message that its officers will be judged not on their merit/abilities but their willingness to toe the line of their political masters. In a country where the bureaucracy and police are highly already highly politicised, the people did not need another reminder of the sorry state of affairs. @kumkumdasgupta SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The second US presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, which took place today, was a closely watched affair, with every one from media organisations, independent pollsters and social media, avidly following it. The American debate sparks off another one in India every election season -- should the worlds largest democracy embrace a televised one-on-one, extempore style debate system? Pramit Pal Chaudhuri on why India should have US -style presidential debate: Divergent Distinction: Hearing candidates square off directly against each other on specific issues allows a voter to understand the nature of the political choice that faces him or her. This is not always evident to many voters as they rarely see a face off in Indian elections. Electronic feedback: With a population that is getting more networked, such debates should supplement the traditional rally and rent-a-crowd combination of the past. Millions can get to watch candidates and as many can respond via social media. And candidates can know how well they are doing instantly. Read: Trump vs Clinton: Top quotes from the second US presidential debate Temper tantrums: Watching a candidate under pressure helps provide a glimpse of his or her actual temperament. With public events increasingly stage managed and orchestrated, a sense of whether a person has genuine leadership qualities is harder to tell. Read: As it happened: Clinton, Trump clash in 2nd US presidential debate Jousting job: This is a chance to hear a candidate speak in an ex tempore manner, being forced to think speak and possibly stumble on their feet. This has exactly the same advantages that come from interviewing a job applicant. Fashionista focus: Lifestyle and fashion writers get a chance to see candidates in full bloom and under spotlights. The style world gets to say something about politics for once. Rezaul H Laskar on why India shouldnt have presidential debates No clarity on candidates:The US has a two-party political system that makes it easier to identify two candidates who can face off in a presidential debate. India has a multi-party system wherein the prime ministerial candidates of some parties arent even known before the elections. No organisational platform: The US debates are a permanent part of every general election and the country has a specialised non-partisan organisation the Commission on Presidential Debates which was established in 1987 to ensure that the debates meet certain standards. India has no such organisation that could provide oversight for debates and leaving such debates to TV channels alone would not guarantee they would be free and fair. No primaries: The Democrat and Republican candidates in the US are chosen through a careful system known as the primaries that features debates between several politicians who are in the running for the post of president and voting by the members of the two parties. India has no such system. Parliamentary system of governance: India has a parliamentary system which is all about parties whereas the US has a presidential form of government wherein the president is both head of state and government. If such debates are to be organised in India, they will have to feature leaders of different parties facing off over several rounds. Quality of debate: Given the quality of debates in Parliament, it is unlikely that a presidential-style debate in India will have much of substance that could sway voters, who seem to be swayed more by personalities or caste considerations or local affiliations than policies. A 13-year-old child fasts for 68 days, and then dies of cardiac arrest in Hyderabad. This was an act done not in secret, it was very public and carried out with the consent of her parents. Yet, no one seemed to have intervened at any point to save the childs life. By all accounts, she started off by going to school and drinking only water, yet no one noticed anything wrong or at least did not report it. Then two weeks later, she stopped attending school and no one seems to have bothered to find out why. When it became known that she was fasting, no one moved a finger to bring this to the attention of the police or any relevant authority. Read: 13-year-old girl dies after fasting for more than two months for Jain ritual The worst part of this horrific saga in which Aradhana Samdariya went on a fast, which led to her death, is that her parents were complicit in this. The parents and other relatives have now been booked for homicide not amounting to murder. The family, it is reported, influenced the child to undertake this fast in the hope that this would better the familys jewellery business, which had run into debt. She undertook the Jain ritual of fasting, in which she drank nothing but water for all those days. That this was well-known is seen from the fact that when she completed 68 days of fasting, there were advertisements in newspapers lauding the baal tapasvi Aradhana and a function was held at which some politicians were present. She was even taken on a chariot ride to a community centre shortly before she collapsed. Read: Family of Hyderabad girl who died after 68-day fast booked for homicide The childs death is now being sought to be explained away as part of a Jain religious ritual, and according to Jain religious heads, it is a cause for celebration as she has attained moksha. But the fact is that she seems to have been coerced into this act by her family who psychologically manipulated her into undertaking this. Religious leaders are now saying that fasting among young people is not uncommon. Well, then this practice ought to be discouraged and anyone impressing upon a child the need to fast for whatever reason ought to feel the full force of the law for child abuse. Any form of religious or spiritual practice ought to be age-appropriate and such burdens cannot be put on children. The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights and the National Human Rights Commission have to take note of this. When this act was publicised, the police should have acted to protect the child, but they did not. Instead, the whole spectacle was celebrated by all those who should have protected her and saved her life. What is also alarming is that there are other children expressing opinions that they would like to emulate this terrible feat. What happened to Aradhana amounts to abetment to murder, plain and simple. Those responsible have been booked but this was a death which could have been prevented.. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Aditya Chopra will return to direction after eight years with his upcoming film. The trailer of the movie, which stars Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor, will be launched at the Eiffel Tower, Paris, France, on October 10. HT Cafe has now found out that Ranveer will do a striptease in the movie. Ranveer will surprise us. The scene is not just the main part of the film, but will also be shown in the trailer. The audience will see him doing a bold strut in flaming red underpants, says an insider. Watch: Labon Ka Karobaar from Befikre Since the scene is supposed to be a big surprise, the film-makers are excited to see how audiences will react to it. Even Ranveer wants to know how people, his family and his friends will react to it, since this is the first time that he has done a striptease, adds the insider. Ranveer Singh will be seen with Vaani Kapoor for the first time in Befikre. (HT Photo) Apparently, the actor was also excited to shoot for the bold act. In fact, he developed a ripped physique to carry out the entire sequence stylishly, adds the insider. Turns out, besides Ranveer, Vaani will also be seen doing a special act. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Actor Manoj Bajpayee who refrained from voicing his opinion on Uri attacks and the whole issue of banning Pakistani artists in Bollywood, has finally broken his silence. He had earlier said that he would not comment because he doesnt want any noise around him and it might hamper his daily life and create controversy. Talking to HT City exclusively, the Satya actor said, My heart bleeds to see that everyone is worried about films and whether Pakistani artists should be banned or not. I dont understand why we are even talking about this. Isnt it the time to think and talk about those army men who lost their lives? And its not just 18 soldiers who got killed in Uri, its about hundred others who get killed but we never talk about them. Expressing his deepest concern for the soldiers families, Bajpayee urges, Most of them (soldiers who died) were sole breadwinners in their families and our government should do everything possible to support their kids, wives and parents. The 47-year-old actor who earlier said that his opinion as an artist did not matter, maintains, Who am I to comment or take a stand? Will my views on this matter change anything? I dont know the cross-border policies of India with Pakistan or China or Nepal, so I am not in a position to give a correct comment. This is a totally politically driven agenda and I feel only governments of both the nations can decide the best action in this situation. However, Bajpayee feels that we cant overlook the fact that government has allowed these (Pak) artists to work in India, so its their prerogative on take a decision. If our (Indian) government feels that banning Pakistani artists is the right thing to do, why should we oppose, and if they feel they should continue working here, we should accept that as well, quips the actor who will be next seen in Saat Uchakkey. Follow @htshowbiz for more SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON After teasing us for months with exotic pictures of Paris and two youngsters kissing, Yash Raj Films finally released the first trailer of Befikre on Monday night. The trailer was showcased at a ceremony held near the Eiffel Tower in Paris in the presence of the citys mayor, Anne Hidalgo along with the leads Ranveer and Vaani. It starts with Ranveer Singh and Vaani Kapoor sitting on a cliff and sicussing their idea of love. This scene is reminiscent of director Richard Linklaters Before Sunrise trilogy where the protaganists have a realistic take on love and life. Ranveer plays Dharam, who meets Kapoors Syra in Paris. What ensues is a lot of kissing, dancing and a no rules, no limits affair. Both the actors set the stage on fire with their sizzling chemistry. Ranveer Singh will be seen with Vaani Kapoor for the first time in Befikre. (HT Photo) The trailer shows the two happy-go-lucky leads having all kinds of fun together without any strings attached. There is no hint of the carefree romance turning sentimental. But knowing Bollywood, Befikre may turn out to be another of those mushy Yash Raj films. The 160-second trailer has been shot in scenic locations and has a peppy track playing in the background. Directed by Aditya Chopra, Befikre is scheduled to hit the screens on December 9, 2016. Read: Ranveer Singh to do a striptease in Befikre Gallery: Ranveer Singh, Vaani Kapoor heat up the screen with these Befikre stills In the beginning of 2015, 10 years after he came to head Reliance Group, Anil Ambani called a meeting of his lieutenants. The message was clear: identify new areas for growth, and reduce debt. For the first time, a go-ahead was given for selling assets in sectors in which the group was not a leader: cement, roads, power transmission and distribution, telecom towers, and optic fibre. We looked at sectors that will drive growth, including solar manufacturing and electronics. We zeroed in on defence, looking at the Narendra Modi governments focus on it. And we decided to concentrate on financial services. We will have special focus on these two sectors, while we continue to grow our other businesses, said Lalit Jalan, group director of Reliance Group and one of the people present in that meeting early last year. The hard decisions were understandable. Reliance Group was set up in June 2005 it was then called Anil Dhirubhai Ambani Group as a settlement between the warring Ambani brothers, Anil and Mukesh. Anil got Reliance Infocomm, Reliance Energy and Reliance Capital. He immediately announced investments of 2,000 crore in Energy and 1,000 crore in Capital. But 10 years, a legal battle with Mukesh, a slowing economy and a CBI probe later, Ambani sounded mellow at Reliance Powers annual general meeting this year, when he said he needs to look at future opportunities with caution. Scrubbed accounts, with manageable debt, are critical for at least two of the sectors Jalan mentions: defence, in which tie-ups with foreign majors counts for a lot, and financial services, where the group hopes to get a banking licence. The scrubbing has been on since last year. The cement business was sold for 4,800 crore to Birla Corporation. The group is said to be close to selling stake in its Mumbai power distribution business and exiting 11 road projects. On Tuesday, it signed a deal to sell three transmission networks for 2,000 crore. All these projects were under Reliance Groups listed arm, Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra), which has a debt of 21,000 crore. But with these sales the company will become debt-free, say sources close to the company. Ambanis telecom towers and optic fibre network have been on the block for some time. But for the first time a sale looks like manifesting, especially once the proposed merger of Reliance Communications airwaves business with Aircel is completed. Reliance Infrastructure and Reliance Communication (RCOM) account for more than half the debt of the group. The Group is also exiting most of its interests in media. The idea is to reduce our consolidated debt by at least 50%. And for that Anil Ambani is ready to let go of businesses that were once close to him, said a source close to the company. The result is already showing on Reliance Groups balance sheets. The consolidated debt of Reliance Group stands at 1,08,000 crore from 1,21,000 crore as on March 2015. (20,000 crore of debt is from the books of Reliance Capital, which is into the business of lending). The economy is yet to fully come out of the woods so revenues from investments in infra and power are low. Such investments also have long gestation period. Reliance Group had got caught in the cycle of high debt, low investor interest and impatient share holders, said an economist with a state-run bank who did not wish to be named. With relatively low capital needs, small gestation period and minimal regulatory uncertainty, the defence sector seemed a natural choice for the Reliance Group. In 2008, if you bid for a road project the market would reward you. But in 2015, the market would punish you for it. The lack of regulatory clarity in infrastructure and some energy sectors also hurt us badly, Jalan said. Reliance Group has taken more than 27 licences for defence manufacturing. It is setting up a 289-acre defence park in Nagpur at a cost of 6,000 crore. The company will make warships and intelligent body armour for the armed forces. It has acquired Pipavavs ship-building capabilities in Gujarat for 2000 crore and last week announced a tie-up with Frances Rafale-maker, Dassault. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In a venue known for its liberal and secular ambience, the veteran columnist LK Sharma was bluntly told by a gentleman: Go to Pakistan. LK as he is known was of course in distinguished company. Actors Aamir Khan and Shah Rukh Khan have been similarly advised. And this same order of exile to Pakistan had been issued, somewhat earlier, to the extraordinary thinker and writer U R Ananthamurthy. The order on Ananthamurthy was accompanied by hate mails, hate calls and actual physical intimidation. Other less known, but not less shocked men and women, both Hindu and Muslim, have been similarly directed to seek refuge in Pakistan. Such hectorings occur routinely beyond media coverage or even media interest. There need be no doubt that in Pakistan, too, those who do not believe India to be an unmitigated evil are similarly told: Go To India. Pakistan and India have become, each in the other country, metaphors for dissent. Read: People must stay away from war hysteria and let the government do its job Exile is an age-old punishment. It distances, destabilises, dispossesses. It makes a non-citizen of you. It makes you, in Indian terminology, an outcast. And it is particularly hard on the dissenter who in any case is in something akin to self-isolation. War or war-like situations have seen dissent in terms of conscientious objection to the belligerence and ballistics of war. Contrarian thought in such a situation is promptly characterised as anti-national, subversive and treasonable. We are not in a war yet, but there is a rumble of war drums in the air in both countries. And this is precisely the situation where nationalist intolerance of dissent or thought itself dons the garb of patriotism. Modis admonition to his colleagues not to do any chest- thumping over our surgical strikes in Pakistan has come as a refreshing change in an atmosphere where nationalism is a heady mix of swagger and spite. Read: Uri attack prompts PM Modi to inaugurate war memorial For instance, those Indians who suggest a variation, albeit within the Union in the political status of Jammu & Kashmir, are deshdrohis. In Pakistan, the opposite holds. The Pakistan State and the bulk of the people believe Kashmir was never Indias, never will be. Those Pakistanis who would want to consider and suggest any variation to that are Ghaddars. In both countries Kashmir is, essentially, seen as a piece of real estate, famously visualised in this forever phrase by Jehangir as agar firdaus ba-roi zaminast haminast-u haminast-u haminast (If there be on earth, a paradise, it is this, it is this, it is this ) For the people of the Valley, however, Kashmir is not now firdaus. It was, it was, it was firdaus. They want that firdaus back. Who, on zamin or in firdaus, knowing the agonies of the Valley, can be surprised by that, who? If the call for azadi in Kashmir has united India in conformity, the concept of Kashmir is Indias has united Kashmir in dissent. When, in the 1950s and 1960s, Mridula Sarabhai and Jayaprakash Narayan suggested a dialogue with Sheikh Abdullah and put it to fellow-Indians that treating Kashmir as a piece of real estate owned by India was unethical and impractical, they were regarded as subversive, anti-national by elements in the State and large sections of the public. But Jayaprakash Narayan, than whom the people of the Valley cannot have a truer well-wisher, did not endorse azadi. He wanted change. He told India that it had been engendering fear in the Valley of Kashmir. And the corollary of fear, which is hate. In the same breath he asked the people of the Valley in words somewhat like this: Will azadi from India give you azadi from fear? Read: The Kashmir manifesto: Delhis policy playbook in the Valley Fear is the Goliath in Kashmir. I do not know if there is a Perso-Arabic equivalent for Goliath but there is one for David Daud. Jayaprakash Narayan was a David, a Daud against the Goliath of fear. Mridula Sarabhai was a Dauda. A new Daud or Dauda is needed now to exorcise the Goliath of fear and re-invent trust. Restore trust in Kashmir. You must be mad!, I can hear voices in the Valley telling me. Do you know what it means to have your son disappear or get pellets zinging into your eye-sockets? Do you? And I can hear, not far behind those voices, another voice, that of the Pandits still in the Valley. Can you even imagine the fear we are living inEvery hour, minute, second? Hearing all of which I can only fall silent and recall, in that silence, what Wajahat Habibullah has written with bitter wisdom in his classic My Kashmir and what Omar Abdullah said to a Chennai audience earlier this year in a lecture bearing the same title My Kashmir. And, more recently, what men of the brave perspicacity of Pratap Bhanu Mehta have written and thereby hope. Read: Narendra Modi is implementing the Doval doctrine in Kashmir Reading Shakir Mir on the existential crisis in the Valley and Shakil Romshoo on the future of Induss waters, I get the clear sense that Kashmir may yet give us a so far unknown Daud or a Dauda who will stun us with an unconventional leadership that challenges India to rise above its zamindars mind-set and challenges Kashmir to see its options with clarity. I believe a group of concerned Indians should visit Kashmir with no mandate other than listening to people there. My dream team would comprise Wajahat Habibullah, Yashwant Sinha, Kavita Krishnan, Bader Sayeed and Jairam Ramesh. If they were to spend a fortnight in the Valley (during which time another Uri could well make their efforts seem hopeless) they could well have something transformational to tell the rest of India. Even if that entails their being conferred that high prize for dissent: Go To Pakistan. Gopalkrishna Gandhi is distinguished professor of history and politics, Ashoka University The views expressed by the author are personal. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: A 45-year-old businessman allegedly committed suicide on Sunday morning by shooting himself in his car using a country-made pistol in northeast Delhis Usmanpur. Before taking the extreme step, the businessman sent a text message to his son and informed him about his location. The deceased was identified as Ashok Bansal. He owned a dairy business in northeast Delhi, police said. Senior police officers said that the exact reason behind Bansals extreme step could not be ascertained till Sunday evening as he did not leave behind any suicide note. T he police are in touch with his family members to understand what drove him to kill himself. A police officer said that the incident took place around 10 am. NEW DELHI: As lieutenant governor Najeeb Jung fights a bitter battle with chief minister Arvind Kejriwal for administrative control of Delhi, the Centre the LGs employer is sitting on a panel report, which, if implemented, would give more powers to the CM. Ironically, the panel, appointed by the Modi government and headed by former home secretary Madhukar Gupta, submitted its report to the union urban development ministry in October 2015 but the document is yet to be made public. The report is under examination, a ministry spokesperson said to a query about secrecy over the panels recommendations. HT accessed the report that calls for the state government to be given greater control over land, a larger representation in the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) board and more powers to plan the citys transport needs. It also favours a state-government run housing board that will assess the requirement and build houses for different sections, a job entrusted to the DDA. Holding the authority responsible for the citys urban mess, the report calls for the DDA to be stripped of its role of land and property management and limit it to that of a central planning authority and a facilitator. The report also recommends that the land lying unused with the DDA be transferred to Delhi government agencies. Mandated to revisit and redraft the Delhi Development Act, 1957, the five-member committee, set up in February 2015, favours curtailing the role of DDA, the primary land owner and sole developer of the city that reports to the Union government. The city government has to seek the urban development ministrys clearance in all land-related matters. The report could give fresh ammunition to the Kejriwal government, which is locked in a bitter fight with the Centre over police, DDA, transfer of officials and even moving of files. The battle is now being played out in the Supreme Court. This report should be placed in public domain, and discussed with the Delhi government, deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia told HT, surprised that such a report existed. The report, he said, made it clear that there was nothing unconstitutional about their demand for more power to the elected government. As a former home secretary, he (Madhukar Gupta) knows what the constitutional provision is and would have made his recommendations within this framework, he said. Given the equation between the Centre and the Kejriwal government, it was unlikely that the report would be made public, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity. Madhukar Gupta declined requests for comment. Delhi BJP chief Satish Upadhyay, too, refused to be drawn in. I will not like to comment on the merits of the report as the final draft is still to come in public domain, said Upadhyay, who is also a member of the DDA board. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: A gang posing as cops kidnapped the 20-year-old son of former Delhi municipal corporation councillor Shambhu Dayal Sharma and held him hostage for six days, demanding a ransom of Rs 50 crore for his release. The college student was released on October 3 after Sharma reportedly paid Rs 1 crore. Police said on Sunday four suspects were arrested while a hunt is on to capture another eight men, including the lynchpin who is a real estate agent in outer Delhi. Sharmas son was kidnapped around 11am on September 27 when he was on his way to college in a BMW car. Two men in police uniform stopped him near Subash Place in northwest Delhi and commanded him to get into a Scorpio, filled with accomplices and parked by the roadside. When the young man got in, the gangsters overpowered and blindfolded him, while an accomplice took the BMWs wheels. Using the youths mobile phone, the kidnappers contacted his father and demanded Rs 50 crore, said joint commissioner of police (crime) RS Yadav. The hostage was taken to hideouts in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan including farmhouses in Sirsa and Nawalgarh as the gangsters waited for Sharmas response to their ransom call. The kidnappers used to send the youths audio recordings to his father through WhatsApp. In most of the audio clips, the youth could be heard requesting his father to pay and save his life, said an investigator. Sharma, who is a property dealer, negotiated hard and secured his sons freedom for Rs 1 crore. How and where the cash was paid is not known. The ransom money is said to be with two men, identified as Mahesh and Manjeet Dabas, who are on the run. They are suspected to have fled to Nepal. Both have reportedly worked with Sharma in the real estate business. They dropped my son in Gurgaon and hailed a taxi for him. I knew one of the conspirators, Chanchal, for some years. Chanchal s relative Mahesh is the key conspirator, the former Congress councillor said. Police managed to arrest four of the kidnappers on specific information that they would come in a Swift to meet associates in west Delhis Najafgarh. After their arrest, the suspects led police to the BMW and the Scorpio. Sedatives were also found, which police suspect were kept as standby in case the youth showed any resistance. Besides wearing police uniform, two gangsters carried fake wireless sets and a traffic challan machine to make their deception look real. Once inside the Scorpio, the youth was pinned down to the floor and threatened to kill him if he raised the alarm, officer Yadav said. NEW DELHI: DAV Arya Prabandhakatri Samiti and Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha, organised a prayer meeting to pay homage to the martyrs of Uri attack. The event was presided over by Punam Suri, President, Arya Pradeshik Pratinidhi Sabha and Arya Prabhandhakatri Samiti. During his address, Punam Suri, in honour of the soldiers announced that their wards who are students of DAV Public School, Gaya will be provided with free education. Besides this, free education has also been offered to any other ward of the soldiers studying in a DAV School. Birla Vidya Niketan, Pushp Vihar, under its entrepreneurship programme, organised an inter-class competition with the aim to nurture young minds who are ready to revolutionise the business world. During the competition, after several rounds, five finalists were shortlisted who were given Rs 10,000 and time of 120 days to advertise and sell their respective products and make profit out of it. At the end, based on the sales reports and other parameters presented by the finalists, the winners with their entrepreneurship projects titled Ddodle It, Shilpkarman and Threads of Tomorrow, were felicitated with certificates amid thunderous applause. G D Goenka Public School, Sarita Vihar, hosted its first inter-school literary event titled Goenkan Literazzi: The Festival of Language and Literature. The programme commenced with the welcome song and inaugural address by the Principal, Seema Sahay. The event comprised of various competitions namely, poetry writing and recitation, newspaper making, presentation of monologues from Shakespeares plays, short story writing etc. The event culminated with prize distribution ceremony where the rolling trophy was bagged by Manav Rachna International School, Faridabad. Vote of thanks was presented by middle school coordinator, Shalini Jain. St. Marks Senior Secondary Public School, Meera Bagh, students visited Zhukovsky English School No.3, Moscow, as part of a student exchange programme. The programme was initiated under the guidance of Principal, Anjali Aggarwal, Director, Rahul Aggarwal and G. Rajan, Head, International Affairs. The students visited Red Square, places of historical interest like the Church of Saviour on the Spilled Blood, Peterh of Palace, Peter and Paul Cathedral. Besides this, they also got the opportunity to visit the Embassy of India, Moscow and had an interactive session with G. Balasubramanian, Deputy Chief of Mission. The deputy chief during his address spoke about the relationship shared between the two countries and spoke about how the youth of both the countries can promote it further. The visit proved to be an educative experience for the students. NEW DELHI: A 47-year-old doctor at Gurgaons Civil Hospital was arrested for alleging raping a patient at his Dwarka flat, police said on Sunday. The accused, Dr Arvind Jindal, was arrested by Delhi Police after the victim, who lives with his family near Sheetla Mata mandir in Gurgaon, registered a complaint at Dwarka Sector 23 police station. Police said Jindal, an orthopedician, was treating the woman for the last two years. The woman underwent a foot surgery two years ago and had developed some complications . The doctor, police said, had promised the woman a job in an NGO, run by his friend. The incident took place on Friday when the doctor asked the woman to accompany him from Gurgaon to meet his friend for the job in Dwarka. On their way, the doctor told the woman that he needed to go to his flat at Sector 23-A, Dwarka, where he raped the woman. We have arrested the doctor from his flat, said KS Rahat, SHO of Sector 23 police station. NEW DELHI: Four men, who were arrested for kidnapping the 20-year old son of a former municipal councillor, said they were planning the crime for the past six months and did three rehearsals. The four accused -- Anand, Vichitra Vir, Vikrant Shokeen and Vinod -- told police that they used to follow councillor Shambu Dayal Sharmas son from his house to his college. They told the police that at one point they thought of dropping the plan. They wanted to become rich overnight, said Ravindra Yadav, joint commissioner of police (crime). Yadav said that a dozen men were involved in the kidnapping. Police are still looking for eight others, including the key conspirators, Mahesh and Manjeet Dabas. The police are also yet to recover Rs 1 crore that Sharma had paid for the release of his son. Dabas is an ex-Delhi home guard jawan. Police said the accused used to take protection money from toll booth operators in outer Delhi and parts of Haryana. FAKE POLICE UNIFORM Police said the accused were following the victim for the past six months, monitoring his movements. They thought, it would be the safest way to kidnap him by posing as cops. They bought two police uniforms from a shop in north Delhi and arranged a fake wireless set and traffic challan machine. They bought SIM cards on forged documents to use them for making ransom calls. Tranquilisers were also arranged to control the victim, if he resists, said an investigator. They frequently shifted the hostage to different locations in Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. They only used the youths mobile phone to call his family and demand the ransom amount. THEIR MISTAKE They thought they would be able to eke out more ransom out of the victims family, if they get a middleman to negotiate with them. They initially had only one middleman but later ended up having three to four such negotiators, said the officer. During the telephonic conversations, Sharma identified one of the negotiators as Chanchal who had worked with him in the real estate business. I did not know who the kidnappers were till I learnt about the involvement of Chanchal, Sharma said. NEW DELHI: A Delhi court has acquitted a man of the charges of raping a girl after it noted that the girl had turned hostile and was not supporting the case of prosecution. Additional Sessions Judge D K Sharma acquitted Amit alias Bittoo of all the charges levelled against him. It noted that the prosecution was unable to bring home the guilt of the accused. It also noted that the girl was not supporting the case was prosecution. The accused is acquitted of all the charges, it noted. According to the prosecution, a case of rape was lodged against Bittoo with the South Delhis Vasant Vihar Police Station on the complaint of the prosecution. The victim had alleged in the complaint that he got a call from an unknown number. She told the person that it was a wrong number, but the person often used to call her. The caller was later identified as Bittoo. Both became friends and started meeting each other. Once Bit too called her on the pretext of celebrating his birthday. The girl had alleged that he took her to a room where he forced himself on her. The police after getting her medical report lodged a case against the accused. NEW DELHI: A misplaced parcel of six nuclear medicine packets tagged radioactive triggered a radiation leak scare at the Delhi airports Terminal 3 on Sunday morning, prompting the civil aviation regulator to initiate an investigation. Police, fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force teams dashed to the airport after the alarm was sounded that a hazardous consignment has landed at the cargo courier section of the terminal, instead of the import section where such packages are destined to be. The Director General of Civil Aviations dangerous goods division is investigating the incident, especially how the packets landed in the courier section instead of imports. Senior airport officials admitted there was a scare since the consignment reached the courier section. The area was cordoned off for an hour till police and NDRF personnel declared it safe after inspection, saying there was no leak that would harm human health. The NDRF confirmed that radioactivity was within permissible limits, DCP (airport) Sanjay Bhatia said. The consignment six silver-grey packets wrapped in polythene with the word radioactif written above a red radiation trefoil warning symbol on the side came from Paris on an Air France flight, AF226. The packets contained solid sodium molybdate which has many uses, including in nuclear medicine. District magistrate Abhishek Singh, who heads the Delhi district disaster management wing, said the nuclear medicine package was for a hospital in central Delhi. The radiation emitted from the nuclear medicine is below 1 mill rongen (radioactivity measurement). There is no beta radiation in the surrounding areas. The packets discovery around 10am led to a call to police about a suspected radiation leak inside the cargo courier section of T3. Soon, seven fire tenders and a disaster response team arrived, along with a special van for transporting hazardous material. Officials from the Atomic Energy Regulatory Board also inspected the place and allayed radiation fears. Air France too gave the all-clear, saying the shipment did not reveal any anomaly. A similar scare engulfed the airport in May last year when airport officials notice dale a king radioactive shipment sent from Istanbul. The leak was said to be low and away from the passenger area. NEW DELHI: The parents of two of the 59 victims of the Uphaar Cinema fire have come out with book about the trauma and their long fight for justice. Trial by Fire is the story of how the system failed them one step at a time and how, despite the odds, they still refuse to back down, according to publishers Penguin Random House India. Neelam and Shekhar Krishnamoorthy, who lost their children Unnati (17) and Ujjwal (13) on June 13, 1997, decided to fight for justice to bring those who were responsible for the tragedy to book. Their fight, which began 19 years ago, continues till date. On that fateful day, a swirling mass of thick smoke entered the balcony section of the well-known cinema hall Uphaar located in posh south Delhi at 4.55 p.m. during the screening of the popular movie Border. With most exits unavailable and no ushers to help, the people seated in the balcony found themselves trapped. By 7 p.m., 57 people had died and 103 were seriously injured in the ensuing stampede. Two more persons died later in the hospital. Real estate barons Sushil and Gopal Ansal in August escaped being jailed in connection with the tragedy with the Supreme Court asking them to pay a fine of Rs 30 crore each and restricting their jail term to the period already undergone by them. The apex court had overturned the pleas of CBI and the victims association. While Sushil had spent over five months in prison, Gopal was in jail for over four months immediately after the tragedy. Earlier, the Supreme Court in 2014 had held the Ansals guilty but differed on the quantum of sentence to be awarded to them. It had concurred in holding that there was contemptuous disregard of civic laws on part of the Ansals that led to the tragedy as they were more interested in making money than ensuring safety of people. The Delhi High Court in 2008 had awarded one-year jail term to both Sushil and Gopal. NEW DELHI: A new prison complex is set to open next month in the city, around 35 years after the Delhi government proposed to construct a jail and ease the woes of the packed to capacity Tihar jail. The Mandoli jail, which will open in second week of November, will provide respite to officials in Tihar and Rohini jails, where 14,469 prisoners are lodged against the sanctioned strength of 6,250. The current prison population in Delhi is the highest to date, officials said. Prison officers said because of the over population of prisoners, the prisoner to guard ratio is 1:15. The ideal prisoner to guard ratio is 1:3 . Tihar Jail officials say they have to manage more than twice the capacity of the prison and it becomes difficult for them to monitor and protect every prisoner. Jail riots often break out in Tihar, one of Asias largest prison complexes. Prison officials said that the Mandoli jail has a capacity of 3,777 inmates. The prison complex was expected to be finished by 2010. However, the construction was completed last month only. Jail officers have started the recruitment for the new jail. The external security of the jail will be managed by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) and Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The Tamil Nadu Special Police and jail staff will maintain peace inside the prison complex. The new jail is equipped with CCTV cameras, nets to prevent outsiders from throwing in banned items and wire mesh-covered drains. Spread over 68 acres, the complex will have six separate jail compounds. Sources said around 1500 prisoners will be shifted to Mandoli in the first week. Unlike Tihar and the Rohini jail, the new prison will have an air cooler circulation system, which will ensure that prisoners will not require air coolers during the summer. In 2007, seven inmates in Tihar due to the heat wave. Air coolers and exhaust fans were installed across all jails after the incident. The Mandoli jail was supposed to be launched last year but jail officers sought modification of the locks and other specifications related to security such as watch towers and mask lights. At the new jail, the height of the boundary walls has been increased to 22 feet from the 14-feet boundary walls in Tihar and Rohini. Government sources said, initially, prisoners with a good record in prison would be shifted to Mandoli. There is also one high security ward in Mandoli for prisoners booked in heinous cases. Initially, only two jails inside the complex will be opened. The prisoners who are mostly first time offenders will be shifted here. There will be a detailed security review after which four other jails will be opened in different phases, said a jail officer. The proposal to construct a new jail in Delhi was floated in 1981. However, the construction work of the new prison at Mandoli, in east Delhi, could not start before 2008. The total project cost is estimated at Rs 340 crore. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON NEW DELHI: A spoilt honeymoon and subjecting the husband and his family to worst kind of mental cruelty by levelling false accusations, have been held as grounds for divorce in a case by the Delhi High Court. The High Court has dubbed the case as an exception in which the marriage could not take off right from inception between the couple who were in the age group of 30 plus at the time of marriage and were quite mature. While allowing dissolution of their 12-year-old wedlock, it noted that the husband and wife returned with bitter memories and a spoiled honeymoon in which she had resisted consummation of marriage and later subjected him and his family to mental cruelty by levelling false accusations. The remarks were made in the judgement by a bench of Justices Pradeep Nandrajog and Pratibha Rani, which dismissed the plea of a woman who had challenged the verdict of a trial court allowing the mans petition seeking dissolution of their marriage on grounds of cruelty. The respondent/husband was able to establish that during their honeymoon not only consummation of marriage was resisted by her, even thereafter causing embarrassment and humiliation accusations have been made against him and his entire family, the bench noted in its judgement. The bench said the conduct of the woman was such that it was not possible for the man to bear such kind of cruelty. It is a marriage which could not take off right from inception as the worst kind of mental cruelty was faced by the husband during his honeymoon and thereafter. All his efforts to save the marriage by arranging various meetings, visiting the parental home of the wife... could not save this marriage, the bench said. The desire to work closely with foreign tourists and get paid handsomely for his services landed a 26-year-old aspiring male escort and model in deep trouble. Sohal Hashmi, who worked as a salesman in a mobile shop at Delhis Palika Bazar, was kidnapped for a ransom of Rs 10 lakh by a group of six men, who ran a fake gigolo agency in Uttar Pradeshs Hapur, close to the national capital. Delhi police rescued him on Sunday from a village in Hapur, where he was held hostage for three days. Deputy commissioner of police (east) Rishipal said five members of the racket Anil Kumar Yadav of Delhis Nihal Vihar, Bhim and Mangli of Hapur, Mohammad Fakira and Naim of Amroha were arrested. The mastermind, Pritam, who is said to be involved in similar crimes, is on the run. Yadav, a share broker in debt, approached Pritam this August to become an escort after going through a newspaper advertisement that offered young, well-built and good-looking men to join the agency and earn between Rs 15,000 and Rs 25,000 a day. Pritam was the one who placed the advertisement. But Yadav backtracked when Pritam explained to him the services he was supposed to provide to their women clients. He initially agreed to work as escort as he urgently needed money to pay off his debts, an investigator said. Pritam failed to change Yadavs mind, but offered him work lure young men for similar services. He was promised 15% share as commission for each successful deal. Yadav accepted the offer as it contained no risk and only pay. On September 1, Pritam met Yadav at Karol Bagh Metro station and gave him a mobile phone and a SIM card. He appointed Yadav as a telecaller for his agency and told him that his job will be to receive calls and convince callers to become male escorts. Pritam told Yadav that calls will start coming after he floats advertisements in leading Hindi newspapers. In about a fortnight, Yadav received more than 100 calls, but nobody agreed to become an escort. But on October 1, east Delhis Farsh Bazar resident, Sohal Hashmi, accepted the offer. Hashmi sent his bio-data along with his latest photographs to Yadav, who in turn forwarded them to Pritam. Hashmis father had died some years ago and he lived in a rented home in Bihari Colony with his mother, a housewife. His sister is married. He was not satisfied with the money he earned as a salesman. He used to go regularly to a gym, aspiring to be a model. Pritam was impressed with Hashmis physique and personality. The employers asked him to meet them at Hapur bus terminal on October 5. But heavy rain prevented Hashmi to go there on the appointed day and so, he went on October 6, said an officer. Pritam and Mangli received Hashmi at the bus stop. But instead of taking him to their office at Brijghat, the duo took him to a remote village on a motorcycle. They kidnapped him at gunpoint, took away his mobile phone and belongings and held him captive. That very evening, Yadav left for Amroha and on the way made three calls to Hashmis mother and demanded Rs 10 lakh for his release. The mother approached Farsh Bazar police and filed a case, the officer said. Investigators established Yadavs role after examining Hashmis phone call records, which showed they were regularly in touch before the kidnapping. They tracked down Yadavs location to Hapur and rescued Hashmi. Police said Hashmi too was in dire need of money to pay his house rent after he splurged Rs 20,000 saved for the purpose at a wedding party binge. In desperation, after the landlady pestered him for the rent, he accepted the escorts job. After delay of four years, the Ghazipur Waste to Energy (WtE) plant will be commissioned this month. The plant, which will use 1,300 tonnes of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) on a daily basis from the Ghazipur landfill site, will be Delhis second such facility after the operational Timarpur-Okhla WtE plant. Built with a capacity to generate 12 MW of electricity, the plant received the Consent to Operate (CTO), along with conditions, from the Delhi Pollution Control Committee on August 31. Speaking to HT, Debashish Tripathy, vice-president (Resource Conservation and Strategy) at IL&FS Environmental Infrastructure and Services Ltd said that the plant will help in saving 213 acres of land valued at over Rs 2,000 crore which would otherwise be used for dumping waste during its project life of 25 years. Read: Landfills or pollution bombs? Delhis garbage dumps spewing toxic gases The WtE is presently shut to undertake civil works on the Flue Gas Stack for providing a porthole at 19.5 metres, together with a scaffolding ladder, as required by the CTO. We plan to commence operations by the end of this month, he said. The plant is a joint venture between the Delhi government and IL&FS. The government has signed an agreement with BSES Yamuna Power Limited (BYPL) for offtake of 49% of energy. The electricity generated in this unit will be supplied to East Delhi areas. The balance power will be sold under open access. The Delhi Electricity Regulatory Commission (DERC) has already accepted the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission (CERC)-determined rate of Rs 7.90 per unit for energy generated from similar waste to energy plants, explained a government official. Read: Garbage from Ghazipur to help make national highways The DPCC has authorised the company to process 1300 tonnes per day (TPD) of MSW to generate 12 MW of power. However, the plant has been built to process 2,000 TPD of MSW. The plant was on trial run for the past two months during which it produced 10 million units of power by processing 1,70,000 tonnes of solid waste. Delhi generates a mammoth 8,390 tonnes of MSW on every day and all the three landfill sites of the city have long crossed their threshold limit. The unit is going to take off significant load from not only the only operational Timarpur-Okhla WtE, but also that from the Ghazipur landfill site. While another WtE planned at Narela still awaits commissioning, the Ghazipur unit was first slated to be ready by 2013. However, the company that was building it quit midway and the entire process had to start from scratch. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 33-year-old man involved in smack trade was killed for an alleged affair with the wife of his associate. The victim, Arun Kumar, was attacked with blunt objects allegedly by his partner, Babu Khan, and his two relatives in northwest Delhis Bhalswa Dairy. The murder took place in the presence of the 45-year-old woman on the intervening night of October 4 and 5, the police said. On Monday, the police arrested the two relatives - Rashid and Imran - while the prime accused is absconding. The involvement of Khans daughter is also being investigated as the police said she left with her father after the crime. The police believe that it was a planned murder executed by Khan and his relatives in the name of family honour. A senior police officer said that Kumar, who was unmarried, lived with his family in Loni area and worked with Khan in the sale and supply of smack, a narcotic substance. According to police, Kumar frequently visited Khans home in Loni and soon he got close to Khans wife Zarina. Around a fortnight ago, Kumar moved to a rented accommodation in Delhis Bhalswa Dairy where Zarina visited him regularly, the police said. On October 1, Zarina left home without informing anybody in her family and started living with Kumar in his rented house. When Khan learnt about this, he allegedly decided to teach Kumar a lesson. He informed his daughter and son-in-law Rashid about Zarinas step. The two relatives who have been arrested told the police that they felt Zarina had brought dishonour to their family. Khan and his family members then planned to take revenge from Kumar, the officer said. On the night of October 4, Khan, along with Rashid and Imran, reached Kumars rented home where Zarina was already present in a Maruti Eeco car. They entered into an argument during which the three attacked Kumar with batons and other blunt objects. Kumar suffered severe head injuries and collapsed on the floor. The attackers fled the crime scene and took Zarina with them. Neighbours rushed Kumar to a nearby hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. A case of murder was registered at the Bhalswa Dairy police station. Milind Mahadeo Dumbre, deputy commissioner (northwest) said, Two persons have been already arrested. Teams have been constituted to nab the main accused. We have clues about his whereabouts. He will be caught soon. A new prison complex is set to open next month in the city, around 35 years after the Delhi government proposed to construct a jail and ease the woes of the packed to capacity Tihar jail. The Mandoli jail, which will open in second week of November, will provide respite to officials in Tihar and Rohini jail, who currently manage 14,469 prisoners against the sanctioned strength of 6,250. The current prison population in Delhi is the highest to date, officials said. Prison officers said because of the over population of prisoners, the prisoner to guard ratio today is 1:15. The ideal prisoner to guard ratio is 1:3 . Tihar Jail officials say they have to manage more than twice the capacity of the prison and it becomes difficult for them to monitor and protect every prisoner. Jail riots often break out in Tihar, one of Asias largest prison complexes. Prison officials said that the Mandoli jail has a capacity of 3,777 inmates. The prison complex was expected to be finished by 2010. However, the construction was completed last month only. Jail officers have started the recruitment for the new jail. DELHI GETS NEW PRISON Spread over 68 acres, the complex will have six separate jail compounds. Sources said around 1500 prisoners will be shifted to Mandoli in the first week. Unlike Tihar and the Rohini jail, the new prison will have an air cooler circulation system, which will ensure that prisoners will not require air coolers during the summer. In 2007, seven inmates in Tihar due to the heat wave. Air coolers and exhaust fans were installed across all jails after the incident. The Mandoli jail was supposed to be launched last year but jail officers sought modification of the locks and other specifications related to security such as watch towers and mask lights. At the new jail, the height of the boundary walls has been increased to 22 feet from the 14-feet boundary walls in Tihar and Rohini. Government sources said, initially, prisoners with a good record in prison would be shifted to Mandoli. There is also one high security ward in Mandoli for prisoners booked in heinous cases. Initially, only two jails inside the complex will be opened. The prisoners who are mostly first time offenders will be shifted here. There will be a detailed security review after which four other jails will be opened in different phases, said a jail officer. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Muslim women have become more vocal in recent times against the practice of triple talaq and polygamy and now the government has weighed in on their side. Its arguments in the Supreme Court that these are unreasonable and discriminatory, and deny the gender justice enshrined in the Constitution are likely to figure in the Law Commission report on a uniform civil code for all Indians. Though the report is to be submitted only in 2018, the governments stand will strengthen the case against these practices that have worked against Muslim women, especially those who are poor. The All India Muslim Personal Law Boards views on the matter, which have been vigorously challenged by many Muslim women and activists, are regressive, to say the least. It had earlier said that polygamy is a blessing for women as, without this option, men may indulge in illicit affairs. It has also spoken about how the personal laws of a community cannot be rewritten in the name of social reform. The ruling party has long been an advocate of a common civil code and the Supreme Court has expressed itself in favour of it on several occasions. The Law Commission, however, is studying the Constitution to see what practices can be adopted to create a better framework for gender justice and is also studying previous judgments in the run-up to preparing its report. In 2014, the BJP had made a uniform civil code a poll plank but backed off, thanks to the compulsions of politics. That the Commission is holding talks with all stakeholders ought to smooth the path to some extent, though the likelihood of any consensus on this issue is not likely in the near future. It is not just Muslim personal law that needs looking into though the gender injustice in this is most visible and debated. Hindu law has been reformed right from the fifties. However, Christian marriage, divorce, maintenance and succession laws are discriminatory against women a historic case on this was fought by Mary Roy. Personal laws could be amended from time to time to keep up with the changing times and demands, especially from women. But unfortunately they are often treated as being cast in stone and in many cases given some sort of religious sanctity. The Supreme Court and now the government are acting on the principle that the Constitution prohibits any kind of discrimination on grounds of religion. If reform had come from within communities, it would have been easier to evolve a civil code. But in the absence of that, the best option is to arrive at a workable model based on widespread consultations and always keeping gender justice as the main focus. One of Indias largest colleges, Amity University, is expanding into the US with the purchase of one campus in New York and a proposal to buy two more, drawing opposition from state officials in Massachusetts about the quality of the education it will offer. Dozens of US colleges have opened overseas campuses, but few foreign schools have sought to establish branches in the United States, in part because of the cost and tighter regulation. Amity University, a system of private colleges based in New Delhi, has long sought to create a global network of schools, however. Since it was founded in 2003, the chain has opened campuses in India, England, China, South Africa and five other countries. Add the US to that list. Amity paid $22 million last month to buy a Long Island branch of St. Johns University in New York City, which was selling the campus and shifting to a smaller site on Long Island. Amity plans to open its first US branch at the 170-acre, century-old campus after it gains ownership in June 2017. The chain also has made a deal to buy the New England Institute of Art, a for-profit college near Boston, and one of its sister schools, the Art Institute of New York City, according to paperwork filed in Massachusetts. The deal would require approval from state education officials. We are very, very sceptical about this, said Massachusetts attorney general Maura Healey, who is asking the states Board of Higher Education to block the sale. Its hard to imagine that this outfit from overseas, which has never done any education work here in this country, is well-suited to provide any kind of education to these students. The New England Institute of Art, in Brookline. (AP Photo) Amity hopes a US campus will attract students from abroad who want to gain the prestige that comes with studying in the United States. It also hopes to forge research partnerships with other colleges, and to connect foreign scholars with their counterparts here. We have a global vision for education, a model of education which allows for student mobility, faculty collaboration and research collaboration, said Aseem Chauhan, Amitys chancellor. We believe that the leaders of tomorrow will be those who have perspectives from different parts of the world. Owned by a nonprofit company, the chain offers bachelors and graduate degrees in a range of fields, from art to engineering. It enrolls 125,000 students at more than a dozen campuses, and has grown rapidly amid rising demand for higher education in India. Its founder president, Ashok Chauhan, was charged with fraud in the 1990s by authorities in Germany, where he ran a network of companies. He returned to India and was never extradited. A plastics company in the US also sued Chauhan in 1995 for failing to pay $20 million in debts, which led to an ongoing court battle in India. The university is now in the hands of his sons, Aseem Chauhan and Atul Chauhan. Some in the US say the school is more similar to a for-profit college than a traditional four-year university. They are a subsidiary of a conglomerate of companies, said Barmak Nassirian, director of federal relations and policy analysis for the American Association of State College and Universities. This is by no means reassuring, if you ask me. Aseem Chauhan counters that Amity has an excellent and exceptional track record of student outcomes, although he declined to provide the statistics. The schools leaders have been eyeing a US expansion for years. In 2011, Amity was one of seven colleges that entered a competition to build an engineering campus in New York City. Cornell University and a school in Israel ultimately won. In 2014, Amity filed paperwork to open a nonprofit school in California, tax records show, but never opened a campus. Amity has been pushing for US expansion while some traditional schools close because of dwindling enrollment, and as many for-profit institutions seek buyers amid increasing federal regulation and oversight. The for-profit market is really wide open right now, said Kevin Kinser, a professor of education policy at Pennsylvania State University. An institution with a lot of resources might see this as a cheap opportunity to get a foothold in the industry. Chauhan wouldnt discuss Amitys proposed purchase of the two for-profit schools, and neither would the company thats selling them, the Pittsburgh-based Education Management Corporation. But both sides signed a letter to Massachusetts education officials in July outlining the anticipated acquisition by Amity. A logo of The New England Institute of Art rests on a building at the school, in Brookline. (AP Photo) They say the sale would save the New England Institute of Art, which started making plans to close last year after half a decade of steep enrollment and revenue losses. The institute has stopped adding new students, and many others have left. Some former students are now planning to sue the institute for fraud. Massachusetts education officials have requested more information from Amity about the proposal. Even if its approved, Amity could face a long road before it starts work in the US. To begin granting degrees, it would need approval from a US accreditor, often a rigorous process. And to receive federal financial aid for its students, it would have to be screened by the US Department of Education. Still, Chauhan said hes ready to make his case. We continuously benchmark our quality with the best quality standards and the best accreditation standards globally, he said. Academy Award winning actor Jon Voight has defended Donald Trumps controversial remarks about women and criticised fellow movie star Robert De Niro for making disparaging remarks about the Republican presidential nominee. Midnight Cowboy star Voight, who has supported several Republican politicians over the years, on Saturday took to Twitter to share his views, reported foxnews.com. In a series of tweets, he said he was ashamed of De Niro and his foul words about Trump, following the controversy over Trumps lewd comments about women, in a hot mic audio tape from 2005. I am so ashamed of my fellow actor Bobby DeNiro's rant against Donald Trump. What foul words he used against a presidential nominee. cont'd Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 who has worked harder then any other man I know in the past year and a half to get a good message to the American people. cont'd.. Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 I don't know of too many men who haven't expressed some sort of similar sexual terms toward women, especially in their younger years. cont'd Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 Donald Trump's words were not as damaging as Robert DeNiro's ugly rant. Trump's words did not hurt anyone. Can you imagine. cont'd Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 if any Republican said words like Robert DeNiro used - against Hilary Clinton or Barack Obama? All hell would break loose. cont'd Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 I am calling for all Trump supporters to express their outrage and anger against DeNiro and all of the Republican turncoats cont'd Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 against Trump. Let Donald Trump know we are completely behind him, and may God give him the strength to continue his calling. Jon Voight (@jonvoight) October 8, 2016 Voight was responding to a newly released video in which De Niro took aim at Trump, calling him everything from so blatantly stupid to a pig, a punk and a og. On the other hand, Trump has apologised after the leaked video from 2005 caught him passing crude remarks and bragging about groping women because of his fame. Follow @htshowbiz for more Hollywood star Brad Pitt will not be prosecuted for the child abuse incident that allegedly occurred in September on a private jet. The FBI never opened an investigation against the Allied actor, 52, because there was no case, reported TMZ. The FBI is still working to gather the facts from the incident but the agency does not consider it an official investigation, sources said. Pitt and his estranged wife, Angelina Jolie (who filed for divorce less than a week after incident occurred), were flying with their six children from Nice, France, to Burbank, California, on September 14. It was earlier reported that the Fight Club actor got verbally abusive and physical with the kids, Maddox, 15, Pax, 12, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and 8-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne. Brad Pitt and children Pax Jolie-Pitt (L), Shiloh Jolie-Pitt (C) and Maddox Jolie-Pitt arrive for the US premiere of Universal Pictures Unbroken, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, California. (AFP) Jolie, 41, filed for divorce on September 19, citing irreconcilable differences, and requested sole custody of the kids. The former power couple have since reached a temporary custody agreement, which allows Pitt supervised visitation. He will also voluntarily take random drug and alcohol tests, his first of which came back negative. Follow @htshowbiz for more Chennai police arrested two people on Monday for spreading rumours about the health of chief minister J Jayalalithaa, who is undergoing treatment at Apollo Hospital here since September 22 after complaining of fever and dehydration. Cases were filed against the two one from Chennai and another from Namakkal for spreading false news about the chief minister on the internet. Four others, including a France-based blogger, have also been booked on the same charge. Read | Ousted AIADMK leader alleges foul play in Jayalalithaa falling ill, seeks probe Despite warnings from the Tamil Nadu police that rumour mongers would be punished severely, rumours about her health continue unabated. The AIADMK launched a social media campaign to counter speculation that the 68-year-old leader is seriously ill or has an incurable disease. The party tweeted a link on Monday that users could click to change their profile photos on the micro-blogging site to read: My CM is fine; No more rumours. Read | Kerala CM, governor visit Jayalalithaa at hospital All is well with Puratchi Thalaivi Amma. Click this link, change your profile pic & put a full stop to rumours, the partys Twitter handle wrote. In a statement on Monday, the Apollo Hospital management said Jayalalithaa was constantly being monitored by intensivists and necessary respiratory support and passive physiotherapy were being given to her. The eighth BRICS summit of five major emerging nations, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, will be held in Goa on October 15 and 16. The BRICS summit is taking place in the backdrop of deteriorating India-Pakistan relations following an attack by Pakistan-based terrorists at an army base in Jammu and Kashmirs Uri that killed 19 soldiers and retaliatory surgical strikes by India to neutralise terror launch pads along the Line of Control. India is the chair of this years summit. Heres all you need to know about the grouping. What is BRICS? It is a grouping of five emerging economies - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. Together they comprise 43% of the worlds population, account for 30% of the worlds GDP and share 17% of the worlds trade. Who coined the acronym? BRICS was BRIC initially. South Africa attended the summit for the first time in 2011, making BRIC, BRICS. The acronym BRIC was first used in 2001 by Goldman Sachs in their Global Economics Paper, The World Needs Better Economic BRICs. (S did not stand for any country). What was the logic behind the grouping? It was based on projections on individual and collective economic might of these countries in future. It was said that the economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China would individually and collectively occupy far greater economic space and be amongst the worlds largest economies in the next 50 years or so. How did BRIC work before the first summit in 2009? As a formal grouping, BRIC started after a meeting of the leaders of Russia, India and China in St Petersburg on the margins of G8 outreach summit in 2006. The grouping was formalised during the first meeting of BRIC foreign ministers on the margins of a United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) meeting in New York in September 2006. The first BRIC summit was held in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on June 16, 2009. Read: At BRICS summit, India to obviously talk on joint efforts to battle terrorism Where have BRIC(S) summits been held so far? 8th BRICS Summit: October 15-16, India (to be held) 7th BRICS Summit: July 8-9 2015, Russia 6th BRICS Summit: July 14-15 2014, Brazil 5th BRICS Summit: March 2627, 2013, South Africa 4th BRICS Summit: March 29, 2012, India 3rd BRICS Summit: April 14, 2011, China 2nd BRIC Summit: April 16, 201, Brazil 1st BRIC Summit: June 16, 2009, Russia What do BRICS leaders talk about? The grouping started with economic issues of mutual interest and the need to restructure global financial institutions such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF). But the agenda of BRICS widened over the years to include issues including counter-terrorism, health, science and technology, labour among other issues. How often do BRICS leaders meet? The leaders meet for the annual summit. The BRICS leaders also meet on the margins of G20 summits. Leaders as well as of ministers of finance, trade, health, S&T, education, agriculture, communication, labour, etc meet regularly. Meetings of working groups and senior officials take place throughout the year. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON National security advisor Ajit Doval has conveyed to his Pakistani counterpart Gen (Retd) Nasir Janjua that Islamabad will have to stop exporting terror to India as a precursor to any substantive bilateral dialogue. Doval conveyed this to Janjua over telephone on October 1 when he called the Pakistan NSA to inform him of the September 29 cross-LoC surgical strike. Top government sources told Hindustan Times that Doval did not take Janjuas calls after the September 18 Uri terrorist strikes left 21 Indian soldiers dead as the Pakistan NSA had been unable to deliver on what he promised after the January 2 Pathankot airbase attack. Doval had called up Janjua late on January 1 to inform him about the location of terrorists near the Pathankot airbase. He had also shared the mobile number of their Sialkot based handler Kashif Jaan, a Jaish-e-Mohammed operative. Janjua failed to deliver on Pathankot despite his word that he would be able to stop the attack even if it meant calling up Jaish chief Masood Azhar. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had decided to institutionalise a dialogue between two NSAs during their January 5, 2016 telephone conversation after the Pathankot attack. The two NSAs have been in touch with each other since, barring the 12-day period after the Uri attack. The first admission of the Doval-Janjua dialogue was made in public by Sharifs octogenarian foreign policy advisor Sartaj Aziz, who is considered close to Rawalpindi GHQ. Read: Border outposts in India on alert after Pak red flags hostility During the October 1 conversation, Doval made it known to Janjua that there is no point of talking through the institutionalised channels if Pakistan chooses to remain in denial about its territory being used by jihadists to target India and if no action is taken against proscribed groups despite evidence being handed over to Islamabad. Doval apparently reminded Janjua that India had allowed a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) access to the Pathankot airbase and shared details of the investigation with Islamabad but there has been no closure from Pakistan side. He also read out the full statement issued by Indian DGMO Lt Gen Ranbir Singh on the surgical strike. Read: Pakistan a fly-by-night operator misusing UN forum, says India SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Broke governments now want to tax streaming services how come they never cut back on spending? (BigGovernment.news) The Sons of Liberty would be very busy these days chucking stuff into the harbor to protest higher and higher taxes, since nowadays cities, states and the federal government are so in debt thanks to overly-generous entitlement programs they cant get enough of our money. The next big thing on the taxmans radar: Streaming television services. A couple of years ago this wouldnt have been any big deal or any big new tax target because streaming was just becoming a thing. But the convergence of much faster Internet speeds and expensive, underwhelming cable services stuffed with channels nobody watches has led to a new viewing revolution of sorts: Streaming television and movies on-demand and in real time. Consequently, as AMI Newswire reports, such services are now being targeted by tax collectors: Netflix, Hulu, Sling TV and online video services are being eyed as the next golden goose for tax revenues. Dozens of California cities are deciding whether to follow the lead of Chicago, which began taxing Internet-based streaming downloads last month. These efforts are meeting resistance. Chicagos expansion of its amusement tax is being challenged in court. News of Pasadenas finance director ruling that its 9.4 percent utility user tax could be applied to Internet services beginning Jan. 1 sparked so much backlash that city officials have since backed off that pronouncement. City spokesman William Boyer told AMI Newswire that no decision has been made to expand or change the existing utility tax and that Pasadena is not taxing the Internet. He acknowledged that the release of the city finance directors memo was premature, though. I think they got political blowback on that, Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, told AMI. I think the city tried to sneak in a low fastball. As Americans have increasingly turned to the Internet for goods and services, some revenue streams flowing to states and municipalities have declined. That has led lawmakers nationwide to find ways to tax the Internet economy in order to firm up their budgets. In most states, taxation of digital goods would only raise in the tens of millions of dollars at present, not enough to have a significant impact on state budgets that are in the billions of dollars annually, Michael Mazerov, a senior fellow at the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington, D.C., told AMI Newswire. Still, broadening the sales tax base to include these goods (and related services, like Netflix streaming), could forestall some significant and harmful cuts in things like college financial aid and after-school programs. This would benefit state economies in the long run. Netflix alone boasts 48 million U.S. subscribers to its streaming services, according to company statistics, suggesting a revenue source ripe for harvesting. Indeed, Pennsylvania this year moved to balance its state budget, in part, by expanding the sales tax to cover online movie streaming services, e-books and digital music downloads. As the story suggests, however, tax-happy governments are getting push back, and in no small way, from consumers fed up with elected officials and bureaucrats picking their pockets and pocketbooks. Critics say that while there has been cord-cutting abandoning cable and other pay TV for streaming services nearly 70 percent of American households continue to subscribe. But that is changing, and governments are aware of it. Thats why they have their hands out again. And you notice which cities are the quickest to demand new taxpayer contributions Chicago and cities in California, both with generous pension and social benefits that are perennially under-funded. What youll also notice is that the solution these free-spending liberals always arrive at is more taxes not cutting back on benefits that they cant afford. Americans are going to have to decide at some point what they want more freebies that are really only targeted at key demographics, or to keep more of their own hard-earned money. Otherwise, big city spenders and broke governments around the country are going to keep coming around with their hands out with some new, innovative way to steal your money. More: (c) 2016 USA Features Media. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday backed Rahul Gandhis controversial dalali remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi on surgical strikes saying the Congress leader must have said it after giving much thought. He also took a dig at Modi for attending the Dussehra festivities here, saying had there been elections in Bihar, he would have slayed Ravan there. Its not a question of Congress but I have good relations with Rahul Gandhi. If he has said something he must have given it much thought. He must have some information about it, Akhilesh said when asked about Rahuls dalali remarks on PM. The Samajwadi Party leader said that he had visited the families of martyred soldiers and helped them. Ultimately, the poor lost their lives, the farmers are dying, their sons are dying, so what do they know about surgical strike? The question is if you and I have good ties but the relations on border are strained, the country and the world are unable to understand this, he said. Rahuls remarks that the Modi government was profiteering (dalali) from the blood spilt by the soldiers had drawn criticism from BJP which accused him of insulting the armed forces. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and NCP too had disapproved of Rahuls remarks. However, Rahul and his party maintained that they supported the military action but denounced political propaganda on the issue. On Modis Luckow visit tomorrow, Akhilesh said, Had there been elections in Bihar, he would have slayed Ravan there. There should be no politics over festival. He is coming to Lucknow, he will give something big to us. We have expectations from him for progress of the state, he said. Akhilesh was addressing media at an event at his official 5 Kalidas Marg residence. Chief minister Akhilesh Yadav hinted that UP elections could be held in February, though he said his party was ready to go to the polls earlier on the basis of the infrastructure development work carried out under his stewardship in the state. There are indications that the elections may be called in February but in case some people want it earlier, we are okay with that too, he said on Sunday, while exhorting party cadre to get into election mode. Sometime back I said only five months were left for polls and if you could do your bit in these months, it would ensure the return of your partys government for another five years. Now brace up as not even five months are left to go for the polls, he said while releasing several books brought out by the states information department. He hit out at the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leadership, saying the party engaged in mindless construction when it was in power in Uttar Pradesh but his government focused on work that would serve the people. The chief minister also targeted the BJP over its promise of Achhe Din and said it was in Uttar Pradesh that maximum bank accounts were opened. Much is talked about the Jan Dhan Yojana. Even in that scheme, while Uttar Pradesh contributed in a big way, our Samajwadi Pension Scheme has also seen many poor people getting their accounts opened. In fact, nearly 55 lakh bank accounts were opened due to our efforts, he said. Bhutan, which pulled out of the Saarc Summit, is understood to have cited the vitiated atmosphere in the wake of the Uri terror attack and its support for Indias national interest while conveying the decision. Expressing solidarity with India, Bhutan is said to have conveyed to Nepal, the Saarc chair, that atmosphere had been vitiated and it was no longer conducive to hold the Saarc Summit under the present situation. We also share concerns of Bangladesh, India, Afghanistan about deteriorating peace. We have also conveyed that as far as Indias national interest is concerned, we are very clear that we will support India where its national interest lies, Thimpu is believed to have conveyed to Nepal. In 2003, Bhutan had destroyed military camps of Ulfa, Kamtapur Liberation Organisation (KLO) and National Democratic Front of Bodoland (NDFB), all detrimental to Indian security concerns. The Himalayan nation had said that terrorism emanating from Pakistan was a matter of concern for South Asia and affected peace and stability in Bhutan as well, the sources said. The Saarc Summit, scheduled to be held in Islamabad in November, had to be postponed after five member states of the grouping, including India, Bangladesh and Bhutan, decided against attending the meet following the terrorist attack on an Indian army camp in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir in which 19 soldiers were killed. The sources said Bhutanese outposts on the China-Bhutan border often witness seasonal incursions from the Chinese side even though the Himalayan Kingdom supports One- China Policy. The autonomy for Tibet is more of a sentimental issue than realistic, they said. The Bhutanese embassy in New Delhi registers protests following such incursions. Bhutan is one of the countries with which China still has territorial dispute. On the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India and Nepal Motor Vehicle Agreement, the sources said that the Bhutanese government is working to get it ratified by its Parliament. Although the lower house of the Bhutanese Parliament has given nod to ratify the agreement for regulation of passenger, personal and cargo vehicular traffic, various concerns have been raised by the upper house. The sources said the Bhutanese government is trying to address the concerns raised by the upper house so that the agreement could be ratified at the earliest. Beware! Move inside trenches. They (Pak army) have hoisted red flags on their posts to indicate hostilities and a sort of warning that they can open fire on any unusual movement, an Indian army officer tells scribes at the forward post here on Monday. Last Wednesday, Pak army had opened automatics weapons fire and shot mortars on this post, he adds. Compelled by the circumstances we have also put up red flags to convey that we, too, will not be handling the adversary with soft hands, he says. Following Indias surgical strikes on terror launch pads across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied-Kashmir (PoK) on the intervening night of September 27 and 28, a mix of threat and tension appeared omnipresent, to both, India and Pakistan. Barely three kms away from the Indian post was a ridge that lies in PoK, which had Pakistani posts on a higher altitude. If Pakistans movement is restricted post-surgical strikes on their side of the de-facto border, the degree of alertness on the part of Indian army has also gone up by a few notches in the aftermath of the recent flare up. Their (Pak troops) movement is now restricted somewhat (post-surgical strikes) and the degree of alertness on our part has increased. We are 24x7 alert and alive to the situation on the LoC but the degree of alertness has increased for obvious reasons, says the officer. The adversary is cautious, alert, and so do we are. In fact, we remain in a state of readiness 24x7, he adds. Threats (of hostile fire, truce violations, intrusions, BAT attacks, sniper fire) always exist on the LoC but we are alert round the clock and in the recent violations by them, we inflicted heavy casualties on adversary, he responds to a query. Read: Pakistan a fly-by-night operator misusing UN forum, says India Soldiers pumped With their fingers on triggers and eyes glued on the enemy via binoculars and other surveillance equipment, soldiers here say, country comes first and then anything else including families back home. If the countrymen are happy on surgical strikes then we are too. The support of country gives us pride and their support bolsters our confidence to serve the motherland with utmost sincerity even at the cost of our life, says a soldier. Indian army soldiers take position near the Line of Control in Nowshera sector on Monday. (Nitin Kanotra/HT Photo) Another responds, Like everyone else we too have children and families back home but it is their support that we are guarding the borders here with firm resolve of not allowing Pakistan to succeed in its nefarious designs. The soldiers here on the LoC have no fixed timings. We relieve the duty only when another colleague takes over the charge, he adds. Read: Lashkar-e-Taiba suffered maximum damage in surgical strikes: Report SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The Congress is looking to cultivate farmers in its hunt for poll gains. After party vice-president Rahul Gandhis month-long Kisan Yatra in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress plans a similar outreach in Punjab. Farmers form a sizable chunk of voters in both the states that are expected to go to the polls early next year. Built around the slogan Karza-Kurki Khatam, Fassal Di Poori Rakam (end of property attachment, full remuneration for crop), the two-week door-to-door campaign will begin October 12. The target is to reach out to 2.5 million households, Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh said in Chandigarh on Sunday. Have said it before, saying it again. I will waive-off all farm debt, outlaw land dispossession & ensure timely procurement, he tweeted on Monday. The border state, which led the green revolution and played a big role in making India self reliant, is battling a farm crisis. Punjab reported the most farmer suicides in the country second only to Maharashtra. As many as 449 debt-ridden farmers killed themselves in the state in 2015. Maharashtra reported 725 such deaths. Out of power in Punjab for a decade now, the Congress is eyeing a comeback in the state as farmers battle falling income and rising debts. More than 62% of the states 27.7 million people live in rural areas and are largely dependent on agriculture. The party will establish direct contact with 75 lakh voters through this outreach, a Punjab Congress leader said of the partys effort to counter the Shiromani Akali Dal, which holds sway in the rural areas. Gandhi was unlikely to be part of the campaigns first phase, sources said. Party workers will take a maang patra (demand letter), like the one in Uttar Pradesh, to every home they visit. Famers will be asked to furnish details about their families, land holdings and also debt. A receipt would be issued in return, which would be an agreement guaranteeing debt waiver once the Congress comes to power. The Congress has held several programmes to connect with the voters in the state, where a normally two-party contest has a third player -- Aam Aadmi Party -- this time. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Dont interfere with our religion, Jain elders warned on Monday as social and child rights activists called for action against the parents of a 13-year-old Secunderabad girl, who died from ritual fasting for 68 days. Top Jain spiritual leaders and elders assembled at a community hall in Koti, a commercial suburb of Hyderabad, to discuss teenager Aradhana Samdarias death on October 3 that triggered a nationwide debate over the communitys rigorous religious practices. Nobody has a right to interfere in our fundamental rights to practice our religion. The filing of cases against the parents of Aradhana amounts to interfering in the spiritual matters of the community, Jain guru Mangilal Bhandari said. Police have yet to take action after the Andhra Pradesh Child Rights Association lodged a complaint last Friday against the parents for allegedly forcing the class 8 girl into performing tapasya or penance for the familys prosperity, a ritual that entails harsh fasting. A family friend had said Aradhanas penance was voluntary. Bhandari too reaffirmed the family version, saying she was well throughout the ritual. She even went to school regularly for 41 days of her fast and did puja regularly. She completed the 68-day tapasya without problem. It was only later that she collapsed and died, more than 24 hours after she completed her penance, he said. Another Jain leader, Ashok Sanklecha, thought she had the stamina to withstand the 68-day fast. Unfortunately, she died. Aradhana, the only child of her parents who own a jewellery store, had fasted for 34 days before, a family acquaintance said. She allegedly went for 68 days as the number has significance in Jainism: one could attain self-purity chanting a specific mantra 68 times. The child rights association alleged that she was forced to do tapasya after the family spiritual gurus advice that the ritual will help their business grow. Also, the association said she was allowed to drink water only once every evening throughout the ritual. Secunderabad police registered a case against father Lakshmichand Samdaria and mother Manisha on Sunday, charging them with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. We have registered the FIR, but not yet taken a decision on arresting the accused. We will let you know when it happens, deputy commissioner of police (North Zone) B Sumathi said. The child rights association was unhappy with the alleged police inaction. They should be charged with murder. They made their child die by forcing her into fasting. This is not the issue of a religious ritual, but the right to life of a child, the associations honorary president, P Achyuta Rao, said. Child rights activist M Shanta Sinha voiced a similar opinion, saying the parents infringed their daughters right to life. She called for a larger debate in society on religious rituals that allow or push people to die such as sati, santhara and tapasya. Aradhanas death came months after the Rajasthan high court asked police to register criminal cases against a Jain family after an 82-year-old woman opted for the ritualistic fast to death, called santhara. The woman died 50 days into her fast. The Jain community, with an estimated population of less than 5 million in India, follows an austere lifestyle including vegetarianism and a large section is known to observe the rigid customs laid down thousands of years ago. Digambara Jain monks who consider the sky their clothing still go naked. Read| This is no Jain ritual: What happened to Aradhana amounts to abetment to murder SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON China indicated on Monday that India is using the fight against terror for political gains in what appears to be a reference to New Delhis high-profile Pakistan-centric anti-terrorism campaign. Without naming either India or Pakistan, vice-foreign minister Li Baodong said that no country should have double standards on terrorism or use it for political gains. He was speaking to reporters on President Xi Jinpings upcoming visit to India for the 8th Brics summit in Goa on October 15 and 16. There should be no double standards on terrorism nor should one pursue its own political gains in the name of counter-terrorism, Li said. The minister was answering a question on whether the issue of terrorism would come up for discussion during the Brics (Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa) summit. Read | Indias criticism of the UNSC not acting on Masood Azhar aimed mainly at China On counter-terrorism, the five countries have consensus. The foreign ministers of the five countries reached an agreement on the margins of the United Nation General Assembly. We hope and believe this Goa Summit will build on the pass consensus and continue to strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism and other issues of political security, Li said. Li added: Counter-terrorism, it is also important area of cooperation among BRICS on political security. Cooperation on this front will enhance BRICS coordination and contribute to world peace and security, he said. He said Chinas position on counter-terrorism is consistent and that China opposes all forms of terrorism. Li, of course, made no reference to the fact that China has just extended its technical hold against New Delhis appeal to the United Nations to label Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed chief Masood Azhar a terrorist. In April, China in collaboration with Pakistan had blocked Indias bid to ban Azhar, named by India as the mastermind behind the Pathankot Indian air base attack in January. Beijings decision on October 1 coming in the aftermath of the terror attack in Uri last month had once again brought focus Chinas stand on terrorism, which is seen in India in two ways ambiguous at best or completely hinged on its close ties with Pakistan at worst. Read | China wants action on global terrorists but no UN ban on Masood Azhar Expelled AIADMK MP Sasikala Pushpa on Monday demanded a CBI inquiry into circumstances that resulted in Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaa falling ill. CM Jayalalithaa, who was doing well, fell sick all of a sudden. A proper inquiry must be done into her health condition, which deteriorated suddenly. It should be found out that whether she fell sick naturally or was forced to become sick, the expelled Rajya Sabha MP said in a press conference. Jayalalithaa is constantly being monitored by Intensivists and consultants as necessary respiratory support, antibiotics, nutrition, supportive therapy and passive physiotherapy are being given to her, said the Apollo Hospital management in its official statement on Monday. The Honourable Chief Minister continues to be under treatment at Apollo Hospitals in Chennai. The Honourable Chief Minister is being constantly monitored by the Intensivists and the other Consultants in the Expert Panel, the statement read. Jayalalithaa was admitted to the hospital on September 22 after she complained of fever and dehydration. Pushpa has also demanded an inquiry into the CMs close aide Sasikala Natarajans income and properties. In the name of the CM, Sasikala is controlling all the officers in the state and trying to gain power within the party and the state machinery, Pushpa said. She said the party was in dire straits. Tamil Nadu is without a leader. We are like a child who lost its mother. People around the CM is trying to take advantage of this situation, she said. In a letter to Tamil Nadu governor Ch Vidyasagar Rao, the MP said she fears some people around CM might forge her signature to nominate a deputy general secretary in her absence. She also asked the governor to verify Jayalalithaas signature if any official communication came from her or any other person in this or any other regard. With inputs from agencies The Himachal Pradesh government has asked the power companies in the state to surrender the surplus land that it has in its possession. In its letter to the power companies, the states revenue department has sought details about the land in its possession. The revenue departments letter has also cited places where the land was leased to the power companies for hydel project, but the land had not been brought to use by the companies. The revenue department found surplus baron land in Sunder Nagar, Salaparh and Pandoh, which has the barrages of hydel projects being managed by the Bhakra Beas Management Board (BBMB). The land has been lying vacant for several decades and has not been brought to use for any purpose, so the revenue department has asked the power companies to return it back to the government so that it can be brought to use for other purposes, an official of the revenue department told Hindustan Times. The revenue department estimates that the power companies in Himachal have about 20,000 bighas of surplus land, which was not bring utilized for any purposes. The revenue department has also asked the deputy commissioners of the all the 12 districts to provide details of the land being used by the power companies. The land lease rules make it mandatory for lease to put land in use within the two years of its allotment. The government has allotted about 3,000 to 4,000 bighas of land to big power producers in the state. In many cases, it has been noticed that power companies usually seek lease for more land, while surplus is not being put to use, said an official of the power company. The revenue department has written a letter to the big power promoters like Satluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Limited (SJVNL), which runs Asias biggest underground power project (1,500 megawatt Nathpa Jhakri). The NJPCs 1500-megawatt project supplies electricity to Chandigarh, Delhi, Haryana, Punjab and Rajasthan. The revenue department also detected the land lease being violated by Jaypee that was running 1,200-megawatt Karcham-Wangtoo project. The company raised an apple orchard at the land, which it had acquired for the purpose of building a hydropower project. The revenue department detected that the company has raised apple orchard on the 100 bighas of land. The company was given 3,675 bighas of land on lease for its hydro-power projects and cement plants in the state. The farmers have also been cultivating agriculture crops on land along the reservoirs. The study conducted by the non-government organisation a few years back reveal that the farmers illegally grow wheat amounting `4 crore on the land along the Pong Dam in Kangra district. The studies brought the startling fact that the farmers who have already been paid the compensation were still cultivating the same land in possession of BBMB. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Clad in a dhoti and kurta and sporting a long tilak on his forehead, BSF soldier Dinesh Sharma recites shlokas in chaste Sanskrit, his voice reverberating inside the sprawling courtyard of Ghantiyali Mata temple in Rajasthans border district of Jaisalmer. Sharma is one of the Border Security Force personnel responsible for the day to day administration of the Ghantiyali Mata temple and Tanot temple, nestled in the heart of the Thar desert and very close to the India-Pakistan border. The temples are dedicated to two sister goddesses regarded as the protectors of the international border by locals. Devotees who visit the Ghantiyali Mata temple, barely 30 kilometres from the border, during Navratri -- nine nights during which nine forms of Goddess Durga are worshipped -- witness soldiers performing religious rituals in the temples that are traditionally done by Brahmins. People come here from far and wide to worship the goddess during Navratri. However, this year the crowd is comparatively less because many are hesitant owing to the tension between India and Pakistan. We are trying to assure them that theres no danger here and the BSF is fully prepared for any situation, Shambhu Nath Sarkar, another BSF jawan, said. Sarkar was pointing to the recent strain in India-Pakistan ties after a strike by the Indian Army on militant bases along the Line of Control (LoC) following an attack on an army base in Uri in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 19 soldiers. India blames Pakistan for sponsoring those who carried out the Uri attack and other anti-India activities. Islamabad has denied the military operation and said any attempt to infiltrate its territorial integrity will be rebuffed. Sarkar, a native of West Bengal, was posted at the Line of Control in Jammu and Kashmir before he was sent to Rajasthan. My battalion shared quarters with that of lance naik Hemraj Singh, who was killed and beheaded by Pakistani soldiers in 2013, Sarkar said. Over the years, many legends have sprouted around these two temples that are considered as two of the holiest places in Rajasthan. Pakistani soldiers entered inside the temple during the war of 1965 and broke some of the idols. The consequences were devastating for them as at the end not a single one of them survived and most of them died after fighting among each other because the goddess had cursed them, jawan RP Sharma from Madhya Pradesh said, pointing towards desecrated idols kept at the temple compound. Currently, 10 BSF personnel are posted in the temple and carry out all the day-to-day errands. Jawan Jothi Murugan from Tamil Nadu stands guard at the gates and helps elderly people to get to the place where the aarti is conducted and his colleague Bhawani Shankar, a native of Orissas Sambalpur, distributes prasad to devotees. The scene is similar at the Tanot Mata temple with devotees from all over the state coming to visit it during Navratri. I have come from Pali district to seek blessings from the mata. I believe that as long as the two goddesses are guarding the border, we are safe from Pakistani intrusion, Ladu Ram, a devotee, said. Gun shells fired by the Pakistani army during the war of 1971 are kept inside a glass cabinet at the temple for display. Devotees say that the Pakistan fired a substantial chunk of their ammunition at the temple but couldnt damage even a single brick. Last Thursday, chief minister Vasundhara Raje offered prayers at the Tanot temple to protect our soldiers and for their energy and power. The yagna at the temple came a day before Union home minister chaired a meeting over the security of the four states that share a border with Pakistan and decided India will completely seal the India-Pakistan border by December 2018. The meeting took place at the BSF headquarters and was attended by Raje, Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal, home ministers of Rajasthan and Gujarat -- Gulab Chand Kataria and Pradeep Kumar Jadeja-- respectively. Parallels with 1971 war Memories of the 1971 India-Pakistan war is fresh in the mind of 75-year-old Sartan Singh a resident of Renao village, 10km from the Ghantiyali Mata temple. Our entire village had to be evacuated and we walked all the way to reach Ramgarh, which is several miles away. Even women and children had no choice but to walk in the searing heat and carry all our belongings including the livestock. We would occasionally hear the ear-splitting sound of artillery fire, said Singh. He added that ever since tension between India and Pakistan increased following the September 29 surgical strike, villagers have been drawing parallels with the 1971 war. There hasnt been any order to evacuate the villages near border although the BSF personnel have told us to stay alert. But this time, if the necessity comes, we are ready to go to the frontline to fight. We are not afraid of war, Shaitan Singh, another resident of Renao, said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Monday India is mistaken if it equates the freedom struggle of Kashmiri people with terrorism. India is mistaken if it considers that a freedom fight can be equated with terrorism, Sharif said during a meeting of his Pakistan Muslim League-Nawazs central working party here. Sharif said Kashmiris were fighting for their right of self-determination and Pakistan would continue to support them. Pakistan is committed to the Kashmir cause. No power in the world can stop us from supporting the freedom struggle of Kashmiris, he said. Sharifs comments came amid heightened tensions between India and Pakistan after the September 18 Uri terror attack that prompted India to conduct surgical strike on terror launch pads along the LoC. Read | Indias aggression will not go unpunished: Paks army chief Gen Sharif hits out Sharif in the past week chaired Cabinet meeting, addressed a joint session of Parliament and attended National Security Committees meeting to discuss tensions with India. Mondays meeting came amidst wrangling with his party on how to deal Imran Khans threat to shut down capital Islamabad on October 30 over alleged corruption by Sharifs family. Sahrif warned Khan not to cross limits while protesting against the government. In democracy people can protest but no one can be allowed to cross the limits, he said. He said some people want to paralyse the country through politics of protests but they would not succeed. Sharif also said that economy has been strengthened because of effective policies as government was working to tackle all the challenges including terrorism and energy shortages. Read | Is the face off between ISI and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif for real? Delhi chief minister and Aam Aadmi Party national convener Arvind Kejriwal will make another attempt to woo Gujarats disgruntled Patidar community during his three-day tour beginning October 15. This will be his third visit to the state since kick-starting the campaign for the 2017 assembly elections in August. However, his latest visit may backfire as many from the influential Patidar community see it as a political stunt when the AAP has announced to contest from all 182 assembly seats in December 2017. Read | Kejriwal kickstarts Gujarat campaign While the BJP is struggling to retain its key vote bank that is up in arms against the Gujarat government demanding OBC reservation, Kejriwal will visit the families of the community youth killed in police firing during protests in August last year. As many as 13 people were killed following clashes between police and protesters after Patidars resorted to violent demonstrations on August 25 and 26 in 2015. On October 15, Kejriwal will be in Ahmedabad to visit the Patidar families who lost their kin in police firing. Later, he will visit Unjha and offer prayers to Maa Umiya, the deity of Patidars, said AAPs Gujarat coordinator Harshil Nayak. Surat, the nerve centre of the Patidar agitation, will be Kejriwals focus for the next two days. He will address a rally in the heart of the Patidar dominated area on October 16 and meet local leaders and volunteers the next day. Read | On his birthday, Arvind Kejriwal visits Gujarat, pays homage to Pramukh Swami However, the Delhi CMs visits and meetings with the families of the youth do not seem to be going down well with the Patidar Anamat Andolan Samiti (PAAS). Why didnt he (Kejriwal) come earlier? The youth were killed more than a year ago. His visit is nothing but a political stunt as the assembly elections are now approaching, said Atul Patel, Ahmedabad convener of PAAS. Atul added that PAAS might stage a protest against the visit. Kejriwal had kick-started AAPs campaign from Saurashtra during his visit to Somnath temple on August 5. He visited Gujarat again to pay tributes to Pramukh Swami, the religious head of a Swaminarayan sect, following the latters death last month. A 30-year-old joint magistrate allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself in her house. Police say some injury marks were found on her body. Pratibha Gautam, who was posted in Kanpur (Rural), was found hanging from a ceiling fan in her house at Circuit House colony when her husband, who is an advocate in Delhi, came home Sunday morning. The veins of both hands were cut. Pratibha was posted in Kanpur (rural) since 2015. Her husband Manu Abhishek claimed he had entered the house by breaking the main door on Sunday morning only to find her hanging. He immediately informed the police who rushed to the spot and started an investigation. As part of the probe, the police have seized a few articles from the room. A forensic team has also been asked to look into the case. Police sent the body for autopsy and were trying to quiz the servant and the driver. While the servant, Anuj, was on leave, the driver could not be traced Nothing much could be said about the cause of death as of now. Things could get cleared after the autopsy report is received, said senior superintendent of police Shalabh Mathur. Pratibha had travelled to Delhi on Saturday to meet her husband, where the two had a tiff. She got down from their car and left. She did not answer Abhisheks calls. On Sunday, Abhishek arrived in Kanpur without giving prior information to his wife before calling the police to report the alleged suicide. The two had met while preparing for the state civil service examination. Pratibha got posted in Kanpur Dehat and I went to Delhi for private practice, Abhishek said. The couple had married in January this year against the wishes of Pratibhas parents who did not attend the wedding. Congress on Monday demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah apologise to the nation for their vote garnering exercise on surgical strikes calling it a worst crime and questioned the decision to drastically reduce the disability pension of the jawans. Partys chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala was also scathing in his criticism of the government for failing to do justice with both the farmers and the jawans. He demanded withdrawl of the Tughlaqi order of drastically reducing the disability pension of the jawans and accused the government of not taking effective action on the one rank-one pension issue. Doing politics over the sacrifice and valour of the armed forces is the worst crime, Surjewala told reporters. He said the surgical strikes should not be made a vote garnering exercise in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and some other states. With Modi set to participate in a Dussehra event in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh tomorrow, he said, The entire nation is saying in unison that the action of the armed forces should not be used as a vote garnering exercise. While the past record is not that good, I hope that the Prime Minister would not utilise the occasion to do politics. He should introspect on the...Maryada Purushottam Bhagwan Ram, Surjewala said. On the government notifying a new set of rules for disability pensions for the armed forces, Surjewala alleged that on one side there is a race to gain political mileage out of surgical strikes while on the other doing injustice to the jawans. What sort of justice is this? he said. Claiming that the suggestions given by the three service chiefs on the one-rank-one-pension issue were thrown in the dust bin by the government, he criticised the one-rank-one-pension being converted into one-rank-different pension. Surjewala demanded that the government rectify the lacunae in the OROP issue. He also criticised the government for not purchasing foodgrains at the rate of the minimum support price. Replying to a question, he hailed Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for appreciating Rahul Gandhis position on the surgical strikes, but ruled out any tie-up with the Samajwadi Party in the assembly polls in the state. Rahuls remarks that the Modi government was profiteering from the blood spilt by the soldiers had drawn criticism from BJP which accused him of insulting the armed forces. Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and NCP too had disapproved of Rahuls dalali remarks. Embattled by mounting rumours about Tamil Nadu chief minister J Jayalalithaas health, the AIADMK has launched a social media campaign to counter the speculation that the 68-year-old leader is seriously ill or has an incurable disease. The party tweeted a link on Monday where users could go to and change their profile photos on the microblogging site to say My CM is fine and No more rumours. A screen grab of the website where users can change their profile photos to say My CM is fine and No more rumours. (Support-aiadmk.herokuapp.com) All is well with Puratchi Thalaivi Amma. Click this link, change your profile pic & put a full stop to rumours, the partys twitter handle wrote. Jayalalithaa was admitted to Chennais Apollo Hospital on September 22 with high fever and dehydration. Over the next two weeks, information around her health was strictly controlled triggering a flurry of rumours, fake photos and audio messages. All is well with Puratchi Thalaivi Amma. Click this link, change your profile pic & put a full stop to rumours.https://t.co/mOwR6jaOWx AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) October 10, 2016 Last week, the government flew in specialists from Delhis All India Institute of Medical Sciences, fuelling speculation that the CMs internal organs were severely damaged. The hospital has said that the CM is recovering and responding well to treatment. But this has been unable to extinguish the political controversy that erupted after her arch rival and DMK chief, M Karunanidhi, demanded photographic evidence of her wellbeing. Despite assurances from the state government and the hospital, the DMK has repeatedly insisted that an interim CM be put in place and more details about Jayalalithaas health released. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Defence minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his dalali remark, saying those who focused on profiteering in defence deals fully understood the meaning of the word and that the BJP does not intend to use the armys valour for elections. Needling the Congress on the various defence scams during its stint in power, he said when he took over as defence minister, he found dalali in several deals. When I became the minister and looked into it, I realised that there was dalali and scam in submarine deal, then in (AgustaWestland) helicopter there was dalali. There were allegations of dalali in Pilatus training aircraft (deal). After that in Embraer aircraft. Those who only focused on dalali (profiteering) fully understand what the word dalali means. The BJP government does not understand this....this is why we dont intend to use the valour of the Indian Army in any election, Parrikar said. Gandhi had recently attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi at a rally in Delhi, saying: Jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strike kiye hain, unke khoon ke peeche aap chhupe hain. Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho. Yeh bilkul galat hai. (You are hiding behind the blood of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and those who carried out the surgical strikes for India. You are exploiting their sacrifices, which is very wrong). Rahuls remarks that the Modi government was profiteering from the blood of soldiers had drawn criticism from the BJP, which accused him of insulting the armed forces. However, Rahul and his party have maintained that they support the military action but denounced political propaganda on the issue. India on Monday said the global fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists and terror groups, but also identify, isolate and penalise states that encourage and provide sanctuary to them. Terming terrorism the single most significant threat to peace and stability in our region, minister of state for external affairs VK Singh said there was an urgent need for measures to counter and prevent the spread of violent extremism and radical ideologies. We need to stand united against terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, he said at the 2nd Summit of the Asia Cooperation Dialogue (ACD) here. Read | Brand Pakistan identifies itself with global terror: Jaitley Singh said there can be no justification for acts of terror on any ground whatsoever. Terrorism knows no boundaries. We need to resolve to eradicate this evil from our region and beyond. We strongly believe that the global fight against terrorism should not only seek to disrupt and eliminate terrorists, terror organisations and networks, but also identify, isolate and penalise States who encourage support and finance terrorism, provide sanctuary to terrorists and terror groups, and falsely extol their virtues. There should be no glorification of terrorists and there is nothing called a good terrorist, he said. He said the countries would be failing their people if they do not pledge to use all the mechanisms available to us bilaterally and multilaterally to rid us of this fundamental threat to our societies, communities and nations. Read | US says does not support declaring Pakistan a terrorist state All our resolve to create a peaceful prosperous community will fail unless we cooperate with each other to end this menace, he said. Calling ACD an important forum that brings together so many of our people, Singh said, This organisation was born out of a felt need to address challenges faced by countries of Asia from the global financial and economic crises. This Summit is therefore timely, given the challenges that our nations face today. ACD is an inter- governmental organisation created on June 18, 2002 to promote Asian cooperation at a continental level and to help integrate separate regional organisations such as ASEAN, SAARC, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and the Eurasian Economic Union. The one-man judicial commission, constituted by the Union ministry of human resource development to probe Hyderabad Central University research scholar Rohith Vemulas suicide in January this year, has raised questions about the 26-year-olds Dalit status and attributed his action to personal reasons. Former Allahabad high court judge AK Roopanwal has also absolved university authorities of any blame for Vemulas death, saying they were not working under political pressure. Vemulas suicide in a hostel room on January 17 this year had triggered a huge political debate with the then HRD minister Smriti Irani coming under attack along with labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya for writing a letter related to the matter. Vemula was one of the five students suspended by the universitys executive council following allegations of assault on a leader of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), an RSS-affiliated students body. The five students all members of the Ambedkar Students Union were thrown out of the hostel, denied access to campus facilities, except their classrooms and respective workshops. Here is the the full 41-page report of the Roopanwal commission on Vemulas suicide: 1. Though Rohith Vemula is not proved to be a Scheduled Caste person, he always claimed as such on the basis of the certificate anyhow obtained by him/his mother. From the whole material available on the records, it appears that there is no proof at all that she (Vemulas mother V Radhika) belongs to the Mala community on the basis of which she obtained Mala caste certificate for the first time from a corporator in whose house she remained for one-and-a-half years. 2. Neither Union labour minister Bandaru Dattatreya nor the then human resource development minister Smriti Irani in any way influenced the university authorities and they were just discharging their functions as the representatives of the public. Read | Rohit Vemulas Dalit status not established: HRD panel 3. The whole reading of the letter (suicide note) written by him (Rohith) shows that he was not feeling well in this world and under frustration he ended his life. Here I would like to refer to Vemulas letter dated 18 December, 2015 to the vice-chancellor, University of Hyderabad, regarding the solution for Dalit problems. In this letter, he showed his anger regarding the expulsion from hostel. But I feel that in view of the suicide note, the anger shown in this letter cannot be the reason for suicide. It is because of the fact that the suicide was committed after about one month and by this time the expulsion from the hostel had been challenged in the high court. 4. My view is that there is no evidence of any fact or circumstance on the record, which dragged him to commit suicide, and no one is responsible for his death. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The mammoth public rally BSP supremo Mayawati addressed in Lucknow on Sunday indicated that the recent exodus of several prominent leaders from the party failed to dent her organizational base. It also gave a broad outline of the partys strategy for the 2017 assembly elections, and what its rival could expect from it in the run of to the elections. Here are the seven political messages drawn from the rally: 1. Exodus from BSP fails to weaken its base Recent exodus of several prominent leaders from the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has failed to weaken the party structure -- the foundation of which was laid by Kanshi Ram. The cadre and the party coordinators stood like a rock behind Mayawati while she displayed her organisational strengths and support base to her rivals, dispelling the notion that the desertions had weakened the party ahead of the elections. 2. Is BSP the winner of 2017 battle? The massive show of strength has succeeded in unnerving her rivals by showing it remains a major force to reckon with in the state. Samajwadi Party (SP) faces family feud and anti-incumbency and the BJP is yet to display its strength. Though there is an undercurrent of support building in favour of Prime Minister Narendra Modi after the surgical strikes, but the party needs to gear up. Despite all these factors in its favour, it will be too early to pronounce the party winner in the next years elections. 3. How would the rally help Mayawati The success of the rally has demoralised the rebels and dissuades the fences sitters as it has sent out a clear message that the party is back in the race with a bang, thus leaving the cadres rejuvenated and the supporters hopeful. 4. Appeal to Muslims With the Congress yet to recover its lost ground and the SP reeling under family feud, the BSP emerges as a leading contender for the Muslim votes. At the rally, Mayawati projected her party as the only strong force in the state that can halt resurgence of the BJP. She also tried to dispel aprehensions among the minorities that she would be open to forming a government in coalition with the BJP, as she did in the past. The partys Muslim face Naseemuddin Siddiqui has been entrusted to bolster party in the minority dominated pockets of the state. 5.Corrupt Maya Much to the consternation of the BJP and the SP, the response Mayawati got at the rally shows that their strategy to paint her corrupt has failed. Both have been accusing Maya of selling party tickets. However, her supporters have rejected the charge. 6. Kanshi Rams legacy There may be many claimants, including Kanshi Rams brother Darbara Singh, who is demanding a CBI probe into his brothers death, to late leaders legacy, but Mayawati remains the only credible leader to carry forward the legacy. Kanshi Ram had declared her his successor during his lifetime. His words remain the last word for the party supporters. 7. Ekla Chalo Mayawati has set to rest all speculations over pre-poll alliance with the Congress or any other party. She has clarified that BSP would not join any grand alliance either, and so all the talks about the tie-ups were mere wishes of the Congress or that of Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) cadre will be all ears at the Vijayadashami address of Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Tuesday. The occasion assumes added significance in the backdrop of surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK). Vijayadashami celebration will also see a modified uniform full trousers instead of the traditional shorts at the annual parade to be held at Reshimbagh ground. Read | Times they are a changing: RSS ditches khaki shorts for brown trousers Moreover, the colour of the dress will also see a change with trousers being brown instead of the age-old khaki. According to RSS sources, nearly six lakh trousers have been sold countrywide. The decision to replace the khaki shorts with brown trousers was taken at the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha of RSS held at Nagaur, Rajasthan, in March this year. The new outfits were kept at the RSS Reshimbagh office here for distribution from August this year. We have directed all our shakhas across the country to implement the new dress code from Vijayadashami this year, RSS pracharak pramukh Manmohan Vaidya said. Read | RSS starts distributing brown trousers to replace khaki shorts The new dress of RSS members will comprise black cap, white full-sleeve shirt, canvas belt, brown shocks, black shoes and brown trousers. There is no specific reason to opt for brown trousers, except the fact that it is easily available and the colour looks good, he said. There is also a proposal to add a brown sweater for the cadres in the north. The move to change the uniform was initiated to keep pace with the times and attract more youngsters towards the organisation. Nashik, which witnessed violence after a 5-year-old girl was sexually assaulted by a teenager, limped back to normalcy on Monday amid heavy police presence all over the city and neighbouring rural areas. All is well, Nashik police commissioner Ravindra Singhal said. He, however, said rural areas are vulnerable to violence and police have deployed heavy security. The police said action is being taken against rioters and those involved in spreading rumours. Even as the busy Mumbai-Agra highway has been kept open for vehicular traffic, protesters resorted to violence at Padale phatak which is near Talegaon in Trimbakeshwar, around 175km from Mumbai, where a 15-year-old allegedly assaulted the minor girl on Saturday. He was taken into custody within a few hours of the incident. Read: Nashik on edge after teen sexually assaults 5-yr-old The protestors resorted to pelting stones last night and targeted police vehicles. They pushed a stationary bus and a truck that were parked on a slope to harm the police patrolling party. We have arrested seven persons in this regard, Ankush Shinde, Nashik superintendent of police (rural) whose vehicle was also targeted, said. On Sunday, agitators set the house of the 15-year-old on fire and also torched 20 vehicles, including three police vans, government buses and private vehicles, demanding action. Protesters, who were carrying saffron flags, also pelted stones at vehicles bearing blue flags of the Republican Party of India after news spread that the girl belonged to the Maratha community while the suspect was from Scheduled Caste. Some protesters were heard shouting the slogan Ek Maratha Lakh Maratha, a call given by the Maratha community in the ongoing statewide stir triggered by the rape and murder of a minor girl at Kopardi on July 13. It took more than 12 hours for police to clear the Mumbai-Nashik road as heavy vehicles had lined up near Ghoti naka. Many passengers who were going to Nashik and were stranded due to traffic snarls, cancelled their plans and returned to Mumbai. Read: Nashik case will be fast-tracked, says CM Police are meeting residents of the village where the incident occurred to ensure that there is no law and order problem. Villagers have been asked not to resort to rumour mongering and give the incident a caste colour. Initial reports that suggested the girl was raped lead to tension in the village. The police resorted to a lathi-charge and fired a few rounds in the air to disperse the mob. Swift action by the police and a clarification by doctors that the minor was not raped, but sexually assaulted, helped bring the situation under control by evening. Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar urged protesters to stop violence, saying the government has already taken action. The police have arrested the suspect and the government has assured the charge sheet will be filed soon. As the government has taken action, it is time to end the protests, Pawar said. The teenager, who was produced before a local court on Sunday, has been sent to a correction home and the condition of the five-year-old girl is said to be normal. The air raid precaution (ARP) system that alerts citizens against an enemy air attack has gone on the blink in Rajasthan. The ARP system, under which sirens at different locations in cities go off with one switch at a telephone exchange, is functional in only two of the 13 towns where it had been installed. The development came to light recently when the civil defence department tested the ARP system in the view of present situation along the Indo-Pakistan border following Indias surgical strikes on terror launch pads along the Line of Control on Kashmir. The ARP systems were installed 35 years ago following a home ministry notification for all civil defence towns (CDTs) across the country. There are 13 CDTs in Rajasthan Jaipur, Ajmer, Jodhpur, Kota, Bharatpur, Alwar, Jaisalmer, Barmer, Sriganganagar, Suratgarh, Bikaner, Nal and Rawatbhata due to their strategic importance. But the ARP system is functional in only Kota and Sriganganagar. The ARP system in Bikaner which was tested on October 7 was among those that failed. The sirens were connected with copper cables to the main telephone exchange, where, one switch could activate all of them. The state-run BSNL which has replaced its network with optical cables had already declared the ARP system as outdated in 11 towns. Deputy controller of civil defence in Bikaner, Gyanendra Singh said the ARP system was a centralized system that became obsolete even as telecommunication technology was upgraded. In Bikaner, there are nine sirens but they are not interconnected. So in an emergency, each of these sirens would have to be manually set off. In case of a war, civil defence staff will have to man these nine locations in three shifts of eight hours each. Officials rue that the civil defence and disaster management department has not been able to develop an alternative system of warning all these years. Sources said that the department received a public warning system called electronic ARP in 2006-07 from ITI Limited, a government telecom company in Bengaluru. But it was returned seeking some modification. We are soon replacing the outdated ARP with the new EARP. We are in touch with several agencies to get the new system installed, junior staff officer (JSO), civil defence, Pholchand told HT. Sources said that a system called WARS, was running successfully in Ahmedabad, but that was not perfect for border towns. The civil defence department testes the system from time to time as and when needed, sources said. But there is apparently no specific time frame for the tests. Old timers in the department officials say some sirens went off during Operation Parakram in 2001 but the system has not worked after that. A stream of high profile visitors, including Kerala governor P Sathasivam and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan visited Apollo Hospitals on Monday, where Tamil Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa is undergoing treatment as the ruling AIADMK insisted that all is well with its leader. All is well with Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (revolutionary leader mother) the official twitter handle of the party, @AIADMKofficial, said. Vijayan, accompanied by Sathasivam, visited the hospital and held discussions with hospital CMD Prathap Reddy. We met Dr Pathap Reddy and other doctors providing treatment to the chief minister. The specialists informed us that she was getting good response from the treatment, Sathasivam told reporters. And within a short period, she is likely to be discharged and it is possible for her to take charge of administration. We also pray for her speedy recovery, he said. Vijayan said they had come to convey the collective good wishes of the people of Kerala. Puducherry Lieutenant Governor Kiran Bedi also visited the hospital and said she was informed by Reddy that Jayalalithaa was recovering. He said Amma (as Jayalalithaa is addressed) is under very good care and that she is progressing. I would like to pray for her to keep progressing. I have come here due to absolute respect as a neighbour as Puducherry is a neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu and it is my duty to be here, she said. Bedi, who assumed charge in May, said she had wanted to meet the chief minister, especially to place a request for land for the expansion of Puducherry airport. She said she was looking forward to meet Jayalalithaa and hoped for such a meeting to happen soon. The good news is that Dr Reddy says Amma is progressing and responding to treatment. Doctor is the best judge, last word for the patient. So, we should make no guesses, conjectures and we have no choice but to trust and respect what the doctor says, she said. We all are praying and our respect and regards are with the people of Tamil Nadu in this big hour of challenge, she said. Meanwhile, AIADMK workers and supporters continued to hold prayers across the state in different places of worship for Jayalalithaas speedy recovery. Women should be empowered to discover sexual intimacy; they should be fearless and crimes against them should be strictly punished. These are some suggestions readers have sent in response to our series Lets Talk About Rape, for which eight eminent Indians are writing open letters about sexual assault in India. Here are edited excerpts from the latest letters readers wrote to us. Dr Geeta Sodhi calls for the sexual empowerment of women I make a humble plea: Let us please permit our girls to say yes to sexual intimacy and also let us as parents acknowledge the sexuality of our girls. Two decades ago, a young girl living in a slum in Delhi complained about being molested. Her complaint was part of data collected for a research study undertaken for designing a program on empowering adolescent girls. The incident was then put to discussion with young boys and girls from the same community. Interestingly and very revealingly, the boys in the group said the harassment was not molestation or sexual aggression while the girls were divided in their opinion. The young boys argued that the girls No meant Yes. The confusion emanates from the belief that women will express interest in, or consent for, sexual intimacy in a coy manner layered in denials and No. The perpetrators of sexual aggression are at best confused about the signals/responses or worse still twist and turn them to suit their own motives. Till such time that the girls learn to and have societal permission to say Yes their No will be left open to interpretation. However, the ultimate empowerment and liberation of females will lie not only in their ability and sense of joy in saying yes for sexual intimacy but also in reaching out for it and pursuing it as something that is to be celebrated and not dreaded. Looking forward to an honest society! Mehak Gupta wants women to be fearless India is a country where we are taught one lesson: Ignore. Brothers tell their sisters to ignore the men who harass you when you are walking down a street. But ignoring doesnt help anyone but the devil. Women, you need to act now. You need to put that man who harassed you behind bars. Parents, please tell your daughter that she has got the right to wear whatever she wants and say whatever she feels. She has the right not to be scared from the public. As the verses of Rabindranath Tagore from Gitanjali say: Where the mind is without fear, and head is held high. Where knowledge is free. Where the world is not broken up into fragments, By narrow domestic walls. Where words come out from the depth of truth, Where tireless striving stretches its arm into perfection. Where the clear stream of reasons had not lost its way, Into the dreary desert same of dead habits. Where the is lead forward by thee, Into ever widening thought and action. Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake. C K Roy calls for tough laws to punish rape Rape is a crime which shakes up our society. We must ask our lawmakers for these legal reforms: A person accused of rape and murder must get the death sentence. The case should be closed within a year. Private lawyers must be barred from taking up cases of rape-murder. The criminal will be represented through government lawyers. Fast track courts must hear rape cases. Join the conversation about rape, tweet to @httweets with #LetsTalkAboutRape Want to have your voice featured in the Hindustan Times? Send us your entries at htwebresponse@hindustantimes.com and we will feature the best responses. New Delhi The festival of lights is approaching and Delhis biggest wholesale market Sadar Bazar, is packed with decoratives and lights. This time, however, contrary to the high demand for Chinese products, Indian manufactured lights are being preferred by shoppers. Everything that you see in our shop is 100 per cent Indian, says Manpreet Singh, co-owner of Kuku Light House in Pan Mandi, Sadar Bazar. The sellers feel that the rise in demand for Indian lights might be because of two reasons - Prime Minister Modis call for Swadesi and the recent online campaign against all Chinese products, which went viral post Uri attacks. Whatever be the case, the change is definitely welcome to strengthen India-made products such as lights and handicrafts and Indian economy as a whole, adds Singh. Singh informs that people are coming from every corner of the city to ask for Indian lights. Log maang hi Indian rahe hain isliye humne Indian samaan rakhha hai. Badiya hai, aisa hi raha to agle saal se Chinese lightein band hi ho jayengi (People are asking for India-made lights, that is why we have stocked Indian products. If this continues then from next year onwards Chinese lights will be out of Indian markets). Manning his shop in the maddening festive rush Ankit Aggarwal, one of the owners of Aggarwal Electricals in Sadar Bazar, too agrees that Chinese lights might be banned from next year. He informs, Chinese lights became a hit because they are more bright when they glow, as compared to Indian lights. But the India-made lights have a longer shelf life. The Chinese use innovating designs in a short span of time to attract buyers, says Aggarwal. Of course people go for whats fancy... Thats how the Chinese have captured our market. Though with the dip in Chinese products, the sellers might have to face losses, we dont mind it. Echoing his thoughts is M S Hosiery, owner of another shop. We are okay even if Chinese lights are banned. Atleast people will value the products made by their own countrymen. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON By 2025, India will have over 17 million obese children and stand second among 184 countries where the number of obese children are concerned, says a study published in Paediatric Obesity, an international journal. On the backdrop of World Obesity day on October 11, experts warned that early prevention was the need of the hour to avoid an entire generation from falling prey to heart ailments, hypertension and diabetic complications. The study Planning for the worst: estimates of obesity and comorbidities in school-age children in 2025 authored by T. Lobstein and R. Jackson-Leach, aimed to assess the scale of the problem with health planners and service providers. Childhood obesity occurs when a child or adolescent is above the average weight for his or her age and height. The researchers, using data prepared by the Global Burden of Disease collaborative for 2000 and 2013, estimated that by 2025, some 268 million children, aged between five and 17 years, may be overweight, assuming that no policy interventions have proven effective at changing the current trend. China has the largest number of children who are obese. We have also estimated the likely numbers of children in 2025 with obesity-related comorbidities: impaired glucose tolerance (12 million), type 2 diabetes (4 million), hypertension (27 million) and hepatic steatosis (38 million). A supplement table provides estimates for each of 184 nations, said the researchers, discussing the findings. Commenting on the study, Dr Ramen Goel, director, Centre for Bariatric and Metabolic surgery at Wockhardt Hospital, said that the two polarised conditions faced by children in India are malnourishment and obesity and this shows the economic and health divide. Even obese children have malnutrition but that is of a different kind and parents or peers dont understand it. While the government is focusing on malnourishment, this here, is an equally important problem because it will lead to an entire generation suffering from multiple complications in their early twenties, he said. Sighting the increase in the number of patients coming to him for survival interventions, he blamed a combination of multiple factors, leading to obesity and overweight issues. 95% of the patients we see have minimal field activity, unmonitored calorie intake, sleep deprivation and they fall prey to the brands, promising low fat food. Ironically, most of the low fat brands sell enough calories as compared to their normal variants, said Goel. While the research paper has listed global overweight prevalence for children aged 517 years rising from 13.9% in 2010 to 15.8% in 2025. On the assumptions of continued population growth given by the World Bank, this translates to a rise from some 219 million children in this age group in 2010 to 268 million children in 2025. Obesity alone rises from 76 million children (4.8%) in 2010 to 91 million (5.4%) by 2025, the report reads. Dr. Muffazal Lakdawala, chairman of Institute of Minimal Invasive Surgical Sciences and Research Center at Saifee Hospital said that increasing number of paediatric patients are seeking surgical intervention in recent times to overtake obesity or overweight issues. We absolutely avoid operating on such patients and only do it as a last resort if the child is about 120-159kg and is about 15 years of age, said Lakdawala. He added that schools can play a vital role as a major prevention tool to control an epidemic which will strike in next five to ten years to the most productive generation of the country. Most schools sell pizzas and cold drinks in their canteens and nobody is talking about the health implications. While the government is focusing on the mid-day meal programs for malnourished children, to save the generation, the officials need to also look at these malnutritioned children from upper classes, said Lakdawala. He added that similar to the Clean India movement, only a healthy India movement can stress on prevention rather than cure. Doctors across the city said that they see a substantial increase in the number of patients in the out patient ward, which had increased over seven times in past two to three years. Earlier, we used to see one patient a week complaining about obesity or overweight issues, now we see at least two patients every day. Majority of them belong to the upper middle class and middle class, said Dr. Fazal Nabi, consultant paediatrician and intensivist at Jaslok Hospital & Research Centre. He advised mothers to stress on breastfeeding till the age of two years so that the child gets the complete nutritional base for a healthy upbringing. Mothers need to follow the global standards of breastfeeding, at the same time, the stress on nutritional solid intake is equally important from the age of six months as a strong preventive measure, he said. After facing much flak, the Shiv Sena on Monday distanced itself from the controversy created by a few Sena leaders in Uttar Pradesh by forcing Bollywood actor Nawazuddin Siddiqui out of a Ramleela programme in his village, Budhana. Three days after the incident, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray tweeted, I spoke to Nawazuddinji to convey that the party does not endorse the reason why he was prevented from acting in Ramleela in Uttar Pradesh. Clearly distancing the party from the incident, in a second tweet Thackeray added, The said person, be he an office bearer or not, hasnt voiced the partys policy and the part will not support such uncalled for actions. Aaditya, son of Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray heads partys youth wing, Yuva Sena, and is seen as the one responsible for the party taking youth-friendly actions such as stopping its violent protests against celebrating Valentines Day. In the incident, local Sena district head Mukesh Sharma had claimed that he had approached the police and asked the committee in-charge to drop Nawazuddin from the show by claiming that for over 50 years no Muslim had been a part of the production. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The grand Maratha march which was to be held in the city in November has been put on hold till December. The decision was taken at a meeting of Sakal Maratha Samaj, an umbrella body of various Maratha outfits, in Aurangabad on Sunday. The group also decided to hold a rally outside chief minister Devendra Fadnavis residence in Nagpur on December 14, when the winter session of the state Assembly will be in progress. The Maratha group said they decide on the march in Mumbai based on the governments response. If the government doesnt act on our demands during the Assembly session at Nagpur, we will hold a massive rally in Mumbai, said a representative of the Maratha outfit. Sources said plans the march has been put on hold, taking its impact on the financial capital into consideration. The rally at Nagpur, however, would put pressure on the government, as the opposition too will attack the BJP and Shiv Sena in the Assembly, political observers feel. The outfits also came up with the list of eight demands to be submitted to the chief minister, taking the reports of inconsistencies in demands into account. The demands include changes to Prevention of Atrocities Act, reservation for the community and capital punishment to suspects of Kopardi incident involving a Maratha girl. Meanwhile, the Marathas held a rally at Daman on Sunday. The Maratha outfits also plan to hold another rally at Kolhapur on October 15. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Even as normalcy returned to Nashik on Monday, a day after violent protests over sexual assault on a minor, police personnel were deployed across the district to avoid any untoward incident. Twenty vehicles, including three police vans, ST buses and private vehicles, were torched and roads were blocked in Nashik district on Sunday, to demand action against the 15-year-old accused. We have arrested seven people for arson, said Ankush Shinde, superintendent of police, Nashik rural, whose vehicle was targeted. We are taking action against those sending messages on social media and spreading rumors, said Nashik police commissioner Ravindra Singhal. The police are meeting residents of the village where the incident took place to ensure there is no law and order problem. They have urged the villagers to refrain from spreading communal hatred. NEW DELHI: A woman can now seek legal action against her daughter-in-law and her minor grandchildren for domestic violence after the Supreme Court made changes to a law that was seen as biased in favour of the daughter-in-law. The courts decision to strike down a provision in the domestic violence act that restricted the definition of accused to adult male puts a daughter-in-law and other women members of a family at equal footing. It is not difficult to conceive of a non-adult 16 or 17-year-old member of a household who can aid or abet the commission of acts of domestic violence, a bench of justice Kurien Joseph and justice Rohinton Nariman said. Earlier, the daughter-in-law was the only woman who could sue her husband and all his woman relatives, including his mother, sisters and even nieces. But a domestic violence complaint couldnt be filed against the daughter-in-law as the accused under the law could only be adult males. There have been growing complaints about the abuse of the law at the hands of daughters-in-law to put pressure on her husband, especially in seeking a hefty divorce settlement. The domestic violence act came into force in 2005 to protect women from physical, sexual, verbal, emotional and economic abuse at home. The law was primarily brought in to ensure safety of a woman against dowry harassment and other such abuses at the hands of her husband or in-laws. A breach of the order can land a violator in jail for a year. The court also can prevent the accused from selling his house or businesses or both to ensure the victim was not left to fend for herself. The benefit, however, was not available to a woman if her daughter-in-law threw her out. The courts decision fixes the anomaly. The court said adult male was not only an offending expression but also rejected the popular belief that juveniles couldnt harass the elders in the family, rejecting a womans challenge to a Bombay high court order that daughter-in-laws, too, could be tried for domestic violence. Senior advocate Meenakshi Arora, who argued for the mother-in-law in the apex court, said the order had wider ramifications. Technically, now even a daughter can take her mother to court, she explained. In the case of a wife complaining of domestic violence, the husbands relatives including mother-in-law and sister-in-law can be arrayed as respondents (accused) and effective orders passed against them. But in the case of a mother-in-law or sister-in-law who is an aggrieved person, the respondent can only be an adult male person, the bench said. The court gave multiple examples to drive home the point that the law was not providing equal protection to other women of the household. The expression adult male ruled out a mother-in-law from seeking compensation from a daughter-in-law even if she faced violence at her hands, the court said. But, the daughter-in-law, being a wife, was entitled to monetary relief. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Like most Bengalis, I grew up with the Durga Pujo. As a child, we didnt have enough and the five-day festival meant new clothes, eating out and splurging in my mothers otherwise austere ways. We scouted for Pujo pandals every time we moved to a new town, politely fended off intrusive questions by Bengali uncles for bhog and excitedly rated the number of idols we managed to see. I was a fat, shy kid with few friends. My mother and I gave each other company: the goddess slaying the demon inspiring some strange courage in a woman jaded by jabs for her divorce. She wasnt invited for tambola, I wasnt a part of the cool kids Pujo night-outs. Our solitariness kept each other company and grew into camaraderie: maa durga was our accomplice. When I moved to Kolkata, the occasional indulgence became a headfirst dive into city-wide revelry. My early twenties were spent in all-night pandal hopping, feverishly ticking off famous Pujos from a scribbled list and hunting for early-morning breakfast after a punishing night of walking through galis. Amidst this, there was little time for thought. Bengalis lurch from one Pujo to other and any critical examination of the only time Kolkata looks pretty is discouraged. A city that stinks of class bias in even restaurant entry dredges up examples of poor people celebrating to bolster the revelries. Most Bengalis sweep aside any criticism of Pujo by giving it a non-religious colour--its not about Hinduism, we are told, it is about having fun and who can disagree with fun? Except that this isnt true. Anyone who has been to any pandal anywhere in the world will know scriptures dictate everything: from the hours of arati and the clothes people should wear to the kind of food made and the way Pujo is conducted. Priests are always Brahmins and those helming the Pujo are always married, dominant-caste folks. Durga is made into a feminist icon: a protector-mother slaying the demons for her 90 million Bengali children. The states mother-worshipping culture morphs the goddess into a trope and looks for her in everyday women and actresses till Durga is left selling Marie biscuits on billboards. Except that, Durga doesnt stand for every kind of woman and the Pujo is filled with sexist, exclusionary rituals such as Sindoor Khela--made famous by Vidya Balan in Kahaani--where only married (read upper-caste) women can take part. My mother would tell you Pujo is a battleground to keep out those the genteel Bengali society doesnt approve: the unmarried, the divorced, the poor. Small rituals such as cutting fruits, preparing or serving bhog or chaperoning the purohit are tools to establish fief and it is only through collective frenzy that we see them as harmless fun. But the hardest to reconcile is what the festival stands for: the slaying of evil in the form of a blue-green Mahisasur, who occupies so little space in the Pujo-crazy Bengali mindspace that artisans are increasingly doing away with life-size representation of the so-called demon. Mahisasur isnt any ordinary adversary: he is seen as a tribal king killed by the Aryan goddess and tribes across Jharhand and West Bengal known as Asurs celebrate their fair-minded monarch to this day. In the imagination of Indias Dalits and tribals, Durga Puja is the grotesque celebration of the murder of their king and the usurping of their land by a foreign power. We may try and whitewash this memory of violence with pop-feminism but its not going away. Every year, thousands of tribals across communities and regions celebrate Mahisasurs memory and worship him. Many others even shut their doors and windows and hide for this period to prevent a repeat of the trauma that befell their ancestors. But these alternative imaginations dont reach the ears of Bengals non-religious Pujo organisers. For the past few years, I have struggled with reconciling this history of violence with the comforting rituals of Pujo that envelope my life. Pujo as an dominant-caste project explains its sexist tropes--caste and patriarchy go together--and also helps us see why a festival celebrated mostly by wealthy landlords even two centuries ago became the regions cultural signature. It is in this shape that Pujo represents a continuance of the trend of violence by dominant communities against weaker section--and an endorsement of the subjugation. This year, when a group of close friends called me for Pushpanjali--offering flowers to the goddess--I dithered. How can you pray to a goddess driving a weapon through the tribal kings heart and not endorse the centuries of violence on the weaker sections? How can you forget the daily atrocities against tribals and how theyve been dispossessed of their homes and livelihoods by the rampaging god of modernization? How do you participate in the celebration of murder? I made some excuse to my friends and turned up too late for Pushpanjali. I suspect this was my last brush with Durga Pujo celebrations. Letting the glorification of tribal murder fly as culture stops today. (The views expressed are personal.) SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON More than 50 per cent of the emergency referrals at the Advanced Paediatrics Centre in PGIMER come from one hospitalRajindra Hospital, Patiala. This was revealed after the PGI doctors, who are struggling to find ways to manage the overcrowded emergency, analysed the data of referred cases for three months. The emergency ward at the paediatrics centre has 22 beds but at a given time, there are 150 children, who are admitted. As a result, three to four children have to share a bed at the paediatrics emergency. The doctors had started a thesis, six months ago, to search the referral patterns and the effect on the referral practices after instituting an interventional module. We checked the total number of referrals in the first three months, and tried to find out which hospital is sending maximum referrals. We had about 1,200 referrals in the paediatrics emergency. Out of these, more than 50 percent of the cases were from Rajindra hospital, said a doctor. We are in the process of developing a module for streamlining referrals. As a part of the study, we have developed a module to train and sensitise the doctors in peripheral hospitals about the need for a good referral, and perils of bad referrals, said a consultant. We are approaching hospitals in adjoining areas telling them not to refer easily manageable cases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia to PGIMER and if at all they are sending, then they should stabilise the patient first and then refer it. If the patient is not stabilised, even PGI wont do much, said a senior consultant at PGI. Doctors have already visited Rajindra hospital. They are planning to cover other hospitals in the Punjab, Haryana and Himachal, and in the final phase they will assess the impact of this practice in the third phase. BACK REFERRALS, A SOLUTION FOR OVERCROWDING The Advanced Paediatrics Centre has found a solution to overcrowdingback referrals and coordination with hospitals from where the maximum cases are being referred. Back referrals are practice where patients are given initial treatment to stabilise them. Once the patient is stabilised, we then send them to level two nurseries in the periphery, the consultant said. Level-two nurseries are called as sick neo-natal care units (SNCUs). The neonatal (1 day to 1 month old) team has made a list of SNCUs in the periphery of Haryana and Punjab. When they find that a neonate is stable and can be shifted, they call the SCNU, which is near to the patients home. We refer quite often to SNCUs in Panchkula, Ambala, Una, Patiala. Mostly back referrals have been to Haryana, as SNCUs came a little earlier in Haryana than Punjab, said another doctor from new-born unit. In a week, one or two neonates are referred back from newborn unit. On an average about 3-4 newborns are referred back per day from emergency to SnCU. For back referrals of children up to 12 years, doctors have networked with selected hospitals. It includes hospitals such as GMCH-32 and GMSH-16; Command hospital, Chandimandir; Rajindra hospital, Patiala; IGMC, Shimla, DMC and CMC in Ludhiana and at times PGIMS in Rohtak. The problem comes as patients hesitate. Parents are not willing to take back children or neonates to any other hospital. Even if they go to other hospital, they keep on nagging and the other doctors send them back to PGI. We get re-referrals, said the consultant. Earlier PGIMERs former director Dr YK Chawla had said, Referring back could be a good suggestion. In fact recently, we have written and spoken to hospitals, at least as far as neonates is concerned. May be if it works out well, we could adopt it to refer back adults also in different specialities. We could try that out. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON A 68-year-old man hailing from Bode village here was allegedly shot dead in Manila, Philippines, on Saturday. Victim Gurdev Singh Dhaliwal was a financier and had been residing in Manila after moving there in 1990. His brother Gurmel Singh told HT that Gurdev was returning home from work on Saturday evening, when two motorcyle-borne youths started following his car. When Gurdev stopped his vehicle at a traffic signal, the miscreants opened fire at him, resulting in his death on the spot, said Gurmel Singh. He said the deceaseds body is expected to arrive in India on October 14 and the cremation will take place at their village. Terming Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as a party of hollow slogans and false promises, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Monday dared Arvind Kejriwal to come out with any single contribution of AAP to the development of the state and the country in general. It is on record that AAP is just a bunch of opportunists and defectors who have left one party or another to acquire power. So, nothing good for the state and its people could be expected from these people, the five-time chief minister said. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of sangat darshan programme at Lambi assembly segment in Muktsar on Monday, the Badal said Kejriwal was not even aware of the basics of agriculture and village life of the state. He said the sole aim of AAP was to wrest political power in Punjab, which goes to polls early next year. Badal said a state, where majority of population resides in the villages, could not be run by a party whose leaders were not acquainted to the problems faced by them. Badal also said the Delhi chief minister and other AAP leaders were ignorant about the basic topography of the state. Kejriwal is suffering from anti-Punjab mindset and the stand taken by his government on the issue of Sutlej-Yamuna Link canal in apex court was a reflection of it. Affidavit by Delhi government headed by the AAP in Supreme Court termed Punjabs stand on the issue as unconstitutional and anti-national, Badal said. He said as the Delhi chief minister hailed from Haryana, so he was naturally inclined towards safeguarding the interests of his state and wanted to snatch the waters of Punjab to benefit his own state (Haryana). Badal exhorted the people to adopt a cautious approach while casting their vote as their verdict could make or mar the future of the state. He said the SAD-BJP governments pro-poor initiatives included schemes like Atta-Dal, pension, Shagun, Bhagat Puran Singh Sehat Beema Yojna and Mai Bhago Vidya Scheme. On Sunday, Badal had dismissed Kejriwals claim that SAD and Congress in Punjab were colluding to fight the state assembly elections due next year, calling them as a bunch of lies. He had also said that Kejriwal is suffering from anti-Punjab syndrome. Read | Badal hits out at Kejriwal over SAD-Congress collusion remark Badal also launched a scathing attack on Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh, who is also the Lok Sabha MP from Amritsar, alleging he has a proven anti-farmer and anti-poor track record. The SAD leader addressed public gatherings in villages of Kattianwali, Karmpatti, Ratta Tibba, Mohlana and Rani Wala. Terming Delhi chief minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwals statement on alleged collusion between the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and Congress a bunch of lies, Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal on Sunday said that any kind of connivance with anti-Punjab and anti-Sikh Congress is unimaginable. Talking to media on the sidelines of a sangat darshan at his constituency, Lambi, the CM said the SAD can never think of having any sort of collusion with the party that had attacked Sri Harmandir Sahib, perpetrated the carnage of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and did grave injustice to the state by depriving its people of their capital, river waters and even Punjabi-speaking areas. Accusing Kejriwal of issuing baseless and irrational statements for vested political interests, Badal said Akalis have a glorious history of launching struggles for safeguarding interests of Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiyat, whereas Congress has a notorious past of anti-Punjab stance. The chief minister alleged Kejriwal, too, is suffering from anti-Punjab syndrome and doesnt have basic knowledge about the state. He said that the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) is bereft of any agenda for development of the state and is trying to mislead people through its hollow slogans. The administration is not run by hollow slogans as work has to be done on the ground level to ensure welfare of people. The SAD is fully committed for peace, communal harmony and development in the state, Badal said. Calling the AAP a house of cards that is likely to collapse even before the state goes to polls, Badal said its leaders possess neither character nor ideology and their sole motive is to assume power for plundering the state. Allegations of sale of partys tickets being levelled by AAP cadres reflect upon moral degradation in politics, he said. Describing Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh as a King of Palaces, the CM said he is least worried about the welfare of people and will deprive them of the subsidies being given by the SAD-BJP government. Read | Congress trashes Kejriwals charge of collusion with SAD When asked to comment on resignation of Dr Navjot Kaur Sidhu from the BJP, Badal said that any leader who backstabs his or her mother party loses credibility among people. I had always supported her to ensure development in her assembly constituency, said the chief minister. Apna Punjab Party (APP) convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur, while addressing mediapersons at his house at Chhotepur village near Gurdaspur on Sunday, lambasted Punjab chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for allegedly staging a drama of expressing sympathies with border residents by creating a war-like situation. Chhotepur said that the Badal government spent crores of rupees from the state exchequer on the futile exercise of evacuating border villagers. Chhotepur said that border residents within the 10-km belt from the international border in the state were ordered to vacate their houses and those, who obeyed government orders, had to suffer financial loss, besides undergoing an ordeal of displacement. Chhotepur questioned why the government hurriedly passed orders of evacuation of border residents, while there was no movement of the Army on the international border. Chhotepur pointed out that later the orders of asking border people to migrate to safer places were withdrawn by the Badal government, perhaps after realising its mistake. Read | Badal refutes BSFs claim; says MHA issued evacuation orders Chhotepur claimed that the people of Punjab would elect his party to power in the upcoming state assembly elections as they were fed up with the wrong policies of the Congress and the Akalis while Arvind Kejriwals Aam Aadmi Party stands exposed for its malpractices in the distribution of its tickets for the ensuing elections in Punjab. Chhotepur inaugurated his partys office in Gurdaspur on Saturday. While inaugurating the office, Chhotepur claimed that he had formed the Apna Punjab Party to safeguard the interests of Punjab and its people. He said that his party would contest all the 117 seats in the 2017 Punjab assembly elections. He claimed that his party would form the next government in the state. The accounts section of district health department is not able to locate crucial records pertaining to grants and expenses received in Jalandhar. An inquiry has been initiated and chief medical officer (CMO) Dr Rajiv Bhalla has called up on the earlier district account officer Sanjeev Kumar, in the civil surgeons office here. Kumar has been facing a vigilance probe into the purchase of different items including electronic equipments. Kumar was transferred to Fazilka district in August this year. Since Kumars transfer, there has been no permanent head in accounts wing. The health department is managing with assistants employees who are worried about the missing records and conveyed the same to CMO Bhalla. Sanjeev Kumar was overseeing grants and expanses independently, said sources. Even district level program officer had to request him to issue funds allocated by government to meet the expenses incurred on celebrating any day, travelling allowances, holding seminar or rally in past, said sources. These powers have been decentralized now and each district program officer is now a signing authority and can withdraw money with CMOs signatures. Earlier there were no separate accounts for each programme but presently accounts have been differentiated, said sources. The employees digging up into the records are finding it tough to trace the records, said sources. We have called Kumar many times but he is yet to turn up here, said CMO. It is just the initial stage and things will get clear in the coming days, he added. It is pertinent to mention here that a vigilance probe was initiated in February this year after the director general of police (DGP, vigilance) received complaint regarding irregularities in purchase by civil surgeons office. The vigilance sleuths have failed to complete the probe within a mandatory period of three months. The bureau questioned former civil surgeon Dr RL Bassan on March 22. It also recorded statements of nine members who were part of the then purchasing committees including, former district health officer Dr Jasbir Singh, district family and welfare officer Dr Gurmeet Kaur, then assistant civil surgeons Dr BS Multani, Dr M Bali and Dr Tarsem Singh, Jandiala senior medical officer Dr Varinder, medical officer Dr Surinder Kumar, epidemiologist Dr Satish Kumar, DAO Sanjeev Kumar, purchase clerk Raj Pal and others. The probe was shifted to Hoshiarpur VB in the wake of representations made to departments higher officials in Chandigarh in May. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Mohammad Rafiq, ASI, police division number 7, helped parents trace a six-year-old girl, who went missing on Sunday. The girl, a resident of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar, Chandigarh Road, on her way to Kanjak Poojan lost way on Sunday morning. Rafiq after sweating out for at least three hours found a girl near Tajpur Chowk and handed her over to her parents. Family expressed gratitude towards the police officer. Kimti Lal, father of the girl, said that had police not taken timely action, his daughter would have been in trouble. Division number 7 station officer inspector Gurbinder Singh said that Kimti Lal of Guru Arjun Dev Nagar has contacted police on Sunday morning stating that his 6- yearold daughter has gone missing from the colony. He said that she along with other girls went for Kanjak Poojan in the neighborhood, but did not return, while all other girls had come back. I immediately alerted the staff and asked them to trace the girl. ASI Mohammad Rafiq took the responsibility to trace the girl. He along with head constable Sukhdev Singh searched everywhere in the area and enquired about her from shopkeepers, said the SHO. After toiling hard for at least three hours he traced the girl near Tajpur Chowk. The girl said that she lost her way back to home, Singh added. The ASI said he is a human being first. He respects all religion and being a police officer it is his duty to serve the people beyond any prejudice. He is happy that with his efforts a child has been reunited with her family. It is no less than worship for him. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Punjab revenue and public relations minister Bikram Singh Majithia, on Sunday, said a few political parties are trying to disturb peace and communal harmony in the state for political gains. Majithia, while disbursing Rs 1-crore grant for development works in Sran, Chananke, Ramdiwali Musalmana and Chogawan villages told mediapersons that the Congress and the AAP were playing a dirty game on national security. While the whole world is facing the threat of terrorism, our Prime Minister Narendra Modi has led from the front by supporting our armed forces to counter terrorism. Modi is being applauded by the whole world for counter-terrorism steps taken by the armed forces, said Majithia. He also said that the SAD-BJP alliance was all set to form government for the third consecutive term in the state on the development agenda, whereas opponents are playing cheap politics to create a rift among various sections of the society. He asserted that Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singhs mission 2017 was a sinking ship as his own partymen are eager to remove him from the post of president of the party. Its now well known that Captain is being soon removed from the presidentship, therefore he is not being declared as a chief ministerial candidate by the Indian National Congress, he added. Already under fire for not failing to start any of major development projects in city despite having funds, mayor Amarinder Singh Bajaj has now drawn more criticism for his study tour to the USA. He is leading a delegation for studying solid waste management and water conservation. Not only the tour is under scrutiny for visiting USA along with six fellow councilors but without any experts, the timing of the tour has also invited the ire of the public as the authorities have failed to initiate brick, tiling and bitumen laying works ahead of the festival season. The delegation led by mayor Amarinder Bajaj will hold meeting with Stockton council on October 10. Stockton is the county seat located in California. Aprt from studying their systems, the team will also seek collaboration between these two cities. Even the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leadership is also taking a dig on their mayor. Leading the tirade, deputy mayor Harinderpal Kohli said, Mayor has gone to study zero discharge and latest solid waste disposal system. But reality is that city people are still lagging in basic services of clean water, proper sewerage, and street lights. If he had to take tour, he must have involved experts. Already several companies are offering services at door step, then what was the need of visiting USA he said. He said the only motive of the mayor and his aides were to get USA visa. Sources said the SAD leaders from Patiala (urban and rural) have already approached the deputy chief minister and party president Sukhbir Singh Badal over the slow pace of development projects. Dy CM has allocated `30 crore and issued first installment of Rs 13 crore in April, but mayor failed to initiate the development works. And now, he has gone missing when festival season is on. People are complaining about poor civic amenities, said an Akali Dal leader, requesting anonymity. In last nine years, the SAD has failed to even allocate a land for the solid waste management and mayor has gone to the USA to study waste management plant. It itself indicates the seriousness of mayor, said Congress MLA Brahm Mohindra. He said only few months were left in Bajajs term and thus he was visiting without any expert. This highlights that this is a fun tour and not a study tour, he claimed. In the absence of processing plant, entire citys garbage is dumped into open land fill site near Sanaur road, posing health risk to nearby residential colonies. Before leaving for USA, mayor had said that this tour would give them exposure to how western countries deal with issues like waste disposal. He had also said that tour was not being funded by the municipal corporation as councillors will bear their own expenses. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON The proposed fee structure of LLB three-year course and the hike in hostel fee was approved by the PU senate on Sunday. Now, the three-year LLB course fee is Rs 3,175 from Rs 1,050. The academic and administrative committees of the department had recommended revision of fee under department funds to be implemented from the 2016-17 academic session. PROTEST, EFFIGY BURNT OF PU AUTHORITY Students for society (SFS) on Sunday organised a protest demonstration and burnt the effigy of PU authority against fee hike and false cases. The SFS members claimed that the PU authority has been ignoring the dissent of students and also trying to pressurise the students by registering fake FIRs and complaints against the protesting students. The leaders said that PU authority did not even bother to review students demands in the senate meeting. The V-C repeatedly argued that he is helpless as MHRD has not been releasing grants. Although the financial deficit is too grave that it cant be compensated with fee hike. SFS leader Harman said that varsity authority has been shifting the burden of financial crisis on the students, instead of pressurising the Centre. In recent thefts at weddings at two hotels recently, police have zeroed in on members of a Madhya Pradesh gang as the prime suspects. Teams of Chandigarh police have been dispatched to Madhya Pradesh to bust the hideouts of the suspects. The police are digging up details of their past crimes as they are absconding in various cases registered in the city. Police sources said two members who they suspect in these cases, along with two juveniles were arrested in January 2015. At present, the procedure to declare them proclaimed offenders is in process as they have failed to appear before court. Two major thefts were reported in two separate wedding functions in Chandigarh last week. The first theft of `8-10 lakh was reported at Hotel Mount View Sector 10 on October 4, wherein an unknown person decamped with a bag containing cash and jewellery from the reception party of the son of SS Saini, president of Ludhianas Hero Cycles. The second theft of a similar nature took place at Hotel Western Court in Sector 43, where, again, a bag containing around `2.97 lakh was stolen from a wedding function. Harvinder Kaur of Sector 15, in her complaint said her bag containing cash and gift envelopes was stolen from the basement of the hotel where her sons wedding function was on. The police had then procured severel clues like the ClosedCircuit Television (CCTV) camera footage to carry the probe forward. A case under the relevant Sections was registered. Five workers were killed and 11 injured after an explosion in a firecracker manufacturing unit near Villupuram flattened the small building in which it was housed. There was an explosion (on Sunday night) and, in the impact, the building collapsed and five workers were trapped in the concrete rubble, a senior Villupuram district fire and rescue services official told Tamil channel Thanti TV. All five trapped men died. The injured have been rushed to hospital, he added. Of the 11 people injured, six were women. Work is on to clear the concrete rubble at the site of the explosion in Turuvai village, about 55 km from Villupuram on the Tindivanam-Puducherry route. Police said the firecracker facility was housed in a small four-room house. One room was used to manufacture the crackers, with the other three housing the finished product, a senior police official said. A probe is on to determine if the explosion was the result of an accident or foul play. There is a low but growing buzz in the food world that is taking notice of the disproportionately large culinary talent coming out of an island country whose population numbers 332,000. Its a hum that grew louder with the appointment of Icelander Gunnar Gislason as head chef of Claus Meyers latest restaurant Agern in New Yorks Grand Central Terminal, one of the years most anticipated openings. Gislasons Reykjavik restaurant Dill is widely regarded as one of the best examples of Icelandic cuisine, while Meyer is the brains behind Noma in Copenhagen. But back in Iceland, theres also a robust dining scene driven by the booming number of international visitors, clever tourism campaigns, and a growing curiosity about the country whose otherworldly landscape doubles as a setting for Game of Thrones, and whose Viking, slow-clap war cry earned the worlds admiration. For many Iceland-bound visitors, food is an afterthought on their adventure-packed itinerary, which often includes glacier walks, snowmobiling, ice climbing and horseback riding. But chefs like Gislason and Ylfa Helgadottir of Kopar restaurant are drawing more attention to Icelandic cuisine, which has long stood on the fringes of the New Nordic movement, dominated by Norway and Denmark. Lobster and crab risotto at Kopar. (Inspired by Iceland) On a Saturday night in September at Kopar, American, British and Asian tourists some in dinner attire, others still in hiking boots and wool sweaters take up most of the tables. The menu is meant to take guests through an edible journey of the countrys land and sea. Or as its also known, the land of fire and ice. Surprisingly light and fluffy battered cod tongues are served with a garlic-flavoured cream cheese and lemon dip while sweet scallops are given the ceviche treatment with dill cream and Icelandic caviar. Helgadottirs smile is seen on Tourism Icelands latest promotional campaign, Iceland Academy, a series of videos created in response to the recent tourism boom. Since 2010, the annual growth in tourist visits has averaged 22% impressive given the global average of 3.5% between 2005 and 2014. New figures estimate a 29% increase in the number of visitors by the end of 2016 compared to 2015. That translates to 1.6 million tourists or nearly five times the countrys population. Kopar restaurant in Reykjavik. (Inspired by Iceland) Construction cranes and massive holes in the ground stand as testament to the pace of development in Reykjavik where hotels cant be built fast enough. And according to Google, Reykjavik is the fastest rising search term for cities around the world as of July 25, with New Yorkers expressing the highest interest. The influx of wealthy, adventure-seeking travellers (recently Gwyneth Paltrow was one of them) has inspired local chefs to cater to sophisticated palates and break out from under the infamy of fermented shark and roasted sheeps head. As Helgadottir points out in her tutorial How to eat like an Icelander, Iceland enjoys one of the longest life spans in the world, a fact often credited to the purity of ingredients. Lamb is sourced from free-roaming sheep and fresh fish are caught sustainably. Chef Ylfa Helgadottir of Kopar restaurant and ambassador for Inspired by Iceland. (Inspired by Iceland) At one of the hottest new addresses in Reykjavik, Messinn, a flaky filet of plaice is served in the cast-iron pan it was fried in, served simply with potatoes in butter, capers and tomatoes. At the four-star Hotel Ranga in South Iceland, pink-fleshed fillets of lamb are pan-fried and served atop a carrot puree and green pea cream. And at Skyrgerin, the menu pays homage to one of Icelands oldest food traditions, skyr, a rich, dairy product that could be described as the low-fat version of Greek yogurt. For a sample of Icelandic-influenced cuisine abroad, check out the menu at much-acclaimed restaurants Texture in London, Agern in New York, and Dottir in Berlin. The writer was a guest of the Icelandic tourist office Visit Iceland and Icelandair, whose Stopover Buddy program allows travellers to tack on a seven-night stay en route to their destination for no additional fee. The program also pairs visitors with a local who will provide tours based on the travellers interests. Follow @htlifeandstyle for more. All set to for the premiere of Bigg Boss 10 on October 16, the makers of the controversial reality show are now teasing fans with contestants introductory videos. In a series of YouTube videos, we do not even get the names of these contestants - all we get is a sneak peek into their personalities. Bigg Boss will focus on the common man this year. For the first time, the show has opened its doors to the common people to appear as contestants along with the celebs. From a very desi naujawan flaunting his bike with a Gurjar sign and his well-nurtured moustache to a swamiji boasting his astrology and a Kashmiri girl who is a 'dreamer, believer and a go-getter, the contestants who are set to fill the common-man slot in the reality show are all out on a roll. Bigg Boss is on the lines of the British television show Big Brother. The shows format keeps participants locked inside a house for three months with no access to the outside world. At the end of the last season in January this year, Bigg Boss producers invited general public to register for the show. However, with the TRPs falling for past few years, celebs and controversial characters will be brought in as wild card entries and guests. Salman Khan in a still from a promo of Bigg Boss 10. Watch the teaser videos of the contestants here: A tentative list of commoners participating in the latest season of Bigg Boss is also out. Though little is known about these people, the names is what we can offer for now. Manoj Punjabi, Mandira Chauhan, Nitibha Kaul, Parmod Kumar, Lokesh Kumari, Firoz Khan, Nikhil Mehta, Manjo Kumar, Kajol Tyagi, Davinder Devgan, Navin Prakash, Ruchika Singh and Priyanka Jagga are the shortlisted candidates for Bigg Boss 10. The tenth season of Bigg Boss will premiere on October 16 at 9pm with Bollywood star Salman Khan hosting the show. Follow @htshowbiz for more Days after explosive revelations about Donald Trumps predatory comments about women and Hillary Clintons closed-door speeches to banking executives, some people who watched the US presidential debate on Sunday night were so disgusted they said they wouldnt vote or were weighing a third-party candidate or write-in option. I feel that it is wrong that these are the two choices I have, said Patrick Trombetta, a Bernie Sanders supporter trying to decide between Clinton, Green Party candidate Jill Stein or writing Sanders in on the ballot. Here are stories of voters watching the debate around the country: Mormon Republican in Las Vegas John Burns, 42, is a registered Republican and self-described conservative whos upset with his choices for president because he said both seem like Democrats. He took in the debate from a restaurant in Las Vegas at a watch party organised by the Clark County Republican Party, where attendees munched on fries and pigs-in-a-blanket and howled with laughter as Trump went on the offensive against Hillary Clinton. Raised Mormon, Burns works with VIP customers at a Las Vegas casino and uses a wheelchair after being paralysed in a motorcycle accident at age 21. He said his disability can make it hard for him to land a job, and the thought of people taking welfare benefits or abusing the system bothers him. Burns said the video of Trumps lewd talk didnt move the dial much for him; he agrees that the conversation was off-the-record locker-room banter and thinks women can be just as bad in private. I think it shows a human side. I think its the politicians who are trying to make a political point, he said. Burns pumped his fist as Donald Trump described a plan to repeal and replace Obamacare. His deductible went from $500 to $3,000 and his boss told him it was a direct result of the law; its so expensive that it doesnt even feel to him like he has insurance. The verdict: Im almost ready to just sit this vote out because Im so fed up with both sides, Burns said. I want a clear constitutionalist to win this election, but thats not going to happen. I dont believe Trumps conservatism. I think its what hes saying to get himself elected. Read | Who won second US presidential debate? Early polls divided between Trump-Clinton Viewers at a watch party at the University of Cincinnati (AP) Cringing in Arizona Sarah Parsons Fein, 38, of Tempe, Arizona, had one word for Sunday nights debate: cringe-worthy. The whole thing is just terrible for me; its like a car accident you cant look away but you want to, said the 38-year-old stay-at-home mom. When asked about Trumps response to the controversy over his vulgar comments about women caught on tape, Fein wasnt swayed by him brushing them off as locker room comments. I think that just perpetuates rape culture, she said. The verdict: Fein plans to vote for Clinton after supporting Sanders in the Democratic primary. Backing a different woman in Pennsylvania Cheyanne Dawson, 22, of West Chester, Pennsylvania, watched the debate with co-workers at a restaurant and said it didnt change her disdain for both candidates. Theyre not good representations of what we want them to be, Dawson said. Clinton just says what people want to hear, and so does Donald Trump, but you want someone to be genuine, authentic, and I dont think either of the candidates are like that. She is especially disappointed with Clinton because she has high expectations for the first female president someone you can look up to and thinks Clinton lies and lacks passion. But Dawson dismissed Trump immediately as a social media phenomenon with bizarre policies that wouldnt benefit us. The verdict: She plans to vote for Stein. Read | Highlights of the Clinton, Trump clash in 2nd US presidential debate Reluctant voter in Michigan Andy Fox, 24, of Lansing, Michigan, works as a server at the Lansing Brewing Co. in Lansing. Fox said he is unlikely to vote for Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump. (AP) Andy Fox, 24, a server at Lansing Brewing Co., said he supported Sanders to try something new and is reluctant to vote for Clinton or Trump because theyre both criminals. Fox watched parts of the debate during his shift in Lansing. He said it did not assuage his fear that regardless of who is elected, something really terrible is going to happen in the next four years. With Clinton, he said, there will be more wars and with Trump, a racial divide. Fox credited Clinton for talking about health care, but otherwise its just like high school banter between the candidates much too personal criticism and not nearly enough policy discussion, he said. The verdict: Fox said he probably will not vote. Listless Libertarian in Colorado Elliot Fladen, 36, a lawyer in suburban Denver, doesnt know if he can bring himself to choose Clinton but he says he cant vote for fellow Libertarian Gary Johnson because hes scared Trump may win. Ive never voted for a Democrat in my life, Fladen said before the debate. But can I sit by and let this delusional con-man Donald Trump become president? I dont think I can. Fladen, whose wife was born in Mexico, started reviling Trumps approach to international affairs after he insulted Mexican immigrants. Fladen frequently shook his head during the debate, laughing when Trump said he respects women. But he didnt warm to Clinton, either. Every time Hillary Clinton opens her mouth, half of me wants to gag and say, I could never vote for this person, Fladen said. But then Trump opens his mouth, and its like, Well, I guess she is the lesser of two evils. The verdict: Fladen prefers Johnson but is leaning toward Clinton to stop Trump. People watch during the second presidential debate at a watch party at the University of Cincinnati on Sunday. (AP) Bernie backer in North Carolina Patrick Trombetta, 53, Cary, is an independent who would never vote for Trump but also has trouble with Clinton. I just disagree with her on a lot of issues, he said. She says a lot of the right things I just dont know that I believe her. Sitting in his living room, the former medical device sales manager and twin brother, Steve, were visibly disgusted by Trumps comments on several topics, including allegations of sexual misconduct against Bill Clinton. As for Hillary Clinton, Trombetta said he was impressed with some of her answers and how she apologized for putting classified State Department emails on her private server. But he also felt she was hypocritical and disingenuous in other responses. The verdict: Still undecided. Read | Hillary Clinton wins first presidential debate against Donald Trump: Poll Student worried about Islamaphobia in Seattle Irkan Abdullahi, 26, a university student, watched the debate at a civic center in Seattle where most of the crowd of around 100 people appeared to support Clinton, often cheering after her lines and laughing at Trumps claims. She said Trump doesnt respect women. Its ridiculous. I mean hes just saying things that he shouldnt, she said. Abdullahi, who is Muslim, said she liked that Clinton talked about her religion. The things that she said really made feel good about this country and being here. When it came to Donald Trump, the things he said were very hurtful, she said. The verdict: Abdullahi will vote for Clinton. Clinton voter in Vegas Las Vegas resident Jasmine Santana, 29, watched the debate at home with her 7-year-old son. Shes already decided shes going to vote for Hillary Clinton, but wanted to see how Trump responded to the release of a vulgar audio recording from 2005. She said the recording was hard for her to listen to, and it hit home that her son would be hearing about it and shed have to explain it to him. She said she thought Trump embarrassed himself in Sundays debate. He wanted the heat off of him. He tried to redirect everything, said Santana, whos a medical assistant. I think he looked like a bully. She said she was blown away by her sons take on the debate, and took to Facebook to share his reaction. He said, I think Donald Trump is rude and a liar. He says he cares Americans but he only cares himself, Santana said. The verdict: She will vote for Clinton. Viewers react as they listen during the second presidential debate at a watch party at the University of Cincinnati on Sunday (AP) Third-party supporter leaning Trump in Florida William Martin, 21, from Tallahassee, was a Johnson supporter and was not happy about the libertarians exclusion. Martin watched with a group of mostly Republican supporters at a restaurant, where some chuckled when Trump said he had great respect for women. The crowd responded favorably when Trump said he would put Clinton in jail over classified State Department emails on her private server. I did feel like Clinton was more professional than Trump was, but some comments he made held merit. I think both had very balanced stances, Martin said. Martin liked Trumps point about going after the Islamic State group and was interested in hearing how both candidates would handle health care and any alterations to the Affordable Care Act. The verdict: Martin is leaning toward Trump, though many of his views favor Johnson. Read | Satan to Snapchat: While Trump and Hillary debated, Twitter users went berserk Early voter in Arizona Ashley Smith, 27, Phoenix, watched the debate with a friend from the balcony of downtown Phoenixs DeSoto Central Market. Smith said she thought it was very apparent that Clinton bested Trump. I just think he doesnt know anything about anything, she said. Hes very painful to watch. She said she wasnt surprised by Trumps predatory comments. I think hes a foul human being, she said. The verdict: The Arizona native said she already has her early ballot, and her mind was made up before the debate. Shell be casting her vote for Clinton. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump went toe to toe on Sunday in their second presidential debate, clashing over crude remarks by the billionaire Republican -- who vowed that if elected he would jail his opponent over her email use as a secretary of state. Here are five key highlights of the showdown: Trump dredges up Bill Clinton Donald Trump went there, big league. After holding his tongue in the first debate, Trump assailed Clintons husband Bill, reminding television viewers about a string of accusations of sexual misconduct, including one of rape, leveled against the former president decades ago. Fighting the backlash against his 2005 hot mic remarks in which he was caught saying he can grope women because those with celebrity status can do anything, Trumps point was clear: a certain Clinton has done more than just talk. Read | As it happened: Clinton, Trump clash in second US presidential debate Mine are words, his was action, he said, claiming that there has never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation thats been so abusive to women. In a pre-emptive strike before the debate, Trump met with three women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances, including Juanita Broaddrick, who claims Clinton raped her in 1978. Driving up the tension, the women were seated in the audience during the debate, as was Bill Clinton himself. Locker room Trump entered the showdown at the nadir of his 16-month campaign, walloped by the release on Friday of a leaked tape that captured him saying vile things about women. In the debates opening minutes he dismissed them as just words and locker room talk. Clinton disagreed. He has said that the video doesnt represent who he is, Clinton, standing just a few feet from Trump, said calmly. But I think its clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is, because weve seen this throughout the campaign. Trump acknowledged he was embarrassed about his comments. But I have tremendous respect for women. Asked directly if he had done the things he mentioned in the video, Trump said: No, I have not. Former US president Bill Clinton looks on during the second presidential debate. (AFP Photo) But Clinton once more questioned Trumps fitness for the Oval Office, saying it was not just the video that raises concerns about him. He has also targeted immigrants, African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, Muslims, and others. Jail time Clintons emails are not going away in 2016. Trump highlighted them in the debate, claiming that her use of a private server while she was secretary of state, and the sending of sensitive national security data, was grounds for imprisonment -- and that he would ensure she served time. If I win, Im going to instruct the attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because theres never been so many lies, Trump fumed. Its a disgrace. Clinton responded by saying it was awfully good that someone with Trumps temperament was not running the country. Because youd be in jail, Trump interrupted, in the most extraordinary outburst of the evening. Russian influence Back in July, Trump caused a firestorm when he invited Russia to unearth Clintons missing emails from her time at the State Department. Then on Friday, the White House formally accused Russias government of stealing and releasing emails from the Democratic National Committee. Clinton seized on the controversy. We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election. Noting her rivals praise of Russian President Vladimir Putin, Clinton suggested that Moscow was seeking to influence the election for Donald Trump. Maybe because he says he agrees with a lot of what Putin wants to do, maybe because he wants to do business in Moscow, she added. Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump talks with a member of the audience at the conclusion of the debate. (Reuters Photo) Trump batted away the accusations, saying Democrats always blame Russia and were trying to tarnish him through association with the country. Finally, some decency The nights final question -- for the candidates to each name something positive about the other -- took some sting out of the battering-ram nature of the race. I respect his children, a smiling Clinton stated, looking at Ivanka, Eric and Donald Trump, Jr and describing them as incredibly able and devoted. I dont agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that. Trump expressed grudging admiration. She doesnt quit. She doesnt give up. I respect that, he said of Clinton. I disagree with much of what she is fighting for... but she does fight hard. Read | Who won second US presidential debate? Early polls divided between Trump-Clinton As they strode on to the stage after being announced, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump made it clear what the rest of the evening was going to be like. They barely acknowledged each other and did not even shake hands as candidates usually do. In the ugliest debate yet, Trump, who seemed angry and wound up and was constantly on his feet even when not speaking, attacked Clinton on her husband former president Bill Clinton's infidelities, threatened to jail her over her use of a private email server if he was elected president, and repeatedly called her a liar, wagging a finger at her. Clinton, who was even-tempered and smiled often during the debate, was ready for the shot at her husband and deflected it easily. She said none of what Trump was saying was true, used the revelation of a tape of him to reanimate her case that he had no respect for women, and went on to question his suitability for office. This was to be a make-or-break debate for Trump, who is facing a massive revolt in his Republican party with leading lights rescinding their endorsement of him after the release of the 2005 tape on which he bragged about groping women and forcing himself on them. His poll numbers, which had been tanking after a bad first debate, were a worry too, compounded by an unseemly spat with a former beauty queen. Even his own running mate, Mike Pence, had seemed dubious. But Pence liked what he saw on Sunday and congratulated Trump on a "big debate win", which, however, seemed more a wish than fact in the absence of credible polls. But there was a sense among Republicans that Trump had survived the night, and was not knocked out, as many had feared and expected. "Hillary Clinton failed to do the GOP the favour of landing a knockout blow on Donald Trump Sunday night," wrote Bill Kristol, editor of the right-leaning Weekly Standard and an avowed Trump critic. And this from someone who wanted to see Trump destroyed. It was still unclear if Trump had stanched the bleeding in his campaign as many pundits said he did, but he seemed more disciplined on issues compared to the first debate although still supremely muddled. He disagreed with Pence on the way to deal with Syria, for instance, displaying a stunning disconnect. But the highlights of the evening were, as expected, exchanges about Trump's tape and his attack on Clinton about sex scandals involving her husband, who was in the audience, as were three women who had accused him of sexually assault. Asked if he still thought it was "locker-room talk" as he had first described his remarks on the tape, Trump said yes, and added he was not proud of it and that he had apologised for it to his family and to the American people. But, he said, turning the exchange around to attack the Clintons as he had been expected to, "Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women attacked them viciously." "She brings up words that I said 11 years ago," Trump ploughed on, "I think its disgraceful, and she should be ashamed of herself, to tell you the truth." Clinton had prepared for this moment. "So much of what he just said is not right," she said, launching a broader attack on Trumps temperament and attitude. "He never apologises for anything to anyone, she said, citing President Barack Obama, whom Trump had accused of not being born in the US, and a Mexican-descent judge whose heritage, Trump had said, disqualified him from trying a case against Trump University. "He owes the president an apology, he owes our country an apology," Clinton said. Trump shot back that Clinton should apologise for deleting her emails, referring to her use of a private server as secretary of state. He said, if elected, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate her and that she will be in jail. The debate, which was being called the most sordid in the history of presidential debates and the most tweeted about, ended on a sunny note though. In response to a question, both candidates found something positive to say about each other. Clinton said she admired Trump's children, who were there in the audience, as she found them "incredibly able and devoted". Trump said he respected Clinton's determination to never give up: "She is a fighter." The rise of Donald Trump in US politics is not dissimilar to the June 23 vote in Britain to leave the European Union, according to UK Independence Party (UKIP) leader Nigel Farage. Given the historical special relationship between the US and Britain, the election campaign across the pond is keenly watched here, with the British media providing blanket coverage to the live debates between Republican nominee Trump and his Democratic rival Hilary Clinton and their impact. Farage, who led the UKIPs recent rise in British politics that partly contributed to former prime minister David Cameron calling the EU referendum, has stood firmly behind Trump, and dismissed the controversy over the business magnates remarks about women as alpha male boasting. Writing in The Daily Telegraph on Monday, Farage, who spoke on Trumps behalf in Sundays post-debate spin room, likened the Republican candidates rise to the Brexit vote, and described it as part of a global phenomenon against elites. I do not see the Brexit result in isolation. Instead, I believe we are witnessing a popular uprising against failed politics on a global scale. People want to vote for candidates with personality, faults and all. It is the same in the UK, America and much of the rest of Europe. The little people have had enough. They want change, wrote Farage, who endorsed Trump at a recent public meeting in the US. Our new hyper-regulated world makes it tough for the little people to compete with the business giants. These people want deregulation, and Trump is promising them that. Many feel they have nothing to lose in voting for him. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON In the second United States presidential debate, while discussing her use of a private email server, Donald Trump told Hillary Clinton he would have a special prosecutor to look into your situation. When Clinton responded that it was good that someone with Trumps temperament was not in charge of law, the Republican nominee hit back with a chilling one liner, Because you would be in jail. It was a remarkable moment in US electoral history, with most observers suggesting that never before had one candidate threatened to jail someone if elected to power. Many saw it as Trumps willingness to abuse his office and authority for personal revenge. This - however - energised his own base, for what unites them is a deep dislike for Hillary Clinton. For them, Trumps announcement was a step to bring her misdeeds to justice. In the US, this kind of open threat of punishing a rival is unprecedented. Some have even termed it fascism. But a quick comparative view shows that such threats are quite common in our democratic set-up. The context, of course, is entirely different. Read | Should India have US-style presidential debates? Heres the argument India does not have a presidential system; neither is there a culture of direct debates between leaders. But elections have been accompanied by threats of getting back at rivals or bringing them to justice for misdeeds - depending on where you stand on the political spectrum - through democratic history. Here are some quick examples. In 1977, Indira Gandhi lifted the Emergency and called for elections. Very quickly, a broad range of opposition parties came together under the common umbrella of Janata Party. One of their key campaign promises was to expose emergency excesses, restore democratic rights and civil liberties, and punish Indira Gandhi and her son, Sanjay. The Janata won. After coming to power, it set up several commissions of inquiry - most importantly, the Shah commission - to investigate Emergency excesses; special courts were set up; Indira Gandhi was arrested briefly. Ironically, all this helped the Congress leader - and she came back stronger in the following elections. Read | Trump vs Clinton: Top quotes from the second US presidential debate Before the 1989 election, VP Singh moved away from the Congress and first set up Jan Morcha, and then the Janata Dal. His key plank against Rajiv Gandhi was the Bofors scam - where he accused the PM and his associates to have received kickbacks while procuring guns for the Indian Army. Singh claimed he had in his pocket details of relevant bank accounts; he promised to put all Bofors papers in Parliament if elected; and act against Gandhi. The anti-corruption message struck a chord. The Congress seats dipped, Singh became PM, but unlike his mother, Rajiv did not have to go to jail. The more stark examples of rivals threatening to punish each other are in the states, particularly Tamil Nadu. Both the DMK and AIADMK have repeatedly accused each other of corruption in the run up to elections, and promised action if elected. When Karunanidhi was in power, Jayalalitha was imprisoned in 1996 for a disproportionate assets case and her homes were raided. When Jayalalitha was in power, she returned the favour - in 2001, she got the state police to arrest Karunanidhi in the middle of the night and raid his house. The police entered his house, broke doors, dragged him out of bed, and down the stairs, before detaining the veteran leader, who was then in his late seventies. More recently, Arvind Kejriwal threatened to take action against Sheila Dixit for alleged corruption when he was contesting the Delhi elections. Once Congress came to power in Haryana, a case against Om Prakash Chautala was expedited. The BJP, in turn, promised to take action against Bhupinder Hooda and Robert Vadra on land deals if elected to power. Indeed, when Narendra Modi was campaigning in 2014, he promised action against what he termed as UPAs corrupt regime. In India, there is another way in which rivals are threatened. Once in power, parties set off pliant investigative agencies to find dirt about their adversaries. These cases are then used as a bargaining tool to neutralise the Opposition, or win support for a possible legislation. Read | Trump says Muslims should report incidents, Twitter flags creepy orange clown These are just a few, representative examples. It could be read as vendetta politics. It could also be read as the system of checks and balances inherent in Indian democracy, which makes incumbents accountable for actions and thus is acceptable in electoral contests. But what is beyond doubt is that it represents institutional corrosion, where executive power is used to hound and lock in rivals. If Trump has its way, the US would be borrowing a dangerous practice of Indian democracy. Click here for full coverage on US presidential election SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON Donald Trump may have done just enough in Sundays presidential debate to keep his leaky presidential campaign afloat - and that may have put Republicans considering abandoning him in an even tougher position. Had Trump imploded, the flow of lawmakers and party luminaries who deserted him at the weekend over lewd comments he made about women on a videotape likely would have become a torrent, increasing demands for him to drop out of the race. But that didnt happen. Now, Republicans who have seen their party torn apart by Trumps candidacy are once again faced with a familiar dilemma: Publicly abandon a badly wounded candidate who is endangering closely contested congressional races, or stand behind him in the dimming hope that he can still win them the White House. The Manhattan real-estate mogul delivered a feistier and more disciplined performance than at the first debate, hammering his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton on her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state, and again raising decades-old accusations of sexual misconduct against her husband Bill Clinton. That likely endeared him to the rowdy supporters who have packed arenas across the country for more than a year while perhaps doing little to reel in the more moderate voters in swing states that his campaign will need to defeat Clinton in the Nov. 8 election. His no-holds barred approach to Hillary tonight is what Conservatives have wanted to see out of a candidate since Bill Clinton was in office, said Craig Robinson, former political director of the Iowa Republican Party. The Republican base and talk radio will love this performance. But the party is still hitched to a deeply flawed candidate who has especially struggled with women, college-educated, and suburban voters. A recent Reuters/Ipsos poll showed close to 20% of Americans were still undecided on which candidate to support. Sixty percent of those were women. A poll taken by CNN immediately following the debate showed Republicans have reason to be anxious. Viewers said Clinton had beaten Trump in the encounter, 57% to 34%. The furor over the 2005 videotape, in which Trump bragged about groping and trying to seduce women, led dozens of lawmakers to denounce him, including Arizona Senator John McCain. Their condemnation plunged the party into its worst crisis since the resignation of president Richard Nixon, a Republican, in 1974. The House Republican Conference, a body comprised of the almost 250 Republicans in the US House of Representatives, was set to meet on Monday to discuss the foundering Trump campaign, a House leadership aide said. House speaker Paul Ryan pointedly disinvited Trump for a joint appearance in Wisconsin that had been scheduled for Saturday following publication of the tape. All but six of the 40 Republican officeholders whose races are considered competitive in the election have condemned Trumps comments in the video, although only three members of that group have called for him to drop out. Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway downplayed the criticism on Monday, saying she hoped there would be an effort to regain their support but that it was not Trumps burden to bear. We welcome them back. We would love their support. But you know what? We have a lot of their voters support, she told MSNBC. Were taking the case directly to the voters. Red meat for the base Since the release of the video, the partys governing body, the Republican National Committee, has offered no guidance to local party officials on how to handle questions about it. There hasnt been one email or one phone call or anything as to what the guidance is from the RNC going forward, said an RNC official who asked to remain unidentified. The tape intensified talk in Republican circles about diverting funds from Trump to prop up House and Senate candidates who might find themselves in newfound jeopardy because of the backlash. Its well past time to cut all ties with Trump and focus on preserving the Republican Congress and down ballot offices. Immediately, said John Weaver, a veteran Republican strategist. Republican officials have another worry: that Trumps unpopularity may lead many Republican voters to stay at home on Election Day. Against this backdrop of panic and condemnation, Trump on Sunday sought to rally the partys base with a fresh barrage of provocative attacks on Clinton that will give the media something other than the tape to talk about. He offered a blistering critique of her handling of foreign policy while she was the countrys chief diplomat and brought his rally cry for her to be jailed to the debate stage. He also carried out a threat to make an issue of her husbands sexual history. In doing so, Trump may have stopped the bleeding, but he did nothing to stop the worrying. At least 17 people were killed Monday in the collapse of a group of decrepit homes in eastern China, state media reported. By evening, 23 people, including the 17 who were dead, had been pulled from the rubble on the outskirts of the city of Wenzhou and rescue efforts were continuing, mainly by hand to avoid harming any survivors, the Xinhua News Agency said in a brief report. The cause of the collapses was under investigation, although reports said the four buildings were built in the 1970s by their farmer owners and were in a highly degraded state. Extra floors had been added over the years, making them between three and five stories high and further weakening their structures. Poor construction quality has long been a problem in China, particularly in the countryside and smaller cities. The second presidential debate between Democrat Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump has become the most tweeted debate of all time, with over 17 million messages tweeted over the showdown. This is now the most Tweeted debate ever, Nick Pacilio, spokesman of Twitter said. Donald Trump accounted for 64% of the conversation on this social media website, while Clinton accounted for 36%, according to the Silicon Valley- based social media company. At the end of the 90-minute debate, Clinton earned 25,000 new followers, while Trump got 16,000 new followers. Im a Muslim, and I would like to report a crazy man threatening a woman on a stage in Missouri, by Moustafa Bayoumi, author of The Muslim American Life and How does it Feel, became the most retweeted tweet from the debate. Read | Trump says Muslims should report incidents, Twitter flags creepy orange clown The 70-year-old saying that he disagrees with his running mate Mike Pence in regards to Syria policy was the most tweeted moment during the debate. This was followed by trying saying that he is a gentleman and Trump saying that Clinton, 68, would be in jail in his administration. Pence congratulated Trump for winning the debate. Congrats to my running mate on a big debate win, he tweeted. The former deputy secretary of state, Nicholas Burns, said that Clinton won the debate. Hillary Clinton won this debate on judgment, intelligence, maturity. Trump showed how disastrously ill-suited he is for the Presidency, Burns tweeted. Read | Trump vs Clinton: Top quotes from the second US presidential debate Tonights #debate was the most Tweeted ever, with more than 17M debate-related Tweets sent, Pacilio said. Today was the most Tweeted day of the entire 2016 election, with nearly 30 million Tweets sent, the spokesman said. The number of tweets during the first presidential face-off between Clinton and Trump exceeded the 10.3 million messages, Twitter had said. Meanwhile, Trump also defended his early morning tweets in the recent week. Tweeting happens to be a modern day form of communication. You can like it or not like it. I have, between Facebook and Twitter, I have almost 25 million people. Its a very effective way of communication. Im not un-proud of it, to be honest with you, Trump said. Full video: Trump, Clinton clash in 2nd US presidential debate For more on the US presidential elections, click here. A suicide car bombing on Monday killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on the capital in southern Helmand province, the heartland of the insurgency. Since the beginning of this years fighting season, the Taliban have expanded their footprint across most of the province and have been at the gates of the city of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, for weeks. According to Haji Marjan, the police chief of Nad Ali district who has been deployed to the provincial capital, the explosion happened around 11.30am, after the Taliban earlier targeted police checkpoints across the city. Marjan said at least 10 police officers, including his brother, and four civilians died in the bombing in the Mukhtar area of Lashkar Gahs police district 2. He warned that the death toll was likely to rise as it was unclear how many people remain unaccounted for after the explosion. A doctor at the international emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah said 14 bodies had been brought to the clinic. Speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, the physician said 15 wounded were also brought in, including 14 who were victims of the car bombing and one person who suffered gunshot wounds. In the Afghan capital of Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, the interior ministry spokesman, confirmed that the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on security checkpoints in Lashkar Gah on Monday but expressed confidence the Afghan security forces will soon push them back. Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, the deputy director of Helmands provincial council, said the militants entered the city after breaching the Afghan forces defence security belt. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the insurgents were advancing through Lashkar Gah. Helmand is strategically important for the Taliban as it is the main source of the countrys opium output, worth an estimated $4 billion a year, much of which funds the war. Provincial officials have said the Taliban now control 85% of the province, while only a year ago, the government controlled 80%. In Abdul Azizs print shop, the daily blackouts that plunge him into darkness and silence his rolling presses are costly and chip away at his faith in Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. For nearly a decade, power shortages have hobbled the countrys economy and eaten into Azizs profits, preventing him from hiring more staff or expanding his family-owned business. Sharif swept to power in 2013 vowing to eradicate crippling outages that brought Pakistans $250 billion economy to its knees, but he now faces a race against time to stay true to his word before the next general election in 2018. If Nawaz Sharif ends (power shortages) by the election in 2018, we will vote for him again, said Aziz, 40, who lives in Sharifs constituency in Lahore, capital of Punjab province. If he doesnt, we will not. Power supplies are not the only factor that will decide any poll. A further escalation in tensions with nuclear-armed rival India could destabilise the government, as could Islamist militant violence or street protests. But Sharif has greater control over energy supply, and his government has spent billions of dollars building liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, pipelines and dams, while private investors are financing wind and solar. A major coal and two small nuclear plants are also due to come online before Sharifs term ends. The power projects, coinciding with the biggest road building programme in Pakistans history, are central to Sharifs strategy to win the 2018 poll by promoting infrastructure as evidence of economic progress. A homeopathic doctor speaks with the father of his patient at an infirmary during a power cut in Islamabad. (Reuters Photo) Pakistans sputtering economy has rebounded in recent years, helped by lower global oil prices and improved security. Chinese companies are arriving in force after Beijing outlined plans in 2014 to invest $46 billion in road, rail and energy infrastructure linking western China with Pakistans Arabian Sea coast, with two-thirds of the money earmarked for energy. Stalled reforms The drive to boost generation above 17,000 megawatts (MW) and plug a 6,000 MW deficit has already yielded some results. Shortages in big cities, which two years ago went without power for 12 hours a day, are down to about six hours. Sharif vowed last month that all scheduled outages would end before the next election, likely to be in May, 2018. His office said generation would hit 26,000 MW, a 3,000 MW surplus. There are fears, including within Sharifs own ruling PML-N party, that the room for error has shrunk to zero and the ambitious targets could be missed, especially after two big hydro projects were delayed. There are a lot of moving parts with all these projects, said one Western diplomat in Islamabad. The government has a comprehensive plan, but obviously there is some nervousness about the timelines. Halting outages would breathe fresh life into Pakistans economy, which needs to expand above 6% per year to absorb new entrants into the job market from a fast-growing population of 190 million people. Economic growth hit 4.7% last July-June fiscal year, the fastest pace of expansion since 2008. Economists estimate energy shortages shave up to 2% off annual growth. Some energy experts say Sharifs electricity goals are within reach. The Asian Development Bank, lending Pakistan more than $1 billion to help alleviate the energy crisis, expects load shedding, or scheduled outages, will be eradicated by mid-2018. Scared to privatise? Sharifs opponents, however, say the government is so fixated on boosting power generation that it has ignored reforms, like privatising distribution companies, that would modernise the market and lower the cost of electricity. Many Pakistani businesses complain about the price of power. Lahore barber Eijaz Ahmed, forced to down tools for several hours every day, fumes about spending up to 60% of his revenues on electricity. I cannot spend money on my childrens education because I have to pay (expensive) electricity bills, he said, as his staff sat idle, waiting for power to return. Fearing disruption by the unions around election time, the government has backed out of privatising 10 key power distribution companies, which are broadly inefficient, and will now list some of their shares on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. And though there has been investment in some large-scale transmission lines, there are questions about how older ones will cope with an impending surge in generation. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif of Pakistan waits to address the United Nations General Assembly in the Manhattan borough of New York. (Reuters File Photo) None of the institutional things that needed to be done are being done, said Shafqat Mahmood, senior member of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Invest in our people Government officials concede some key reforms have not been enacted, but say there was simply too much to do in the space of a few years, and beefing up generation took priority. The power market, they say, will be liberalised after the 2018 election. We have to work in phases. The first phase will be availability of power and second will be affordability, said Mohammad Younus Dagha, the top bureaucrat at the water and power ministry. Pakistans long-term energy plans have also been boosted by the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, which has spurred interest from foreign investors. Dagha said in the 20 years to 2014, Pakistan attracted 10,000 MW in power generation from foreign investors, but after CPEC was announced, Pakistan secured 12,000 MW of future generation from foreign sources in 2015 alone. Analysts say if Sharif can roll back electricity shortages it would put him in pole position to win another mandate. People within his party also believe he has been boosted by big infrastructure projects such as slick metro bus systems built on concrete stilts above clogged roads in major cities. About $9.5 billion is also being spent on road projects due to be completed in the next three years. We shouldnt be overconfident, but I fancy our chances, said Miftah Ismail, a businessman who is a special assistant to Sharif. The opposition has painted Sharifs infrastructure plans as vanity projects and accuse him of inflating Pakistans debt burden to boost his re-election chances. In a stark reminder of the challenges facing Pakistan, the World Bank said last week nearly half of the countrys children are malnourished. In Lahore, you have these mega projects but dont have drinking water which is clean, said Mahmood, the opposition politician. We need investment in our people. In Abdul Azizs print shop, the daily blackouts that plunge him into darkness and silence his rolling presses are costly and chip away at his faith in Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif. For nearly a decade, power shortages have hobbled the countrys economy and eaten into Azizs profits, preventing him from hiring more staff or expanding his family-owned business. Sharif swept to power in 2013 vowing to eradicate crippling outages that brought Pakistans $250 billion economy to its knees, but he now faces a race against time to stay true to his word before the next general election in 2018. If Nawaz Sharif ends (power shortages) by the election in 2018, we will vote for him again, said Aziz, 40, who lives in Sharifs constituency in Lahore, capital of Punjab province. If he doesnt, we will not. Power supplies are not the only factor that will decide any poll. A further escalation in tensions with nuclear-armed rival India could destabilise the government, as could Islamist militant violence or street protests. But Sharif has greater control over energy supply, and his government has spent billions of dollars building liquefied natural gas (LNG) plants, pipelines and dams, while private investors are financing wind and solar. A major coal and two small nuclear plants are also due to come online before Sharifs term ends. The power projects, coinciding with the biggest road building programme in Pakistans history, are central to Sharifs strategy to win the 2018 poll by promoting infrastructure as evidence of economic progress. Pakistans sputtering economy has rebounded in recent years, helped by lower global oil prices and improved security. Chinese companies are arriving in force after Beijing outlined plans in 2014 to invest $46 billion in road, rail and energy infrastructure linking western China with Pakistans Arabian Sea coast, with two-thirds of the money earmarked for energy. The drive to boost generation above 17,000 megawatts (MW) and plug a 6,000 MW deficit has already yielded some results. Shortages in big cities, which two years ago went without power for 12 hours a day, are down to about six hours. Sharif vowed last month that all scheduled outages would end before the next election, likely to be in May, 2018. His office said generation would hit 26,000 MW, a 3,000 MW surplus. There are fears, including within Sharifs own ruling PML-N party, that the room for error has shrunk to zero and the ambitious targets could be missed, especially after two big hydro projects were delayed. There are a lot of moving parts with all these projects, said one Western diplomat in Islamabad. The government has a comprehensive plan, but obviously there is some nervousness about the timelines. Halting outages would breathe fresh life into Pakistans economy, which needs to expand above 6 percent per year to absorb new entrants into the job market from a fast-growing population of 190 million people. Economic growth hit 4.7 percent last July-June fiscal year, the fastest pace of expansion since 2008. Economists estimate energy shortages shave up to 2 percent off annual growth. Some energy experts say Sharifs electricity goals are within reach. The Asian Development Bank, lending Pakistan more than $1 billion to help alleviate the energy crisis, expects load shedding, or scheduled outages, will be eradicated by mid-2018. Sharifs opponents, however, say the government is so fixated on boosting power generation that it has ignored reforms, like privatising distribution companies, that would modernise the market and lower the cost of electricity. Fearing disruption by the unions around election time, the government has backed out of privatising 10 key power distribution companies, which are broadly inefficient, and will now list some of their shares on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. And though there has been investment in some large-scale transmission lines, there are questions about how older ones will cope with an impending surge in generation. None of the institutional things that needed to be done are being done, said Shafqat Mahmood, senior member of the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party. Chinas strategic interests in South Asia will be on President Xi Jinpings mind when he flies out of Cambodia and lands in Bangladesh on October 14 the first Communist Party of China (CPC) chief and head of state to visit the country in 30 years. Assistant foreign minister Kong Xuanyou couldnt stop gushing about the importance of Xis trip to Dhaka when he met reporters on Monday morning to talk about the presidents visit to Cambodia, Bangladesh and India beginning October 13. Kong repeatedly stressed Bangladeshs role in Xis dream project, the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which aims to connect China to Eurasia through intricate and ambitious infrastructure projects over land and sea. Xis South Asian sojourn will not end in Dhaka. He flies to Goa on the morning of October 15 for the two-day BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) Summit. He is slated to meet Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena and Nepals Prime Minister Pushpa Kamal Dahal Prachanda on the sidelines. Both have been invited to Goa as leaders of countries in the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC). The grouping also includes Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar and Thailand. Xis meeting with Prachanda will be keenly followed as the Chinese Presidents visit to Nepal this month was abruptly cancelled in September without any reasons being given. The initial focus will be on Xis visit to Bangladesh, where he is expected to sign a number of deals. China always values relations with Bangladesh. We see an important cooperation partner in South Asia and Indian Ocean region, Kong said words India will follow closely. We are ready to work with Bangladesh to promote building of Belt and Road so that it brings more benefit to our people, he added. (The visit) will be a milestone in China-Bangladesh relations. It is also a major diplomatic endeavour of President Xi after visits to India, Maldives, Sri Lanka and Pakistan in 2014 and 2015. Kong said, China and Bangladesh are traditionally friendly and close neighbours. In the past 41 years, the relationship has moved forward steadily, maintained momentum of high-level exchanges, and economic cooperation and trade have been deepened. Chinas all-weather ally Pakistan will not be present in Goa. Chinese officials, when asked about Pakistans absence, tackled the matter deftly. Referring to the BIMSTEC meet, vice foreign minister Li Baodong said the talks with non-BRICS countries on the margins of the summit shows that the leaders of the five countries are ready to have dialogue and communicate with other parties. Such dialogue is a transparent and inclusive process not targeted at any third country. It is not grooming cliques to exclude any particular country and such dialogue is an inclusive one, Li added. For the time being, Pakistan will have to be happy with that. China is ready for more consultations with India for its inclusion in the nuclear suppliers group (NSG) but it is only through consensus within the group that New Delhi could become its member, a senior Chinese official said on Monday. When other countries apply for membership, this group will need to examine the application and it would require the approval or agreement through consensus by all members of the group and then to decide whether the new member will be taken on board, vice foreign minister Li Baodong said. These rules cannot be decided by China alone, Li added. China was seen to be instrumental in blocking Indias bid for the membership of NSG in June with Beijing saying that the world non-proliferation regime would collapse if non-NPT countries such as India were allowed in the NSG. According to the NSGs rules, a member must be a signatory to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty (NPT) which India is not. Besides China, South Africa, New Zealand and Austria were among the 48-member NSG bloc that opposed Indias bid. A question on the Chinese role in Indias NSG bid came up at a press conference addressed by Li on President Xi Jinpings upcoming visit to India to participate in the 8th BRICS summit on October 15 and 16 in Goa. Xi will be heading to India after state visits to Cambodia and Bangladesh starting October 13. India is the chair for this years summit. China and India have maintained good communication (on the NSG issue), Li said when asked whether the issue will come up during a meeting between Xi and PM Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS summit. We are ready to continue consultations with India on the consensus and we also hope India can go to other members of the NSG as well. In this respect, we are also ready for discussions with India to explore the possibilities but things need to be in keeping with the procedures and norms and regulations of the NSG, Li said. He added: On this issue, Chinas position has been consistent and that is why China has often said in international occasions that international laws must be observed. Li said there will be discussions on counter-terrorism but expectedly did not talk about specific issues like Pakistans involvement in terrorism or Beijings repeated blocking of an UN ban on Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based Jaish-e-Mohammed. Earlier in October, for the second time in six months, Beijing blocked New Delhis appeal to the UN to label Azhar a terrorist. Li spoke in broad terms without any concrete answers on the issue. On counter-terrorism, it is also an important area of cooperation among BRICS countries on political security. Cooperation on this front will enhance BRICS coordination and contribute to world peace and security, Li said. There should be no double standards on terrorism nor should one pursue its own political gains in the name of counter-terrorism, he said. Li added that that China hoped that the BRICS summit will build on the pass consensus on terrorism and strengthen cooperation on counter-terrorism. It started the minute they walked on stage and skipped the pretense of a cordial handshake. Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton looked each other in the eye at the start of their second debate and set out to destroy one another. As it happened | Clinton, Trump clash in 2nd US presidential debate Given the perfect opening when moderator Anderson Cooper bored in on recent revelations about Trumps predatory comments about women, Clinton struck first, and it was clear she was ready. Like everyone else, Clinton said, Ive spent a lot of time thinking over the last 48 hours about what we heard and saw. She would have none of Trumps claims that his comments about women were nothing more than locker room banter. This is who Donald Trump is, she declared. She added that it was not just women that Trump had disparaged, but also immigrants, blacks, Latinos, the disabled, POWs, Muslims and so many others. Then she said it again with rock-hard resolve: This is who Donald Trump is. Trump was ready to pounce with an ugly counteroffensive. He went THERE, digging into the very subject he had congratulated himself for avoiding in the first debate. If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse, Trump said. Yes, Trump allowed, he was sorry for what he had said about women. But his own mistakes, Trump said, were mere words; Bill Clintons mistakes, he said, were action. Trump gave a shout-out to the women he had strategically placed in the front row of the audience, including three who had accused Bill Clinton of rape or sexual impropriety. You can say any way you want to say it, but Bill Clinton was abusive to women, he said. Trump didnt stop there. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously, he added. A fourth woman in the audience, Trump said, had been a 12-year-old rape victim whose alleged attacker Clinton had represented, successfully, as a defense lawyer. Not only that, Trump said, Clinton had laughed at the girl. Dont tell me about words, Trump said. The facts: Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the alleged sexual improprieties, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment. Hillary Clinton, for her part, played a key role in defending her husband against allegations of sexual improprieties, but there is no clear or independent evidence that she either enabled his activities or bullied his accusers. She did reluctantly represent the defendant in the rape case. She did laugh in discussing procedural details of the case, but theres no evidence she laughed at the victim. This was a fight to the death over character. The exchange captured all of the vitriol and disdain that these two candidates have harbored against one another from Day One of the campaign. Theyve contained it at times, let some of it loose on others. Now, before tens of millions of Americans, both Trump and Clinton let their dislike, anger and bitterness toward one another spew out. He owes our country an apology, Clinton said, citing Trumps long campaign to question whether President Barack Obama was born in the U.S. Trump countered, You owe the president an apology, suggesting Clintons own campaign had been the one to raise the issue during the 2008 primary. And then he added that she owed people an apology for deleting tens of thousands of emails that flowed through her personal email system when she was secretary of state. From there, the two candidates moved on to talk about policy, differences over taxes, email and more. They even grudgingly managed to come up with something nice to say about each other at the end, but only when prompted by a questioner. Then, each feeling their mission accomplished, they shook hands. Performances by dancers from Jammu and Kashmir are among a range of events planned for the annual Diwali at Trafalgar Square now in its 15th year on October 16, when the popular London square will host a mass celebration of Indian culture and cuisine. It will be London mayor Sadiq Khans first Diwali event. Launched as an annual event in 2001 by former Labour mayor Ken Livingstone, the event has attracted increasing numbers over the years and become a prominent feature in Londons annual cultural calendar. Khan said: London is open to all people and all communities we dont just tolerate each others differences, we embrace them. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Londons joyous celebration of Diwali in Trafalgar Square. Here, Londons Hindu, Jain and Sikh communities come together to celebrate and to share the festivities with Londoners and visitors of all backgrounds. Diwalis central message of peace and mutual respect is one that we can all learn from. To all those celebrating this month, I wish you a very happy and enjoyable Diwali. Khan will open the event by lighting a special Diwali lamp. He will be joined by Indore-origin deputy mayor for business, Rajesh Agrawal. Several London-based organisations are among the events organisers. Besides Bollywood music and garba, an Indian street food market will offer a variety of vegetarian food and non-alcoholic drinks. Revellers will have the chance to don a sari, learn a Bollywood dance, and participate in yoga and meditation sessions for beginners, organisers said. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON German police said on Monday they had captured a man suspected of planning a bomb attack. Tired but overjoyed: we captured the terror suspect last night in Leipzig, Saxony state police said on twitter. Police had been looking for the suspect, 22-year-old Jaber Albakr, a Syrian refugee, since he slipped through their grasp during a raid on an apartment in the eastern city of Chemnitz on Saturday. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump cast aside his running mates suggestion that the US should be ready to strike Syrian targets to protect civilians caught in the countrys escalating humanitarian crisis. Made during the second presidential debate, the comment was yet another illustration of Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pences challenge as he attempts to validate the Republican nominees unusually vague positions on international diplomatic and military affairs. He and I havent spoken, and I disagree. I disagree, Trump said during his face-off with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton. Read | Highlights of the Clinton, Trump clash in 2nd US presidential debate Trump was referring to Pences suggestion, made five days earlier during the vice-presidential candidates debate, that the US be ready to use force to keep Russian-backed Syrian forces from killing civilians in Aleppo, a city caught in the five-year-long civil war. Trump has advocated a hands-off approach to dealing with the regime of Syrian President Bashar al Assad. If Russia chooses to be involved and continue, I should say, to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime to prevent them, Pence said during the debate with Virginia Sen. Tim Kaine on Tuesday. On Sunday, Trump did not suggest a different plan for dealing with Aleppo. He instead restated his support for creating so-called safe zones for Syrian refugees, to be paid for by Arab nations, and his primary Middle Eastern focus was on eradicating the Islamic State terrorist group in the region. We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved, he said. The difference underscores Pences superior fluency on such issues, as a former 10-year member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee as a US representative from Indiana. Pences campaign did not reply to a request for comment by The Associated Press on Trumps disagreement with Pences statement. Read | After cringeworthy debate, some say wont cast ballot, many undecided It was to be a do-or-die debate for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, and he came out swinging, an hour and a half ahead of the session itself. In a new conference, Trump paraded three women who accused former president Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting them, giving a clear indication he wanted to play hard, and rough. And thats exactly what he did. When the debate took place, he brought up former President Clintons infidelities with the accusers in the audience, frequently interrupted rival and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, called her a liar repeatedly, and, at one stage, told her she should be in jail. Hillary also attacked and needled Trump repeatedly, but did not punch back as forcefully as many would have liked. She kept an even composure, and smiled often in contrast to a seemingly angry and restless Trump. The first seconds of the debate established the tone for the rest of the night: Trump and Hillary did not shake hands, but walked straight to their seats after taking the stage. The next 90 minutes were memorable, riveting, combative and nasty, as one commentator described it. Read | As it happened: Clinton, Trump clash in 2nd US presidential debate In the end, Trump survived, and fairly well. He landed enough punches on Clinton to satisfy and re-energise his supporters unnerved by a bad first debate, compounded by an offensive spat with a former beauty queen and capped by a sex-rant that became public on Friday. Trumps poll numbers had begun to dip again, with the gap between him and Clinton widening to 4 points on the eve of the debate, compared to 2 points before the first; a large number of leading Republicans withdrew their endorsements after the tape, and there was talk of his campaign nearing a breaking point. Read | Hillary Clinton wins first presidential debate against Donald Trump: Poll The tape came up fairly early in the debate giving Trump the opportunity to get it out of the way. Asked if he still thought it was locker-room talk as he had first described it, he said yes. He said was not proud of it and that he had apologized to his family and to the American people for it. However, he turned the exchange around to attack the Clintons, as he had been expected to. Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women attacked them viciously. She brings up words that I said 11 years ago, Trump ploughed on, I think its disgraceful, and she should be ashamed of herself, to tell you the truth. Hillary had prepared for this moment, of course. So much of what he just said is not right, she said, launching a broader attack on his temperament and attitude. He never apologizes for anything to anyone, she said, citing President Barack Obama, whom Trump had accused of not being born in the US, and a Mexican descent judge whose heritage, Trump had said, disqualified him from trying a case against Trump University. He owes the President an apology: he owes our country an apology, she said. Read | US presidential debate: A quick fact-check on round 2 of Trump versus Clinton Trump shot back that Hillary should apologize for deleting her email, referring to her use of a private email server as secretary of state. They attacked each other on what, by now, are familiar policy and personal differences; they dont like each other, clearly. After about 90 minutes of sparring though, the debate ended on a remarkably sunny note when they were asked to comment on one positive about their opponent, over and beyond the rhetoric that clouds their perception of each other. Hillary remarked about Trumps children, who were in the audience. I admire his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I dont agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that. Trump seemed a little confused if he should take that as a compliment, but eventually took it as one. About the former secretary of state, he said, I will say this about Hillary: she doesnt quit, she doesnt give up. I respect that. Shes a fighter. I disagree with much of what she is fighting for, I disagree with her judgement, but she does fight hard, and she doesnt quit, and I consider that to be a very good trait. Also read | Who won second US presidential debate? Early polls divided between Trump-Clinton A senior journalist of Pakistans influential Dawn newspaper who reported on disagreements between the civilian government and the military on tackling terrorism has been barred from travelling out of the country. Cyril Almeida, whose Karachi-based family has its roots in Goa, created a buzz in Pakistan and India by reporting on October 6 that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs government had delivered a blunt warning to the powerful military about the country facing growing international isolation if it failed to tackle militants. The government and the military rejected the report. The civilian leadership was so rattled by the report it issued three denials, including one after a meeting between the premier and Pakistan Army chief Gen Raheel Sharif on Monday. Soon after, Almeida tweeted he had been shown evidence that he was on the Exit Control List (ECL), which has the names of people barred from leaving Pakistan. The ECL is a border control system maintained under the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance. I am told and have been informed and have been shown evidence that I am on the Exit Control List. cyril almeida (@cyalm) October 10, 2016 The denial said the civil and military leadership were unanimous that the published story was clearly violative of universally acknowledged principles of reporting on national security issues and has risked the vital state interests through inclusion of inaccurate and misleading contents which had no relevance to actual discussion and facts. The civil and military leadership said the media should refrain from speculative reporting and issues of national security and interests of the state. The Prime Minister took serious notice of the violation and directed that those responsible should be identified for stern action. However, Dawns editor Zafar Abbas said Almeidas report was verified, cross-checked and fact-checked. He added that many at the helm of affairs are aware of the senior officials, and participants of the meeting, who were contacted by the newspaper for collecting information, and more than one source confirmed and verified the details. Abbas said the elected government and state institutions should refrain from targeting the messenger, and scapegoating the countrys most respected newspaper in a malicious campaign. Read | Is the face off between ISI and Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif for real? Political analyst Zahid Khan was among writers and activists who condemned the governments move. Khan, however, said Almeida should not have used anonymous sources. Another writer, Mohsin Sayeed, said Almeida was fed the information by the government, which wanted to show the army in a bad light. The independent Human Rights Commission of Pakistan demanded the travel curbs on Almeida should be immediately withdrawn and the matter involving him dealt with in accordance with the law, due process and universally acknowledged freedom of expression Amnesty International said Pakistans authorities must immediately revoke a travel ban on a leading journalist and allow the media to operate freely and without fear. It described the move as a crude intimidation tactic designed to silence journalists. Many Pakistanis and journalists around the world used the hashtag #StandWithCyril on Twitter to defend Almeida. What an absolute mockery PM Nawaz Sharif and Gen Raheel Sharif are making of democracy & press freedom#StandWithCyril #Pakistan https://t.co/rvgDYMhlSB Mohammad Taqi (@mazdaki) October 10, 2016 All for press freedom. All for Jinnah's Pakistan. Stand with Cyril, stand with democratic values. #StandWithCyril Ayesha (@Ayeshaspeaksnow) October 10, 2016 So banned outfits can roam around freely,do rallies but a journalist has been put on ECL fr a story.really Prime minister?? #StandWithCyril shahzeb khanzada (@shazbkhanzdaGEO) October 10, 2016 Bullies doing what bullies do best. Threaten, intimidate, make examples. #StandWithCyril https://t.co/ji96xdOBpr Imran Khan (@iopyne) October 10, 2016 Read | Pakistan govt tells army to act on militants: 3 ways to read the Dawn report Banners have again come up in Karachi in support of Pakistan Army Chief General Raheel Sharif, the media reported on Monday. The banners, with slogans in Urdu Kuch aur Nahin, Bus Pakistan (Nothing But Pakistan), contain the pictures of the army chief and the two soldiers killed at the Line of Control (LoC), The News International said. The Move On Pakistan party displayed the banners, the daily said. Talking to BBC, its chairman said the move was aimed at expressing support to the army. His party had displayed banners in the past too in support of Gen Raheel, who is set to retire this year. Turkey and Russia signed an agreement on Monday for the construction of a major undersea gas pipeline and vowed to seek common ground on the war in Syria, accelerating a normalisation in ties nearly a year after Turkey shot down a Russian warplane. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hosted Russias Vladimir Putin at an Ottoman-era villa in Istanbul for talks which touched on energy deals, trade and tourism ties, defence and the conflict in Syria, where the two leaders back opposing sides. Today has been a full day with President Putin of discussing Russia-Turkish relations ... I have full confidence that the normalisation of Turkish-Russian ties will continue at a fast pace, Erdogan told a joint news conference. The warming relations between NATO member Turkey and Russia comes as both countries are dealing with troubled economies and strained ties with the West. Putin said Moscow had decided to lift a ban on some food products from Turkey, imposed after the Turks shot down a Russian fighter jet near the Syrian border last November, and that both leaders had agreed to work towards the full-scale normalisation of bilateral ties. They signed a deal on the TurkStream undersea gas pipeline, which will allow Moscow to strengthen its position in the European gas market and cut energy supplies via Ukraine, the main route for Russian energy into Europe. The plan for TurkStream emerged after Russia dropped plans to build the South Stream pipeline to Bulgaria due to opposition from the European Union, which is trying to reduce its dependence on Russian gas. Erdogan also said plans for a Russian-built nuclear power plant in Turkey would be accelerated. Time lost on the Akkuyu project because of strained relations would be made up, he said. In 2013, Russias state nuclear corporation Rosatom won a $20 billion contract to build four reactors in what was to become Turkeys first nuclear plant, but construction was halted after the downing of the Russian jet. DEEP DIVISIONS ON SYRIA Putin received Erdogan in a Tsarist-era palace outside his home city of St Petersburg in August, when the two leaders, both powerful figures ill-disposed to dissent, announced plans for an acceleration in trade and energy ties. But progress on Syria, over which they remain deeply divided, has been more problematic. Erdogan described the topic as very sensitive, but said he had discussed Turkeys military operations in Syria with Putin on Monday. Both men said they had agreed on the importance of delivering aid to the city of Aleppo, whose opposition-held eastern sector has been encircled by Russian-backed Syrian forces for all but a short period since July. We have a common position that everything must be done to deliver humanitarian aid to Aleppo. The only issue is ... ensuring the safety of aid delivery, Putin said, adding he had agreed with Erdogan to intensify military contacts. Russia has backed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad with a year-long air campaign against the rebels fighting him. Turkey backs the rebels and wants to see Assad out of power. On Saturday, Russia vetoed a French-drafted U.N. Security Council resolution that would have demanded an end to air strikes and military flights over Aleppo. A rival Russian draft text failed to get a minimum nine votes in favour. Erdogan said there would be further talks with Russia over the conflict in Syria. But there was little sign of any concrete progress towards reconciling their differences. We discussed ... how we can cooperate on this matter, especially on humanitarian aid to Aleppo, what strategy can we implement so people in Aleppo can find peace, Erdogan said. We will come together with our foreign ministries and top military leaders and intelligence officers. (Writing by Nick Tattersall; Editing by Anna Willard) Much was stated during the second US presidential debate between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton on October 9. While moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz pressed both candidates, especially Trump, to answer the questions raised, several claims were either exaggerated or misrepresented, or simply inaccurate. A look at how the facts stack up against what both candidates said during the townhall debate. Read | Nasty, combative: Clinton, Trump further rake up personal, political enmity On policies What was said: Clinton wants to go back to single-payer healthcare, Trump said of his contender. Fact: Its Vermont senator Bernie Sanders not Clinton who supports a Canada-style government-run health care system. Hillary Clintons proposal is to expand the government program that includes tax credits and reducing drug costs. She also wants to insure at least three medical appointments per year. While contesting against fellow Sanders in the primaries, Clinton countered a tax hike to pay for the government Medicare-for-all scheme as it would be too expensive for middle classes. What was said: When the issue of tax reforms came up, Clinton claimed Trumps policy would end up raising taxes on middle-class families. Trump stated that Clintons policy would raise everybodys taxes massively. Fact: Nearly all of Hillary Clintons proposed tax increases would affect the wealthiest 5% of Americans, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Trump is proposing massive tax cuts for both individuals and businesses. Yet its not clear that all Americans would benefit. What was said: There is a thing called clean coal. Coal will last for 1,000 years in this country, Trump claimed. Fact: The coal industry has been in a decline, in part due to the natural gas industry. However, clean coal does really exist, especially considering the high carbon emissions that burning coal gives out. What was said: Much like in the past, Trump repeatedly targeted Obamacare, President Obamas Affordable Care Act, saying the whole thing was fraud and that it didnt work. Fact: Trumps has exaggerated the cost of the Act. For instance, the cost of the coverage expansion in Obamas health care law is nowhere near what the government spends on Medicare and Medicaid, according to Associated Press. The government will spend $110 billion this year on Obamacare coverage. By comparison, Medicare will cost an estimated $590 billion, and the federal share of Medicaid will amount to $370 billion. What was said: Trump said the US had given $150 billion to Iran, a terrorist state. Fact: The US is not giving any of its money to Iran as part of an international nuclear arms deal meant to prevent the construction of weapons, according to the Guardian. The deal systematically unfreezes Iranian assets. However, sanctions related to the nations nuclear program led to it being frozen again. Sanctions related to human rights, terrorism and other issues also remain in place. What was said: Trump claimed the United States had a trade deficit of $800 billion. Fact: The US trade deficit in 2015 was $500 billion, a good $300 billion short of Trumps often repeated claim. What was said: Clinton said, We are now, for the first time ever, energy independent. Fact: Clinton inaccurately overstates the case. For the first time in decades the United States gets more energy domestically than it imports, but it is not yet energy independent as the country continues to rely on oil imports, from the Mideast and elsewhere. Estimates vary as to when the US might achieve energy independence. What was said: While stating he is well-informed about the Islamic State (IS), Trump claimed the Islamic militant group had spread to over 32 countries. Fact: IS does not operate in 32 countries. It is largely based in Syria and Iraq. It has affiliates in several other countries, significantly in Egypt, Libya, Afghanistan, Yemen and Nigeria. The group however uses social media propaganda to recruit from as many as possible. What was said: I dont like Assad at all. But Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS, claimed Trump. Fact: Not true. Syrias President Bashar Assad considers the Islamic State group to be among numerous terrorist groups that threaten his government, but his military is not fighting them. It is focused on combating Syrian opposition groups, some of which are supported by the United States. On controversies What was said: While Trump dismissed the tape as locker-room banter, he said he had never actually groped or kissed women without their consent. No, I did not, he said. Fact: Several women have alleged Trump made unwanted sexual advances. In the 1990s, Jill Harth accused Trump of groping her, even filing a lawsuit. The Republican nominee was, however, not convicted. Trumps first wife, Ivana Trump, also accused him of rape in a deposition in the early 1990s, but later said she didnt mean it literally, but rather that she felt violated. What was said: Referring the Khan family controversy, the Republican said that Capt Humayun Khan would still be alive if he, Trump, was president for he would not have had American soldiers in Iraq. Fact: This has been in the news for a while now -- Trumps saying he did not support the Iraq war when in fact he did at the time. In recent times though, he has insisted otherwise. What was said: During a discussion over the behaviour of presidential candidates, Trump was called out for tweeting about a sex tape. His response: It wasnt check out a sex tape. Fact: Yes it was. Trump tweeted check out sex tape and past of former 1996 Miss Universe Alicia Machado, a woman whom Clinton discussed in the first presidential debate as an example of Trumps derogatory comments about women. Machado criticized Trump for body-shaming her by calling her Miss Piggy and threatening to take away her crown for gaining weight. Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate? Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 30, 2016 What was said: After a yearlong investigation, there is no evidence that anyone hacked the server I was using, and there is no evidence that anyone can point to, at all ... that any classified material ended up in the wrong hands, said Clinton. Fact: Maybe, maybe not. While theres indeed no direct, explicit evidence that classified information was leaked or that her server was breached, it was nevertheless connected to the internet in ways that made it more vulnerable to hackers and the public may never know who saw them. FBI Director James Comey has said: We assess it is possible that hostile actors gained access to Secretary Clintons personal e-mail account. Read | Trump vs Clinton: Top quotes from the second US presidential debate What was said: Trump claimed that Clinton was seen laughing at a girl who was raped when, as a young public defender, she was assigned to represent the accused rapist: Shes seen on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl... Kathy Shelton, that young woman, is here with us tonight. Fact: As far as records show, Clinton isnt seen laughing at the victim during the case that took place in 1975. In an interview a decade later, Clinton expressed horror at the crime, but was recorded on tape laughing about procedural details of the case. What was said: Trump accused Clinton of starting the Obama birther controversy, much before he got embroiled in it; Trump had questioned the legitimacy of Barack Obamas presidency by indicating that Obama might not be American-born. Fact: The controversy was put to bed recently with Trump himself accepting that Obama was American. However, the birther issue was raised when the Republican presidential nominee brought up the question. So far, there have been no reports to support his claim that Clinton had asked for Obamas origins to be looked into back in 2008. What was said: Clinton said Trump never apologised for mocking a reporter, for his comments about the Khans, a gold star family of an American soldier killed on duty, and to President Obama for the birther controversy. Fact: After months of pushing the birther issue, Trump unequivocally endorsed Obamas citizenship, but never apologised. Trump also never went back on his comments regarding the Khan family, but issued a statement that hailed their son Capt Humayun Khan as an American hero. As for his perceived mocking of Serge Kovaleski, a disabled journalist, Trump had said he was unware of Kovaleskis congenital condition. Also read | Who will win the US presidential election? For more on the US presidential elections, click here. Rebels attacked trucks carrying civilians in South Sudan, killing 21 people, the government said, as violence between rival forces loyal to President Salva Kiir and his former vice president risks dragging the country back into civil war. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said in a statement on Monday it had received reports of horrific violence being perpetrated against civilians in Central Equatorial State and urged both rebel and government commanders to control their forces and cease hostilities. The government said on Monday 21 civilians were killed, some burned to death, and about 20 wounded when rebel gunmen ambushed their vehicles on a road connecting Yei town, in Central Equatorial State, to the capital Juba on Saturday. Jacob Lem Chan, a local government official, said four trucks were ambushed and victims were burned and shot at. These are SPLA-IO force ... who laid the ambush, Chan said, referring to former vice president Riek Machars rebel movement. We have confirmed 21 dead, and about 20 casualties were admitted in the hospital, Chan said, adding one truck was burnt with victims inside. Dickson Gatluak Jock, military spokesman for SPLM-IO, denied its forces had carried out the attack and said it directed attacks against military installations only. We are not intending to harm civilians or to kill them, he said. Violence has been growing in Africas youngest nation since July when the rival forces battled each other in Juba. Machar fled the capital to Sudan from where he has urged his forces to re-organise for armed resistance to Kiirs government. Rivalry between Kiir, an ethnic Dinka, and Machar, a Nuer, led to South Sudans first war in December 2013 when Kiir sacked Machar as his vice president. The conflict ended in a peace pact in August 2015 and Machar returned to Juba and was sworn in as vice president in April. But there has been frequent violations of the peace agreement and major fighting broke out again in July. Machar has since been replaced as vice president by General Taban Deng Gai. Thailands 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the worlds longest reigning monarch, is in an unstable condition after receiving haemodialysis treatment, the palace said in a statement late on Sunday. News about the kings health is closely monitored in Thailand, where King Bhumibol is widely revered, and the wording of palace statements on his health is intensely scrutinised. Strict laws protecting the royal family stifles any public discussion of the kings health. It is unusual for the palace to state that the kings health is not stable. Statements on his health are usually issued after the monarchs condition shows improvement or when he is recovering from an illness. The king has been treated for various ailments over the past year at Bangkoks Siriraj Hospital - his home for much of the past year - and was last seen in public on Jan. 11, when he spent several hours visiting his palace in the Thai capital. Anxiety over the kings health and an eventual succession has formed the backdrop to more than a decade of bitter political divide in Thailand that has included two military coups and often-violent street demonstrations. Sundays statement was the second health bulletin this month after the palace said on Oct. 1 that the king was recovering after a respiratory infection. On Saturday, the king was given haemodialysis - a way of cleansing the blood of toxins, extra salts and fluids - which made his blood pressure drop occasionally, the palace said. Doctors gave him some medicine and put him on a ventilator to bring his blood pressure back to normal, it said. They continue to monitor his condition closely, the statement said. His condition has yet to stabilise, the palace said. In 2011, Princess Chulabhorn, the kings youngest daughter, said in a rare televised statement that the king had suffered a health scare and fell unconscious after suffering from internal bleeding likely induced by stress as a result of a flood crisis at the time. Laws protecting the royals from insult make it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the king, queen, heir to the throne or regent. Also read | Thai kings favourite dog Tongdaeng dies, days after insult arrest Thailands beloved King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the worlds longest reigning monarch, was in an unstable condition on Monday, with thousands praying for his well-being amid fears that his demise could lead to economic instability. The 88-year-old king, who has been on the throne for more than 70 years, is a constitutional monarch with no formal political role but he is generally regarded as a unifying figure in Thailands complex and divided political arena. Heres a look at ten of the longest reigning members of royalty from around the world: 1. King Bhumibol Adulyadej or Rama IX of Thailand: He has been king since 1946, when he ascended the throne after his brother, Ananda Mahidol, died of a gunshot wound. He was formally crowned in 1950. Though the monarchy became stronger after the king imposed martial law in 1957, he later went on to play a key role in Thailands transition to democracy in 1992. As the Kings health deteriorated, his participation in public affairs has sharply declined in recent years. 2. Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom: With nearly 65 years on the throne, she is Britains longest reigning monarch. She has inspired several generations of Britons, from the dark days of World War II to the current ear. She became queen when her father, King George VI, died while she was touring Kenya in 1952. She once described 1992 as her annus horribilis (horrible year) as the marriages of two of her children broke down and public support for the monarchy declined. She became the longest reigning monarch in Britains 1,200-year history last year, and was ranked number 29 on Forbes 2016 list of the worlds 100 most powerful women. 3. Sultan Abdul Halim of Kedah sultanate in Malaysia: He is also the supreme king of Malaysia, one of the few elected positions for monarchy anywhere in the world. The supreme king also has considerable powers in Malaysias constitutional monarchy and can choose the prime minister if no party wins a majority vote. The supreme king is elected by a durbar or council comprising the rulers of nine of the 13 Malay states. Halim has been the ruler of Kedah for more than 58 years but became Malaysias supreme king for the second time in 2011. 4. Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei: He has been the sultan for more than 49 years and was regularly placed at the top of lists of the worlds richest individuals in the 1980s and 1990s. Besides serving as the head of state, Bolkiah is also Bruneis head of government as he holds the post of prime minister. He also holds the defence and finance portfolios and head of religious affairs. 5. Sultan Qaboos bin Said al Said of Oman: He came to the throne after overthrowing his father in a coup in 1970 and has been in power for more than 46 years. He completed his secondary education at Pune, where he once studied under former president Shankar Dayal Sharma. He used Omans oil revenues to develop and modernise infrastructure. Though he established consultative assembly and a consultative council, all decisions are made by the sultan. Oman witnessed unprecedented protests during the Arab Spring of 2011 and the sultan has no heir, triggering speculation about his successor. 6. Queen Margrethe II Denmark: She has been queen for nearly 45 years and is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces and the head of the Church of Denmark. The queen has no independent role in politics though, as head of state, she participates in the formation of government. The queen asks the party leader backed by the largest number of members of Parliament to form the government. 7. Sultan bin Mohamed Al-Qassimi III of Sharjah: He has been the ruler of Sharjah, one of the units in the United Arab Emirates, for more than 44 years. He is the fifteenth ruler of the emirate and overcame an attempted coup by his brother in 1987. 8. King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden: He became king in 1973 after the death of his grandfather Gustav VI Adolf. His playboy lifestyle in his youth made him the butt of jokes but has earned the respect of Swedes in recent years through measures such as dropping the title King of the Swedes, the Goths, Geats and the Wends to be known only as King of Sweden. Gustaf has only ceremonial duties, such as opening Parliament sessions, after constitutional changes in 1974. The king is probably best known for presenting the annual Nobel prizes. 9. Sultan Ahmad Shah of Pahang in Malaysia: He has been the sultan of Pahang state for more than 42 years and served as supreme king of Malaysia during 1979-84. He has been linked to controversies over forcing some chief ministers of the state to resign. 10. Sultan Hamad bin Mohammed Al Sharqi of Fujairah: He has been the ruler of Fujairah, one of the units of the United Arab Emirates, for more than 42 years. The sultan, who was educated in Britain, took over after the death of his father in 1974. In a stunningly brazen move, Donald Trump met publicly on Sunday night with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances and even rape, shortly before the Republican presidential nominee was stepping on the debate stage with the former presidents wife, Hillary Clinton. Read | Trump vows to jail Clinton if he wins White House, she corners him over his tape Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment. The Trump pre-debate event was the clearest sign yet that he planned to use the former presidents sexual history to try to distract from the swirling controversy over his own predatory remarks about women. Trump is under enormous pressure from the Republican Party after the release of a 2005 video in which the businessman can be heard saying his fame allows him to do anything to women. Jennifer Palmieri, Hillary Clintons communications director, said she wasnt surprised to see Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom. She said the Democratic nominee was prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way on the debate stage. Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about his own aggressive sexual remarks about women during the meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons. Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me, Broaddrick said. I dont think theres any comparison. Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations. Trumps stunt set up an extraordinary scene in the debate hall. His campaign said all four women planned to attend the event, with Bill Clinton also expected to be present. Trump is trying to change the subject from his own conduct. Even before Fridays new revelations of his sexual remarks about women, his campaign was slumping. But the release of the 2005 video has some leading Republicans convinced the damage is insurmountable. Even Trumps most loyal supporters struggled to defend him on Sunday. Also read | Republicans reeling after Trumps vulgar comments about women revealed Kurdish militants detonated a car bomb Sunday outside a military checkpoint in southeast Turkey, killing ten soldiers and eight civilians, the Prime Minister said. Turkey immediately launched a military operation against the rebels in response. Prime Minister Binali Yildirim gave the death toll during a press conference in Istanbul and condemned the attack. For the stability of our country, we will continue doing everything we can to save our homeland and our nation from the forces of terrorism, he said. Cuneyit Orhan Toprak, governor of Hakkari province where the attack took place, told that private news channel NTV that 27 others wounded in the attack were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment. Eleven of them were soldiers, the Turkish military said. Turkeys state-run Anadolu Agency, citing a statement by the Turkish Armed Forces, said the attack occurred at 9:45 a.m. outside a Gendarmerie checkpoint on the Semdinli-Yuksekova highway and was the work of the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKK. The checkpoint is 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the town of Semdinli. Toprak said the attackers first opened fire on the soldiers at the checkpoint to distract them before driving up a minivan containing about 5 tons of explosives and detonating it. The explosion produced a crater 15 meters (50 feet) wide and 7 meters (23 feet) deep. An infantry station located behind the checkpoint also suffered heavy damage. Turkish authorities imposed a temporary blackout on coverage of the attack, citing public order and national security reasons. Energy minister Berat Albayrak condemned the attack during a speech in Istanbul. I would like to remind all friendly countries that there is great need to take a common stance and display solidarity against terrorism, he said. White House National Security Council spokesperson Ned Price condemned the attack on the military checkpoint, calling it just the latest in a deeply concerning trend of increasing violence by the PKK. We remain steadfast in our support for our NATO ally, Turkey, and reaffirm our commitment to continue working together to defeat all forms of terrorism, Price said in a statement released Sunday night. Turkey has been rocked by a wave of bomb attacks since last summer that have killed hundreds of people and been blamed on either the PKK or the Islamic State group. Fighting between the PKK and the state security forces resumed last year after the collapse of a fragile 2 -year cease-fire. Since then, more than 600 Turkish security personnel and thousands of PKK militants have been killed in clashes, according to the Anadolu Agency. Rights groups say hundreds of civilians have also been killed in the fighting. A US Navy guided missile destroyer was targeted on Sunday in a failed missile attack from territory in Yemen controlled by Iran-aligned Houthi rebels, a US military spokesperson told Reuters, saying neither of the two missiles hit the ship. The attempted strike on the USS Mason, which was first reported by Reuters, came just a week after a United Arab Emirates vessel came under attack from Houthis and suggests growing risks to the US military from Yemens conflict. The US government, which has become increasingly vocal about civilian casualties in the war, this weekend announced a review of its support to a Saudi Arabia-led coalition battling the Houthis after a strike on mourners in the capital Sanaa that killed up to 140 people. The failed missile attack on the USS Mason began around 7pm local time, when the ship detected two inbound missiles over a 60-minute period in the Red Sea off Yemens coast, the US military said. Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship, Pentagon spokesperson Captain Jeff Davis said. There were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship. Saudi Arabia and the United States blame Shia Iran for supplying weapons to the Houthis. Tehran views the Houthis, who are from a Shiite sect, as the legitimate authority in Yemen but denies it supplies them with weapons. A US defence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the first missile triggered counter-measures from the USS Mason. It was not immediately clear whether those defences may have helped prevent a direct hit on the ship. The USS Mason did not return fire, the official said, adding that the incident took place just north of the Bab al-Mandab strait off Yemens southern coast. Last weeks attack on the UAE vessel also took place around the Bab al-Mandab strait, in what the UAE branded an act of terrorism. In 2013, more than 3.4 million barrels of oil passed through the 20km (12 mile)-wide Bab al-Mandab each day, the US Energy Information Administration says. It was unclear what actions the US military might take, but Davis stressed a commitment to defend freedom of navigation and protect US forces. We will continue to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of our ships and our service members, he said. The attack also came the same day that Yemens powerful former president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, a key Houthi ally, called for an escalation of attacks against Saudi Arabia, demanding battle readiness at the fronts on the (Saudi) border. An estimated 10,000 people have been killed in Yemens war. The United Nations blames Saudi-led coalition strikes for 60 percent of some 3,800 civilian deaths since they began in March 2015. In a debate brimming with tension, Hillary Clinton declared Donald Trumps aggressively vulgar comments about women revealed exactly who he is and said he is unsuitable to be the US President. Firing back, Trump accused Clinton of attacking women involved in her husbands extramarital affairs and declared she would be in jail if he were president. Trump entered Sunday nights debate desperate to steady his floundering campaign. He unleashed a barrage of attacks and insults, and continually interrupted Clinton. He repeatedly called her a liar, labeled her the devil and contended she had tremendous hate in her heart. Highlights from the second US presidential debate Trump acknowledged for the first time that he had paid no federal income taxes for many years. The debate was the culmination of a stunning stretch in the race for the White House, which began with the release of a new video in which Trump is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to do anything to women. Many Republicans rushed to revoke their support, with some calling for him to drop out of the race. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump points at Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton as he speaks during the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis. (AP) Answering for his words for the first time, Trump denied that he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely locker room talk and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clintons abuse of women. She should be ashamed of herself, Trump declared. Ahead of the debate, the businessman met with three women who accused the former president of sexual harassment and even rape, then invited them to sit in the debate hall. Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment. Read: Fact-checker on the second Trump-Clinton US presidential debate On the debate stage, Clinton did not respond directly to Trumps accusations about her husband or her own role, but was blistering in her condemnation of his predatory comments about women in the tape released Friday. I think its clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is, she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the fitness to serve as commander in chief. The second debate was a town hall format, with several undecided voters sitting on stage with the candidates. The voters, all from the St. Louis area, were selected by Gallup. The tension between Trump and Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate, the second time they have faced off in the presidential campaign. They did not shake hands as they met at center stage. Trump, who is several inches taller than Clinton, stood close behind her as she answered questions from the voters. At other times, he paced the stage, repeatedly interrupting her and criticizing the moderators. The businessman opened the debate with a flood of insults aimed at Clinton, accusing her of having lied about a lot of things and insinuating she was the devil. He struggled to articulate detailed policy proposals, repeatedly dancing around questions about how he would replace President Barack Obamas health care law, a measure he has vowed to replace. Republican US presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic US presidential nominee Hillary Clinton enter the town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis. (Reuters) Trump made clear that he did not agree with running mate Mike Pence on how to deal with war-torn Syria. Last week, Pence said that the U.S. military should be ready to strike Syrian military targets that are under the command of President Bashar Assad. The threat of military action against the Russia-backed Assad government marks a departure from Trumps preference for a focus on Islamic State targets. Said Trump: He and I havent spoken and I disagree. Trumps campaign was already struggling before the new video was released, due in part to his uneven performance in the first presidential debate. Many Republicans saw Sundays showdown as his last best chance to salvage his campaign. It was unclear whether Trumps performance did anything to expand his support beyond his core backers. He did repeatedly cast Clinton as a career politician who had accomplished little during her years in Washington and would be incapable of bringing about change, one of his strongest argument in a campaign that has highlighted Americans deep frustration. With her, its all talk and no action, Trump said. The new revelations about Trump overshadowed potentially damaging revelations about Clintons paid speeches to Wall Street firms. Emails released by Wikileaks last week showed Clinton told a group that its acceptable for a president to project differing positions in public and private. Asked in the debate whether thats two-faced, Clinton pointed to Abraham Lincoln, saying he did whatever he could to get the 13th Amendment passed, allowing emancipation of the slaves, by lawmakers who did not support African-American equality. I was making the point it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want them to do. That was a great display of presidential leadership. Rolling his eyes, Trump said, Now shes blaming the late, great Abraham Lincoln. The political firestorm that preceded the debate was sparked by a video obtained and released Friday by The Washington Post and NBC News. In the video, Trump, who was married to his current wife at the time, is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also brags to Billy Bush of Access Hollywood about women letting him kiss them and grab their genitals because he is famous. NBC said Sunday that it had indefinitely suspended Bush, now a Today show personality, for his role in the crude conversation with Trump. Trump used the revelations as an opening to make good on his repeated promises to throw Bill Clintons sexual history into the center of his campaign against his wife. Less than two hours before the debate, he brazenly met publicly with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances and even rape. Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about his own aggressive sexual remarks about women during the meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons. Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me, Broaddrick said. I dont think theres any comparison. Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations. KABUL: Eight Afghan soldiers were killed on Sunday when a military helicopter crashed in northern Baghlan province, officials said. Afghan defence ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said five crew members and three army soldiers were killed. The crash took place in Dand Ghori district while the helicopter was supplying a military base, he said. Waziri blamed a technical problem with the aircraft and said he rejected any claims by insurgents to have downed the helicopter. One helicopter was on the ground while a second was patrolling in the air above, when suddenly a technical problem caused the helicopter to catch fire and hit the ground, Waziri said. However, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement claiming responsibility for downing the helicopter, saying the aircraft was shot down by fighters. Two provincial officials in Baghlan also said the helicopter had been shot down by insurgents while it was supplying the military base with food, water and ammunition. Qarghan Tapa base has been surrounded by insurgents for a week, leaving more than a hundred soldiers trapped inside, according to the officials. They said all roads to the base have been shut off by the insurgents and the only way to supply them is by air. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the press. ADDIS ABABA: The Ethiopian government has declared a state of emergency effective immediately following a week of anti-government violence that resulted in several deaths and property damage across the country, especially in the restive Oromia region. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON WASHINGTON: Donald Trumps wife Melania said his lewd remarks about groping women was unacceptable and offensive, but urged the public to accept his apology. The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know... I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation, she said in a statement. Without specifically using Trumps name, actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said he would not vote for the Republican nominee. For the first time since I became a citizen in 1983, I will not vote for the Republican candidate for President. Like many Americans, Ive been conflicted by this election. I still havent made up my mind about how exactly I will vote next month, he said in a statement. Schwarzenegger said he was proud to call himself a Republican, but added he was more proud to hold the label of American. The Terminator star himself was accused of sexually harassing six women on film sets between 1975 and 2000. Legendary actor Robert De Niro lashed out at Trump, calling him a blatantly stupid punk whom he would like to punch in the face. In a video published by Vice news website, the actor said Trump is so blatantly stupid. Hes a punk, a dog, hes a pig. Colin Powell [former US secretary of state] said it best: hes a national disaster. Hes an embarrassment to this country. It makes me so angry this country has gotten to this point that this fool, this bozo, has wound up where he has, the Taxi Driver star fumed. It was not clear when the video was recorded, though it was uploaded on the site on Saturday. JERUSALEM: A Palestinian assailant, firing from a car, killed a pedestrian and a police officer in Jerusalem on Sunday before being shot dead by Israeli police, police and medical officials said. The incident, near Israeli national police headquarters, began when shots were fired from a vehicle at people waiting at a tram stop, the spokeswoman said. The assailant then drove off and was shot dead in an exchange of fire with police, she said. Medical officials said six people were wounded in the attack, and that two of them, a woman and a police officer, died in hospital. Police identified the assailant as a 39-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem. In the past year, Palestinians have killed at least 35 Israelis and two visiting Americans in attacks. During that period, at least 220 Palestinians have died in violent incidents in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. MOSCOW: Russia moved nuclear-capable Iskander-M missiles into the Kaliningrad enclave bordering Poland and Lithuania, the defence ministry has said, adding it was part of routine drills. These missile units have been deployed more than once (in the Kaliningrad region) ... and will be deployed as part of military training of the Russian armed forces, ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said in a statement on Saturday. A US intelligence official said on Friday Russia had started moving the Iskander-Ms into the enclave on the Baltic in what he said could be a gesture to express displeasure with NATO. Konashenkov said one of the missiles had been deliberately exposed to a US spy satellite. Lithuania, neighbouring Kaliningrad and a member of NATO, said it would protest to Moscow. The deployment not only increases tensions in the region, but also possibly violates international treaties which limit deployment of ballistic missiles of range of over 500 kilometres, Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius told reporters. On Saturday, Russia also vetoed a United Nations draft resolution demanding an end to the bombing of Syrias war-battered city of Aleppo, despite an appeal from France to save the city from destruction. It was the fifth time that Moscow used its veto to block UN action to end the five-year war in Syria, which has claimed 300,000 lives. The draft text presented by France won 11 votes in favour in the 15-member Security Council, but there were two votes against including Russia and two abstentions, notably from veto-holder China. WASHINGTON: Donald Trump is on notice for the debate on Sunday night. This could be his last chance to rescue his campaign hit by a spate of desertions from Republicans outraged, as the rest of the country, by his vulgar boast on a 2005 tape about groping women and forcing himself on them, and calls for him to step aside. His running mate Mike Pence, who refused to stand in for Trump at a campaign event on Saturday, said in a statement, I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation for the presidential debate, he said. Some Republicans calling for Trumps exit have proposed Pence as his replacement, and even urged him to abandon the ticket to force out the real estate tycoon who may have pushed the party to the limit of its tolerance. Senator John McCain withdrew his endorsement of the party nominee on Saturday, saying his demeaning comments about women and his boasts about sexual assaults make it impossible to continue to offer even conditional support for his candidacy. A stream of Republicans have abandoned their nominee since the tape became public on Friday more than 40 prominent elected officials by one count, including some present and past governors such as Arnold Schwarzenegger, serving senators and members of the House of Representatives, and former candidates for the White House Carly Fiorina, Jon Huntsman, Tim Pawlenty and George Pataki. Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Mike Crapo of Idaho are calling on Trump to quit the campaign so Pence can lead the ticket. Trump, who has said there is zero chance Ill quit, slammed them in a tweet on Sunday, So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers - and elections - go down! A lot of them are indeed seeking re-election McCain, Kelly Ayotte, Rob Portman, for instance and their decision to distance themselves could have been prompted by genuine outrage over his remarks or politically expediency. They should worry about their poll number, but so should Trump. At this time before the first debate, he was merely two points behind Clinton, having bridged a gap of around eight points. On Sunday, he was trailing her by over four points in the RealClearPolitics average of polls. And in FiveThirtyEights forecast, Trump had only18.4% chance of winning the presidency to Clintons 81.5%; compared to 41.8% to Clintons at 58.2% then. Clinton, who dominated the first debate and won it fairly and squarely, is coming to the second with a small patch of cloud over head as well. Hacked excerpts from her highly paid speeches to Wall Street banks and institutions, released on Friday by Wikileaks, contradicted her current position on multinational trade deals and support for big banks. And Trump, whose best moments at the first debate came in the first 15 or 20 minutes when he attacked her on trade and economic issues would use the fresh ammunition provided by Wikileaks to build on that advantage. But the big question agitating pundits and pollsters was about his threat to bring up Bill Clintons infidelities. Would he go there this time? He could, if his faux-apologies for the sex-rant tape were any indication he mentioned Bill Clinton in both. Ive said some foolish things, but theres a big difference between the words and actions of other people. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims, he said in the second. ANKARA: Eighteen people were killed on Sunday when a van packed with five tonnes of explosives blew up in Turkeys restive southeast in an attack blamed on Kurdish militants, Prime Minister Binali Yildirim said. Those killed in the deadly bombing included 10 soldiers and eight civilians. SHARE THIS ARTICLE ON LONDON: In a racially-motivated attack, a young womans hijab was ripped off on a busy London street, prompting Scotland Yard to launch a probe into the assault. The force is treating the incident in north London as a racially motivated assault on the victim in her 20s, who was described as shocked and distressed by the incident. This was a shocking attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street. Racially and religiously motivated crimes will not be tolerated. I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to contact police, said Detective Constable Ben Cousin of the Metropolitan Polices Haringey Community Safety Unit. The woman was walking with another female friend on the evening of September 28 when the attack took place. As they crossed the road, she was approached from behind by two men. The Met police said one of them pulled down the hijab she was wearing before both fled. The first suspect is described as white, in his late 20s or early 30s, with blonde or ginger shaved hair and stubble. Police said he was about 5 feet 6 inches and wearing a burgundy hooded top and carrying a Tesco bag in his right hand. The second suspect was of Mediterranean appearance, in his late 20s or early 30s, and clean shaven, with spiky hair. He wore a grey hooded top. There is an old myth that the charge of the 21st Lancers against the Mahdists at the Battle of Omdurman, fought in Sudan on 2 September 1898, was the last full-scale British cavalry charge in history. As with many such myths, this is incorrect, since the charge of the 20th Hussars against Turkish infantry during the Chanak Crisis of 1920 perhaps better deserves this distinction. Nevertheless, this does nothing to diminish the dramatic events of almost 120 years ago, and the legend of the lancers endures in the minds of historians and within the pages of numerous books. The Battle of Omdurman itself was the grand finale of Major-General Herbert Kitcheners campaign to re-conquer Sudan from the Mahdists, in order to restore the territory back to Egyptian control. Begun in 1896 as a means of relieving pressure off Italian troops following their disastrous defeat at the Battle of Adwa, the limited campaign soon expanded into a full re-conquest. A number of sizeable actions and battles ensued, including: Firket (7 June 1896), Abu Hamed (7 August 1897) and Atbara (8 April 1898); but that fought near Omdurman would be the largest and most important action by far. It would be around 06:45 hours that the battle opened when the guns of 32nd Field Battery roared into action. This would begin the first of three phases of the battle, when thousands of the Khalifas warriors hurled themselves towards Kitcheners Anglo-Egyptian troops who were entrenched behind a zariba constructed around a village called Egeiga near the Nile River. The attack was bloodily repulsed by the intense rifle, machinegun and artillery fire of the well-armed and disciplined British, Egyptian and Sudanese soldiers. By 08:00 hours, the order was given to cease-fire, and the bodies of thousands of Mahdists lay dead or wounded on the sands in front of Kitcheners position. The battle, however, was far from over. Kitchener now pondered what to do next. He was concerned that the Khalifa would retire to the city of Omdurman, thus forcing the Anglo-Egyptian Army into what could prove to be a bitter contest of costly street fighting. Omdurman, therefore, had to be taken before the withdrawing Mahdist warriors could reach it. To ascertain what enemy forces lay between Egeiga and the city, and to sweep any away that might inhibit the advance of the infantry, Kitchener ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Rowland Hill Martin, the commanding officer of the 21st Lancers, to lead out all four of his squadrons around 320 men in total and reconnoitre from the southern end of the zariba to the outskirts of the city. As the lancers rode past the eastern slopes of the Jebel Surgham mountain, they could see columns of thousands of wounded Mahdist warriors making towards Omdurman. Martin ordered his signalling officer to relay what they had seen to Kitchener, and as they awaited a reply they suddenly came under fire, forcing the cavalrymen to take shelter behind some nearby mounds of sand. Eventually, the reply came to advance and use every effort to prevent the enemy re-entering Omdurman. Martin then sent out several patrols to ascertain what lay ahead, one of which, under the command of Lieutenant Robert Grenfell, skirted around the slopes of Jebel Surgham. When the lieutenant and his men returned, they informed Martin that a force of around 700 to 1,000 warriors were holding position in a khor known as Abu Sunt. This force was acting as a screen to the retreating Mahdists. It was now about 09:00 hours, and Martin was determined to attack and drive off this blocking force. The lancers descended from the ridge of Jebel Surgham and began to advance on Abu Sunt at walking pace. Once they were within about quarter of a mile of the khor, the cavalrymen could make out a group of 100 to 150 dark blue, motionless figures to their left-front. Moments later, this line of distant figures suddenly opened fire on the advancing cavalry, bringing a small number of horses and their riders crashing to the ground. At once, Martin gave the order to Right wheel into line and all sixteen of his troops swung round and, according to Lieutenant Winston Spencer Churchill, locked up into a long galloping line. The men of the 21st Lancers then broke out into a charge. Unbeknown to the British cavalrymen, the khor was both wider and deeper than previously thought. If this was not bad enough, as the lancers drew closer to Abu Sunt they suddenly saw a number of warriors and banners unexpectedly rise up from the ground. The position was more heavily defended than anticipated, with over 2,000 Mahdists now awaiting their attackers. The lancers were galloping directly into what was later learned to be a carefully laid ambush! Moments later, the cavalrymen smashed their way into Abu Sunt, with hundreds of horses and men plunging four to six feet down into the khor. A number of lancers became unhorsed, being stabbed to death by frenzied warriors as they lay helpless on the ground. Others, still on their mounts, continued to charge on, desperately fighting their way through to the other side. Churchill, who had drawn his Masuer pistol before reaching the khor, found himself shooting Mahdists point-blank in their faces, while other troopers experienced their lances or swords shattering into pieces upon impact with their enemy. Individual and particularly violent combats raged across Abu Sunt. The entire clash of arms lasted less than two minutes, and resulted in the loss of one officer and twenty men of the 21st Lancers killed, while another four officers and forty-six men were wounded. Of the 320 horses engaged in the charge, 119 had been either killed or wounded. Yet the charge had achieved little, and is largely viewed as a near disaster and a terrible mistake by military people of the day and historians ever since. It also showed the inadequacy of the weapons in use by the British cavalry for the type of combat they were now engaged. However, a total of three Victoria Crosses would be awarded to men of the regiment for that fateful day, and the charge was viewed as heroic by the British public at the time. Today, it remains engrained in British military history legend. In May of 1942, US General Hap Arnold promised Prime Minister Winston Churchill that American troops would be fighting with the British by July 4th. Fulfilling that promise fell to US Generals Carl Spatz, Ira Eaker and Dwight Eisenhower. Yet only two US outfits were in England the 97th Bombardment Group and the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) and neither was equipped with aircraft. The 15ths familiarity with Douglas A-20 Havocs and the presence of the same aircraft in British service, the DB-7 Boston III, secured them a place in Eighth Air Force history. Seven months earlier, members of the 15th had been dropping flour sack bombs on enemy troops as part the 1941 Louisiana Maneuvers. Now, a month of training in British bombing methods was the plan to get the Eighth Air Force in the war with its first official combat mission. The Mission The mission briefing was given at 1800 hours on July 3rd at Swanton Morley, the home of RAF 226 Squadron. Twelve Douglas Boston DB-7 Boston III aircraft manned by six seasoned British crews and six newly trained American crews were to attack four German fighter bases in occupied Holland. Each of the targets was home to a combination of several squadrons of Bf-109s, Fw-190s and Bf-110s. According to an RAF Intelligence Flight Lieutenant, speed, surprise and dawn darkness would be the keys to their success and survival. At 0515, in the mist filled darkness of July 4th, the crews waited in their aircraft for the green go flare. They had surrendered all identification (except dog tags), picked up escape kits, and donned yellow RAF Mae West life vests. They carried the following bomb loads: LEAD AIRCRAFT: 2 x 500 lb. GP fused time delay of 11 seconds; 1 x 500 lb. GP fused time delay 30 minutes AIRCRAFT NOS. TWO and THREE: 2 x 500 lb. GP fused time delay of 11 seconds; 2 Small Bomb Containers (SBCs) of 8 x 30 pound incendiary Just when the crews thought the mission might be scrubbed, a green flare shot out from the control tower. At 0700 hours the morning darkness was long gone. The commander of the 15th Bomb Squadron, Captain Charles Kegelman, was a skilled and trusted pilot revered by the US aircrews. He toggled open his mic to reassure his men. Not to worry boys. I do all my bombing in broad daylight. And indeed he did. On a sunny afternoon on June 29th, 1942, Captain Kegelman had piloted one of twelve RAF DB-7s to bomb the Hazebroucke marshalling yards in Lille, Northern France. His was the first USAAC crew to bomb occupied Europe. The flight of twelve aircraft broke formation over the North Sea into four vics of three at a point where each vic would reach its target simultaneously. A German fishing smack acting as a seaborne outpost radioed the alarm to German flak defenses. As the low flying raiders swept inland, barely clearing the thick rolls of barbed wire that ringed the Dutch coast, Luftwaffe anti-aircraft gunners raced to man their weapons. At 0758 hours the first vic of three aircraft reached its target in full daylight and now lacking the element of surprise. TARGET #1: Fliegerhorst Katwijk (Valkenburg near The Hague); 0758 hours PILOTS: Squadron Leader J.F. Castle, Z2258-A; Captain Martin Crabtree, AL670-D; Lieutenant Leo Hawel, Z2303-J. All three aircraft came in low over The Hague for their bombing run on Katwijk. Lt. Hawel described flying so low as to see civilians having morning tea in some of the three story buildings. Such nap of the earth altitude forced Lt. Hawel to bank hard several times to avoid looming church spires. Luftwaffe flak units on The Hague rooftops were caught by surprise and thus failed to engage the Bostons. S/L Castle led the attack on the camouflage painted hangars and barracks at Fliegerhorst Katwijk. He popped up to 100 feet but did not open his bomb bay doors. In the heat of the moment, S/L Castle moved his lever from closed to neutral rather than from neutral to open. The vic had to be content with machine gunning the aerodrome and bringing all their bombs home. After action reports recorded dorsal .303 strafing from aircraft Nos. 2 and 3 setting an aircraft on fire, probably a Bf-109. TARGET #2: Fliegerhorst Haamstede; 0759 hours PILOTS: Flight Lieutenant A. Wheeler, Z2197-H; Pilot Officer A. Eltringham, W8371-F; Captain William Odell, AL746-M. Being the lead aircraft, Flt. Lt. Wheeler caught the enemy flat footed and in the open. He engaged his four nose mounted .303s to strafe 160 enemy soldiers on parade in flying kit and combat gear. Flt. Lt. Wheeler released his time delayed 500 pounders on a fuel dump and administration building. One 500 pounder skidded in and demolished a two story headquarters building. P/O Eltringham planted his bombs in a large maintenance hangar and camouflaged buildings near a field. An unofficial after action report indicated P/O Eltringham fired at a pair of HE-111 bombers parked on the tarmac with uncertain effect. Being the last in the formation, Captain Odells aircraft shrugged off several 20mm flak hits including one that passed through his cockpit. Captain Odells bombardier, Lt. Birleson dropped their payload of 500 pounders and incendiaries over a line of aircraft revetments and barracks. Streaks of tracers fell short as the last of three RAF Bostons skittered away over the sunlit water back to base. TARGET #3: Fliegerhorst De Kooy; 0801 hours PILOTS: Squadron Leader Kennedy, Z2234-X; Captain Charles Kegelman, AL750-Z; Lt. Frederick Loehrl, AL677-P. Fliegerhorst De Kooy was located inland on the South East edge of the Den Helder peninsula. As air raid sirens wailed all over this strategic naval chokepoint, three miles of flak batteries along the coast and canals waited in readiness for any sign of the 300 MPH hedge hopping Bostons. S/L Kennedy led the attack as he steadied in on his bomb run despite multiple flak bursts. He and his rear gunner strafed the hangars. But while dodging the web of tracer fire at high speed, S/L Kennedy overshot the aerodrome and dropped his bombs near a 250 ton trawler in the sea water of the Balgzand. Turning into attack, Captain Kegelman skimmed the ground as flak impacts forced his Boston to tilt then drop hard. The rear fuselage oil canned on the tarmac as the starboard propeller sheared its spindle and flew into space. Oblivious to the lacing crossfire of murderous 20mm rounds, Kegelman goosed the remaining engine to full throttle, shut down his bad engine, and pulled hard stick to gain altitude and control. On one engine, Captain Kegelman cleared the aerodrome, silenced a flak tower to the south near Julianadorp with his nose guns, and salvoed his bombs into the sea on his way back to Swanton Morley with a belly full of Dutch dirt. Lt. Fred A. Loehrl was mere seconds behind Kegelman and flew full force into the zeroed flak barrage put up by the units around the field. Lt. Loehrl dropped his incendiary payload along two rows of camouflaged hangars housing Bf-110s and at least one larger mine-laying Heinkel 111 bomber. Hit by punishing flak, Lt. Loehrls Boston caught fire then crashed just past the Balgzand canal into the shallow seawater. Miraculously, the bombardier, Lt. Marshall Draper, was thrown clear of the shattered nose section, and survived to become the first 8th Air Force POW. Lt. Fred A. Loehrls body was never found. TARGET #4: Fliegerhorst Bergen Alkmaar; 0802 hours PILOTS: Flight Lieutenant Yates-Earl, AL679-Y; Pilot Officer Charles Henning, Z2213-U; Lieutenant William Lynn, AL741-V. At Fliegerhorst Bergen, just like De Kooy, the flak units were in a high state of alert and waiting for the flight of Bostons. As the three aircraft separated for their bomb runs, Lt. Lynns Boston was mortally struck by intense flak. His plane faltered, flipped up on one wing, then levelled out and exploded on the northwest corner of the airfield. At 100 feet altitude, Flt. Lt. Yates-Earl laid his bombs along the edge of the runway and an area thought to conceal a fuel dump. Flying behind Flt. Lt. Yates-Earl, P/O Henning dropped his payload and hosed the field in front of him spraying a Bf-109 beginning its take-off run. Anecdotal evidence suggests the Bf-109F4Z (White 6) belonging to Uffz. Erwin Grutz of 10./JG 1 was hit by 500 pound bomb shrapnel and perhaps Hennings nose mounted .303s. Unable to control his aircraft, Uffz. Grutz crashed into a cement walled barracks and died in the impact. A post raid recollection, perhaps apocryphal, suggests Grutz was found in his cockpit in only his underwear. With incendiary fires brewing up on the north side of the aerodrome, Flt. Lt. Yates-Earl looked back toward his wingman and saw an Fw-190 rolling down the runway. He broke radio silence to tell P/O Henning that a snapper was on his tail. Whether Uffz. Hans Rathenow saw Grutzs final fate is unclear. In any event, Rathenow succeeded in getting his Fw-190A airborne despite the burning incendiaries on the runway. With Lt. Lynns Boston already down, Rathenow began his hot pursuit of P/O Hennings DB-7 over the North Sea. While agile and fast for a bomber, the Boston was no match for a 190 in the open. With two MG 131s in the nose and four 20mm cannon in the wings roots and outer wings, Rathenows Fw-190 had more than enough lethal firepower to dispatch the twin engine bomber. Fifteen miles off of Callantsoog, Rathenow caught up with Z2213 MQ-U and downed her in the cold sea. The RAF airmen were never found. They were P/O Charles M. Henning, Sgt. Percey J. Voysey and Sgt. Herbert T. Willig. In lasting tribute, the names of these brave airmen can be found inscribed on the Runnymede Memorial. Aftermath Despite some success and the bravery of the RAF and USAAC aircrews, the loss of eleven men (three out of twelve aircraft two US, one British) was considered unacceptable. General Eisenhower was dismayed by the news of the loss. Far too high a price had been paid in a costly gesture to sustain national prestige and bolster morale on the home front. General Eisenhower was mindful moving forward that American aircrews would not engage in needless combat to satisfy American pride or produce media events for propaganda use. Acknowledgements: The men of the 15th Bombardment Squadron (Light) for their fearlessness, intrepid spirit, and unwavering patriotism on July 4th and beyond. Leo Hawel, Jr. and Bill Odell for their generosity and unfettered access to their personal recollections, photos and journals. Phil Hunt of RAF 5131 (BD) Squadron for his superlative RAF 226 Squadron research, insight & kindness. Find him on Twitter @RAF_EOD for his personal account of 5131 Squadron and its fine work making the harmful harmless since 1939. See also the following well-researched sites: http://www.forgottenairfields.com, www.zzairwarnl.com, historyofwar.org, and www.626-squadron.co.uk for more and varied information. ABOUT THE AUTHOR The son of a World War Two US Marine, Chad Ehler is an avid military historian and researcher. He studied national security and military affairs at UC Berkeley and constitutional law and jurisprudence at Santa Clara University. His latest novel set in England and France during the Battle of Britain, 1940, is scheduled for 2016 publication by London-based Endeavour Press, Ltd. You can find him on Twitter @ghqhomeforces, www.ghqhomeforces.com, or on Fidalgo Island, Washington, where he lives with his wife and daughter. Logan Uriah Reavis went few places where he did not command attention. More than his wild hair and flaming beard, his loud off-putting manner, or his dirty, ill-fitting clothes, his frenzied agitation for the removal of the national capital from the District of Columbia to the Mississippi Valley got him notice. L. U. Reavis, as he signed his name, spent much of the late 1860s lecturing, writing, and producing a flood of books and pamphlets on the subject of capital removal. Considering the westward flow of the United States population at the time, removing the federal capital to the middle of the continental United States was not such a farfetched notion. Central location had been for the longest time a highly valued attribute of capital cities. The Greek philosopher Aristotle described the ideal seat of government as a common center linked to the sea as well as land, and equally linked to the whole territory. The founders of the United States argued in their day that centrality was the principle of equality expressed in geographic terms. A nation is not . . . to be represented by the human body, wrote Thomas Paine in Rights of Man in 1791, but it is like the body contained within a circle, having a common centre, in which every radius meets; and that centre is formed by representation. Centrality, after all, governed the choice for the nations permanent capital city to be neither in the North nor the South. The Residence Act of 1790 settled the issue by assigning a site in the middle along the Potomac River. Relocating the nations permanent capital was not an idea original to L. U. Reavis. From the time the seat of government moved from the temporary capital at Philadelphia to Washington in 1800 and throughout much of the nineteenth century, someone or other urged Congress to move it elsewhere. Despite a flurry of new construction in those early days, progress on the new capital city proved slow. For the longest time Washington remained what some called a city of streets without houses and houses without streets. Disgusted lawmakers complained about bad roads and lack of lodging, as well as summer heat, humidity, and swampy soil. Characterizations such as A Mudhole almost Equal to the Great Serbonian Bog were common. In a letter dated March 20, 1804, Massachusetts Representative Manasseh Cutler wrote to his son: A bill has passed the second reading in the Senate to remove the seat of government to Baltimore, and making provision for transporting the public offices, and providing the necessary public buildings. When Congress is once mounted on wheels, and set a rolling, I believe it impossible to say where the government will roll to, and when it will stop. The bill referred to in Cutlers letter was introduced by the Federalists who were supported by New York City and Philadelphia in their effort to dislodge the government from that wretched site on the Potomac. It took all of President Thomas Jeffersons influence to ensure defeat of the bill. On February 2, 1808, Representative James Sloan of New Jersey proposed that Washington on the Potomac be abandoned and the seat of government returned to Philadelphia on the Susquehanna. Sloan insisted, In a great and flourishing Republic the seat of government ought to be fixed where provisions are best in quality and quantity. Sloans proposal, however, lacked the necessary legislative support and, like the capital, went nowhere. Capital removal became a more serious topic in 1814. That was the year the British occupied Washington and partially destroyed a number of public buildings including the Capitol and Presidents House, now called the White House. On September 26, 1814, New York Representative Jonathan Fisk introduced a resolution to study the temporary removal of the capital to a place of greater security and less inconvenience than the City of Washington. Fisks resolution came to a vote in the House on October 3 and passed by one tie-breaking vote cast by Speaker Langdon Cheves of South Carolina. With approval of Fisks resolution, a committee was appointed to study the matter and returned to the whole House with a recommendation against removal. In a stunning move, the House rejected the committee recommendation. A bill was then prepared that provided for moving the seat of government to Philadelphia for the duration of the war, but there were two concessions made to opponents of removal. First, supporters pledged to return the seat of government back to Washington after the war; and second, money would be appropriated to rebuild Washington. Weak promises, especially since disinterest would likely keep the government in Philadelphia permanently had it been moved. When the bill came before the whole House, it was defeated by nine votes. A second bill was then prepared only appropriating money for rebuilding the capital. Members wanting a more secure location united to oppose it. Only an active lobbying effort by the James Madison administration ensured the bills passage, and the nations capital remained in Washington. The question of removal again became an issue in 1846. Debate this time reflected the sectional differences that were dividing the rapidly expanding country. Westerners such as Senator William Allen of Ohio promoted removal of the capital to the heartland. According to Allen, the seat of governments location near the eastern seaboard and the countrys big cities gave to the commercial interest a preponderating influence over legislation. Allen, however, took no formal action in Congress to move the capital. The Civil War was a major setback for the national capital removal movement. Rather than abandon Washington, citizens in the North rallied around it as a symbol for unity. To move the capital in time of war would have shown Union weakness and bolstered the Confederate cause. Once the war ended, however, Westerners again made capital removal a national issue. On December 16, 1867, Illinois Representative John Logan offered a joint resolution asking for the appointment of a congressional committee to report on the expediency of re-locating the capital of the United States. The House referred the resolution to the Ways and Means Committee, where it stalled. On February 3, 1868, Representative Carman Newcomb of Missouri proposed in connection with the Horticulturalist Bill the removal of the capital specifically to St. Louis County, Missouri. It likewise met the same fate as Logans resolution in Ways and Means. One week later, on February 10, 1868, Wisconsin Representative Herbert Paine offered his own resolution to move the seat of government to the more general Valley of the Mississippi. Members of Congress from the East thought it was a joke when Paines resolution actually came to a vote. New York Representative James Brooks dismissively inquired, Is not a part of New York and northern Pennsylvania in the valley of the Mississippi? [Laughter] Brooks and his Eastern jokesters were not amused when the resolution narrowly failed 77 to 97. Fifteen members did not vote. On June 15, 1868 John Logan tried again to get action in the House of Representatives by proposing a series of resolutions. Logan wanted the House Speaker to create a five-member committee to study the propriety and expediency of removing the seat of government from said city of Washington, to a point near the geographical center of the United States. But when it came to a vote, Logans proposal, like others before it, failed. Conventional wisdom at the time, however, said that the nations capital would be relocated. But where would it go? Competition for the next capital of the United States began in earnest by 1869. Cincinnati, Chicago, Indianapolis, Kansas City, and even Keokuk, Iowa, all thought themselves to be the ideal site. St. Louis boasted the greatest support, even receiving an endorsement from Chicago, its commercial arch-rival in the Middle West. Politician and newspaper editor Joseph Medill published a lengthy editorial on the subject in the Chicago Tribune on July 5, 1869. He concluded that centrality of area and population, which led a former generation to locate the capital at Washington, now prevailed in favor of St. Louis. Perhaps tongue-in-check, Medill went so far as to suggest disassembling the public buildings in Washington stone by stone and re-erecting them in St. Louis. What the federal government needed to do, Medill declared, was to stop talking about removal and do something. He wrote: It is time that the public mind, at least of the Western, Southwestern and Pacific States, were definitely turned to the question of the future location of our National Capital, as one demanding, not merely discussion, but speedy action. Meanwhile in St. Louis, L. U. Reavis was already his citys most vocal booster. To say that Reavis was vocal, however, is understatement. He was obsessed, so much so that he thought himself predestined to make removal happen. Reavis was born March 26, 1831, in Illinois, about a hundred miles northeast of St. Louis. After graduating eighth grade, he taught school for a few years before buying a newspaper. Reavis published The Central Illinoian [sic] until 1866, when he moved to St. Louis. There, he began writing on capital removal and lecturing anywhere anybody would listen to him. He even made two speaking tours to England. In 1867 Reavis published St. Louis the Future Great City of the World. In it, he argued that St. Louis would become the next great American city. The facts and circumstances which foreshadow the destiny of St. Louisa destiny so important, he wrote, will not only be of vast moment to the people of the Mississippi Valley, but of this nation, and even interesting to the world. Two years later, in 1869, Reavis published the book that earned him the nickname by which he would be forever knownCapital Mover. In A Change of National Empire, or Arguments for the Removal of the National Capital from Washington to the Mississippi Valley, Reavis boldly predicted: Before 1875 the President of the United States will deliver his message at the new seat of government in the Mississippi Valley. Some viewed Reavis as a fanatic, but his cause attracted many people of note. They included Henry Taylor Blow, former member of Congress, business leader, and one of the wealthiest landowners in St. Louis. In a letter to Missouri Representative Gustavus Finkelnberg dated February 17, 1868, Blow offered to donate five hundred acres of land as a site for the new capital. He also offered to build temporary public offices for the governments use at a moderate rental. Eager to start construction, Blow received no reply to his letter. Removal leaders in St. Louis, including Reavis and Blow, furthered their cause by calling for a National Capital Removal Convention in 1869. The call was sent out to all state and territorial governors. By doing so, St. Louiss civic leaders single-handedly took the initiative and made the issue their own. Despite being criticized for their boosterism, Reavis, Blow, and other removal movement leaders hosted a national convention that convened on October 20, 1869. Eighty representatives from seventeen states and territories mostly from the West attended. Delegates hailed from Alabama, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, as well as the territories of Alaska, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, and Utah. One by one delegates lined up to the podium to rail against Washington as a bad place to keep the national capital. More importantly, they debated a series of resolutions. Chief among them summarized the geographic, economic, and strategic reasons for capital removal to the Mississippi Valley. Resolved, That the convenient, natural and inevitable place for the capital of the republic is in the heart of the valley, where, the center of population, wealth and power is inevitably gravitating and where government, surrounded by numerous millions of brave union-loving citizens, would be forever safe against foreign foes or sectional sedition and where it would require neither armaments nor standing armies for its protection. To further the removal cause, delegates also resolved to oppose further spending on buildings and infrastructure in Washington. To do otherwise, they reasoned, would be a wanton waste of the peoples money, since removal was only a matter of time. Before adjourning on October 22, the delegates formed a permanent Executive Committee made up of one delegate from each state and territory represented at the convention. The committee elected Judge John Caton of Illinois president and L. U. Reavis secretary. The job of the Executive Committee was to keep the message of the removal convention alive. It published the resolutions and distributed promotional pamphlets. It also dispatched public speakers as one delegate put it, to agitate, AGITATE, AGITATE! until they succeed. During the winter and spring of 1870, L. U. Reavis traveled east to stir up interest in capital removal. On February 22 he stopped in Cincinnati to arrange for a second capital removal convention. In May he was in New York City, where the press reported: Reavis, the capital mover, is here urging a removal of the capital from Washington, D.C., and he states that a second national capital removal convention will be called. On May 24, 1870, Reavis wrote a circular letter to all the states requesting governors to appoint delegates to a convention in Cincinnati to be held October 25, 1870. The purpose of this convention was to take definite steps toward the goal of removal. The Cincinnati convention proved not to be the success Reavis had hoped. It attracted far fewer delegates than the St. Louis Convention. Organizers blamed the governors for not bothering to appoint delegates. They even reported that a yellow-fever epidemic in Texas might have affected turnout. Reavis and the other capital movers, determined not to give up, decided to change strategy. Instead of calling national conventions, Reavis called for a capital removal league. That is, a dedicated group of lobbyists. The result was the creation of the National Capital Removal Association of St. Louis. To appeal to a broader Western audience, the group also changed its focus on promoting St. Louis. Instead, the objective of the association became any appropriate place, as long it was in the West. The group played on a growing Western paranoia that Congress was biased toward the East, especially in appropriating money for public works. Agitating for capital removal became one way to correct what the association saw as congressional discrimination again the Western states and the evils of legislation. At the opening of Congress, December 5, 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant recommended in his annual message to lawmakers an appropriation for the construction of a new building for the Department of State. Grant also asked for money to preserve and protect government papers that were presently housed in rented buildings, most of which were in disrepair. In all, the President asked for more than $22 million. That was more than twice the amount appropriated the year before for buildings and infrastructure in Washington. President Grant personally lobbied lawmakers to support his capital improvements proposal. He also delivered a short speech on December 21, 1870 offering his personal opinion on capital removal and by doing so added another obstacle to the movements progress. He said: As to the removal of the capital, I think that is improbable in the extreme. Nor do I believe that the removal should be subject to a mere majority of the representatives of the people elected for a single term. I think the question of removal, if ever presented, should go through the same process at least as amendments to the Constitution, even if there be the Constitutional power to remove it, which is not settled. This language may seem rather unpopular for a person coming from the part of the country I do, but it is expressed with earnestness, nevertheless, and without reserve. L. U. Reavis countered Grants argument with a lengthy argument of his own against capital improvement and support for capital removal in an open letter to the President printed in the New York Tribune. Reavis then went to Washington to do his own lobbying for the cause. Representing the National Capital Removal Association of St. Louis, Reavis petitioned Congress for a joint resolution asking the President to appoint a commission to investigate and consider the whole matter of capital removal. Reaviss petition was sent to the Committee on Public Expenditures where after little or no discussion the petition was tabled. Meanwhile Congress moved ahead and passed the capital improvement appropriation bill that President Grant requested. With that, the active movement for removal collapsed. L. U. Reavis lost the cause that had and would forever consume him. Reavis returned to St. Louis where he took up writing on topics in addition to capital removal. In 1872 he published a biography of newspaper editor Horace Greeley, and in 1875 a biography of General William S. Harney, one of the best-known military figures in the period between the War of 1812 and the Civil War. By 1883, Reavis got back into the newspaper business having started The American Tribune. The Tribune, however, had a limited circulation and was not a financial success. Nevertheless it served as an outlet for Reaviss causes, from capital removal to expanding the rule of the United States from Panama to the North Pole. At age 57 in June 1888, Reavis, a life-long bachelor, married poet Rebecca Morrow. The couple met after Morrow, much younger than Reavis, submitted a poem for publication in The American Tribune. The marriage certainly had to have been for love and not money. When L. U. Reavis died March 26, 1889, as a result of complications after surgery, he left a widow and two children in almost destitute circumstances. With the death of Logan Uriah Reavis, the capital removal movement also died. Washington remained the nations capital, and removing it never again became the serious national issue that it had been in nineteenth century America. During a busy November afternoon in Miami, Oklahoma, Mrs. Lorean Blaine took a break from preparing for Thanksgiving, which was two days away, to check her mailbox. In it she found an unexpected letter from her brother Staff Sergeant Charles Bluejacket who was serving in Europe as a B-24 gunner in the 376th Bomb Group, nicknamed The Liberandos. In the letter, which was written October 26 1943 and post marked for mailing two days later, Charles was careful not to upset his family with the details of his recent aerial combat and wrote that he was still in training. With Charles brother Chester, half-brothers Earl and Carl Blair also in the service, there was no shortage of apprehension for the family during the war. Little did Mrs. Blaine know that the letter she read would turn out to be a cruel reminder of the hell that war is, and that her familys worst fears had already been realized. Charles E Bluejacket was a fourth generation descendent of Chief Blue Jacket, who was the last War Chief of the Shawnee Indians and signer of the Treaty of Greenville, Ohio. His ancestors moved to Oklahoma with most of the other Shawnees in 1869. Bluejacket, Oklahoma is named after Charles decedents and it is just 80 miles from Tulsa where Charles E. Bluejacket, serial number 38127243 entered into the Army on April 9, 1942. He was a native of Oklahoma and his enlistment records state that he was an American Indian, citizen born in 1912. At the time of Bluejackets service he was married, had a grammar school education and his civilian occupation was listed as semiskilled chauffeurs and drivers, bus, taxi, truck and tractor. On November 2, 1943, High above Austria, as the five-hour-mark mark of the mission approached, Charles hands began to cramp from hours of holding the grips of his Browning .50 caliber machine gun. His current situation couldnt have been farther from the words he wrote in the letter to his sister a mere two weeks earlier. Bluejacket scanned the skies for German fighters looking to jump his B-24, serial number 42-73084 Ropes McGonigle. Peering through the thick plexiglass windows it was reassuring to see the P-38 Lightening escorts for this mission that targeted the Messerschmitt factory at Weiner Neustadt, Austria, about twenty miles from the German border. This was the Fifteenth Air Forces first crack at this important target and they looked forward to enjoying the immediate dividends of the diminished the number of fighters the Luftwaffe could put in the air. As they neared the target, they hit what was the Germans first line of defense when a large group of Luftwaffe fighters appeared. The fighters immediately went to work picking at the bomber formations as the American crewmen anxiously called out their oclock positions over the interphone. Bluejacket and the other gunners fired hundreds of .50 caliber rounds from their guns at the enemy as they made pass after pass. Empty shells danced all around in the bowels of the bombers. The sound of the empty brass hitting the aluminum skin of the plane could have been mistaken for coins falling into a tray of a casino slot machine. As the bomber force approached their target, the German attackers disappeared as quickly as they appeared and that could only mean that the flak would soon follow. The heavy volume of anti-aircraft fire was indicative of a high-value target below. Before long the sky was filled with black clouds of smoke and the smell of high explosives filled the air. Each explosion materialized at the center and stretched outward in an attempt to pull down the lumbering bombers. From a distance, the puffs of smoke seemed completely harmless but shells that exploded nearby peppered the sides of the bombers with shrapnel and rocked the airships like a wobbly carnival ride. On this mission, the German batteries succeeded at knocking two B-24s out of the sky and one of them was Bluejackets. Ropes McGonigle was last seen in flames, spiraling toward s the ground with several parachutes emerging from her and Bluejacket was never seen again. A member of the 376th Bomb Group, Pat Walling, wrote in his diary notes for this mission, Take off 6:30, landed 17:15. Bomb load 6 -1000#. Total hrs. -11 hours. Target was a 109 factory. Had P-38s for escort but not over target. Heavy ack ack and about 60 fighters. Rough mission. Ropes McGonigle crashed near Bocksdorf, Austria taking the lives of seven of the eleven men on board including Staff Sgt. Bluejacket. A normal crew for the B-24 was ten but on this mission there was a combat photographer on-board. On January 23, 1945 the Tuesday evening edition of the Emporia Gazette reported, Emporia Gunner is Presumed Dead, Staff Sgt. Charles Bluejacket, son of Mrs. E.C. Blair, 102 Rural, is presumed to have died in action over Austria on November 3, 1943, according to a war department letter received by his mother. He was reported missing in action a year ago. Charles Bluejacket, who was a gunner on a Liberator bomber, was born at Wyandotte, Okla., April 8, 1912. He was of Indian descent and was graduated from the Haskell Institute at Lawrence. He entered the service in 1942 at Fort Sill, Okla., and went overseas in September 1943. Several members of the sergeants air crew have been reported as German prisoners, members of the Blair family report. As far as Bluejackets story goes, the trail went cold at this point but then it picked up again four and a half years later. At some point Staff Sgt. Bluejackets remains must have been identified and processed for repatriation. On August 28, 1949, the following story ran in the local newspaper, Funeral Rites for Sgt. Bluejacket Planned Tuesday. The article read, The body of Sgt. Charles E. Bluejacket, reported missing in action in Tunisia at the age of 31 years on Nov. 2, 1943, will arrive in Miami at 1:25 p.m. today. Funeral services will be held in the Cooper chapel here at 2 oclock Tuesday afternoon. The Rev. M. R. Dareing, pastor of the Second Baptist church, will officiate. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars post will act as pallbearers and conduct military rites at the grave in GAR Cemetery. GAR Cemetery is the Grand Army of the Republic in Miami, Oklahoma. The story went on to say, Survivors include the deceased soldiers wife, Mrs. Annabelle Bluejacket of Baxter Springs, Kas., a stepson, Johnny Bluejacket of the home, his mother, Mrs. E.C. Blair of Emporia, Kas., his father Edward Bluejacket of Springfield, Mo., three sisters. Mrs. Flora B. Beaty of Miami, Mrs. Dorothy Poupart of Lac du Flambeau, Wis., and Mrs. Lorean Blaine of Miami, a brother Chester Blair of Miami, and five half-brothers, Earl Blair of Miami, Carl Blair of Pittsburg, Kas., Robert Blair of Greensburg, Kas., and Richard and Arthur Blair, both of Emporia, Kas. I stumbled onto this story after findings a group burial with five of Bluejackets crew members at the Long Island National Cemetery in Farmingdale, NY. These men were originally buried in Belgium and then re-interred in New York on February 7, 1950. Charles Bluejacket rests in peace in the southeast corner of the rectangular shaped, 86 acre GAR Cemetery in Miami, Oklahoma. Although the names like the Navajo Code Talkers and Ira Hayes are well known, Bluejackets story is an example of the individual contributions of Native Americans during World War II that have been all but forgotten. When attempting to summarize the 1939 conflict between the Soviet Union and its small Nordic neighbor, Finland, the old proverb stating that big things come in small packages seems to serve exceptionally well. How else can you explain a diminutive army with only 32 tanks and barely 100 airplanes repelling the invasion of a military more than four times its size equipped with thousands of tanks and aircraft? The Winter War, as it became known, would indeed go down in history as one of the most mesmerizing modern-day models of the David and Goliath narrative. Meet the White Death No soldiers experience better serves as a microcosm of the war than that of Simo Simuna Hayha. Growing up near the eastern border of Finland, Hayha was not oblivious to the tension that existed between Finns and Soviets. Like many of his compatriots, however, he chose to spend his time making the most of the benefits his nationality afforded him. A farmer, hunter, and competition shooter, Hayha only found himself drawn into war in order to protect his home, identity, and way of life, much like Finland itself. At 53, perhaps Hayha himself best epitomized the idea of a small package. Even his M/28-30 rifle was undersized, a shortened variant of the old Soviet Mosin-Nagant design. Its no wonder, then, that the Red Army never saw him coming, eventually suffering extensive losses at his hands. Hayha inflicted those losses in a stunningly short period of time (less than four months), and without the aid of telescopic sights, preferring his reliable and inconspicuous iron sights. By the end of his active service, Hayha had accounted for 505 confirmed kills (the most in military history) and been infamously dubbed White Death by members of the Soviet armed forces. Hayhas unconventional tactics (such as filling his mouth with snow in order to mask the steam from his breath) were necessitated by the harsh Nordic winter climate, and were instrumental in his success, much as were those of the Finnish military as a whole. One such tactic involved cordoning off groups of Soviet soldiers in what Finns called a motti and attacking them from all sides. This was executed to perfection in the Battle of Raate Road, where the loss of 400 Finnish infantry paled in comparison to the 9,000 casualties suffered by the Soviets. Indeed, its difficult to settle on which is the more impressive feat: that one man could kill 500 enemies, or that such an underequipped, lightly trained army could hold their ground against such a seemingly superior aggressor. The division between these two separate but intertwined stories of sisu (a Finnish word which roughly translates as guts or fighting spirit) became virtually indistinguishable at the Battle of Kollaa, which took place in Ladoga Karelia and lasted until the end of the war. GET HISTORYS GREATEST TALESRIGHT IN YOUR INBOX Subscribe to our HistoryNet Now! newsletter for the best of the past, delivered every Wednesday. Close Thank you for subscribing! The Battle of Kollaa It was here that a single division of Finnish soldiers found themselves defending a hill against a Soviet force more than four times as large. The front lines of Kollaa were also where Hayha recorded a significant number of his sniper kills as well as many more unconfirmed kills with various other weapons as the Red Army closed in. The fighting at Kollaa persisted until March 13, 1940, when Finns and Soviets agreed to the terms of the Moscow Peace Treaty. For Hayha, the end of the war came just one week earlier, when he was struck in the face by an incendiary round. To have escaped that battlefield with his life was a near-miracle, much like the one carried out by the Finnish army against the Soviet Union. We all know that victory, however, must come with a price. Both Finland and her native son Hayha had survived the war, but both were left permanently scarred; Finland, by the loss of many brave soldiers, and Hayha, by the disfigurement of his face. The Winter War lasted only 15 weeks, but proved to be much bigger than the sum of its parts. It became a lodestar in the creation of a national identity, as well as definitive proof that Finland was more than capable of managing its own independence. It also had far-reaching implications in the drama of World War II, as the successful defense of Finland almost certainly influenced Hitlers view of Soviet military capabilities, as well as his valuation of the Nordic lands for their strategic advantages in the way of climate and topography. Nothing would ever be quite the same for Finland, or for Hayha. For his part, though, the feared White Death was happy to return to his quiet life of hunting, farming and, of course, sharpshooting. Google's new OS update Android 7.0 Nougat is ready to go into the smartphones of Samsung. Google, which recently rolled out its smartphones Pixel and Pixel XL, has also launched its new developments in the operating system Android 7.0 Nougat. Various smartphone manufacturers whose devices run on the Android OS are already furnishing their list of devices to get the new Android 7.0 Nougat OS. Sony, Motorola, Lenovo and other mobile manufacturers have already readied their devices to take the update. It is reported that Samsung has also furnished its list of smartphones ready to take in the Android 7.0 Nougat OS. The list includes most of the smartphones recently launched by Samsung. Android 7.0 Nougat is ready to be updated in the Samsung Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 Edge, Galaxy S6 Edge Plus, Galaxy S7, Galaxy S7 Edge, Galaxy Note 5, and the unfortunate flagship Samsung Galaxy Note 7, which is still wrought by faulty battery issues. All the recently-launched Galaxy Note models and Galaxy S models are included in the list except the Galaxy Note 4 and Galaxy Note Edge models. These two models, launched two years ago, are in doubt to have the Android 7.0 Nougat OS. It is not confirmed yet whether these two models will receive or not. US carriers such as AT&T and US Cellular have recently equipped these two models with Android 6.0 Marshmallow. As per the reports, Galaxy S5 Edge is under study whether it should have an update or not as the flagship was launched two and a half years back. It is on the centre of the line - not confirmed either to go back or move forward. If the Galaxy S5 moves forward, it will be updated with Android 7.0 Nougat and if the decision is to make it turn back, then the Galaxy S5 will stick to Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Apple and Samsung will be appearing before the United State Supreme Court on Tuesday, October 11, to argue why either of them was wrong in considering the patent case from 2012, reported AFR. This will be the first time a design patent case has been examined by the US Supreme Court since the 1800s. The Supreme Court will hear arguments on Samsung's financial damages for Apple for the violation of design patents. The court could decide damages and define the value of design work, which is gradually more valuable in the technology industry. Generally, the court issues decisions three to four months after hearing the arguments. A Supreme Court jury in 2012 has decided Samsung infringed on three of Apple's iPhone design patents in terms of its rectangular shape, curved corners and 16 colorful circles on a black screen smartphone, based on their look and not function. $1 billion was awarded to Apple from Samsung's profits for allegedly infringed phones. Afterward the award was reduced to $584 million on special appeal. Apple declined to comment on the case, but has repeatedly said in the various statements that Samsung produced copycats of the iconic iPhone, in three months. According to an article on cnet.com, the most famous battle between the world's two largest smartphone makers, which first took place in April 2011, could have a ripple effect across the technology industry and ultimately affect the gadgets people buy. Facebook, Google, Dell and Lenovo are among those who are backing up Samsung; while the Apple has the support of more than 100 designers from companies such as Nike and Calvin Klein. Last week, Google also announced Pixel, a new smartphone line, aimed squarely at Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy. Samsung says an Apple victory would choke innovation, while Apple argues that a Samsung win would weaken protections afforded to new creations. According to an article on Financial Review, on Tuesday in an hour-long session with eight Supreme Court justices, lawyers from Samsung will make their case for 25 minutes, followed by the Solicitor General's office for 10. Apple's lawyer team will also have 25 minutes to respond. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and her Republican rival Donald Trump kicked off the second U.S. presidential debate Sunday with several personal attacks amid fresh controversy over Trump's leaked tapes. Both presidential candidates gave the sign of their widening rift by not shaking hands before the start of the debate. Donald Trump faced the pressure to give clarifications on the controversial anti-women tapes that were leaked on Friday. Trump apologised for the language he used in the tape and denied that he kissed or grabbed women without their consent. Trump added, "It was just locker room talk" and that he was not proud of it. Meanwhile, Trump used Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs to distract the tough questions on his own controversial tapes. Both nominees took questions on the issues related to Syrian crisis, refugees, tax laws, terrorism and Islamophobia. Trump was also asked to respond about his proposed ban on Muslims in America while Clinton faced some tough questions on her deleted emails. Trump talked a lot about Hillary Clinton's deleted email controversies and asked her to clarify her stand on it. According to YouGovUs' post-debate poll, 47 percent of voters who tuned in and took part in the poll thought Clinton won the second debate, 42 percent of them thought Trump had the better night. While the CNN/ORC post-debate poll of viewers, 57 percent thought that Clinton won the second debate, while 34 percent thought that Trump took the second round. Clinton remained the heavy favorite to win the election leaving behind Trump in a series of post-debate polls. This was the second of three presidential debates scheduled prior to the Nov. 8 U.S. presidential election. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday said that India is mistaken if it equates the "freedom struggle" in the disputed region of Kashmir with terrorism. "India is mistaken if it considers that a freedom fight can be equated with terrorism," said Sharif in Pakistan's capital Islamabad. Sharif further said that his country is committed to the cause of Kashmir's freedom struggle. "Pakistan is committed to the Kashmir cause. No power in the world can stop us from supporting the freedom struggle of Kashmiris," he said. Pakistan Prime Minister's comment came at a time when Pakistan and India relations is at its lowest point following a militant attack at an army base in Uri region of disputed Kashmir territory, where 19 Indian soldiers were killed. After the Uri attack, India claimed of conducting surgical strike along the defacto India-Pakistan border to avenge the killings of its soldiers. The Pakistan government have repeatedly dismissed claims. The fresh tension between the two countries comes at a time when the Narendra Modi government in India has been struggling to contain protests on the streets of disputed Kashmir, where more than 100 civilians have been killed and thousands wounded in the last 10 weeks after a young separatist militant Burhan Wani was killed by Indian security forces. Thousands of young Kashmiris attended the funeral procession of Wani, which led to clashes with the army. Meanwhile, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Monday also praised slain Kashmiri militant Burhan Wani, saying he was a "freedom fighter and pride of Kashmiri people". The recent statements of Sharif are likely to add more fuel to the fire between the two arch rival countries. The disputed Kashmir region is India's only Muslim-majority state, both the arch rivals rule the region in part but claim it in full. @ 2022 HNGN, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission. WASHINGTON, D.C. Officials of PM Hotel Group, a leading, national hotel management company, today announced that they have taken over management of the 178-room Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Alexandria-Historic District in Va. The company is set to manage strategic due-diligence as well as the day-to-day operations. With the newly added property, the company's hotel management portfolio currently includes nearly 40 properties encompassing 9,000 rooms ranging from full- and select-service hotels and resorts to boutique properties covering significant markets nationwide. "The company has experienced unprecedented growth of late and with the addition of well-respected brands such as the Holiday Inn Hotel & Suites Alexandria-Historic District allowing our portfolio to more than double over the past few years," said Joseph Bojanowski, president of PM Hotel Group. "This marks our tenth hotel in the Greater DC Metro Area, which is particularly gratifying in light of the fact that our company is headquartered here, too. This provides us unrivaled market knowledge that will allow us to help the property achieve its rightful place as the market leader in its segment." A short drive from the nation's capital, the Holiday Inn & Suites resides in the historic downtown area of Alexandria, Va., only minutes from the waterfront where the Torpedo Factory Art Center, shopping, restaurants, nightlife and historic attractions await. Also nearby are D.C.'s monuments and museums, Capitol Hill, the Pentagon and the Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, accessible via the hotel's free shuttle. The shuttle service also offers free rides to King Street and the metro station. Spacious guestrooms boast free high-speed internet, a flat screen TV, triple-sheeted beds and work desks with ergonomic chairs, while suites include additional amenities such as sleeper sofas and a mini-kitchenette. The hotel boasts the Bistro on First, a lobby cocktail lounge serving traditional American cuisine, a wide selection breakfast buffet and local specialties, seafood and steak for dinner. The hotel also provides a state-of-the-art business center, fully equipped fitness center, concierge, indoor and outdoor pool and 12,000 sq. ft. of meeting and banquet space. Bojanowski added, "With Washington, D.C. being among the country's top hospitality markets, we are confident that the property's strategic location, coupled with our performance-based approach and proven track record in high capital returns, will lead the hotel towards success." About PM Hotel Group A Top-15 hotel management company, PM Hotel Group has over two decades of experience building relationships with brands, partners, and third-party hotel owners. We have participated in the development and acquisition of more than $3 billion in premium-branded and independent hotel properties across the United States. As an operator, PM Hotel Group is committed to its core values of respect- for one another, our guests, and the planet. We manage with a dedication to sustainability, a tradition of teamwork, and a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship. At PM Hotel Group we know that our people are our greatest resource. By focusing on our associates and the communities in which we work, we deliver strong performance for our owners. Learn more at pmhotelgroup.com. Sonia Abdulbaki PM Hotel Group It looks like you've reached a page that doesnt exist (anymore). Please use the navigation or search above to find content on Hospitality Net. Go back to home Rendering of the Great Wolf Lodge LaGrange, GA The Global Hospitality Group of Jeffer Mangels Butler & Mitchell LLP announced the recent closing of two hotel deals for their clients, Great Wolf Resorts and Wurzak Hotel Group. Jim Butler, Chair of the Global Hospitality Group, and David Sudeck, a senior member, led the transactions and associated EB-5 financing. Great Wolf Resorts recently closed the purchase of property in LaGrange, Atlanta, for a resort that will include a 93,000 square foot water park, several restaurants, and 456 suites. Butler and Sudeck helped their client secure financing through the EB-5 Immigrant Investor Visa Program. Another JMBM client, the Philadelphia-based Wurzak Hotel Group, recently purchased a property in downtown Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and is under construction on a 24-story, dual-branded hotel. The 323-room hotel project will include The Dalmar, a Starwood Tribute Portfolio, and an Element hotel, which will feature retail, meeting facilities, and a rooftop lounge. Butler and Sudeck assisted Wurzak in sourcing EB-5 financing for the project, as well as negotiating and closing the deal. "Were excited that these opportunities for Great Wolf and Wurzak are moving forward," said Butler. "Many of our hotel developer clients have found the EB-5 program to be an effective source of financing for new development. In fact, our lawyers have closed more than $1 billion of EB-5 financing for our clients and sourced more than $700 million for their projects." More information about JMBMs preferred EB-5 construction financing program is available on the Hotel Law Blog. "Both of these projects add to our clients' already-successful portfolios," said Sudeck. "We look forward to supporting their future developments both as negotiators and conduits to financing." Construction on the Tribute-Element hotel in Florida has begun, and the hotel is projected to be complete in mid-2018. The Great Wolf Resort is also scheduled to be opened in 2018. Five Park Inn by Radisson Hotels Announced for Angola At the 2016 AHIF (Africa Hotel Investment Conference), Carlson Rezidor announced the signing of five new Park Inn by Radisson hotels in Angolas major cities of Luanda, Cabinda, Benguela, Lubango and Namibe. The agreement was concluded with the Instituto de Fomento Turistico de Angola (InfoTur), a public institution charged with promoting tourism in the country. To help hoteliers better understand the most important hospitality technology and digital marketing news from Q3 and the biggest factors that should be shaping their strategy for the last quarter of the year, HeBS Digital created the Q4 Edition of HeBStrategy: Hospitality Digital Technology & Marketing Strategy Whitepaper. Download the HeBStrategy Q4 2016 Edition to learn about: Notable Events: With OTA revenues projected to surpass brand.com this year, hoteliers faced a budgeting season with more at stake than ever. On top of this, Airbnb continued to steal market share from traditional hospitality companies. Google also made the hospitality marketing news again with the Possum update and introduction of its Trips app. With OTA revenues projected to surpass brand.com this year, hoteliers faced a budgeting season with more at stake than ever. On top of this, Airbnb continued to steal market share from traditional hospitality companies. Google also made the hospitality marketing news again with the Possum update and introduction of its Trips app. Trends Shaping the Industry : Occupancy rates are flatting and distribution costs are increasing meaning theres only one viable way for hoteliers to drive revenues now and in 2017. Social media has made its way into the top 3 hotel booking decision influencers, and the holidays are around the corner meaning hoteliers need to think creatively to stand out in a crowd of promotions and discount sales. : Occupancy rates are flatting and distribution costs are increasing meaning theres only one viable way for hoteliers to drive revenues now and in 2017. Social media has made its way into the top 3 hotel booking decision influencers, and the holidays are around the corner meaning hoteliers need to think creatively to stand out in a crowd of promotions and discount sales. Last Quarters Articles & Events: A summary of HeBS Digitals most recent popular articles, including the launch of the Jumpstart Direct Bookings series featuring industry best practices to boost direct bookings through the top revenue-generating marketing channels starting with SEM and SEO. Read about Smart Data Marketing and how to utilize both CRM data and intent data to drive direct bookings, and a summary of what you need to know regarding the Google Trips App. Lastly, if you missed the The Smart Hoteliers Guide to 2017 Digital Marketing Budget Planning webinar, now is your chance to watch the recording. A summary of HeBS Digitals most recent popular articles, including the launch of the Jumpstart Direct Bookings series featuring industry best practices to boost direct bookings through the top revenue-generating marketing channels starting with SEM and SEO. Read about Smart Data Marketing and how to utilize both CRM data and intent data to drive direct bookings, and a summary of what you need to know regarding the Google Trips App. Lastly, if you missed the The Smart Hoteliers Guide to 2017 Digital Marketing Budget Planning webinar, now is your chance to watch the recording. Multichannel Marketing Campaign Ideas : Make the most of your upcoming multichannel campaigns with these innovative ideas on how to drive bookings for fall weekday and weekends and generating more advanced bookings. : Make the most of your upcoming multichannel campaigns with these innovative ideas on how to drive bookings for fall weekday and weekends and generating more advanced bookings. Actionable Digital Marketing Ideas: Quick-to-implement digital marketing campaign ideas to help drive direct bookings during upcoming holidays and need periods. HeBS Digital keeps a pulse on the major challenges hoteliers are facing, and focuses each HeBStrategy edition on helping hoteliers meet these challenges head on said Mariana Safer, SVP Digital Marketing at HeBS Digital. Right now the industry is buzzing about book direct strategies because with occupancy levels flatting, increasing direct bookings on the property website is critical to increasing revenue year-over-year. At HeBS Digital we are held accountable for doing this for our clients, and know the industry is feeling this pressure as a whole. Thats why this edition is filled with ideas and topics that will help hoteliers increase direct bookings, starting with preparing a 2017 digital technology and marketing budget that will put them on track to succeed. The HeBStrategy Q4 2016 Edition gives hoteliers innovative and actionable ideas needed to drive direct bookings this quarter. Download the whitepaper here. About HeBS Digital Founded in 2001, HeBS Digital helps hoteliers drastically increase direct bookings and lower overall distribution costs by deploying industry best-of-breed digital technology, consulting and marketing (www.hebsdigital.com). The firm has won more than 400 prestigious industry awards for its digital technology, website design and marketing services, including numerous Adrian Awards, Stevie Award in the American Business Awards, W3 Awards, WebAwards, Magellan Awards, Summit International Awards, Interactive Media Awards, and IAC Awards. A diverse client portfolio of top-tier major luxury and boutique hotel chains, independent hotels, resorts and casinos, franchised properties and hotel management companies, convention centers, spas, restaurants and bars, DMO and CVBs are all benefiting from HeBS Digitals direct online channel strategy and digital marketing expertise. Contact HeBS Digitals consultants at (212) 752-8186 or success@hebsdigital.com. Editorial Contact: Mariana Safer HeBS Digital Phone: 212-782-3775 Email: mariana@hebsdigital.com Web: http://www.hebsdigital.com Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/hebsdigital Twitter: https://twitter.com/HeBS_NYC LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/company/hebs-digital YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/HeBSDigitalMarketing Uno The Activist, a rising young Atlanta rapper with ties to the A$AP Mob, was reportedly shot on Friday (Oct. 7). A picture of him on a hospital bed in seemingly stable condition has made its way online, and as Uno has alluded to the shooting on Twitter, its assumed that hes on his way to recovery. There are basically no details on the shooting at this time, and its unclear if an investigation is underway. Uno The Activist is a frequent collaborator of fellow Atlantan Playboi Carti, a member of the A$AP Mob and also Rockys new creative brand AWGE. In the video to Carti and Unos February collab What, Flacko joins the ATL duo to crash a prim high-society mansion party that soon turns ratchet. Stay tuned as updates on Unos health become available. Uno The Activist Good news for fans of Houston rap. The reliable veteran who released Sittin Sidewayz over 11 years ago will soon release his eighth solo album: The Houston Oiler. Set to arrive on Oct. 21, the album comes just over a year after his last album, Slab God, a showcase of sweet, syrupy production and boss-man talk designed to exemplify the Houston culture. The Houston Oiler is expected to bring much of the same appeal. The Houston Oilers new tracklist, unveiled by HHNM, shows 16 songs, including Walls August single Thangz Are Crazy, featuring Z-Ro and produced by Mouse On Tha Track, and the Mudddmix of Slab Gods Swangin in the Rain, for which he was joined by a handful of his fellow H-Town hall of famers. Addition Houston Oiler features come from J Dawg, Le$, and Rich The Factor. Theres also a song named after the ever-important GOOD Music producer Mike Dean, who hails from Houston. 1. Money Dont Make Me 2. Hustle Like a MF 3. Thangz Are Crazy (Feat. Z-Ro) 4. Caught Ya Lookin 5. Han Solo on 4s 6. Millionaire Dreams 7. Why Is That 8. Dying Breed 9. Mike Dean 10. Save Me from Myself (Feat. J-Dawg) 11. Headed 2 Da Country (Feat. Rich the Factor) 12. Holdin, Comin Dine 13. Showroom Ready (Feat. Le$) 14. Real Shit, Fake People 15. Stop Cryin, Start Prayin 16. Swangin in the Rain Mudddmix (Feat. Slim Thug, Lil Keke, J-Dawg, Z-Ro, Chamillionaire, 350 a Zip) Iron Fist's fist will glow. With Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Luke Cage introduced, there's only one hero left to introduce before Netflix debuts The Defender. That hero is Iron Fist, or Danny Rand, based on the comic book character of the same name. Iron Fist was created by Roy Thomas and Gil Kane, debuting in 1974, during the peak of the kung fu movie fad. Much like the fantastic martial artists he's based on, Danny can channel his chi into his fists, giving him the power to punch things really hard. This new trailer looks like it will appeal to people who want glowing fist Danny. He even has the iconic dragon tattoo. Advertisement Iron Fist will premiere in its entirety on Netflix on 17 March, 2017. Matt Damon stars in a Chinese action fantasy film. It might seem a bit odd that a white guy, Matt Damon, would head a Chinese film, but director Zhang Yimou has clarified that this is not meant to be a white savior narrative, but a tentpole feature meant to appeal to everyone. Yimou has directed critically acclaimed movies in the past, including the Jet Li feature Hero, so he seems trustworthy enough. The trailer features impressive visuals, including beautiful, elaborate armor for the medieval Chinese warriors. It looks like a Chinese equivalent to the Hollywood-esque action blockbuster many of us have grown accustomed to. This will be the most expensive film made entirely in China to date, with a budget of US $135 million. Advertisement The Great Wall so far has multiple release dates, 16 December in China, 29 December in Singapore, 17 February in the United States, and 24 February in the UK. The show announced Irish dates and tickets are currently available Kicking off in Nottingham on February 23, The X Factor Live Tour 2017 will travel through the main arenas in the UK and Ireland. The annual live tour will bring the finalists performing classic songs and viewer's favourites from the TV series. After voting and watching them compete week after week, now you can see the contestants from Sharons Overs, Louis Groups, Simons Girls and Nicoles Boys on stage. The line up usually brings the final eight. Attended by over three million people, The X Factor Live Tour has been one of the most successful annual arena tours in the UK & Ireland for the past twelve years. Advertisement The tour will perform Dublin on March 14, 2017 at 3Arena and March 13, 2017 at SSE Arena, Belfast. Tickets are on sale since Friday October 7 and are available at The information in this column is intended to provide a general understanding of the law, not as legal advice. Readers with legal problems, including those whose questions are addressed here, should consult attorneys for advice on their particular circumstances. Q: GoFundMe.com is a popular website that helps raise thousands of dollars for someone who needs money. How is all this money treated for tax purposes? Are taxes paid by the recipient? A: According to the GoFundMe website, donations that they facilitate are considered to be personal gifts that are not generally taxed as income. They do not report the funds someone collects as earned income. They say it is up to the recipient (and a tax professional) to determine whether the proceeds represent taxable income. Under federal tax laws, any person can give another person up to $14,000 each year without any gift or income tax consequences. GoFundMe's role, therefore, is simply to facilitate the making of those gifts. Q: I am a grandmother holding the note on two houses for my granddaughters. After I die, I want my granddaughters to have their houses free and clear. How can I do this without changing my will? A: First of all, adding a provision to your will forgiving the debt each of them owes to you is not a complicated change, and you should consider that as a good way to accomplish your goal. Second, other options to forgive the debt will cost you money with an attorney as well, so you may end up spending just as much no matter which approach you take. If you don't want to change your will, you could instead modify the promissory notes so that they are self-canceling upon your death. The notes would just go away when you die. Another option would be to forgive the notes now. Of course, if you are in need of the payments they are making to you, then this would not be a good idea. Q: I am a citizen of the United States, and I have a $3,000 savings account in Taiwan. Do I need to report it to any government agency? A: Any person who has a financial interest in, or signature authority over, a foreign financial account, such as a bank, brokerage, or mutual fund account in excess of certain thresholds, must report the account or accounts yearly to the Department of Treasury. The required report is called an FBAR, or Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, and you make the report by completing a form called FinCEN Report 114. The FBAR is required when the aggregate value of all foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year being reported. You didn't mention whether you have other foreign accounts, and you also didn't mention whether your account has exceeded this $10,000 threshold. Importantly, even if you don't meet this threshold, you still must report the existence of the account on Schedule B, Part III, on your Form 1040. Talk to an accountant to see if a report is required. Amid the personal nastiness of the second presidential debate Sunday night, the moderators squeezed in a couple substantive questions. One concerned energy policy, and both nominees answered with their stump-speech sound bites neither of which were a perfect treatment of the truth. That's not to say, however, that the two candidates' distortions were equal in magnitude. While Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton's points were merely debatable and incomplete, Republican candidate Donald Trump rolled out an argument that had little grounding in fact, adding to a pile of falsehoods that has rapidly outgrown his rival's. The central thrust of Trump's response, which you can read in the transcript here, is that Barack Obama's Environmental Protection Agency is entirely responsible for the demise of the coal industry, and that a President Trump could bring all those jobs back by simply reversing rules on rules on coal plant emissions. Coal is one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, producing much greater amounts of greenhouse gases blamed for global warming. "Energy is under siege by the Obama administration," Trump said. "The EPA is killing these energy companies." In reality, those rules may have accelerated the rapid decline of coal production, but it has much more to do with the emergence of natural gas as a cheap, abundant, and relatively clean alternative. In addition, some states have have adopted regulations to limit the use of coal, while falling consumption in developing countries has weakened coal demand further, as Vox explains. And mechanization has reduced the number of people needed to get coal out of the ground, so even if production recovered, West Virginia and Ohio wouldn't get those mining jobs back. Trump then repeated the claim that so-called "clean coal" technology is ready to go, and that "coal will last for 1,000 years in this country." In fact, clean coal research has foundered in the United States after years of failed experiments, and the Energy Information Administration estimates that America only has enough recoverable coal reserves to last about 250 years at current levels of production. Trump also mentioned something that would be confusing to most casual debate-watchers. Foreign companies, he says, are "buying so many of our different plants and then rejiggering the plant, so they take care of their oil." That appears to be a reference to this presentation from June 2015 by the Domestic Energy Producers Association, a group run by Trump's energy advisor, Harold Hamm, the chief executive of the independent oil producer Continental Resources. It makes the case that foreign companies are buying refineries and converting them to process heavy oil produced overseas, rather than the light, sweet crude produced in the U.S., and that Congress should lift the ban on exporting crude oil in order to fix the problem. That happened at the end of 2015, so it's unclear how U.S. policy is now abetting foreign ownership of domestic refinery capacity. Finally, Trump mentions natural gas, implying that those producers have also been hurt by government action. "I will bring our energy companies back and they will be able to compete and they'll make money and pay off our national debt and budget deficits which are tremendous," he said. First of all, those energy companies seem to be doing a pretty good job on their own figuring out how to compete, bringing the cost per barrel of natural gas production far below where it was during the boom. And second, it's unclear how increased production will make much of a dent in either the debt or the deficit when oil and gas companies enjoy favorable tax treatment and royalty rates are as low as they are; oil and gas generated only about $11 billion in royalty revenue for the federal government in 2013, when drillers were nearing peak production. Hillary Clinton's departures from the truth were relatively minor. The most concrete was her statement that the U.S. is now "energy independent." In fact, although U.S. shale production has lessened that dependence, America is still a net importer of both crude oil and natural gas. Less importantly, Clinton also misdiagnosd the force behind the declining price of oil she pins it on the Middle East, saying that the region "controls a lot of prices." That's actually a pretty small part of the puzzle right now. Although the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries has wielded power over prices in the past by changing production levels as a unit, the cartel's ability to enforce those limits has weakened in recent years. Now, low global prices are due in large part to the same problem facing the coal industry: Abundant natural gas and weak global demand. All in all, a rough night for nuanced discussion of energy policy. The good news: You probably weren't watching the debate for that anyway. When I went to see the movie Deepwater Horizon with some of my graduate students last week, I did not expect accuracy. Drilling for oil and gas is not typically viewed favorably or depicted correctly in Hollywood movies. When I tell non-oilfield people that I am a professor of petroleum engineering, someone usually brings up the dreadful movie Armageddon, in which Bruce Willis character, Harry Stamper (the best deep-sea driller in the world), is coerced into giving up his offshore drilling job to embed a nuclear bomb into an asteroid that threatens all life on Earth. Conditions on Stampers rig, with explosions hurling people through the air, bear little resemblance to the safe, well-controlled environment that one finds on virtually all deepwater rigs around the world. I had other reasons for low expectations. Most people seem to remember that the Macondo/Deepwater Horizon blowout (more about this terminology below) caused the worst environmental oil spill in U.S. history, but forget that it also killed 11 offshore workers. The idea of Hollywood profiting from sensationalizing this tragedy seemed quite inappropriate to me. In the dedicated class that I teach on this disaster, I stress not only that many technical mishaps contributed to it, but also that leadership failures largely by BP, the company that owned the well allowed the blowout to occur. I did not think it would be possible to explain the complexities and nuances in a two-hour movie. And I worried that the film would not convey the fact that virtually all of todays deepwater wells are safely constructed. Overall, though, my students and I agreed that Deepwater Horizon deserves its largely positive reviews. The movie gets a number of points about the blowout wrong, but it accurately depicts the atmosphere on an offshore drilling rig. It is also a fitting testament to the workers who died in this disaster, and to others who are working to make offshore drilling safer today. Technical failures and bad decisions There are many inaccuracies in Deepwater Horizon. Some are small: For example, Mike Williams, chief electronics technician for Transocean (Mark Wahlberg), barrels down a flight of stairs on the rig carrying his luggage without holding any handrails, which would be a clear violation of Transocean safety policy. Other errors are much larger: The movie depicts gas breaking out around the wellhead even before the blowout event, but such a broach of gas to the seafloor never occurred. Like investigations of the event, the movie focuses primarily on the ill-fated and malfunctioning blowout preventer the device designed to seal any fluids and gas beneath it and prevent them from coming to surface. But it ignores many important facts that are essential to understanding why the blowout occurred. As just one example, BP made an ad-hoc and, in hindsight, poorly informed decision to circulate a fluid waste mixture into the well instead of disposing of it as waste onshore. Operators sought to use the fluid as a spacer to separate seawater from dense drilling mud in the well, but the solids-laden fluid may have plugged a critical line and skewed results from two negative tests that were designed to verify that the well was tightly sealed. The movie shows confused rig staff trying to interpret the test results, but offers no explanation. The movie also gives short shrift to the implications of removing the weighted column of mud that forms a primary barrier against oil and gas rising in the well. This mud barrier is removed when drillers plug and abandon a well, but the process can precipitate a blowout if oil and gas formations deep in the well are not properly sealed with steel casing and cement. In the film, Mike Williams young daughter explains the process using a soda can and straw as props, resulting in a soda blowout. This scene comes very early, passes in an instant, and many viewers may not grasp its significance. More broadly, the title of the movie is wrong: it should be Macondo (or at least Macondo/Deepwater Horizon), since Macondo was the name of the well that blew out. Deepwater Horizon was the name of the Transocean semi-submersible drilling rig that BP leased. As the movie shows, this rig had safely drilled numerous wells before Macondo. Names do matter: In the aftermath of the disaster, BP consistently referred to it as the Deepwater Horizon event, apparently trying to shift blame to Transocean. Heroes and villains On the positive side, Deepwater Horizon cleverly tells a human story through the eyes of Mike Williams, who becomes the hero once the rig catches fire and lives are at stake. The casting is excellent, and I recognized the workers camaraderie and sense of duty from my own experience working offshore in the Gulf of Mexico. Deepwater Horizon also captures the often-tense relationship between the oil company operator (in this case, BP) and the rig contractor (here, Transocean) which often makes it difficult for the latter to go against the formers wishes. Kurt Russell is excellent as the frustrated offshore installation manager, James Mr. Jimmy Harrell, and Mark Wahlbergs performance is good enough to forgive him for not just one but two Ted movies. Some performances are almost too good. John Malkovich portrays BP well site leader Donald Vidrine as a sly, uncaring villain, and the movie pins responsibility for the blowout squarely on Vidrine and rig supervisor Robert Kaluza, played by Brad Leland. Vidrine and Kaluza were indicted after the spill for involuntary manslaughter, based on their negligent supervision of two negative tests. In the movie Vidrine attributes high pressure in the drill pipe during the first negative test to an illogical bladder effect, and overrules Transocean on the second negative test. The truth is more complicated. The bladder effect hypothesis was raised by a Transocean crew member , not by BP, to explain ambiguities in the second negative test, not the first. (In general, Deepwater Horizon takes Transoceans side of the story; I believe this perspective is appropriate, but filmmakers still should strive for balance and accuracy.) Moreover, the blowout did not result from a single bad decision, but from a whole series of events that allowed barriers meant to prevent a catastrophic event to become compromised. In my view, most of this happened due to poor decisions by BP managers, both at the rig site and in the office, who were trying to curtail spending on a well that was behind schedule and significantly over budget. Deepwater Horizon shows one example, when BP sends a Schlumberger crew home without performing a cement bond log a measurement to verify the presence and quality of the cement used to seal the oil and gas-bearing rock formations. Without a bond log, there was no way to verify the presence of cement, let alone its quality. Many viewers will be outraged to learn at the end of Deepwater Horizon that manslaughter charges against Vidrine and Kaluza were dismissed in 2015. But these men represented an organization with a culture of cost-cutting and excessive risk-taking that also was responsible for a deadly explosion at a Texas City refinery in 2005 and a massive oil spill from the Trans-Alaska Pipeline in 2006. By portraying Vidrine and Kaluza as the only guilty parties, Deepwater Horizon ignores the larger failure of BPs corporate leadership. Despite these flaws, Deepwater Horizon is worth seeing and will certainly provoke questions. My students wanted to know much more about both technical issues and leadership mistakes after seeing the movie. Asking these questions will serve them very well in preparing then for future leadership roles in this global industry. The offshore industry has made significant safety improvements since the Macondo/Deepwater Horizon tragedy, and the Interior Department has adopted a new well control rule that sets tighter standards for offshore well construction. More work remains to be done, however. For my part, I hope this movie will lead to better public understanding of exactly what happened on April 20, 2010, and serve as a permanent reminder to all stakeholders involved to remain vigilant to prevent a repeat occurrence. Eric van Oort is a professor of petroleum engineering at the University of Texas at Austin. This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article. Bookmark Gray Matters. Conditions there, with explosions hurling people through the air, bear little resemblance to the safe, well-controlled environment that one finds on virtually all deepwater rigs around the world. Glenda Dawson High School in Pearland ISD looks half like a portable classroom display and half like a high school campus. Sixteen portables dot the school, which was built to accommodate 2,000 students but now serves about 2,500. In the next seven years, its enrollment could swell to 2,700. That projected growth, coupled with the 6,000 students the district has added since 2006, has led district officials to put its first bond referendum in nearly a decade before voters. Pearland ISD is asking voters to approve $220 million in debt, while Spring ISD, another suburban district that has a November bond referendum, is asking for $330 million. Such stories are common in Houston's suburbs, where growth often outpaces that of more urban areas of Houston. And though the oil slump has slowed growth in many parts, some suburban pockets are seeing student populations surge, bringing new expenses. Since 2013, at least 17 Houston-area school districts have approved bonds to help pay for new schools and classrooms, among other things. The Houston area is home to 21 of the state's 75 "fast-growth districts." They are defined as districts of at least 2,500 students that have grown by at least 10 percent over the past five years - or gained 3,500 more students over the same period. The Fast Growth School Coalition lobbies on their behalf. Tomball ISD, for example, saw its student population grow by nearly 17 percent, rising from 11,492 students in the 2012-2013 school year to 13,839 during 2015-2016. Alvin ISD's grew by more than 15 percent during the same period. Such numbers don't surprise Guy Sconzo, executive director of the Fast Growth School Coalition and former superintendent of Humble ISD. State funding for facilities and debt repayment has decreased and even disappeared for some of these districts, he said. Only some school districts receive state money from two state programs that once helped districts offset the costs of building new facilities. In the Houston area, 11 districts - including Aldine, Pearland and Waller - receive such state funds. But districts such as Tomball, Katy, Fort Bend and Cypress-Fairbanks receive none. "Those communities need facilities support and are not getting a penny," he said. And while state support wanes, growth continues. Katy ISD added more than 8,000 new students between the 2012-2013 and 2015-2016 school years. Ahead of the curve Peter McElwain, the Katy district's architect and planner, said that when he was hired in 1998, the district had 15 elementary schools, six junior high schools and four high schools. Now, the district is constructing its 40th elementary school, finishing work on its 15th junior high school and is about to open its eighth high school. "Growth might slow down a bit, but Katy ISD is a bit of an anomaly in the area," McElwain said. "We're still growing at a tremendous rate and it's important for us to stay ahead of the curve - buy property before it's needed, build infrastructure to (support) new school facilities." Keeping ahead of the growth wave is no small feat. Katy ISD employs a demographer to track growth trends across the 181-square-mile district. It uses external surveyors to keep tabs on new subdivisions and land purchases. In anticipation of a subdivision going up near the intersection of Clay and Peek roads, Katy ISD plans to open a new high school and junior high school in the area next August. And an elementary school already has opened in that vicinity. Such land purchases and campuses are paid for with bonds, or debt the district takes on with voter approval. School districts can use the money on technology, land purchases and construction but cannot spend it on instructional services such as teacher pay or new textbooks. Spring ISD's bond referendum is its first in nine years. About $280 million of the $330 million bond would go toward updating and building new facilities, including constructing three ninth-grade academies, two middle schools and a new command center and finishing renovations. Another $32 million of the bond money would update the district's technology. The remaining $18 million would pay for security features. Sheleah Reed, spokeswoman for Spring ISD, said the district is not experiencing rapid growth but still needs new schools. "Ours really isn't based on super-increasing enrollment. Our challenge is that our secondary schools are over capacity," Reed said. "So even though our enrollment numbers are staying stable, we have to do something with the secondary schools." Using existing space Don Tillis, director of facilities and planning at Pearland ISD, said the district wanted to avoid building a new school campus because of the construction and operational costs. "We're trying to avoid building new schools. It costs about $25 million to build an elementary (school). Junior highs are $60 million and (high schools) are $100 million plus," Tillis said. "We're also trying to avoid those extra operations costs for hiring new teachers, a new principal, new food service staff and new assistant principals." Much of the money, about $105 million, would go toward adding classrooms at Dawson High and other campuses. Another $77 million would be spent renovating existing facilities at six elementary schools, two middle schools, two junior high schools and a high school. The district budgeted about $22 million to upgrade technology. The district also plans to spend about $15.4 million on security measures. Issuing school district bonds in Texas is much easier than it is in other places, said David Thompson, a Houston-area attorney who often counsels school districts. That's because Texas guarantees all school bonds through its Permanent School Fund. The fund works by pooling money raised by the sale of state-owned lands specifically earmarked for education. The state still has millions of acres of such land, though some of it is leased to oil companies to bring in more revenue for public education. That means each of Texas' 1,247 school districts has a AAA bond rating, so they can pay less in interest than government entities with lower ratings. "It has literally saved taxpayers tens and tens and tens of millions of dollars in interest costs over the life of the program," Thompson said of the Permanent School Fund. Second in a series Irving Police Department Officer Graham Smith, a 25-year veteran, was helping to lead a training session at the Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport's shooting range when he got shot by a fellow officer. That day - Sept. 8, 2015 - Smith, then 44, was injured after a piece of a bullet ricocheted off a target and struck him in the arm. Irving police quickly released Smith's name. Irving police also were compelled to report the shooting to the Texas attorney general because of a 2015 state law that requires all officer-involved shootings to be reported. Since September 2015, Texas law enforcement shot at least 168 people, 20 percent of whom were unarmed. Some case details - including the name of the officer who fired that shot - remain hidden, revealing the tight hold and control officials remain over such incidents. Texas' new law requires only rudimentary details on officer-involved shootings, such as date, location and basic circumstances, whether the incident ended in death or injury, and demographic facts. Only minimal information was released on the officer who shot Smith: A 38-year-old Hispanic officer who was on-duty at the time. The Irving shooting was one of three accidental shootings involving officers at shooting ranges over the past year, reports show. It is the only such incident that did not result in discipline. More for you Police in Texas shot 159 people over the past year as Houston... A Flower Mound officer was suspended for a day after that agency determined she violated policies by failing to discharge her weapon before entering the cleaning area, where she accidentally discharged her weapon and sent fragments of a bullet into another officer's leg and foot. A Plano policeman received a three-day discipline after he also failed to properly clear his pistol and accidentally shot into the ground, injuring another officer with shrapnel. Evaluated policies Flower Mound and Plano officials said they later evaluated policies to see if any changes needed to be made either internally or at the training ranges. In the Irving case, police's legal adviser Les Moore said an internal affairs investigation was conducted but no violations were found. Smith, a senior operator on entry, has been on the SWAT team since 2001 and serves as vice president of the Texas Tactical Police Officers Association board declined comment. The association's president, Robert Flores, described Smith as "respected by officers throughout the state." "We try to minimize and make sure accidents like that don't happen," said Flores, a commander with the El Paso County Sheriff's Office. "We have an excellent track record. But no matter what you put in place, sometimes there are still accidents." Case called unique Smith was standing next to a fellow Irving officer, who was aiming a handgun at a steel target about 15 yards away when something went wrong. A small dimple in the metal plate caused a ricochet effect and Smith was shot in the arm. His SWAT team peers gave him first aid and he was taken to a nearby hospital. A department spokesman said his injuries were superficial and "weren't serious." Lt. Michael Coleman, who retired in September, filed the one-page report with the Texas Attorney General's Office 37 days later. State law requires reports to be filed within 30 days, though the requirement is unenforced. Irving Police Department's use of force policy states officers should report significant events and notes that those reports are normally considered 'open records' upon presentation to the Grand Jury." But, Moore said, Smith's case was unique and was never presented to a grand jury. "It didn't fit any traditional notion of an 'officer-involved shooting' - it was just a freak training accident," Moore wrote in an email. "However, we are required to report to the Attorney General's office any time any person is injured by an officer's gunfire." GALVESTON - A former Democratic state legislator is trying to recapture the Texas House District 23 seat from the first Republican to hold the office since Reconstruction. In one of the few competitive legislative contests, Democrat Lloyd Criss, who represented Galveston County in the Texas House from 1979 to 1991, is challenging first-term Republican Rep. Wayne Faircloth. Faircloth, 63, won the seat in 2014 by defeating Criss' daughter, former Galveston County District Judge Susan Criss. Although the district was redrawn to favor the GOP by combining the predominantly Democratic areas of Galveston County with overwhelmingly Republican Chambers County, Republicans have struggled in the district. Faircloth fell short in his first attempt to win the district in 2012, losing to then-Rep. Craig Eiland, a Democrat. The seat came open in 2014 after Eiland decided to retire from a post he had held for two decades. The district includes Democratic-leaning Galveston, the Bolivar Peninsula, Texas City, La Marque and the unincorporated community of San Leon before stretching across Galveston Bay to take in more conservative Chambers County. Faircloth has a clear financial advantage, reporting $88,000 cash on hand in July to Criss' $3,000. More money may not translate into more votes in such a low-profile race, said Sean Skipworth, who teaches government at the College of the Mainland. "It's always better to have money than not, but you don't always win with money," Skipworth said. Skipworth said that Faircloth won during a mid-term election with low turnout, which usually favors Republicans. Incumbents are most vulnerable during their first reelection campaign, he said, and having presidential candidate Donald Trump at the top of the ticket could hurt Republicans farther down the ballot like Faircloth. The 75-year-old Criss also has high name recognition in Galveston County, which has 80 percent of the district's population. "If I was Faircloth, I would be a little nervous," Skipworth said. The race pits a moderate conservative against a business-friendly liberal. Faircloth received only a 60 percent rating from the ultra-conservative Eagle Forum and he eschews the tea party label. "I'm just a normal guy who can relate to people," Faircloth said. "I would call myself a common-sense compassionate conservative." Criss chaired the now-defunct House Labor Committee during his legislative career, using his chairmanship to defend worker rights. He said he supported business issues when they weren't in conflict with labor. 'Age of technology' In his 2009 book, "Rough and Tumble, Texas Political Combat," Criss recounts how he outfoxed then-state Rep. Tom Delay, blocking him from repealing a law requiring state contractors to pay the prevailing wage. DeLay went on to become the Republican House majority leader for several years. Criss, a retired pipefitter and union leader who has chaired the Galveston County Democratic Party for the past 12 years, said his past legislative experience would qualify him for a leadership position. Occasionally using salty language, Criss is dismissive of his opponent's legislative accomplishments. He pointed out that during his own first term he authored a constitutional amendment legalizing bingo that was put on the ballot and approved by voters. Faircloth, an insurance agent, argues that he has shown himself to be an effective leader and advocate for Galveston County, citing a bill he co-authored that brought research money to UTMB. He argues that the Legislature has changed since Criss was a member. "We are in the age of technology where things move very, very quickly," Faircloth said. "It's not the same Legislature he left 30 years ago." 'Tremendous pressure' The key issue in the race is education, Criss said. He said the Legislature has yet to restore the $5 billion in education funds slashed in 2011 and last session cut funds to the district's two community colleges, Galveston College and College of the Mainland in Texas City. Faircloth said he was not in the Legislature when education funding was cut, but that he worked to restore funding. "Are we on the right track? Yes," Faircloth said. "Are we where we need to be with education? No." Theron "Bujo" Waddell, who teaches political science at Galveston College, said the education issue could resonate with voters, especially in Chambers County, where property taxes have risen to compensate for lower state funding in burgeoning school districts like Mont Belvieu. "Mont Belvieu has been put under tremendous pressure," Waddell said. Houston police officers may soon roll out to work with a new tool to protect themselves while on patrol: rifle-resistant body armor. Most officers now wear a soft Kevlar body armor capable of stopping pistol rounds from most handguns. But after shooters used high-powered rifles in massacres that left five officers dead in Dallas and three in Baton Rouge, departments across the country began rethinking ways to protect their officers. In Houston, officials with the Houston Police Officers' Union and the Houston Police Foundation decided to buy "Level 4" vests capable of withstanding high-velocity rifle rounds. "After the July domestic terror attack that resulted in the murders of five Dallas officers, it became apparent to HPOU for the need to supply Houston officers with vests that would withstand high-caliber automatic weapons," union officials wrote in this month's edition of the union's magazine, Badge & Gun. Houston Police Officers' Union President Ray Hunt declined to comment to the Houston Chronicle for the story. More Information How to help More information about the effort to equip Houston police officers with body armor that can withstand high-velocity rifles can be found at www.houstonpolicefoundation.org/body-armore See More Collapse The Houston Police Foundation has purchased 400 vests at a cost of about $300 each, said Charlene Floyd, the foundation's executive director. Overall, the foundation plans to purchase 600 vests, each of which could be used by three different officers over the course of a day. "Our guys need a Level 4 vest, which will stop a rifle round," Floyd said. "This is mainly for our patrol officers, the ones who are out on the street every day." The department's specialized SWAT, Special Response Group and Warrant Execution units already have Level 4 vests, she said. Nationwide, 684 officers died in the line of duty during a five-year period from 2010 to 2014, according to a recent report from the Department of Justice's Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. Researchers found that 129 officers died from gunfire while responding to calls for service or on self-initiated activity. Handguns were used in 71 percent of the cases. Rifles - mostly semi-automatic, magazine-fed weapons similar to AR-15s or AK-47s - were used in 21 percent, while shotguns were used in 8 percent, according to the report. Beefing up equipment "Most officers are not equipped with body armor that can defend against rifle rounds," the authors of "Deadly Calls and Fatal Encounters" wrote. "Although many cases involved officers shot in the head, where having body armor would not have prevented their death, there are several cases where data provided to us specifically calls out that a rifle round penetrated the officer's vest." Shootings of police officers have other departments scrambling for better protective gear for their troops. The New York Police Department said earlier this year it would equip officers with 20,000 helmets and 6,000 heavy-duty vests. The Dallas Police Department, which lost five officers in a brutal July massacre, said this summer it would purchase more than 200 helmets and stronger vests. The Harris County Sheriff's Office provides its deputies with "standard bulletproof vests" similar to those used by the Houston Police Department, said Ralph Gonzales, the sheriff's spokesman. "They provide most coverage under most styles of firearms they run against," he said. Deputies have the option of using ceramic inserts to add additional ballistic protection, he said. The inserts add about 6-8 pounds of weight, however, and can be burdensome in Houston's long, soupy summers. The High Risk Operations unit uses sturdier vests, Gonzales said. In Houston, the new vests will be available for officers as they head out on patrol. "Every time an officer checks out a set of keys for his shop, he or she will get a heavy vest," HPOU Vice President Joe Gamaldi told Badge & Gun. "The next vests will go to any unit operating a marked vehicle." Changing gun climate The measures come as the police department has taken other steps to try to increase officer safety, such as doubling officers into two-man units, instituting a moratorium on civilian ride-alongs and increasing officer training to improve their rifle-shooting skills. The move to purchase the new body armor was a natural reaction to a changing gun climate, said Lawrence Karson, assistant professor of criminal justice at the University of Houston-Downtown. "It's obviously always better they get equipment they believe they need to do the job, because officers' safety is critical," Karson said. "Especially with proliferation of high-powered weapons on the street, with the growth of a gun culture in America, you find people now who are carrying rifles openly - and its legal - so the potential to have a higher-caliber firearm being used (during a crime) is greater now than ever before." Hundreds of Texas and California police departments violated state laws that required them to report officer-involved shooting deaths in the past decade, according to a new Texas State University study. Registries created by statute in both states failed to capture about 220 use-of-force fatalities in Texas and 440 in California from 2005-2015, the study found. Two Texas State professors, Scott Bowman and Howard Williams, and co-author Jordan Taylor Jung developed the lists of reported fatalities by comparing each state's custodial death registries to fatal shooting cases culled from media reports, police news releases and other sources. In interviews, the Texas and California attorney general's offices and police officials in both states confirmed many cases were missing. Texas and California are the only states to require the reporting of all in-custody deaths, including deaths in jails and officer-involved shootings. In each state, the attorney general's office collect reports. Failing to report a death at the hands of a police officer is a misdemeanor in Texas; there is no penalty in California. Failure to report hundreds of deaths - because police officials ignored or misunderstood the reporting laws - has effectively undermined ongoing efforts to identify the causes of fatal police shootings and identify potential reforms, experts said. "We're not really blaming anyone - this is an incredibly complex problem," said Williams, who began his research after retiring as police chief in San Marcos last year. "But it's really hard for us to go back and change policy, improve training or purchase new equipment "when you simply lack the data to even know what's going on." HPD missing 16 cases More than 40 unreported Texas shooting deaths occurred in Harris County. Julian Ramirez, an assistant district attorney who heads the civil rights division of the Harris County District Attorney's Office, told the Houston Chronicle that he would review the list of unreported local deaths and consider whether enforcement action was warranted. In response to the study, the county also has begun periodic reviews to use its own officer-involved shooting registry to remind agencies to file required reports to the Texas Attorney General's Office, he said. The Houston Police Department had the most unreported cases of any Texas departments, with 16 fatalities missing from its custodial death registry. Among the missing deaths were those of two mentally ill people shot and killed in 2007. One, a 42-year-old woman, was shot to death after entering police headquarters on Travis Street at 2 a.m. with a knife. She began stabbing herself before allegedly charging toward an officer with the cry: "Shoot me, kill me. I want to end this." The other unreported case involved a schizophrenic man whose mother claimed she pleaded with officers not to fire, but "they didn't listen." In a statement, HPD officials said they would work with the district attorney's office and, if appropriate, rectify missing cases from 2006 to 2015."Because of the timeline involved, this effort will require retrieval of cases from archive and a personal inspection of the file," the department said. The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department and the Fresno Police Department failed to report the most officer-involved shooting deaths of any California agencies, an analysis of Texas State data shows. After reviewing a list of its 34 missing cases, Nicole Nishida, an L.A. County sheriff's spokeswoman, said the department had failed to file any required reports from 2006 to 2011 because of a "clerical error" related to a change in a reporting form. But the agency then failed to report four more deaths in 2013 and 2014, records show. "We are currently undertaking efforts to systematically update the data to the (California Department of Justice) following their reporting protocol," she said in an email. Amanda Woog, a University of Texas-based researcher who founded the Texas Justice Initiative to publish and distribute information on all of the state's 7,000 custodial deaths from 2005 to 2015, independently reviewed and confirmed Texas State's findings. She said she hopes that 139 Texas agencies with one or more missing cases will quickly address the flaws. "In order to obtain a full picture of how and why people die in the hands of law enforcement we have to have a complete data set," she said. In addition to requiring reports on use-of-force and in-custody death, both California and Texas also recently passed new laws requiring departments to report all shooting incidents, whether those shot survive or die. In Texas, the new police shooting law took effect in 2015 and the attorney general's office has contacted all departments and tried to boost compliance with both laws, said Kayleigh Lovvorn, an office spokeswoman. But enforcement falls to individual district attorney's offices. Nothing 'malicious' The Texas State study cited a dozen fatalities unreported by the Harris County Sheriff's Office. One of those involved the 2015 death of a 24-year-old shot by an off-duty deputy outside the Chapa nightclub in northwest Houston. A sheriff's spokesman, Ryan Sullivan, said the homicide happened in Houston and was investigated by HPD. But under Texas law, the officer's employer generally files a custodial death report and the sheriff's office did not do so. Sullivan said that was the only report that had not been filed under Sheriff Ron Hickman, who took office in May 2015. Brenda Gonzalez, a spokesman for the California Attorney General's Office, said via email that the office already has been asking police agencies to file missing reports as part of a new OpenJustice data portal initiative, but she emphasized that California's custodial death law has "no explicit enforcement mechanism." In all, 180 California different police agencies failed to file reports on citizens shot and killed by police. Fresno Deputy Chief Robert Nevarez pledged that his department would belatedly provide missing custodial death reports for 24 deaths. He said analysts in his agency unintentionally misinterpreted state law for years, wrongly assuming it applied only to jail deaths and not officer-involved shootings. "At this time, it doesn't look like anything intentional or malicious - it was an interpretation of what should have been reported," Nevarez said. More than 100 missing cases in each state involved small departments. One unreported fatality involved a man killed by a Houston SWAT sniper in the suburb of Jacinto City. Jacinto City Police Chief Joe Ayala said he summoned HPD for backup after a domestic incident escalated into a shootout. Afterward, there was a mix-up about which agency should report the death. But in both California and Texas, so many cases went unreported that it is hard to explain away the failures on misunderstandings, researchers said. Some departments "could intentionally be trying to keep some narratives from getting out or hiding the fact that they have a large number," Bowman said. Williams and Bowman are continuing to press for more information. Both seek to move beyond statistics to study cases more deeply and devise recommendations to avoid shootings, particularly of the unarmed and of the mentally ill. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate PALM SPRINGS, Calif. - In the minutes before three Palm Springs officers were shot, two fatally, the suspected gunman's father told a neighbor his son was armed, "acting crazy" and wanted to shoot police. John Felix, 26, was apprehended early Sunday after a lengthy standoff and will be charged this week with murder. Police said Felix finally emerged wearing soft body armor and carrying ammunition but no weapon after police shot a chemical agent into the home where he had holed up. Investigators were trying to piece together what led up to a 911 call about a family disturbance that preceded the cold-blooded killings. 'Acting crazy' A neighbor, Frances Serrano, told The Associated Press that the suspect's panicked father, Santos Felix, earlier said his son, an admitted gang member, had a gun. "My son is inside, and we're scared. He's acting crazy," Serrano said the older Felix told her. When it was suggested they call the police he said, "Yeah, he already knows they are coming, and he is going to shoot them." Serrano said she went back inside her house and within minutes police cars arrived and gunfire erupted. Police said John Felix suddenly pulled out a gun and opened fire on the officers who had responded to a disturbance call Saturday afternoon at the home he shared with his parents in a quiet neighborhood of single-story ranch homes in this desert resort city. Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes identified the slain officers as Jose "Gil" Gilbert Vega, 63, and Lesley Zerebny, 27. Zerebny had been with the department for about 18 months and recently returned early from maternity leave after giving birth to a daughter. Vega, a married father of eight, was a 35-year veteran who planned to retire in December. He had been working overtime Saturday on his scheduled day off. The wounded officer's name was not released, but Reyes said he was alert, speaking with investigators and was expected to be released from a hospital later Sunday. Pending charges Police arrested John Felix after shooting him with non-lethal rounds when he exited through the back door. SWAT officers using bullhorns and other methods had tried through the night to establish contact with him, but got no response. He was taken to a hospital for treatment of injuries that did not appear to be life-threatening. District Attorney Michael Hestrin said John Felix would be charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and several other felony counts. Prosecutors would decide within two weeks whether he could face the death penalty, Hestrin said. It wasn't known Sunday if John Felix has an attorney. Court records show John Felix is a gang member who was previously sentenced to four years in prison in a failed murder plot in 2009. Documents cited by the Desert Sun newspaper reveal he was charged with attempted murder but pleaded down to assault with a firearm and admitted his gang connection. Documents also show John Felix was the subject of a forceful arrest three years ago at the same house where Saturday's shootings occurred. ST. LOUIS - In a startling political maneuver before tens of millions of viewers, Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of smearing women who had accused Bill Clinton of sexually assaulting or harassing them, turning their presidential debate into the tawdriest in modern history as he sought to salvage his presidential candidacy after explosive reports about his past lewd comments about women. Tense at first, and then increasingly angry as he grew more comfortable on the attack, Trump made the charges and noted that three of Bill Clinton's accusers were sitting in the audience. Both candidates were visibly uneasy throughout the debate, even refusing to shake hands when they took the stage, as the 90-minute event unfolded on a small stage with an almost unremitting hostility. "Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women - attacked them viciously," Trump said, arguing that the accusations against Bill Clinton were "far worse" than Trump's remarks in 2005 that he could kiss and grope women because he was "a star." Trump apologized for those remarks but also repeatedly minimized them as "locker-room talk" and even tried to blame Hillary Clinton for raising them in light of Bill Clinton's behavior. "She brings up words that I said 11 years ago - I think it's disgraceful, and she should be ashamed of herself, to tell you the truth," Trump said to scattered applause. Clinton did not specifically rebut Trump's charges about Bill Clinton's behavior, saying only, "So much of what he just said is not right." Instead, she broadened her indictment of Trump beyond the 2005 recording, assailing him for refusing to show contrition for his inflammatory statements. "He never apologizes to anybody for anything," Clinton said. She unfurled a litany of his provocations, including his mocking a Gold Star family, accusing a Hispanic judge of being biased by virtue of his ethnicity, ridiculing a reporter who has a disability, and falsely claiming that President Barack Obama was not born in America. "Yes, this is who Donald Trump is," Clinton said about his 2005 remarks. "The question for us, the question our country must answer, is that this is not who we are." After a tumultuous political weekend, the debate was watched extremely closely by Republican members of Congress, who are deciding whether to join dozens of elected GOP officials who have broken away from their party's nominee. Trump's attacks on the Clintons - including a promise that, as president, he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of state - were a new low in a presidential campaign that has often seemed like a race to the bottom. But no single answer by Trump seemed sufficient to put to rest the controversy over his remarks about women. As much as he apologized, he did not confess or reveal anything new about his treatment of women over the years. Nor did he say much to meet the goal set Saturday by his running mate, Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana: "Show what is in his heart." Instead, Trump alternated between sounding chastened and defensive about his treatment of women and moving to energize his base, which remains deeply hostile to Clinton. He did so by blasting Clinton relentlessly over her State Department email practices and repeatedly interrupting her, barely concealing his contempt. He said again that Clinton should be "ashamed" of herself for deleting some of her personal emails while secretary of state. "Oh, you didn't delete them?" he said sarcastically. When she tried to answer, Trump again interjected. "What about the other 15,000?" he demanded. Finally, Clinton, plainly exasperated, shot back: "OK, Donald. I know you're into big diversion tonight - anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it's exploding and the way Republicans are leaving you." At several points, Trump expressed his frustration with the two moderators, Anderson Cooper of CNN and Martha Raddatz of ABC, demanding that Cooper focus more on one of Clinton's biggest vulnerabilities, her email server. "Why aren't you bringing up the emails?" he asked, before flatly accusing the moderators of conspiring against him. "It's nice, one on three," he said. Trump appeared more confident and aggressive than he did in the first debate, often dismissing Clinton's arguments out of hand and painting her as a politician "for 30 years" who had no record of accomplishment. "It's just words, folks; it's just words," Trump said about Clinton's policy proposals. Forty-five minutes later, he added, "It's all talk and no action." Stop bullying As an international student in Houston, I have confronted some difficulties adapting to the American culture. Studying, speaking and living using only the English language have made me feel uncomfortable and insecure. Some of the students have helped me, but most of them would have preferred to stay away from me and not start a conversation with me because of my language difficulties. One day, a student asked me why am I even here if I do not know how to speak English. He told me that it will be impossible for me to study the same way as students. That day I lost my confidence, and I was afraid to speak in English anymore. That day I knew I was a victim of bullying. As the number of bullying victims is increasing in the U.S., I feel that we should look closer at its causes, effects and, most important, how to prevent this type of behavior. The latest statistics show that 40 percent to 80 percent of school-age children experience bullying during their school careers. What should concern everyone is that bullying has long-term effects that can impact one's mental or physical health in multiple negative ways. There is a strong connection between bullying and suicide. Almost 80 percent of people commit bullying without knowing that they are doing it. October is National Bullying Prevention Month. We must encourage our communities to work together to stop bullying by increasing awareness and the impact of bullying on people of all ages. Alina Marina Crudu, Houston Clear tax dodge Regarding "Kaine, Pence trade punches" (Page A1, Wednesday), the talking points would now have us all believing that Donald Trump is a genius for avoiding paying taxes. I would hate to think what our country would be like if we were all geniuses. If not paying your fair share is considered to be a genius, I want no part of it. I prefer to live in a country with good roads, airports, schools, hospitals and a strong military, police and firefighting force. Trump might be a genius, but I know he is a freeloader. Eldon Brothen, Houston Opening missed Regarding "Obama's legacy, at home and abroad, is dimming" (Page A15, Friday), Charles Krauthammer is right about the last part of his column: The race for president in 2016 has been marked by showmanship, insults and questions of character - not real issues. And that's why the Republicans are losing. But what Krauthammer doesn't get is that Republicans are the ones losing this election for themselves. They're losing it because they've become a party of do-nothings and know nothings. They opposed the Affordable Care Act, but they offered no alternative other than doing nothing. They opposed Barack Obama's international policies, but they offered no alternative other than a return to the policies of George W. Bush. They obviously struggle to do even their basic duties of passing the national budget and emergency funding bills. And then, during the primaries they all stood by dumbly as Donald Trump picked them off one by one. And here we are headed to a Democratic win for the presidency, despite the failings of a standing Democratic president. Adam J. Weiss, posted via Houstonchronicle.com CHICAGO - Ten years after Mexican-American activist Willie Velasquez died, then-President Bill Clinton awarded him the posthumous honor of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, declaring: "No person in modern America who has run for public office wherever Hispanic Americans live has failed to feel the hand of Willie Velasquez. His appeal to the Hispanic community was simple, passionate and direct - 'Su voto es su voz.' Your vote is your voice." If the name doesn't ring a bell, don't feel bad. Unless you have a few Latino studies courses under your belt, Velasquez is another unsung American hero you've never heard of but should know. For the anecdote about the presidential honor, we must thank Hector Galan, the producer and director of the new VOCES/PBS documentary "Willie Velasquez: Your Vote is Your Voice," which premiered last Monday and is available to stream free on the PBS website. Galan, a longtime chronicler of Mexican-American history, takes viewers through a crash course on the long and still-in-progress road to Hispanic political empowerment through the story of Velasquez, who grew from a poor kid living in a barrio on the west side of San Antonio, Texas, to the leader of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. That organization became the nation's largest Hispanic voter registration effort at the time and helped increase the number of Hispanic elected officials in the U.S. by 82 percent between 1974 and 1987. Credited with beginning a "voting revolution," Velasquez started out counting and courting Latino voters manually by using the local phone book to find Hispanic surnames and then cold-calling them at home with a civic participation pitch. Galan connects the dots between Hispanic Americans coming home after World War II to face the disappointment of not having equal stature in society even though they served alongside whites and the eventual political agitation resulting from a disproportionate number of Latinos being drafted to serve in Vietnam. All too brief in this one-hour special is the fascinating discussion about how the African-American civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the Chicano movement combined to both spur real political participation and stoke intergenerational anxieties among Latino families - with the older generation being scandalized that their children were protesting in the streets instead of keeping their heads down and going along to get along. From there, the filmmaker delves into how Velasquez maneuvered the differing levels of radicalism and militancy in the Chicano movement in order to achieve the momentum necessary to organize folkloric dancers and Mexican bands at festival-like gatherings designed to register people to vote. From there we witness Velasquez helping get Henry Cisneros elected as mayor of San Antonio - the first Mexican-American mayor of a major city - and then his involvement in gathering national Latino leaders to cooperate on shared goals and, eventually, in getting Ronald Reagan elected president. Velasquez died in 1988 at age 44 from cancer. The nonpartisan streak in this documentary is notable. The filmmaker even highlights the Libre Initiative, a nonprofit organization that seeks to introduce more Latinos to conservative politics and the Republican Party. Mostly, though, Galan's main objective appears to be illustrating what Latino political empowerment can look like even as Hispanic voters are being blitzed with simultaneous conflicting messages about their lack of voting prowess and their potential impact this November. Some rah-rah nostalgia about how it was done back in the 1970s is sorely needed at a time when the first presidential debate relegated Hispanics to the mentioned-in-passing roles of NAFTA-fueled Mexican job stealers and a victimized Venezuelan beauty queen. "[My hope for this film] was to tell who we are," Galan told Victor Landa, editor of the Latino-centric news site News Taco and host of its podcast. "I'm a sixth-generation Tejano, and I don't sit around thinking about immigration every day. However ... the way people look upon Latinos out there, it affects me. It affects all of us because of racial profiling ... [but] we're all in it together. I want ... people to know who we are and that we're no different than they are, that we believe in the American dream like everybody else." Galan's film can be viewed in its entirety at www.pbs.org/video/2365847657. PBS will be counting how many views this special gets as it decides how much to invest in future Hispanic-focused content. So, in the run-up to Election Day, treat yourself to a compelling yet overlooked part of our nation's history - and help ensure that more such stories are told in the future. Cepeda's column is distributed by The Washington Post Writers Group. Her email address is estherjcepeda@washpost.com. In Texas, we pride ourselves on being cutting-edge. We make a huge effort to recruit high-tech firms to locate here, bringing high paying jobs and great working environments, and we have been very successful in that effort. So, why are we not doing the same thing to ensure top quality healthcare for all Texans? The Texas Association of Business recently surveyed 600 registered Texas voters and found 70 percent of them favor the use of telemedicine to diagnose common medical conditions. The association also surveyed 159 member companies, the majority of them small businesses; 77 percent favor the use of telemedicine to diagnose common medical conditions. Telemedicine is a cost-effective way to improve healthcare outcomes for Texans. The convenience and lower cost of treatment through telemedicine can diminish existing barriers, improve Texans' access to healthcare and lead to better health outcomes for people across this state. Cost is the largest barrier for people to receive the healthcare services they need; the other is access to doctors. Texas faces a severe shortage in the number of doctors - both specialists and primary care physicians. We rank near the bottom of states when it comes to the number of doctors-per-capita. Telemedicine is a way to make more efficient use of existing resources, empowering patients and Texas-licensed physicians to use modern technology to diagnose and treat common, non-emergency medical conditions. For businesses, controlling cost also is the No. 1 concern. The skyrocketing cost of health care and requirements of the Affordable Care Act have caused insurance premiums for businesses to skyrocket. That leaves a business with three choices: Pay the ever-increasing cost, shift more of those costs to employees, or drop insurance coverage for their employees' altogether. None of those options are appealing to anyone, especially since many of those employees can't afford the huge cost of health insurance on their own. A recent report issued by the Texas Association of Business found that the cost savings associated with the use of telemedicine is staggering. A recent study of the impact of the introduction of telemedicine consultations to employee benefits packages for a major national retailer found that in addition to saving an average of $1,157 per encounter for those who used the service, these services saved $21.30 per month for each enrolled employee. On average, a telemedicine consultation represents a savings of 95 percent over a trip to the emergency room and 72 percent over a trip to an urgent care center for similar health issues. While all this sounds promising, there is something holding back the expansion of telemedicine in Texas: a set of antiquated regulations. There are three things the state should do immediately to facilitate the expansion of telemedicine. Ensure that the standards of practice for telemedicine and in-person care are consistent with the end goal of increasing access to quality health care and lower consumer costs; Adopt a technology-neutral definition of telemedicine, meaning patients and doctors could choose the type of technology used to communicate during a telemedicine visit rather than the state dictating a one-size-fits-all approach; and Only require a patient to be examined in-person or travel to a facility when medically necessary as determined by a physician. Telemedicine is a delivery model that offers great promise to help our state address the critical issues of healthcare quality, availability and affordability. We need to ensure that our state regulations aren't standing in the way. Hammond is CEO of the Texas Association of Business. If Sunday nights presidential debate made one thing clear, its that the Republican Party, after days of intense hand-wringing, is stuck with Donald Trump. Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Republican National Committee leadership told their staff to do whatever they felt comfortable doing after a turbulent week for the Trump campaign that saw longtime elected Republicans flee their nominee. The RNCs communication director later said that report was false, but it pointed to an increasingly urgent need to project a somewhat untied party after a terrible weekend for Trump. So during the debate, Trump effectively reminded the party why he won millions of votes and became its standard-bearer. Take his promise to appoint a special prosecutor who would jail his Democratic challenger, Hillary Clinton, over her email controversy. "If I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your (missing email) situation," Trump said, "because there has never been so many lies, so much deception." Of course he and his supporters have talked throughout the campaign about imprisoning Clinton. It is a standard line for him that rouses his most ardent supporters, and he probably needs that kind of reassuring of his candidacy after a damaging few weeks. Still, when he threw out the jail line, Clinton responded that its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country. Trump shot back: Because youd be in jail. Per Trumps spin team, that moment showed just how much he was echoing the voters who show up to his rallies. He simply channeled the frustration of a lot of Americans he hears from, campaign manager Kellyanne Conway said. There were other moments in which Trump slyly reminded his party and the country that he wasnt going anywhere, but the jailing claim lit up the internet arguably more than any other. Clinton, for her part, mentioned his party problems in a seemingly ad-libbed retort after Trump interrupted her. Okay, Donald, I know youre into big diversion tonight, she said after a quick pause. Anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it's exploding and the way Republicans are leaving you. If Trumps goal was to hold back the GOP civil war with just under a month to go until Election Day and a week before the third debate he did so. Those who have pulled their endorsements of his campaign before Sunday are done with him, but the officials who waited to see how hed handle himself in the second debate probably got a few reasons to stay on. That, however, is still an open question, especially for House Speaker Paul Ryan, who is expected to meet with other House Republicans today. Whatever those Republican officials say at Mondays highly anticipated huddle, Trump without question energized his base Sunday night, in part as a reminder to those in Congress. It is a perfectly stated situation as we head to the end of the campaign: the millions of Republican voters who made Trump their nominee are the same people who can take away the GOPs power in Washington as a punishment for not supporting their guy. Trump is not going to let anyone forget it. Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for Children of South-Central Missouri is hosting a recruitment event for potential volunteers at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 19, at the Texas County Justice Center. The event is designed to educate people interested in volunteering to speak for abused in neglected children in foster care about what CASA is doing and what volunteers can do to help. Anyone 21 or older can volunteer who can pass a background check and is passionate about children in foster care. For more information, call Brock Whisler at 573-202-8405 or email casa25outco@gmail.com. The following are excerpts from reports generated by the Houston Police Department: A 43-year-old Houston woman reported on Sept. 20 that a black iPhone 4 of hers had been stolen while she was working at a U.S. 63 convenience store. The woman told an investigating officer she accidentally left the phone in the womens restroom between 3 and 6:15 p.m. and it was gone when she went to retrieve it. There are no suspects. Kari D. Young, 29, of 8447 Mineral Drive in Houston, was cited for possession of drug paraphernalia on Sept. 30. An officer who had arrested Young for trespassing at Walmart issued the citation after she advised the officer she had a syringe for meth in her bra. She handed over the item and stated it was for meth. Young was taken to the Texas County Jail and the syringe was secured as evidence. James W. Fithen, 31, of 305 S. Second St. in Houston, was cited for allowing a dog to run at large on Sept. 28. Tabbitha S. Wofford, 41, of 905 Hiett St. in Houston, was cited for allowing a dog to run at large on Sept. 29. Shane A. Waldorf, 28, of 104 Alcorn Lane in Houston, was cited for allowing a dog to run at large on Sept. 29. Alisha R. Cook, 35, of 821 Dooley St. in Houston, was arrested Sept. 30 for having an active Texas County warrant for tampering with a motor vehicle (a felony) and resisting arrest. An officer who was aware of the warrant made the arrest after observing Cook walking down the middle of First Street just after midnight. She was taken to the Texas County Jail, where she was unable to post $200,000 bond. Police say they are acquainted with Cook following several incidents, including one where she was arrested after parading nude in her neighborhood. Tabitha N. Newell, 23, of 5210 U.S. 63 in Cabool, was arrested after a traffic stop Sept. 29 for having active Dent County warrants for driving without a license and speeding. Felicia D. Batchelor, 30, of 611 Hawthorn Street in Houston, was issued citations for driving while revoked and displaying plates of another after a traffic stop on First Street at about 7:30 p.m. Sept. 28. An officer made the stop after observing a red Ford Mustang traveling with truck plates on it. Kody B. Dow, 23, of 711 Mill St. in Houston, was cited for failure to yield right of way after a two-vehicle accident at Highway 17 and Hamrick Avenue on Oct. 2. Scott T. Higgins, 31, of 228 Cedar St., No. 18, in Licking, was issued citations for driving while intoxicated and speeding after a traffic stop on U.S. 63 at about 2:20 a.m. Sept. 11. As an existing print subscriber it is easy to get FREE access to all our online content. When you click get started below it will walk you through creating an online account to attach your print subscription number to. After your account is created it will ask you to either add a subscription for online access or click on the print subscriber button. Click the print subscriber button header and it will open a dropdown, now click on get started. The page will reload and you will be prompted to enter an account number and a zip code. IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO USE THE NUMBER OFF OF THE MOST RECENT ISSUE OR ANYTHING AFTER JANUARY 28, 2019 TO GAIN ACCESS! OLD ACCOUNT NUMBERS WILL NOT WORK The account number and zip code are easily available on your most recent issue of the High Plains Journal or Midwest Ag Journal in the address fields as is shown here. Sometimes the account number has extra zero's in front of it, just ignore those. 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. pite increased awareness from a growing number of employers, it seems New Zealand is actually backtracking on the gender pay gap with statistics showing wage disparity is at an eight-year high.According to the latest Labour Market income figures from Statistics NZ, the pay gap is now sitting at 12 per cent a figure which hasnt been seen since 2008.Minister for Women Louise Upston said the increase was disappointing especially considering the gap had reached an all-time low of 9.1 per cent in 2012 and called on employers to take action.Closing the gender pay gap requires making conscious, measured and reported efforts to tackle pay differences between men and women, she said.However, the Public Service Association has released a statement urging the government to get involved."The minister for Women, Louise Upston, says the equal pay issue needs conscious, measured and reported efforts," said assistant national secretary Kerry Davies. We agree, and we urge the government to walk the talk - by agreeing to fully implement the Joint Working Groups recommendations."If government officials, employers and unions can agree on a workable way to deliver equal pay, then Cabinet should not drag its feet, continued Davies. New Zealand women are worth 100% - and we call on the government to reverse this dangerous trend.The average New Zealand man makes $4.09 more per hour than the average woman a disparity which translates to around $163.60 over a working week.Thats $163.60 that a woman cant use to feed her family and save for her retirement, noted Davies. Hamza Khan "Talk to Nani Maa." Growing up as an English-speaking son of Indian immigrant parents, I dreaded those four words. Each weekend, my mother would hand me the phone to speak with my grandmother in Mumbai. And each time, I'd try to escape with an excuse. Advertisement When speaking to relatives back home, my mother spoke louder than she actually needed to (perhaps she believed that her voice wouldn't carry across the ocean otherwise). This always caught me off guard, because I couldn't accurately gauge how far away she was and how much time I needed to run to the bathroom and hide. The sound of her approaching footsteps would send me into a panic. Beaming with excitement over connecting her son with her mother, she'd hand me the phone and mid-gesture say, "Talk to Nani Maa." And thus would begin an excruciating five to 10 minute call with my grandmother in which I'd shut the door to my room and speak in hushed tones in case my mom was outside, gleefully listening in on our awkward exchange. Mustering every phrase I knew in "Hinglish" (a messy combination of Hindi and English), I'd routinely ask this specific set of questions: "How are you?" "How is your health? "How is the weather?" "Did you watch any new movies?" "Should I give the phone back to mom?" That's the grandmother I knew from my childhood; a disembodied voice from a land far, far away. Someone I couldn't form a decent relationship with due to our language barrier. She only spoke Hindi, and I only spoke English. And we both somewhat understood each other. Unfortunately through repetition of this weekly ritual, thoughts of meeting my grandmother in real life brought up feelings of dread, embarrassment and guilt. Dread over being far outside of my comfort zone; embarrassment of having others judge my poor Hindi; guilt over not making enough of an effort to be a present grandson. Advertisement The grandmother of my adulthood is very different; she is a complete person, pieced together from longer and nuanced stories shared over dinner tables, through live commentary while watching Bollywood films, through genuine moments of human connection and through fading photos like this one: When she flew in from Mumbai for my brother's engagement last year, she looked more sickly and feeble than I'd ever seen before -- more grey hairs, more wrinkles and a more noticeable limp. While nobody in my family dared acknowledge it out loud, we all knew this was possibly the last time we'd ever see her. And while my dread and fear of meeting her were long gone, I was still wrought with guilt over not bonding enough. And so I made it a priority to simply be in her presence and makes as many new memories as I could. While I anticipated that we'd sit in silence for most of our time together, I was surprised by what actually transpired. In her twilight years, perhaps confronted by her own mortality and a reciprocal eagerness to forge a deeper connection with me, my grandmother was more talkative than usual. I mean, really talkative. To the point where my younger sister and cousins threw elderly respect (or just plain old etiquette) out the window and retreated into their respective digital devices. Meanwhile, I sat there transfixed. I listened to Nani Maa's stories. And I listened, and listened, and listened. And what I learned was nothing short of incredible. Advertisement Najma Mohammad, my Nani Maa, is around 70 years old. She is a seemingly ordinary woman who has led an extraordinary life. She's had courtside seats to the tumultuous evolution of the country my parents used to call home: India. The breadth of historic events that Nani Maa experienced first-hand is staggering. Here's a small snapshot: Partition Prohibition Freedom from British rule Three wars with Pakistan Presidential assassinations Rise of Mumbai's underworld Race riots India's nuclear proliferation India's billionth citizen Mumbai terrorist attacks She travelled around the world, was alive during Gandhi's assassination, experienced the hysteria of The Beatles' visit to India, saw broadcasts of Neil Armstrong walking the surface of the moon and recently used Snapchat filters. All within the same lifetime. She told me amazing stories of going from riches to rags in the wake of her husband's passing. She told me stories of police shootouts happening on her block, with police officers even stopping by her house to take water breaks before rushing back outside to resume their raids. She told me stories of having to discipline her sons for rubbing shoulders with neighbourhood boys that were part of street gangs (which would later evolve into the arms of India's underworld regime). She told me stories of Hindu vs. Muslim sectarian violence in the wake of catastrophes like the tearing down of Babri Masjid, as well as the 1993 Bombay bombings. That summer, it hit me that her incredible stories would possibly die with her. The history of Mumbai is so incredibly rich, and the history of India is even more so. And hearing it told through the vantage point of an uneducated, tough-as-nails single mother was more more vivid than any photograph, book or movie I'd experienced. Her narrative was raw and human, held together by intertwining threads of grit and faith. Advertisement That summer, it hit me that her incredible stories would possibly die with her. That grim prospect gave me a sense of urgency to capture her stories when she'd come around for my brother's wedding a few months ago, and to go deeper than merely a recollection of events. I wanted to know more about her specific context and her specific experiences in relation to these events. I wanted to ask, for each of her stories: "Who else was there?" "What do you think caused this?" "When in the timeline of historic events did this occur?" "Where exactly were you when this took place?" "Why do you think it happened?" "How did you feel before/during/after this?" And as expected, these questions allowed me look below the surface-level conversations I'd previously held with her: I learned that my grandmother was devastated by the death of her husband, and clueless as to how to raise six young children on her own. She sold every last one of her belongings to provide for them, including her wedding jewellery. She was terrified by the police shootouts, but eventually came to befriend a prominent figure in the Mumbai police force. She counts it among her life's biggest accomplishments that she guided her children to become strong, independent, hard-working citizens. She can recall the horror of bomb sirens during the wars with Pakistan, as well as the panic around trying to acquire baby food during states of emergency. While she was here this past summer, we watched a few Bollywood movies with the subtitles off. And it reminded me that while I understand Hindi perfectly, I still struggle to speak it. Advertisement It allowed me to have one of the most human moments I've ever experienced, a heart-to-heart that changed the way I see myself. I spent half of my childhood in New York and the other half in Toronto. My family and the community around me always spoke a combination of English, Hindi, and Urdu (a very similar dialect to Hindi). Through osmosis, I was able to pick up the languages. But I could never speak it beyond a smattering of common phrases. Knowing I'd meet my grandmother again this summer lit a fire in me to relearn conversational Hindi to not only better capture her stories, but to allow for a rekindling of our relationship. And I'm glad I did, because it allowed me to have one of the most human moments I've ever experienced, a heart-to-heart that changed the way I see myself... Following a storytelling session, Nani Maa and I stood outside her guest bedroom. She looked at me with watery eyes. She began by acknowledging that her health was fading, and that she was saddened by the idea that this might be the last time we'd see each other. Seeing this rugged woman tremble and break down caused me to well up. With tears streaming down her face, she uttered these words to me: "Mummy ka khayal rakhna, beta. Woh bohut hi strong hai." Which translates from Hindi to: "Please take care of your mom, son. She's a very tough woman." Her forlorn request whisked me through my memories as far back as they could go, illuminating nearly three decades of interactions with my mother. Having freshly listened my grandmother's life stories, it gave my mother an entirely new dimension: the daughter of my grandmother. Advertisement It put into context that she was only a young girl when her own father died. Being raised by Nani Maa left an indelible imprint on who she is as a person today: a kind, selfless, tough-as-nails, tenacious woman. Someone built to withstand the vicissitudes of an immigrant experience during the '80s and '90s. She lived through economic downturns, overt racism and strenuous demands on her mind, body and spirit. She tried to make it in America, and for some time lived alone with two children while my father tried to find new employment opportunities in Canada. Her early adult life and social life were uprooted in the pursuit of giving my sister and I a better life (a sacrifice we can never adequately repay). And she outlasted all of it. Because that's what my grandmother taught her to do: persist. Just like my grandmother's hut-dwelling mother, who lived through dire poverty, neglect and abuse. I always thought I modelled my resilience after my father, but I was wrong. Most of it actually comes from my mother (and by extension my grandmother and my great grandmother). Tens of thousands of stressful experiences and interactions compounded to form the woman that raised me. Today, I also see why grit is the defining characteristic of not just my mother, but all of her siblings as well. It's not simply a reaction to being immigrants , it's a latent skill set -- a mindset, rather -- forged in the crucible of an ever-changing and volatile country, that was simply activated by the stressors of changing circumstances. Advertisement Through my grandmother I've been better able to understand my mother and the values she imparted unto me. I am my mother's son. I am my grandmother's grandson. I am my great-grandmother's great-grandson. And if I have children of my own someday, they'll hopefully understand why I turned out the way that I did. If you're the first-generation child of immigrant parents, you owe it to yourself to learn the language of your grandparents. Working in marketing, I know that stories are the fundamental unit of human understanding -- they are our connection to the past, our guide to the present, and our map to the future. Learning my grandmother's life stories helped me to reconnect with my own Indian-American and Indian-Canadian identity in a way that Bollywood movies never could. If you're the first-generation child of immigrant parents, you owe it to yourself to learn the language of your grandparents. Spend some time with them and ask them about their life. Where were they born? Where did they live? What did they do for fun? What schools did they go to? Who was their first love? What was their first job? When did they feel hopeless? When were they most full of life? Get them to share the details of their most memorable days. And more. Go deeper than the mere sequence of events you might've never ventured beneath because of language barriers. It could just be the key to unlocking dimensions of who you are. And if history is cyclical, perhaps who you might become. Advertisement Born And Raised is an ongoing series by The Huffington Post Canada that shares the experiences of second-generation Canadians. Part reflection, part storytelling, this series on the children of immigrants explores what it means to be born and raised in Canada. We want to hear your stories -- join the conversation on Twitter at #BornandRaised or send us an email at bornandraised@huffingtonpost.com. Follow HuffPost Canada Blogs on Facebook The five things you need to know on Monday, October 10 1) NOTHING LIKE A DANE Theresa Mays visiting Denmark (and Holland) today to rally support for her vision of a Brexit Britain which has curbs on migration but as much access as possible to EU free trade. Danes love a bit of exceptionalism themselves, yet its unclear if they or any other states will dare challenge Merkel and Hollande after their warnings that freedom of movement is central to the blocs future. Advertisement On the vexed topic of name-and-shame lists of firms with foreign workers, a swift U-turn was executed yesterday as the idea was killed off by not just one but two ministers simultaneously. Michael Fallon (on Pienaar) and Justine Greening (on Peston) said that the plan would not be happening. The strangest thing about this whole row is that the list plan was a briefing note to Amber Rudds Tory conference speech, not the speech itself. Which just goes to show that in politics the devil really is in the details. Ed Miliband floated the idea of telling job centres which firms had more than 25% foreign staff but his aides insist those lists would never have been made public. Under the latest Tory plan it seems the foreigner-friendly firms info would still be collected but stay private. So Mays nicked not just Milibands an economy that works for everyone slogan, but his migrant policy too. One outcome of the Tory conference is that the penny has indeed dropped (not as fast as the pound, mind) among those in denial that Brexit really is going to happen. Thats not to say everyone likes it, and business is in full backlash mode. The British Retail Consortium is warning Liam Fox of the damage of tariffs, the CBIs chief has told the Times the dangers of migration crackdowns, 100 firms have written to the Telegraph to condemn Mays anti-business rhetoric - and the FT says Frankfurt is stepping up efforts to woo banks from London. On Today, Anna Soubry said there seems to be a rush towards a hard Brexit and the voice of business and Parliament was being lost, while Sir Peter Lilley said Remoaners can't accept they lost. Advertisement 2) ABBOTT'S HALE In her new role as Shadow Home Secretary, Diane Abbott made hay with the Tory U-turn on name-and-shame lists last night. But Labour MPs who remember the name-and-shame list of their own colleagues put out by the Jeremy For Leader campaign are still bruised, if beaten, by this summer. On Radio 4s Westminster Hour, Abbott denied PLP chairman John Cryer was not consulted over the Shadow Cabinet changes last week (despite his angry letter to fellow MPs). She said we havent written off the idea of elections, we just want to discuss the question of elections in a wider democratic context, which sounds very much like the members-can-choose idea that MPs think would kill off the whole plan. Abbott then summed up the uneasy truce in Labour right now: What weve got on the front bench is a very broad range of people and maybe they dont support Jeremy as a person but what they do do is they support the party. The Corbyn reshuffle is set to continue in the lower ranks. Im told that as of this morning there are still 54 vacancies unfilled on the shadow frontbench. Tom Watson seems to be building up his own core team at Shadow DCMS, with Kevin Brennan and Rosena Allin-Khan combining the best of the old hands and rising stars. Shadow whips Conor McGinn and Holly Lynch quit yesterday but Abbott said there is no question of us [note the us] forcing Conor McGinn outhis wife is expecting a new baby and thats why he chose to step down. Keir Starmer yesterday underlined some of the policy differences were going to have to get used to. He told Marr that immigration should be reduced in his view. Corbyn, however, is not concerned about the numbers, we were told at Labour conference. Abbott said last night you cannot pluck numbers out of thin air. Advertisement 3) TRUMP GLOWERS Just when you think the US Presidential race cant get any more crazily surreal, along comes the second TV debate. With only 29 days to go, Trump came off the ropes with a series of low blows about Bill Clintons alleged rapes. Hinting that Hillary was somehow anti-women is a tough sell, even for a real estate salesman. His defence-into-attack line may not have been the best way to convince half of the population that hes not a misogynist. HuffPosts Howard Finemans take is HERE. The way Trump creepily circled behind Clinton during the debate also underlined how bizarre his conduct can be. How ironic that Americas culture wars, so long the preserve of the anti-abortion, moral majority, are now a powerful weapon in the hands of those highlightling Trumps sexism. Will it be the factor that blocks the billionaire economic populists tilt at the top job? Lets see. His fans loved his performance on jobs and on Obamacare, and his threat to send Hillary to jail over her emails is dominating the news Stateside, so he cant be written off yet. Trump dissed his running mate Mike Pences call for the US to take action against Putin and Assad in Syria: I dont like Assad at all, but Assad is kiling ISIS, Russia is killing ISIS. Our own Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon (he was knighted in August, robbing me of my long-held ambition to headline it Fallon Gong, damn) told Marr he was not going to intervene in the US election. But Justine Greening was not so shy about Trumps boasts about groping women, telling Peston: As a woman I felt they were utterly crass. Oh, and Nigel Farage says Trump dominated Clinton because he was a silverback gorilla. BECAUSE YOUVE READ THIS FAR Watch Ed Balls do the samba, wearing green facepaint. I cant believe I just typed those words 4) SHAMIS TAKE SURELY? On Peston on Sunday, Shami Chakrabarti declared that she has real concerns about grammar schools because they enforce segregation in schooling. But within seconds she was also defending her decision to send her own son to the highly selective, 18,000-a-year Dulwich College. Shome mishtake surely? When put to her that she may be guilty of hypocrisy, she replied: People on the left have often had charmed and privileged lives and added she was someone who is trying to do their best, not just for my own family, but for other peoples families too. And this thing about selection if youve got money you will always be all right. If you dont have money in this country you are increasingly not all right, and that is why I have joined the Labour party. So thats cleared things up then. Advertisement Imagine if Chakrabarti had attacked the evils of privatisation of the NHS, while using BUPA for her own family's healthcare to jump an NHS waiting list queue? Tories would of course argue there's nothing wrong with using your wealth to help your nearest and dearest, but for a Labour politician this is tricky territory indeed. No one can accuse Jeremy Corbyn of not being anti-selection (one of his marriages broke up over it), but his Shadow Attorney Generals own take on public/private (in more ways than one) provision risks sending out, at the very least, mixed messages. 5) FOR WHOM THE BELL TROLLS Internet users who post derogatory hashtags or humiliating Photoshopped images could face prosecution under new legal guidelines unveiled by the Crown Prosecution Service today. The urgency of this for female MPs was underlined by a Today programme investigation that found that 39 out of 51 MPs had been victims of online abuse. Jess Philips told the programme that shed received 600 rape threats in one night and on another occasion one YouTuber created a hashtag that he and others wouldnt rape me. I wonder if the CPS will be looking at the latest abuse piled on Phillips by the leftwing website The Canary, with its latest idea of satire? The balance between tough action online and civil liberties can in some cases be tricky, however. The Investigatory Powers Bill is back before the Lords this week (tomorrow is Report Stage). Labour feels ministers have moved quite some way since the Bill was in the Commons - thanks partly to Keir Starmer in his old job. Expect more concessions. I hear the Goverment could have 250 amendments of their own for the three days of Report. If youre reading this on the web, sign-up HERE to get the WaughZone delivered to your inbox. What is it with this government and fracking? They seem to be obsessed with drilling; the proven safe and truly renewable wind and solar energies are not for them. They want the earth penetrated by drilling and the injection of high pressure water, laced with a cocktail of nasty chemicals and sand, to frack the hell out of the rocks beneath our beautiful countryside. All of that is to release fossil fuel, in the form of natural gas (methane). It is true that natural gas, when burned, releases half the CO2 per unit of energy compared with coal. However if you take leakages of the gas during drilling and transportation into account that advantage largely disappears. This is because methane is 84 times more potent as a greenhouse gas than CO2. Advertisement In any case the latest report from the US-based think tank Oil Change International (OCI) concludes that "the world's working coal mines and oil and gas fields contain enough carbon to push the world beyond the threshold for catastrophic climate change". No more fossil fuel should be dug up. Meanwhile, the British government in the shape of Sajid Javid, the Communities Secretary, has overturned Lancashire county council's rejection of a license to frack thus giving the green light for the shale company Cuadrilla to drill in the county next year. So much for local democracy and listening to the people; this government only listens if it agrees with you. When it comes to fracking, even democracy will be fracked. I sometimes wonder if this Tory government really believes in climate change. Could it be that they are closet climate change deniers? To them, local democracy is good enough to block windfarms, but not good enough to block fracking. This is hypocrisy on stilts. Post Brexit vote, Britain is going through a phase where evidence based decisions are to be mocked and derided. Expert opinions are to be ignored and replaced by "this is what I believe; don't confuse me with the facts". The evidence is now overwhelming that the only way to halt the dangerous future that awaits humanity is to rapidly cut our CO2 emissions by keeping fossil fuel in the ground. Drilling for more fossil fuel to come on stream is madness. Moreover, it actually violates the spirit, if not the letter, of the Paris agreement that Britain is committed to ratify by the end of this year (2016). It is high time that we put climate change above party politics. Political parties may have legitimate philosophical differences on how best to run the economy, capitalism, socialism...etc. But climate change trumps all these arguments, as it puts the future of all humanity at risk. This issue is truly "we are all in it together," to borrow the phrase George Osborne, our previous Chancellor, used in another context. Advertisement I agree with our Prime Minister when she says "it is time to remember the good the government can do". What this statement needs is a definition of what is considered good for our planet. It is no good hiking up taxes that threaten solar-powered businesses. It is no good putting obstacles in the way of wind power. It is no good intervening in Lancashire to overturn the democratically reached decision not to allow fracking. It would be good to reduce the hidden subsidies to the fossil fuel industry to encourage divestment from the source that is causing climate change Shannon Stapleton / Reuters BBC Radio 5 live's Anna Foster reports overnight from the States, having watched the US Presidential Debate Hillary Clinton smiled broadly as she stood on Donald Trump's chest with both feet, pinning him flat to the ground. Eyes wide, he grimaced up from the cold tiled floor. No, not a scene from the second Presidential debate, this was one of the many decorations adorning Democratic HQ in the southern border town of El Paso, Texas. The life-sized cut-out of Hillary took pride of place right next to the big screen, watching over the latest round in an increasingly hostile battle to secure the most powerful job on the planet. Advertisement Excited activists festooned with badges and sequins tucked into slices of red, white and blue iced cake with 'Madam President' piped across the top. Men juggled slogan-printed t-shirts with bottles of beer and hats covered in badges. And they were loud. Unsurprisingly, in this place Clinton got the cheers, Trump the heckles. They hated his belated efforts to reach out to Hispanic voters, and booed lustily as he criticised America's southern border as a pathway for drug smugglers and illegal immigrants. That particular tactic is one that's served Trump well during the campaign. Liberal voters are astounded when he makes an offensively sweeping statement, like deriding Mexicans as rapists. In a border town like El Paso, they hear those words and hate him even more. But that message isn't designed for them. It's carefully crafted to resonate in Washington, Indianapolis, Des Moines - places far-away from the border who regard it as a dangerous place to fear. I sat down with El Paso congressman Beto O'Rourke in a leafy square in the centre of town. "Immigrants commit crimes at a far lower level than US citizens who were born in this country" he says. "You're looking for that bogeyman, that person to blame, and Mexico has become that convenient whipping-boy upon which to project all these anxieties and fears". Advertisement Texas may be a solidly Republican, Trump-supporting State, but El Paso bucks that trend. Relaxed about immigration, almost a quarter of the population here was born outside the United States. Every year there are 32million crossings between El Paso and Ciudad Juarez, two cities separated by just metres, but symbolically by so much more - an international border. Walking from Texas into Mexico, over the high arching bridge that spans the high wire fences below, is a simple experience. There are no checks, nor papers to present. It takes just minutes. The opposite journey is a different story though. To enter the US, travellers go through the full border experience, passports presented and checked, bags screened, keen-eyed customs officers wait to apprehend smugglers. After 9/11, border security snapped into shape. Jorge, a taxi driver, described how he used to pick up immigrants who'd arrived in the US illegally, bloodying their hands scrambling over high metal fences or dragging their tired bodies through the sewers, popping up soaked and exhausted through manholes in the middle of the road. Eventually the manholes were permanently sealed with a metal cap to stop them doing it. But Jorge is convinced Donald Trump's wall wouldn't help. "You could build a hundred foot wall and people are gonna get by. Always. They'll find a way". Right now, the Presidential Election race is moving at breakneck speed. Relations between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton had already soured so much they didn't shake hands at the start of the debate, preferring instead to smile flintily at each other before parting to wave at their massed rows of family and supporters. But neither is yet out of the race. I spoke to a proudly Hispanic women who told me she was backing Trump 100% 'because he's a leader'. 'America's a business and it needs a businessman to make it work', agreed a young, white, American man. Despite the release of decade-old tapes where Trump talks about demeaning and abusing women, he cut a strong figure on the debate stage - lapping up the cheers from his supporters, cutting across Clinton, attacking her husband Bill, ridiculing her for a record of failure on Iraq, Syria, Libya. When he says he wants to 'Make America Great Again' a big slice of the US listens. When he threatens to put her in jail, they see a strong character ready to lead. The race to the White House is still far from won. Christopher Furlong via Getty Images My political awakening, if it can indeed be called such, happened in 2010, at the time of the UK General Election. I'd just turned eighteen, my mum had enrolled me on the voting register, and my sixth-form was handing out brochures listing side-by-side policies of the main parties. I wasn't far-sighted enough to pay much attention to pledges regarding pensions or privatisation but, up to my ears in UCAS forms, one policy resonated with me: scrapping university tuition fees. Along with 48% of my fellow students, I cast my ballot for the Liberal Democrats. All Brits know how that story ends. I was old enough to miss paying the 9,000 tuition fees imposed by the Conservative-Lib Dem coalition, but I felt that my odds of getting a university place were slimmed by the increased competition as older school leavers rushed to apply and all my peers forwent gap years. I'd graduated and was a year into my first proper job when the next election rolled around and the Lib Dems were trounced. Watching Nick Clegg's resignation speech, I found his warnings about the death of liberalism and tolerance strangely moving. And then I forgot all about it. Advertisement How much has changed in the eighteen months since! My country has been ripped out of the European Union. A Prime Minister nobody voted for is imposing sweeping changes which, whatever you think of grammar schools, have no democratic mandate. Labour is in crisis, with 172 of its MPs voting 'no confidence' in their leader. Hate crime in the UK has risen by 57%. Syrian children are drowning on our doorstep while our parliament refuses to let just 3,000 of them into the country. I believe passionately in the benefits of the European project, in the value of openness and cultural tolerance, and in the progressive prosperity of free trade. I want a government that is environmentally friendly, pro-globalisation, and which embraces the potential of technology to revolutionise the world. I want a government that is fiscally responsible but gives a safety net to those who need it. I am a typical liberal centrist. Or, in other words, a typical Liberal Democrat voter. There are plenty of Brits who disagree with me, of course. Fine - let us retire respectfully to our respective sides of the political spectrum. But there are also many - millions, maybe- who do agree with me. And yet current voting figures suggest these centrists concur with the multitudes of my acquaintances who have told me that regardless of policy matching, they will never again vote for the Liberal Democrats after the tuition fees betrayal. Enough. All political parties make unpopular policy changes (working tax credits, anyone?) and while I can understand the resulting impulse to wash your hands of politics altogether, the fact remains that such a course of inaction is not a viable way to get your opinion heard. Advertisement It's time for us centrists to ask ourselves if the raising of tuition fees four years ago is reason enough to contribute to the death of the political centre ground now. Think carefully, because the stakes are high. On the right, the austerity-happy Conservatives are slashing away at the welfare state. On the left Labour is split between a leader who thinks Venezuela is an admirable model for society, and MPs who, focused on their Brexit voters being seduced by UKIP, are increasingly coming out against freedom of movement and immigration in general. Many argue that because the Liberal Democrats broke promises before they will again. The Liberal Democrats sacrificed their free tuition policy to get the AV vote on a ballot paper. AV, with its ability to give smaller parties like themselves greater political power, was their top priority at the time. These days, it is their opposition to Brexit which separates them from the other parties, gives them a purpose, and attracts new members. It is too important to abandon. Recent history has proved that, despite our first-past-the-post system, supporting a small party is not a waste of paper. You don't have to like Nigel Farage to admire what he has achieved - UKIP showed that small, vocal parties can make a difference. Four million UKIP voters in 2015 elected just one MP, but they snowballed an idea that made Brexit a reality. Why couldn't we centrists do the same? And with the money, resources and national recognition of an established party, the Liberal Democrats are the best-placed vehicle for us to try to do so. Yves Herman / Reuters French President Francois Hollande has vowed that he will be taking action to completely demolish the camp that is providing shelter to over 9,000 refugees in Calais. The alternative offered by the French Government - to disperse refugees in "Welcome Centres" across France - is an ineffective means by which to address this humanitarian crisis. Advertisement With the planned demolitions beginning as early as mid-October now is the time to act. The UK must play its part to ensure sustainable and long-term solutions are in place for refugees, and that this humanitarian crisis does not worsen. Why demolitions do not work Demolishing the camp will not solve the problem. This can be seen most clearly by the fact that after much of the camp was destroyed in February, it has continued to grow and is now bigger than ever. From our experience working on the ground, we know that demolitions do not serve to deter refugees from arriving at Calais but instead will likely deepen the crisis by destroying valuable and life-saving infrastructure and increasing the likelihood of life-threatening and illegal attempts to enter the UK. The proposed demolitions and the alternative offered by the French Government do nothing to address the key reasons refugees are settling in Calais and therefore cannot be proffered in substitute of a long-term solution. There are some key points to note that both the UK and French governments are currently failing to address: Advertisement The Welcome Centres proposed as an alternative by the French Government will only process asylum claims for France. Many refugees have strong reasons for wanting to get the UK and will refuse to claim asylum elsewhere. Many will therefore return to Calais, and others will continue to arrive to achieve this as we saw previously In February this year over 50% of the camp was demolished and yet six months later the camp is bigger than ever before. This is clear evidence that demolitions do not act as a deterrent There have been reports of serious failings at Welcome Centres and the dispersal of refugees around France will make monitoring of this, and delivery of aid, extremely difficult if not impossible Demolitions have previously led to an increase in people living in the smaller camps along the northern coast of France. If the Calais camp is closed it is likely that these camps, which have no running water, toilets or medical facilities will grow Destroying the infrastructure currently in place and built with the help of volunteers and support from the UK public, will achieve nothing more than making living conditions much more inhumane and play directly into the hands of people smugglers The UK's role So far the UK has failed to take on responsibility for the worsening situation in Calais. While positive action was taken to provide support to child refugees, with a commitment by the government in May to take thousands of unaccompanied child refugees from across Europe, it recently admitted that not a single one of these children has been accepted. It also put in place an agreement designed to reunite child refugees with families living in the UK, but since then only 20 have been re-settled, with charities bearing the brunt of the expense to achieve this. A large number of refugees in Calais are determined to reach the UK, many of whom have already withstood the dire conditions in the camp for months to fulfill this goal. Any sustainable long term solution requires recognition of the underlying reasons that refugees travel to Calais - many have close family or community ties to the UK. It is estimated for example that more than 400 unaccompanied children inside the camp are eligible to come to Britain and over a third of camp residents have family in the UK. Advertisement It is highly unlikely that the proposed demolition will deter refugees from attempting to reach the UK or that they will accept the offer of seeking asylum elsewhere. Rather than putting resources into building a what is largely agreed to be an ineffective wall, the government should consider supporting refugees by providing access to information on how the asylum process works and make efforts to establish a means whereby those in genuine need of UK asylum can be safely processed without the need for them to risk their lives by attempting to enter the UK illegally. This would benefit the hauliers, the police and border forces as well as the refugees. Until the UK government recognises the vital role it must play to achieve a longer term solution, the situation only looks to worsen. We are urging the government to take responsibility for this crisis and have started a petition calling for Amber Rudd, Home Secretary, to take action - which you can sign here. YMCA's mental health services are changing lives. National programmes like Mental Health Champions and local schemes like Right Here, Talk-2-Us and Heads Together are providing early intervention support to young people in need before more specialist Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are required to step in. We're seeing positive results and young people's lives are being turned around; exactly what YMCA is here to do. However, after conducting our latest piece of research, I AM WHOLE - part of the first ever YMCA and NHS campaign, #IAMWHOLE - we have found that, in reality, the story of early intervention mental health support for young people doesn't start with us. It actually starts much, much earlier and further away from our services than we imagined. Advertisement YMCA's research spoke to more than 2,000 young people aged 11 to 24-years-old across England and Wales and found that, of those young people who experience mental health difficulties, more than one third (38%) felt stigmatised as a result. Of these young people, 70% said it made them less willing to talk about their difficulties and 56% said it made them less willing to seek help from a professional. This, to us, was an eye opening moment but the stats kept coming. Of the young people we spoke to who were suffering from mental health difficulties, 54% said stigma was coming from their own friends and 29% said it was from teachers and lecturers. And, what's more, it wasn't a one-off with 37% saying the stigma they were experiencing was happening at least weekly. It made us think. At YMCA, we're incredibly proud of our ability to tune the services we provide to the needs of the individual local communities in which we operate. But if young people are unwilling to come to us or other local mental health services because they feel stigmatised, our support services will not be reaching those most in need. #IAMWHOLE is aiming to combat that. It is obvious from what we have found that while pejorative words around sexuality and race have left or are leaving our vocabulary, the same has not yet happened around mental health difficulties and they have not yet been normalised. This is resulting in intentional stigma being directed at young people and accidental stigma also occurring as friends, parents and even teachers are not aware of what to do or how to act when faced with a young person with mental health difficulties. For many of the young people we spoke to, the impact of this is as damaging as the intentional acts of prejudice. Advertisement So what will #IAMWHOLE do? Firstly, it will start a conversation around mental health by showcasing first person stories of young people being helped by YMCA and NHS. Secondly, it will help young people get support by linking them to a new website called Find Get Give, created by YMCA's Right Here project and other local partners in Brighton. Young people using this site can find out what services are available locally and nationally and access a range of self help guides and resources. There are also support documents for parents and guardians. We hope more services will be added to the directory in the coming weeks. And finally, we hope it will also help remove the stigma associated with mental health difficulties. Our YMCA-NHS campaign is fronted by Jordan Stephens (Rizzle Kicks) who has documented his own issues with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) throughout the campaign and it also has the support of major celebrities, including James Corden, Ed Sheeran and Dermot O'Leary. With the help of these names, we will be asking people all over the world to show off the campaign logo in their own #IAMWHOLE selfie on Twitter. Young people and staff at YMCAs are taking part on Monday 10 October (World Mental Health Day) as we join the push to normalise something that is, well, very normal. We are now calling on this to be backed up with better mental health education for young people from primary school age, so they can see when their peers are needing support, and better training for the adults who are present in the locations where we now know stigma occurs, namely in schools and colleges. Traditionally, when white smoke comes over the Vatican in St Peter's Square, Rome, it is the sign that the College of Cardinals has elected a new Pope. The cardinals proceed to cast their votes by using paper ballots. After the vote, the ballots are burned and the smoke goes out into St. Peter's Square through a special chimney in the Sistine Chapel. If there is a consensus on a new pontiff, the smoke is white. If no new Pope has been chosen, the smoke is black. Smoke is thus used to let the public know the outcome of the balloting. The fifteen members of the Security Council who gather in close doors meetings to choose the UN Secretary General are not cardinals, but they decide on the future of the only global organization in the world, which comprises 193 countries. They use (colored) paper ballots to cast their vote, and the process itself is marked by the same secrecy as in Vatican. The ballots are not burned, so there is no real smoke coming over the UN Headquarters in New York, but in the current complicated international context the election of the next Secretary General may have a significance comparable to the election of a Pope. Thirteen candidates - seven women and six men from three continents, entered the race to get the job of the next (the ninth) Secretary General of the United Nations: nine candidates from Eastern European Group (the only region that was not given yet a UN Secretary General), two from Latin American and Caribbean Group, and two from Western European and Others Group. Three candidates withdrew before the final selection took place. Advertisement After an unprecedented transparent procedure which included hearings of all candidates by the General Assembly, meetings with the ambassadors from the five regional groups and even a first ever Global Town Hall Meeting broadcasted life by Al Jazeera, the Security Council organized five informal (and secret) straw polls where the candidates were rated with "encourage", "discourage" or "no opinion". Antonio Guterres, former Portuguese Prime Minister (1995-2002) who also served for ten years as UN High Commissioner for Refugees (2005-2015), won categorically in all five, being the only candidate to always score 11 or 12 "encouragements". The moment of truth came with the sixth straw poll on 5th October, when the P5 (the five Permanent Members) used colored ballots to signal their eventual vetoes. Mr. Guterres received 13 positive votes and two "no opinion", with no veto from any of the P5. At the end of the vote, Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin, the President of the Security Council for the month of October, announced that: "after sixth straw polls we have a clear favorite and his name is Antonio Guterres", while US Ambassador Samantha Power remarked: "In the end, there was just a candidate whose experience, vision, and versatility across a range of areas proved compelling". I add that Mr. Guterres was also the only candidate who, during the hearings in the UN General Assembly, spoke without any written notes and, when answering questions posed by the audience, he switched from English to French or Spanish, responding in the language questions were asked. On 6th October, the Security Council adopted by acclamation a resolution which "recommends to the General Assembly that Mr. Antonio Guterres be appointed Secretary-General of the United Nations for a term of office from 1 January 2017 to 31 December 2021". Maybe the best synthesis of this text came from Matthew Rycroft, British Ambassador to the UN, who twitted: "Resolution only has 49 words in it, but the two most important ones are Antonio & Guterres". Advertisement The vision Antonio Guterres has on the organization's role has been presented to the General Assembly on 12 April 2016, when he said: "The UN is the institutional expression of the international community, the cornerstone of our international system and the key actor of effective multilateralism. It is the essential instrument of member States to confront common challenges, manage shared responsibilities and exercise collective action. The UN is uniquely placed to connect the dots to overcome these challenges. To succeed, it must further strengthen the nexus between peace and security, sustainable development and human rights policies - a holistic approach to the mutually-reinforcing linkages between its three pillars. Now that we know what, we must work on how. With the horizon of 2030 the focus is on action and the watchword is implementation, implementation, implementation." And he added: "The Secretary General must maintain unwavering commitment to transparency, accountability and oversight. Moreover, the SG must stand firmly for the reputation of the UN and its dedicated staff. Leading by example and imposing the highest ethical standards on everyone serving under the UN flag." Concrete results at high standards is a long term credo of Mr. Guterres. In his first speech as UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, on 17 June 2005, he announced: "What really matters is delivering protection and solutions to those who need it. UNHCR must be a pioneer in the international community. I am personally committed to a management system based on attaining measured results." Ten years later in New York, on 21 December 2015, in his last statement as High Commissioner, he said: "Many times we have early warning and then we do nothing. To address a complex phenomenon we need holistic views. There is no such thing as an easy solution or a one size fits all solution... The lessons of history show that peace cannot wait. The world needs a surge in diplomacy for peace." Advertisement In a piece I published in Huffington Post on 21st April 2016 ("The Race for the Next UN Secretary General - First Round"), I argued that candidates for Secretary General should possess professional skills, political acceptance, and acceptability to public opinion. All the thirteen candidates shown commitment and determination to make the UN fit for purpose in the XXI century. But the UN needs in its top job not only a knowledgeable person and a skilled manager. It also needs a visionary leader with moral authority, able to guide the organization through an extraordinary array of global challenges, in a time when there is no substitute for the United Nations legitimacy. Antonio Guterres was the candidate who proved unwavering credentials for all these qualities. He will succeed to Ban Ki-moon, whose tenure comes to an end on 31st December 2016. After ten years as Secretary General, Mr. Ban's legacy is about the power of relationship, engagement, dialogue before confrontation and humanity. In the document "Furthering the work of the United Nations", recently released, he says: "Today, we are more connected than ever, better informed than ever, and have better tools than ever. The recipes for positive change are on the table; the ingredients for success are in our hands." A reverence must also go to the current Deputy Secretary General, the exceptional diplomat Jan Eliasson. At the Conservative Party Conference this year, Theresa May declared "if you believe you're a citizen of the world, you're a citizen of nowhere. You don't understand what the very word 'citizenship' means." This rhetoric was used to justify her Government's efforts to reduce the number of people coming to live, work and study here from abroad. This kind of rhetoric is a lie, wrapped in a half-truth. Citizenship is important. Most of us, most of the time, want to belong, to be part of a community where we are valued and treated with respect. Moreover, the world, with its many and varied communities, can only thrive when the members of particular communities act to improve those communities. Citizenship is the bricks and the mortar of community life. May is exploiting the concept of citizenship for two reasons. First to draw attention away from the enormous and increasing inequalities that exist between UK citizens. Second to scapegoat minority groups, like immigrants, who can be blamed for problems actually created by the powerful. Advertisement But it is May who does not understand what citizenship means; this is underlined by her declared intention "to transform Britain into a Great Meritocracy." For the term "meritocracy" actually means 'rule by the best', which is also what the Greek term "aristocracy" means. In other words, meritocracy is opposed to democracy, rule by the people. Citizens, as Aristotle said, take turns in ruling each other, whereas meritocrats are an elite group who rule over the rest of us. May is not alone in beginning her leadership with a lie. Cameron used his first party conference speech to tell us that "fairness includes asking those on higher incomes to shoulder more of the burden than those on lower incomes." He then went onto unleash an austerity programme that directly benefited the rich, the middle-classes and home owners, while slashing incomes and services for the poorest and for disabled people. So we can now expect policies, like the reintroduction of grammar schools, that will further entrench the interests of the elites. How stark the contrast between the message of Theresa May and the words of Nelson Mandela: "The time will come when our nation will honour the memory of all the sons, the daughters, the mothers, the fathers, the youth and the children who, by their thoughts and deeds, gave us the right to assert with pride that we are South Africans, that we are Africans, and that we are citizens of the world." Citizenship is an important concept which deserves better than to be misused by politicians seeking to pit us against each other and to narrow our sense of who we are. In truth I can be a citizen of the world, a citizen of England and a citizen of Sheffield. Politicians can't dictate to us which communities matter and which do not. Advertisement Nor should we be too concerned when some of us move from one community to another. In fact a community that is not open to new people, and who cannot cope when some leave, is not a community, it is a clique. The real risk is not that people move from one place to another, the real risk is that they will not be welcomed when they do. For, to have no community is the most fundamental form or injustice, even more extreme than any particular injustice, as the philosopher Hannah Arendt noted: "The calamity of the rightless is not that they are deprived of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, or of equality before the law and freedom of opinion - formulas which were designed to solve problems within given communities - but that they no longer belong to any community whatsoever. Their plight is not that they are not equal before the law, but that no law exists for them; not that they are oppressed but that nobody wants even to oppress them." It was to avoid this fundamental injustice that the UN Declaration of Human Rights places great emphasis on the responsibility of all countries to welcome the refugee and the immigrant. Yet in modern Britain the Government's explicit policy is to develop a 'hostile environment' to ensure that people are not only rightless, but also feel unwelcome. Government policy now seems to be developed in a fact-free world. The fact that immigrants work, pay taxes and contribute to British society has been forgotten. The fact that Britain is a society of immigrants has been forgotten. The fact that some people (including many Britons) have moved around the world seeking a different life for centuries has been forgotten. The only relevant fact is that many people are fearful for their futures and that pandering to prejudice is a useful tool for unscrupulous politicians. Thank heavens that Jeremy Corbyn has at last stopped Labour from adding its voice to this vicious chorus. In the end the irony is that this appeal to a narrow sense of citizenship is not even matched by a real sense of citizenship amongst the people of the UK. We have scarcely any control over our politicians or over our local communities. Increasing inequality divides us from each other. The real conditions of citizenship are undermined by policies that instead encourage passive obedience and consumerism. Advertisement CAMA Today, International Day of the Girl Child gives us an opportunity to reflect on the perils faced by young girls living in poverty around the world. Marginalised girls in sub-Saharan Africa are among the most vulnerable. Millions are desperate for a better life, and in grave danger of being exploited. They are the first to be failed by the system - at risk of early marriage and teen pregnancy, which can have huge ramifications for their physical and mental wellbeing. Advertisement People talk about child marriage causing these girls to abandon their education. But it's often a failing education system that's the real root of the problem. Imagine the irony of finding that transactional sex is your only means of securing funding for your education, then ending up pregnant, HIV positive or a child bride who is pushed out of school. All of these outcomes perpetuate the cycle of poverty. A quality, responsive education system is the key to breaking this cycle. That's what we need to focus on delivering. The Girls' Education Forum hosted by the UK's Department for International Development (DFID) earlier this year was a good example of the sort of galvanising activity we need. Among a number of commitments from academic institutions, NGOs and governments, DFID pledged a further 100 million to advancing education opportunities for marginalised girls. These are strides in the right direction. But there are two big things we must get right if we are to find telling solutions for girls' education. The first is that we need to ensure that investment supports a girl holistically, and that communities are deeply involved in making these investment decisions. Advertisement Investment needs to help tackle all of the challenges she faces as a young person trying to get an education. For example, funding a new school library is great - but we also need to think about whether she has shoes to walk to school every day. Whether she has the support of her family, her community and her government to make her believe she is entitled to an education. We have to look at the whole picture. The second is that we must draw on the shared experience of those who have lived and tackled the extreme vulnerability of marginalised girls, to ensure we're really addressing her needs holistically. They are the experts. They know what it takes to change the context for girls for good. I know the importance of this more than anyone. My life today stands in sharp contrast to my life as a girl in rural Zimbabwe, getting up at 4am, selling vegetables on the market with my grandmother, trying to make enough money to pay for food and my school going costs. I was fortunate to escape. With the support of my family, my community, and Camfed - an organisation committed to providing holistic, community-based support - I did well at school, went on to university, and became a lawyer. My story - of a girl struggling to maintain her grip on education - is the story of millions of girls around the world. So many of my friends in my rural village lost that grip, and my life is so drastically different from theirs today because of one thing: a quality education. Together with the first 400 young women who graduated with Camfed's support, I helped to create the Camfed alumnae network - or CAMA. We are now helping other girls get the same chance that we had. This network of women supports the next generation of disadvantaged girls in rural Africa get the education they are entitled to, providing mentorship, developing and leading education programmes, and working with communities and schools to create quality learning environments. Most importantly, they listen to the needs and challenges faced by these girls. Today there are 55,358 of us across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi. If we are to transform broken education systems in some of the poorest regions around the world, it's vital we start to find solutions that work. Today, on International Day of the Girl Child, I want to call for everyone - whether they are policy makers, non-profit leaders or everyday citizens looking to make a difference in the world - to listen to the real experts in girls' education. To listen to those, like our CAMA members, who know what it is to escape poverty through education. Advertisement Anton Chalakov via Getty Images The blood-smeared faces of Syrian children are staring at the civilised and asking us through tear-shot eyes: are we brave or cowards? Can we deafen ourselves to the noise of our first-world fears and do that single act which human beings are hard-wired to perform: help? It seems that Britain cannot. Britain will not offer sanctuary to the victims of the Syrian slaughter to the extent they could or should. We have muted the death-cries of a bombed-out nation, and have been rendered cowards because of it. Advertisement We shouldn't try and justify our cowardice with phrases such as 'it's not our war', or 'regional players should be involved' or even 'it will not solve the crisis'. However true all of these statements may be, they do nothing to dispel the reality that hundreds of thousands of innocent people are in danger of dying and need our help. The situation is not nearly as nuanced or complicated as some make it out to be. We have the means to help - we should help. It really is that binary. Thus far we've had our arm twisted to make only token gestures toward decency. If there is public scepticism, then our prime minister should lead public opinion to where she knows it to be right. With good words and sound arguments, they will follow. It's sort of what leadership is all about; without it, leaders are just soundbites and sassy shoes. Merkel's brave, inspiring policy was done without Germany's understanding. Trudeau, in his approach to the crisis, has taught the world how to be humane and how to lead a nation to humanity, and to become a better nation because of it. National identity is not diminished by offering refuge to the needy, it's only enhanced. I wonder our reaction if one million Norwegians found themselves homeless and persecuted. I imagine we would be plumping the cushions, making up the spare bed and Googling herring recipes before they had even asked for sanctuary. All worries that we didn't have the resources would soon find themselves answered. Agatha in her chunky sweater is a more comfortable prospect than Abdul in his robes. But suffering is suffering; torture is torture, irrespective of the outerwear and facial hair. It is terrifying to think that we will not help the Syrians because they maybe Muslims. Once this is accepted logic, where do we go from here? The 1930's shows us where the road could lead. But we haven't always been cowardly. We are the nation who helped instigate the kindertransport, took in thousands of Vietnamese boat-people and sheltered the Ugandan Asians after Idi Amin's purge. We have always been the nation that has led the charge in the name of care; we are the country who others follow. What has happened to us? Aside from the many individual acts of kindness and generosity, we watch, night after night, the torture and tragedy, and our national reaction is nothing more than a tut and gasp before we switch over to see who has won Strictly Come Dancing. Advertisement If we forget or refuse to honour our history of tremendous humanity, we forget who we are. We ignore a vital part of ourselves. Our kindness has defined us: it is who we are and what we do. If we fail in our duty to our national character now, we become changed. Being scared is natural, even honourable, but we can't let fear make us cowards. Let us not forget what is happening: homes destroyed, lives ended and childhoods savaged. We can sleepwalk to a darker place. Brexit has allowed isolationism to embed itself into the national character - suspicion could follow. Amber Rudd's silly policy suggestion about foreign workers was met with shock but not the horror that it would have sparked ten years ago. We are changing. The rational-backstop to our cowardice is that If we take in the Syrians then who is next? If there is another tragedy on the scale of Syria, then we open our doors again, and again and again: humanity demands it. Refugees only ever want to go back home when they can. And the Syrians will, once their homes are rebuilt and their streets aren't stalked by terror. But that isn't the point. We shouldn't need safeguards or assurances in return for our assistance. We never have in the past. Neil Jones/PA Wire "A change is gonna come" rifted the PM this week, in Birmingham, evoking memories of the legendary Sam Cooke. The Tories are the supporters of "working class people." We'll see, but one must borrow from one of Sam Cooke's most famous covers and ask in reply: who will stand by the workers now? First, the case for the Government. The Conservatives have been (very) good at creating jobs, relatively poor at creating well paid work and utterly hopeless at defending workers' rights. The Conservatives also set out their stall for a "hard Brexit" this week and we can look forward to stringent new immigration controls which will mean that it will become harder for many foreign workers to find jobs in the UK. Advertisement More particularly, the direction of travel over the past 5 years has been away from protecting workers' rights and towards favouring business. Corporation tax was reduced to 20% in the last Parliament and further reductions are indicated. At the same time, the qualifying limit for unfair dismissal was increased from 1 to 2 years; Employment Tribunal fees were introduced which have slashed the number of ET claims by 70%, and the Government has put the Trade Union Bill 2016 on the statute book with the aim of curbing strike action through ballot turnout thresholds. These are all "business friendly" iniatiatives but they somewhat belie the claim that the Conservatives are the party of the worker. That said, the appointment of Matthew Taylor to head-up a review on worker status and the "uberisation" of the UK economy is a progressive and welcome move http://www.cityam.com/250477/theresa-may-appoints-blair-policy-expert-review-employment What about Labour? Their recent record is even more chequered. A half-hearted campaign in support of continued membership of the European Union might prove to be one of history's bigger betrayals of workers' rights. Most of the workplace's "progressive" legislation over the past 20 years has come from Europe: equality legislation, working time rights even (dare one say it) TUPE. Now, none of these rights will be guaranteed. More fundamentally, Labour simply does not "get" the UK's flexible workforce. It does not understand that most agency workers, for example, are women and they choose agency work because of its flexibility and (in many cases) higher hourly rates of pay. The party of the NHS failed to read (as I did) the response to the Government consultation in capping hourly agency pay in the NHS: there were literally hundreds of very personal case studies by nurses on how they depend on agency pay to meet their weekly bills and childminding commitments. Labour doesn't get that the future direction of the UK workforce will be bottom up, not top down. Advertisement But enough about the workers. What about poor, beleaguered business? The policy reactions from the CBI and IOD this week were unusually sceptical. Many businesses fear a "hard Brexit" and being shut out of the single market. The pound is plummeting. Amber Rudd has floated the idea that businesses will have to list all foreign workers: https://www.politicshome.com/news/uk/home-affairs/immigration/news/79644/amber-rudds-brother-condemns-denigration-foreign-workers. The City is terrified at the prospect of losing EU passporting rights for financial service transactions http://uk.businessinsider.com/britain-and-the-city-of-london-could-lose-eu-passport-rights-2016-9?r=US&IR=T The tech businesses in London's Silicon Roundabout do not want Tier 2 visa controls imposed on European nationals. Ultimately, poor growth will result in fewer jobs and lower wages. We should be trying to liberalise the UK workplace not erect trade barriers. A Government ideologically committed to a hard Brexit risks a generational rupture with business. I was there the first time my father saw the psychiatrist. I think it was the only time, in his study at home. I remember I was seated behind him, a bit to the side. A little out of the way. She might have noted, in the bone dry terms of psychiatry's mental state exam, that a superficial rapport was established. Walking down the corridor afterwards, my father still seated by the fire, the psychiatrist asked me, "is there a shotgun in the house?" "Yes," I replied - my father used to farm. "Find a new home for it please." I suppose she had some initial thoughts about what was wrong. She prescribed some medication and requested a head scan. A community psychiatric nurse paid him visits- described by my father, not unkindly as "a little bully". Advertisement The scan results came through several months later. But my father never saw them. He had hung himself from the oak tree behind the house a few weeks earlier. That consultation I sat in on, invited by my father for moral support, was one of the last I witnessed before qualifying as a doctor. His suicide coincided with my first weeks on the wards. I work in psychiatry now and sometimes look back at that consultation and the approach it represents. For severe mental illnesses a growing body of evidence is suggesting it to be flawed. There was little dialogue, but mostly a series of closed questions. There was little invitation for his family to be involved. Underpinning the approach is the fantasy that the medical expert can diagnose an illness to cure through a battery of technical interventions- drugs and behavioural therapy for example. My father had good reason not to be enamoured by psychiatry. He would have witnessed the slowing, stiffness and tremor of his mother before her death: side effects of the generous lashings of antipsychotics prescribed in those days, symptoms of a casual negligence. He would also have seen the effects of electro convulsive therapy on her. She attempted suicide with a shotgun, but like her son many years later, succeeded with a rope. Advertisement I believe that with greater involvement of his family and other social networks my father might have had a stronger chance of recovery. This is sadly often the case for people experiencing severe mental illness. In a 2014 Care Quality Commission service user survey, only 55% of those surveyed found that "a family member or someone close to me was involved as much as I would like." This can lead to poor collaboration: only 42% felt that "mental health services understand what was important in my life," with only 41% stating "services help me with what is important." Open Dialogue is an approach that marks a departure from such care. It was developed in Western Lapland in the 1980s for the treatment of acute mental illness, such as psychosis. A fundamental principle is that treatment is carried out via meetings involving the patient together with family members and extended social network. The focus on promoting dialogue is primary and, indeed, the focus of treatment, to create the opportunity for patients and families to increase their sense of agency in their own lives. This represents a fundamental culture change in the way mental health professionals talk to and about patients. Open Dialogue has spread across much of Scandinavia and beyond. In Berlin, mental health commissioners only purchase approaches embedding an Open Dialogue approach. New York recently invested $50 million in an Open Dialogue service. The variant used there integrates peer workers into the model, and has inspired 'Peer-supported Open Dialogue' (POD) in the UK. Its growing popularity is because it appears to work. In a two year follow- up study comparing the approach to conventional treatment, patients were found to have mild or no symptoms in 82% of cases with the new approach, compared to 50% with usual treatment. Antipsychotic prescribing was reduced by 65%. In a subsequent 5 year follow up, 86% of those treated with the approach had returned to work, a rate that mental health services in the UK could only dream of. Dr Russell Razaque is a consultant psychiatrist in North East London who is taking a lead on the development of the Open Dialogue approach in the UK. In a recent talk he gave, he was challenged on the feasibility of the approach, given one of its key principles- psychological continuity: the same team is responsible for treatment (engaging with the same social network) for the entirety of the treatment process. Retention and continuity of medical and nursing staff can be a problem for mental health teams and patients in the NHS. Dr Razaque suggested that the issue might resemble the problem of the chicken and egg- that burnout, low morale and high staff turnover is related to the system of care we work in and 'administer'. Advertisement I can relate to his point. I have sometimes stopped en route to work, unsure how much longer I can continue. There is a sense of betrayal to my father and grandmother by working in a profession that failed them and is the only medical specialty to have its own survivor movement, not from the illnesses it hopes to treat, but from the ministrations of the profession itself. scarletsails via Getty Images There are many things I don't understand about American politics and it has been suggested - just last week, in fact - that as a non-American, I shouldn't write about American issues. But I can't stay quiet about Trump. Especially not when I heard that a large portion of his support comes from the Christian Right. So, one of the first things I fail to understand about American politics is how influential the Christians are. In the UK, our politics are largely secular - Christians do lobby for specific causes but they don't work together as a bloc. And most individual Christians I know tend to be quite left-leaning - working on the Acts principles of pooling our resources for the common good (some more literally than others). So the concept of a powerful Christian Right that can change the outcome of an election is quite alien to me. Advertisement But even most alien to me is how anyone who calls themselves a Christian can possibly consider voting for Trump. He is a despicable person. Let's start with his attitude towards women - he talks down to them, makes sexual innuedos, advocates sexual assault. Does this sound like a person you should be voting for? He has no understanding of reform and redemption. When caught out on camera describing his technique for "grabbing" women, he just dismissed it as being ten years old and said he'd changed since then. But how has he changed? Has he repented for talking like that and demonstrated his reformed character? I see no evidence of it. We as Christians believe that no-one is beyond redemption but to be redeemed, you first need to repent. You need to be sorry. He is only sorry that he's been caught. Then there's the xenophobia. Of the many things that were remarkable about Jesus, what was the most controversial at the time? I would argue it was his love of the foreigner. When he talks to the Samaritan woman at the well, he breaks two of the great taboos - talking to women and talking to a Samaritan. In this act, he shows his great love for all humankind despite contemporary prejudices and traditions. Compare this to Trump's Mexico wall. And ask yourself - is this a Jesus-like way to behave? Onto the taxes and I know it's one that not all Christians subscribe to, but I believe it's godly to pay your way in society. What did Jesus say when challenged on the issue? "Render unto Caeser what is Caeser's". He also had a few choice words for those store up riches on Earth - forever building bigger barns - so you have to wonder what he'd say to the super-rich Trump. Also, he lies all the time...which I believe is breaking one of the ten commandments. Advertisement I'm not one for taking specks out of others' eyes and so I wouldn't want you to think I'm just sitting here and pointing out Trump's sins for fun. I'm doing it because I truly believe this man would be a danger to the world if he's elected. He would push women's rights back by a century, stir up hatred and violence and quite possibly detonate the nuclear arsenal. He's impulsive and easily angered - is this someone you want in the role of leader of the free world? As Christians, we carefully select our church leaders on the basis of their integrity, leadership skills, godliness, truthfulness, wisdom....the list goes on. If you're a Christian, ask yourself - does Donald Trump display all of these qualities? I can see why he appeals to the Christian Right - I really can. There is, regrettably, misogyny running solidly through the American church and so Trump's women-denigrating isn't bothering the Evangelical Executive Advisory Board. He claims to stand for Family Values - i.e. he's pro-life - and obviously, he has XY chromosomes, which makes him instantly more qualified that the other candidate. But assuming you're not a far-rightist who sets fire to abortion clinics, can I urge you to think and pray about this decision? Trump is not a Christian. He doesn't act like a Christian. Sure, he claims to attend church and collect Bibles but his character tells us otherwise. And if you can't scrutinise a man's character when he's attending the most important job interview in the world, when can you? Margaret Thatcher must be turning in her grave. As politically dreadful as she was...and the government she led destroyed whole communities...no one could doubt that she was personally ambitious for Britain. She couldn't stand, as she put it in the late 1970s, seeing "Britain in decline." Move the clock forward a decade or so. Tony Blair must wonder what's happened to the legacy of his broadly successful and social democratic first term from 1997 to 2001. Advertisement I remember him speaking, at the tail end of the Major years, of the Tories lack of ambition for Britain, how they had run out of ideas and were bereft of any kind of vision for the future of our nation. And, though the shine soon came off, it did indeed feel like a 'new dawn' had broken on the early morning of May 2nd 1997 when we, almost as one, had chucked out the 'bastards' of the Major years and elected a new government which at least appeared to have a plan, a programme, a project which would enhance and make better our general wellbeing. And, as my party's leader Tim Farron has done, we can give a fair amount of praise to that first term new Labour government for its achievements...peace in Northern Ireland, devolution, significant investment in health and education, a broadly ethical foreign policy (a reminder that I'm on about Blair's first term here...there's no doubt something significant and, in my view, hugely negative changed in Blair from late 2001 onwards) and so on. Move the clock forward again to today, to 2016. Neither of our major political parties seem to have any ambition for the United Kingdom. Theresa May's rhetoric may sound like she's setting out some great vision. She speaks of a 'Great Meritocracy' and so on. But look at her actual programme (or, at least, what we know of it) and not only is it pretty thin gruel but even what there is seems to be hugely regressive and needlessly harsh. Advertisement Increasing selective education by allowing many more new grammar schools. Saying 'Brexit means Brexit' but, clearly, having no real clue at all what that actually means. And, turning to the dark UKIP-like underbelly of this Tory government, the suggestion...which seems to be being rolled back by Ministers...that companies should list their non-British born employees and, indeed, that schools should list their non-British born pupils. This kind of hard-Right politics is insular, divisive, backward-looking. This is nasty, cruel, black-hearted fare. No-mandate May's conservative programme is about as far as you can get from Ronald Reagan's vision of a nation as a 'shining light upon a hill.' So, what of the Labour Party? Well, who thinks Jeremy Corbyn's far-Left Opposition has a compelling and ambitious programme for Britain? Whilst there are some good people in Labour-who understand the need for them to be both pro-business and pro-enterprise, as well as pro-fairness and equality-they are not those in charge of their party any more and it would appear won't ever be again. Those in charge of Labour today are not people who want equality of opportunity-as I favour-but, rather, equality of outcome. Advertisement They want a hard-Left, Socialist Britain. They have become unelectable and, therefore, leave Britain with little choice economically and politically. But, you know, there is a third way. A way that is neither the hard-Right nor the far-Left. It is the Centre-Left Liberal Democrats. We are the rational radicals and the pragmatic progressives. We combine the best of two great political traditions: Liberalism and Social Democracy. Not for us outdated or extremist ideology. We are now the only Britain-wide political party who believe both in the need for an enterprising economy that creates good, well-paid jobs for all, as well as a genuinely fair society with a strong welfare state, a properly resourced National Health Service and real opportunities for all regardless of their background or present circumstances. We also believe in our global obligations. We are, proudly, an internationalist party who recognise the need to help the least, the last and the lost wherever they are found. We are ambitious for a UK which is a strong part in the European Union and, whether in or out, we will make that case. And we are the only party who knows that we need liberal not authoritarian responses to many of the challenges we face. Advertisement We Liberal Democrats are ambitious for Britain and, indeed, for the world. Ambitious for a UK which is open, tolerant and united. It is because more and more people increasingly recognise this that so many people are joining us and voting for us. We Liberal Democrats are the only party which stand for hope, rather than fear. So, be hopeful. If we have the faith and commitment we can change course. We can and must build a better Britain, in a fairer world. Fuse via Getty Images So the presidential election is now turning into a spectator sport for non-Americans, waiting for the next revelation to emerge from the Trump campaign, baffled by the tenaciousness of 'the Donald' as he continues to hang on and remain in the race. Last week, before his most recent salacious faux pas, I was contemplating that the situation between ourselves and our American cousins somewhat resembled the gender politics of dating, in that having been beguiled and left bereft by Naughty Nigel, England looks to her good friend on the other side of the Atlantic and wonders how she can warn her about getting into a similar tryst with Dastardly Donald, but doesn't want to interfere... In the light of the weekend's news, however, it seems that the time may now have come for that 'do you know what you are getting into' chat between friends. Evolutionary psychology can offer some insights into this situation, and underpin some salutary warnings. In 1982, Dutch anthropologist Frans de Waal published his now world famous book Chimpanzee Politics, which followed the fortunes of a troop of chimpanzees at the Arnhem Zoo, most particularly the alpha males vying for the leadership of the pack. Many similarities have since been drawn between human and chimpanzee male dominance tactics, notably by US Speaker of the House of Representatives Newt Gingrich in his 1994 suggestion that new congressmen read the book. Advertisement All of this might initially seem quite amusing; this week's so-called 'water cooler debate'. However, we can find a similar, far more deeply troubling excusal in the letter from Stanford rapist Brock Turner's father in which he objects to his alpha male son's punishment as a 'steep price to pay for 20 minutes of action' with a comatose female. Such a perspective is rooted in the same objectification of women that Trump uses in his boast that because he is rich and famous he can 'do anything' to another human being to satisfy his own ends. And of course, this boast goes far beyond sexual relationships; the alpha male uses a standard pattern of dishonesty to ensure his success through the ballot box: create a threat, then play on the fear aroused by intimating the need for a 'strong man' who will take care of everything, being careful to offer no specifics, only generalities. It was of course this technique that propelled Britain into the current Brexit debacle; and of course, the 'strong man' ideology that underpinned European Fascism in the mid-20th Century. Advertisement While this essentially primate cult has recently led Britain onto the rockiest road that it has encountered since it stood alone against the might of the Nazis in 1940, there is still time for our American friends to step back from their precipice. While events in Britain have propelled a female leader to power to clean up the mess that alpha males have left behind, the US may yet more wisely choose a female leader to prevent them toppling off the edge in the first instance. However, first of all, Hillary Clinton has to avoid becoming invisible as Trump attacks her equally alpha male husband, a (literally) tall order given the human instinct to focus on the male display during adversarial exchanges; a pitfall that she did not wholly manage to avoid in the most recent presidential debate. There are pervasive myths that older people are stuck in their ways, lack creativity and dynamism and cannot cope with new technology. This is reflected in ageism in hiring. According to research firm Payscale, the median age of a worker at Facebook is 29, at Amazon it is 30 and at Microsoft 33. In 2007 at age 22 Mark Zuckerberg profoundly stated, 'Younger people are just smarter. Why are most chess masters under 30?' Little wonder then that Bloomberg reported that 150 of the USA largest tech firms were sued 226 times for age discrimination from 2008 to 2015. There were more suits for age bias than for racial or gender discrimination. I was recently fortunate enough to see Woody Allen play clarinet with his band at one of his occasional gigs in New York. The actor, playwright, director and musician is 80 years old. He has made over 40 films including one this year, Cafe Society. Allen has won four Academy Awards: three for Best Original Screenplay and one for Best Director for Annie Hall which was named the funniest screenplay by the Writers Guild of America. He also won nine British Academy of Film and Television Arts Awards. He is dramatic proof that old people can be creative and dynamic. Advertisement Of course some older people are complacent, stubborn and technology averse - but so are some youngsters. There is little or no academic evidence that creative achievement declines with age. Some studies show that pure creativity shows a slow decline after the age of 30 but there is a compensation with wisdom gained from experience. Many great artists, writers, scientists and business people did great work in their advance years. Consider these examples: Steve Jobs was 52 when as CEO of Apple he launched the iPhone in 2007. In 1961 at age 59 Ray Kroc bought a small restaurant chain from the McDonald brothers and over the next 14 years built it into a mighty empire. Bill Gates at age 60 is highly active in leading his foundation fight malaria. The Italian painter Titian created some of his greatest masterpieces in his 70s and 80s. Michelangelo remained a brilliant sculptor, painter and architect into his 80s. Woody Allen continues to make films and play jazz clarinet at 80. And older people seem to be getting smarter. The average age of Nobel prize winners has increased significantly. According to a study reported in Nature 'comparing discoveries made before 1905 with after 1985, the average age at which physicists made their discoveries rose from 37 to 50. Chemists' average age rose from 36 to 46 and that of medical scientists from 38 to 45.' As regards Chess Masters, most gain their grand-master title in their 20s. The average age of the top 100 grand-masters is around 30 and there are many much older. The Russian, Viktor Korchnoi, remained one of the strongest players in the world into his 80s. The current British chess champion, grand-master Michael Adams, is 44. Advertisement Did you know 1.2% of the UK population suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? This week (9th - 15th October) is OCD Awareness Week which aims to raise awareness of the condition and show there is support out there - you aren't the only one suffering from this condition. Many of us have irrational thoughts from time to time, such as 'if I don't check the house alarm is on when I leave then someone will break in', but when these thoughts start to wreak havoc with our everyday lives such as affecting relationships or interfering with your job then OCD is diagnosed. There are two factors to OCD; the obsessions and the compulsions. Obsessions are the thoughts, ideas and urges which feel impossible to ignore and can be very persistent. These thoughts can cause a great amount of anxiety, particularly if they are distressing thoughts about causing harm to someone you love, whilst compulsions are the rituals we perform to rid ourselves of the anxiety we feel from the obsessive thoughts. For example, someone who is worried about being dirty and becoming ill, might feel as though they need to wash their hands frequently. For someone suffering from OCD, they feel as though they need to perform these compulsions or something bad might happen to a loved one. Advertisement Most OCD sufferers know their obsessions and compulsions are irrational which can make it harder for them to seek help. Types of OCD include: Contamination - feeling the need to clean due to the fear of something being unclean and causing illness. Checking - feeling the need to check things in order to prevent damage, such as checking you haven't left appliances on, checking you've locked the door. Hoarding - feeling as though you can't part with useless and/or worn items. Religion - feeling as though you need to recite prayers and phrases a certain amount of times to restore your faith after having anti-religious thoughts. Advertisement Violence and sex - feeling guilt and shame over disturbing sexual thoughts. This type of OCD is known as 'pure-O' and ends with the obsessions - people with this type of OCD don't carry out compulsive acts. OCD tends to develop slowly over a long period of time so we may not notice what has triggered our symptoms. Usually, it is a combination of genetic factors and stressful life events such as bereavement, illness, a new relationship, retirement, financial stress, family problems, and childhood abuse or neglect. The cycle of obsessions and compulsions are involuntary and it can be very hard to stop. However, it is possible, over time, to regulate your compulsions through psychological therapies such as cognitive-behaviour therapy. Follow these tips to help manage your OCD symptoms: Talk to someone - talk to a friend or family member. Having someone close to you understand your situation can help you feel as though you're not alone. Seek help - speak to a counsellor or therapist. They can provide the help and support you need to regulate your compulsions and can help you understand the reasons behind your OCD. Advertisement Exercise - 30 minutes of exercise a day can help refocus your mind and release feel-good endorphins in the brain which helps reduce feelings of anxiety. Practice relaxation techniques such as mindfulness - this can help reduce stress which in turn, can reduce symptoms of OCD. Read self-help guides - they can provide you with structured programmes to follow. Our journey started on the day that Milo was born. Although my pregnancy scans had not picked up any problems, Milo was struggling to breathe and when he was just 72 hours old he went into heart failure. He'd been born with coarctation of his main aorta and three holes in his heart and needed a nine-hour operation. Once Milo had recovered, we finally felt like we could take a breather, relax and enjoy every minute with our baby. He'd been through his fair share of bad luck but we were focusing on the future. Not once did it enter our heads that at just three, we would have to face further devastating news about our little boy. A few months after Milo's brother Noah was born, I noticed that his appetite had vanished and he seemed permanently exhausted. Our GP referred us to hospital for more tests where he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of a rare cancer called Wilm's Tumour in both of his kidneys. He was just three years old. The doctor also broke the news that the cancer had already spread to his lungs, liver, abdomen and up the main vein to his heart. Milo started chemotherapy immediately and needed surgery to remove his left kidney. He later had surgery to remove the tumours on his right kidney. Advertisement By the time Milo was five, he'd been through so much but being the fighter he is, he started school. This was a huge achievement and milestone for us, and we felt so proud of him after all he'd been through. Everything was relatively smooth running for a while until Milo's cancer returned again. He had to go through more chemotherapy and stem cell transplant to successfully remove it. Following the second diagnosis we decided to have Milo's other kidney removed, as it minimised the chances of the cancer returning. Milo now receives dialysis three times a week, in Glasgow, and will do for the next two years, when, if he remains cancer free, he can have a transplant. For a child who has been through so much, he always has a smile on his face and is a very cheeky character! He's like any other boy his age, he loves Minecraft, you can't get him off it during his treatment, but that's ok, it's really time consuming so it keeps him happy and distracted. Milo is an inspiration to us all. He's already set his sights on the future and wants to be a chef when he grows up and we'll be there to support him every step of the way. Advertisement Photo credit: TK Maxx Give Up Clothes for Good There are a few questions writers get asked all the time, but one is particularly popular: "Where do you get your ideas from?" My answer is this: "I steal them." It's a glib answer but not entirely inaccurate. Ideas are found everywhere, from what's around you, to who you meet, and what you've soaked up throughout your life. If readers pick up my Darkmouth books and know what to look out for they will find references to Ghostbusters or Hot Fuzz, chunks of the Irish language, entire streets from my home town, mythical creatures inspired by cultures all around the world, and countless else I've picked up along the way. When writers get together, conversation around the internet tends to focus on how to avoid it stifling creativity. However, stories don't always require a writing room that doubles as an isolation tank, free from the distractions of the world. It took a while for me to admit it, but I'd be quite lost without such distraction offered by the world outside or life online. Those daily chance encounters and random diversions often offer a route out of trouble when a story hits a dead end. Advertisement The irony is that as a parent I have spent a great amount of time worrying about how much I want my own kids to be distracted, and how much the vast breadth of easily-accessible, bitesize content online could discourage children from sitting down and reading a story. However, we need not worry. New figures actually show that 2016 will be the biggest in the children's printed book market for the third year running. Kids love stories, regardless of whether they're improvised tales made up on the spot by the teller, printed in a book or presented on a digital device. Yes, they love their screens - but so did those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s. We were just limited by the channels available. What's more, access to Wi-Fi and the internet offers even more routes through which they can experience storytelling, as well as being a source of inspiration to kick-start their own stories - offering an entire world of stimulus. I use the web to find inspiration for all aspects of my stories: from exotic creatures and strange weapons, to Viking names, streetscapes and buildings. So, when I meet young writers looking for inspiration I tell them to find an interesting picture and write a story based on what they see and feel might be happening, or to open an online map and find the curiosities in there. Zoom in, wander through the streets and buildings. It's amazing how much exploration can be done without even leaving the books and vital digital resources of their library. Advertisement The BT and Barclays Wi-Fi in our community programme is a fantastic scheme, which provides free Wi-Fi and hands-on digital support to 100 libraries and community sites around England. As part of this programme, I've joined up with them to launch a creative writing competition for budding young authors. I've written the first chapter of a brand new story, and aspiring writers are being challenged to write the following chapters, incorporating elements from their local history and surroundings. It encourages young people to make use of the free Wi-Fi in their community centres and libraries to fuel their creativity. The competition is taking place in 12 sites across England and a winning chapter and author will be selected from each one. All of the winning entries will go into the final online story for everyone to read, making us all co-authors of the new book. As a writer, the idea appeals to me because I know from experience how the internet offers rich opportunities for creativity. If entrants are stuck for an idea, then they can find inspiration in an image, a map, old stories and legends. After that the only limit is their imagination. I'm excited to read what the young writers come up with, and hope they will create a shared story inspired by their own world: their town, their streets, their history and their lives. They can steal from all around them, but the story will always be theirs. WE MUST FIGHT THIS RETREAT FROM BRITIAIN'S LIBERAL AND OPEN-MINDED TRADITIONS. There, I've said it. In fact, by using capitals, I've SHOUTED it. Just like the UK's Sunday Observer did - heralding a virtually full-page editorial under this headline by quoting large chunks of it all over their front page. It. Is. Clearly. A . Big. Deal. And it truly is. The Observer opines that there is "a gross whiff of xenophobia" and "an inescapable undertone of racism and intolerance." Advertisement The cause: Brexit. Of course. In the newspaper's habitually fine writing, the government are characterised as "wreckers. They are reckless. They are irresponsible. They know only what they do not like." "There is a clear tendency......to interpret the referendum results as an unambiguous support for a divisive, right-wing agenda." The newspaper is, if course, absolutely right. But, to coin a modern idiom, "No Sh*t Sherlock!". Of course Brexit has been crucial in all this - part catalyst, part catharsis, part turbo-charged accelerator. Of course we - surely including some who voted Leave - knew in our gut, what forces were waiting in the wings, swivel-eyed lunacy legitimised, bedlam being brought home. That's why as we struggled to comprehend what we collectively had done on that June morning, a sense of disgust, incomprehension and fear gripped so many. So yes, Brexit is bad, but Brexit is real and in that sense nothing has changed these past three months. So just what is the Observer going on about? Might it be the slew of announcements from the Tory Party conference? It certainly was a busy week for them in Birmingham. I reckon Jeremy Hunt owes Home Secretary Amber Rudd a massive "thank you" as her musings on how businesses should name all their foreign workers eclipsed the proposals that we would end the "reliance" of the NHS on foreign doctors post-Brexit. Advertisement But as Ms Rudd's ideas were discussed, dissected and disposed of, evidence of one of those post-referendum changes was apparent on social media. Ok, social media is notoriously irrational, but comments in discussion threads about the echoes of pre-war Nazi Germany were certainly disturbing, although perhaps the comments themselves recalled for me haunting texts like The Secret Purposes or Dominion . But over the last couple of days, discussions with EU-born UK-resident friends has validated the on-line gloom (or is it vice-versa?). These are people whose roots here are established over decades, whose children were born here, whose contribution to our communities is objectively considerable. But they struggle to remain physically upright in the teeth of a gale of media-driven hostility, under a cloud of deliberately cultured uncertainty, clearly distressed and possibly depressed by the feelings of abandonment. However, this is not the target or destination for the Observer's epic editorial. Yes, Brexit is bad, the Tories are worse. But the third part is that Corbyn needs to lead. He needs to lead because, goodness knows, we must have an effective opposition. The Labour leader's position on and contribution to the Brexit debate has been subject to many, many debates. One thing I think we can safely assert is that his stance on this is not going to be changed by a newspaper editorial (however impassioned and erudite). So has the Observer's grand eloquence been to no avail? I think not, and here's why. Despite my wry "nothing new here" assessment, the Observer raises two really important points. This first, positively, is to link our struggles and debates today with those of over two hundred years ago when Thomas Paine wrote "The Rights of Man". The connection is valid and timely and reminds us that these are not trivial matters and we are not the first generation to have had to deal with them. Advertisement The second, less positively, is that the Observer editorial could have been subtitled, as is this piece, with "Who Will Save Us?" Well, we have a right to expect good governance, and some laws to encourage that. We have a legitimate expectation of strong leadership, and there can be no doubting the support for the leaders of both main parties from their peers. I believe too in an empowering state (along with, it seems, the Prime Minister). But ultimately, we cannot rely or expect anyone to do more to rescue us - if indeed we need rescuing - than we ourselves. The behaviours we model, the way we act, the choices we make, the interactions we have with each other. We have (usually) direct personal control over these things. No-one can take that responsibility away. But that personal control is also a huge opportunity and power for good. Hadia Tajik, the Vice President of the largest political party in Norway, was challenged on national radio by Health Minister Bent Hie; would she still punish drug users? Her reaction; being evasive, making a point of being against legalization and saying young people using illegal drugs at a party to 'act cool' should expect to be met with punitive sanctions. Dear Hadia Tajik; you are a talented politician who is going to get far and achieve many things. Still, when you say you want to be able to fine 18-year-olds who try drugs to 'act cool in front of their friends' and want to correct their behaviour with drug tests, criminal records and punitive sanctions - I would rather you leave drug policy to politicians in the Dept. of Health. Drug problems, after all, are and should be a question left to that area; coercion, correction and punishment are, at best, of little use; at worst, it contributes to pushing vulnerable people further out into the margins of society. To an extent, I can forgive you for not understanding this, as you had a different childhood from mine. Not only have I been to the party you are describing; I was one of the kids who tried cannabis to act cool. Where I grew up, I was one among many who did so. But for some of us the drugs and acting tough was more than an attempt to be cool; it was an escape from pain, from a traumatic childhood or a broken home. You say we have to find a fitting reaction for youth who try drugs. But not even I, who was living among these boys and girls, could know who were acting tough to get in with the cool kids and who were trying to escape painful memories of physical and sexual abuses. Advertisement Hardly anyone can know what underlying reasons for seeking out drugs, and you and your advisors being the exception is highly unlikely. We have to base ourselves on what we know from science: Those who end up as problematic heroin users have a more than 50 times higher likelihood than the average population of having experienced serious trauma in childhood. I know after years of hanging out with hard- as well as soft drug users that noone have a sign around their neck reading: "I had a traumatic childhood". On the contrary; frequently, those who appear to be the most successful and appear to be in control, are those who have to live with an inner chaos because of a brutal childhood. There are more examples that I know of, than I could count, and most of those who have told me more about their childhood, have reacted to the type of early intervention you advocate with anxiety, anger and apathy. It has caused them to feel isolated and marginalized. I especially remember one concrete episode that I want to recount to paint a picture of the mechanisms at work: We were a bunch of guys with more or less resourceful parents, and every single one of us tried cannabis and other illegal drugs, to, as you say, act tough. But there were exceptions among us, exceptions where the parents were absent. These guys compensated by acting extra tough. One day our parents, teachers and local police had enough of our gang getting tougher and tougher. Something had to be done. The luckiest ones had parents who took matters into their own hands, and entered into drug control contracts with their own parents; consisting of voluntary urine controls done either by the school or local police. But there was a minority among the guys in our gang whose parents did not have the resources to contribute, and they let the government use whatever available means to handle the situations that arose. In those instances child protective services and police got a much more significant role; which cemented the gap between those of us who had parents who corrected us and those who did not have the time, resources or knowledge or maybe not even the will to take matters into their own hands. Those parents gave the task of correcting their offspring to the government - which at the time only meant the cops and their friends. Advertisement As a consequence the resourceful parents conspired to identify the less resourceful as the "problem" and concluded that "if only my son or daughter keep away from x and y, they will do fine". That was certainly a correct conclusion, but how did x and y fare? They were put into X-classes (they were actually called so at the time) and institutions, and got into more and more trouble with the police. Time passed and the resourceful kids mostly did fine "thanks to" the tools the school and police was so nice to lend the parents who themselves were doctors, lawyers and psychologists, while the toughest guys and girls, with the most painful childhoods and least present parents, were marginalized. The painful and indisputable truth is that they were pushed there, pressured and isolated, sacrificed to save the majority who statistically had done fine whatever the government did. When you make drug use among young people a question of judicial policy instead of health policy, you will end up in the following situation - in all small and mediocre cities in the following situation: The resourceful who to a large extent had done well no matter what, get help the do not really need, while those with the most painful experiences and least capable parents get that extra push they needed to end up at the bottom of the table, the end of the plank and finally, under a bridge with a syringe in their arm. This was exactly what happened to my friend Stephane and his now deceased girlfriend whose story I told in my very first contribution to the debate on drug policy. We, those from resourceful homes, did quite well - and probably had done so with or without intervention from the judicial sector. BirgitKorber via Getty Images Throughout history, the queer community has been marginalised, persecuted and overlooked. Queer figures are regularly omitted from the history books. However, Historic England has recently announced that six "historic LGBT venues" are being recognised for reflecting Britain's "queer history". This recognition, in the form of the iconic blue plaques, will include landmarks such as Oscar Wilde's London home and the residence of Anne Lister, described as "the first modern lesbian". This comes as a result of a research project by Historic England called Pride of Place, which encourages members of the public to contribute their own stories of LGBT+ events and people from British history. This project ties into the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in England in 1967, as the Tate Britain's Queer Art will also take place next year. Thus the question of how to commemorate queer icons from history is even more pertinent. Advertisement In 2013 the famous codebreaker Alan Turing was granted a posthumous royal pardon for his conviction in 1952 of gross indecency, and subsequent chemical castration, which was arguably the cause of his death by suicide. Although this is obviously a wonderful thing to have happened, it begs the question: why have all the other thousands of victims of persecution not received a royal pardon? Where is the justice for them? This is symptomatic of a wider issue in the commemoration of LGBT+ people and events. Certain people do, it is true, stand out in history for 'contributing to society', which Alan Turing most certainly did through his Enigma machine and work at Bletchley Park, but the struggles that these famous LGBT+ figures faced were just the same as those faced by every queer person at that time. It is for this reason that Pride of Place is such an important and beneficial project, as it promotes the sharing of real stories of ordinary people who deserve to be remembered and commemorated. However, another major issue with respect to the commemoration of queer history is the tendency to whitewash and ciswash historical events. The film Stonewall, released last year, epitomises this unpleasant phenomenon. It aims to portray the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York which sparked the beginnings of the mainstream gay rights movement, but was widely criticised for under-representing trans and non-white minorities, who in fact played a significant role in the riots. Indeed, the transgender black woman Marsha P Johnson was central to the unfurling of events, but is reduced in the film to a minor role, whilst the lead character is a cis white man. Although the intentions of the film were to commemorate this pivotal historical event in LGBT+ history, it succeeds only in highlighting one of the most significant problems in the queer community: for trans people and people of colour, commemoration and representation is even more scarce. Indeed, the houses to be recognised by Historic England all belonged to wealthy white people, and the Tate exhibition similarly features no non-white artists. Advertisement It is very easy, in commemorating an event, to think that simply saying how sad it all was and being thankful that it is over is enough. Yes, we should commemorate these queer icons from history, but not to the exclusion of others. It is important to remember that the struggle is not over for LGBT+ people, especially for the trans community and for queer people of colour. Their history is still relevant today, and we cannot simply bury that in gestures of remembrance which, though important, are ultimately passive. We should commemorate these LGBT+ figures, and recognise what they did. Let us not simply remember the events of the past, but rather let us be inspired by them to continue fighting for equality. oversnap via Getty Images When Theresa May emerged as Prime Minister following the resignation of David Cameron, a number of commentators noted a similarity between her and three-times elected former Tory Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The 'Iron Lady' and May have a similar air of ruthlessness about them, it was claimed. In July the Independent published an article claiming the public see many similarities between the two. After her first Prime Minister's Questions, the Guardian claimed 'Margaret Thatcher is reborn' in a piece which highlights May and Thatcher's similarities noted in newspapers across the political spectrum. But if there are similarities between our two female Prime Ministers then they stop at personality. Margaret Thatcher, who championed neo-liberalism, free markets and 'rolling back' the state is in stark contrast to Theresa May, who, in her speech to the Conservative party conference last week, declared her support for the politics of statism and economic interventionism. Advertisement There are areas that May is moving the Tory party and the government away from liberalism; economically and socially. Some people are claiming that she is moving into the centre ground. This is not entirely true. Economically, it might be - leaving behind a free-market, neo-liberal approach for an interventionist one is a move towards the economic policy of the Lib Dems and Labour (though not to the interventionist extremes of John McDonnell). In her conference speech, which upon hearing the late Thatcher would be turning in her grave, May said "where markets are dysfunctional, we should be prepared to intervene" and "we must set the market right". She spoke of the power of government, repeating the phrase "because that is what the government can do". RIP economic liberalism. While this interventionist economics may be a move towards the centre, socially she is moving the Conservative party and the government away from it. It is becoming socially illiberal and authoritarian - abandoning the values modernisers brought to the party under Cameron. Margaret Thatcher was never inherently socially liberal. When David Cameron took over as leader he, and other 'Tory modernisers' looked to bring the Conservative party 'into the twenty-first century', to use a cliche. He continued a similar economic approach to Blair, who had adopted large parts of the neo-liberalist economics of Thatcher, but reformed the Conservative party into much more of a socially liberal party. The prime example of this is his government legalising gay marriage. But May is leading her party away from this. She has never been a liberal, her time at the Home Office tells us this much. The 'Snoopers Charter', for example, as well as the treatment of overseas students under her regime shows us that the liberal ideals of tolerance won't be a part of her government. In perusing a 'hard Brexit' she is adopting the populist views which led to Brexit in the first place. May is appeasing those who share UKIP's beliefs: anti-immigration and social authoritarianism. Advertisement Theresa May has destroyed liberalism within the Conservative party, for now. Jeremy Corbyn has destroyed liberalism in the Labour Party; his 'new kind of politics' is a return to the illiberal and socialist (thus authoritarian) old days before from New Labour made the party electable again. And our only self-declared 'liberal' party, the Lib Dems, is performing worse than the populist-right-wing UKIP. For now it seems that liberalism is down and out. Economic and social liberalism in the UK has been replaced by populist politics, fueled by Brexit. Getty Images It was June 2014. I had been married for six months and life was good. Then, I found a lump in my breast and was asked to come to our local hospital for the results of a biopsy. As we sat waiting my husband seemed really nervous, but I just felt that the results couldn't possibly be bad news. How could they? I was 31, fit and healthy. When the doctor said: "I'm sorry, but it is breast cancer", I just couldn't believe it. The very next thing she said was that they would look to 'cure me completely'. This was what I hung onto as we shared the news with friends and family: 'They are going to cure me.' Advertisement I went through nine months of both physically and emotionally gruelling treatment. As treatment came to an end I began to feel like myself again and started looking forward to the future. It wasn't easy to relax completely, as in the back of your mind you have this fear that the cancer isn't done with you yet. It's hard to be rational about aches and pains - is this a headache or a brain tumour? I had an A4 sheet explaining what symptoms to look out for, but it meant I would have to be the judge of what needed to be checked out. Without regular oncology appointments I felt like I didn't have a safety net. In September 2015 I began to experience a pain in my chest. It wasn't getting better with pain killers and I couldn't pick up my three-year-old daughter Phoebe. My GP reassured me that it was most likely a pulled muscle. When I saw my oncologist again in November, ready to be discharged completely, he decided to do an MRI scan - just to be safe. When I came to the results appointment and saw the breast care nurse waiting with him, I knew. I knew what he was going to tell me and I started to shake. Advertisement The scan showed I had a 2.5cm cancerous area in my breast bone; that my cancer had spread and reached stage four. It was incurable. Telling my husband and parents about my secondary breast cancer diagnosis was the hardest thing I have ever done. I felt I was breaking their hearts for the second time, and this time there wasn't that hope that it could go away. After being diagnosed with secondary breast cancer there was no sense of immediate action. My treatment now is much more about watching and waiting, living from scan to scan. I sometimes feel as though I've been written off. That's why I'm campaigning with Breast Cancer Care to make sure that women like me living with incurable secondary breast cancer can be certain they will get the care and support they need. My oncologist says that now it's about balancing quality of life with quantity. For me, I just want quantity. I owe that to Phoebe. Advertisement My biggest fear is not being there for her as she grows up. She's just started school, a huge milestone. I want to enjoy these special moments but they also make me fearful for those I might miss. Now that Phoebe's older and the cancer has spread to my liver, I'll have to be more honest with her, particularly as I'm now having chemotherapy for the second time. We've had to take advice on the best way to explain things to her and we are slowly introducing the proper words to try and 'normalise' what's happening to me. We want to make this whole process as easy for her as possible but it's a very strange thing to hear her ask about "mummy's cancer". I don't want to scare Phoebe. I don't want to be the cause of her sadness. Children are inherently hopeful, and telling her I will never get better seems unbelievably cruel. I'm making a memory box for her, filling it with photos, CDs, letters and a diary I kept when I was pregnant. There's also embarrassing things like an old school report and a home-movie I shot with my housemates at university. I want her to remember me. Advertisement I am hoping that I can keep my cancer stable for a long time. The total uncertainty of my future means that although I can keep trying to be positive I must also prepare myself and my family for the worst. I jokingly quiz my husband on household trivia, like how often he should change the bed sheets. It's not always easy to be honest with loved ones, as I sometimes worry I'll upset them. When I was diagnosed, my breast care nurse put me in touch with the local monthly meeting run by Breast Cancer Care, specifically for women with secondary breast cancer. Talking openly with women going through the same thing gives me hope. These women offer so much advice and support, and together we can laugh and joke. I hope to go on laughing and joking for many more years to come. Attila Jakab, Managing Director, Infectious Media Advertisers almost universally recognise that programmatic can enhance the performance of their advertising. A few are even beginning to see it could be transformative for their businesses. But the road to developing market changing innovation is never usually a straight forward one and the evolution and growth of programmatic is no different. While investment in programmatic continues to grow apace, many advertisers are concerned about fraud, transparency and issues like viewability. Sensitivity to these problems is running high and will remain so until client and agency emerging technologies and best practices can deal with these issues and allow them to focus on building powerful brand and performance strategies. Most programmatic practitioners have or are putting in place the right tools to ensure brand safety, such as robust ad verification software and comprehensive domain and keyword blacklists. Advertisement Part of the problem though, is how advertisers set campaign goals for their agencies. Programmatic technology is evolving so quickly that best practice six months ago could now very well be redundant. In fact relying on old patterns of assessment, can often limit the impact and undermine the value of their spend. By focusing on metrics which are easily influenced by bots and fraudulent clicks, advertisers are actually adding to the problems, in effect exposing themselves to fraud and viewability issues and receiving a poorer return on their programmatic investment. Setting KPIs that incentivise agencies to purchase cheap inventory can increase the risk of exposing advertisers to non-brand safe inventory or fraud by 3-5 times compared to the higher cost ranges. Measurement by last event, impression-based CPA goals (which has been standard practice) will inevitably encourage a media buying partner to cookie bomb; drop as many cookies as possible with the hope that a percentage will convert, allowing them to claim these conversions. Advertisement It is unsurprising that clients stick to what they know and brief agencies accordingly. It takes courage to re-set your thinking and to experiment. Waitrose, the British supermarket chain, is a great example of how a re-think on programmatic can pay big dividends. The retailer wanted to measure the effect display had on their business, so they encouraged us to monitor the difference between users who were served a viewable ad and those who were served a non-viewable ad. Realising that programmatic display activity only delivered an uplift in conversions after serving five or more viewable ads to users, our work with Waitrose meant that we became the first agency to measure and optimise towards incremental conversions back in early 2014. It was an experimental approach that revealed the difference between traditional methods and the impact truly visible digital brand messages can have. On the other hand, we had a client who wanted to use a more traditional measure of post-impression CPA as their objective. We highlighted that it would be easy to hit this CPA target by simply doing the wrong thing for the brand - buying a lot of cheap inventory. The client was interested in seeing and comparing the different approaches so we set up the campaign initially to optimise to their preferred metric. As we started to buy cheap inventory to hit the target, viewability dropped, and the number of impressions that were flagged as dangerous (non-brand safe or fraudulent) went up tenfold. But because the inventory was so cheap, we were still able to hit the CPA target and drop post-impression CPA by 30-40%, by breaking our best practice rules. Post campaign analysis meant we were able to convince this client to shift tack and re-set their goals around an incremental approach based on serving audiences viewed impressions, and the effect of particular creative messages on their behaviour. Advertisement Breaking out of the herd mentality is brave, but investment in programmatic requires constant assessment and re-evaluation of what is possible. Right now that means connecting conversions to ads that were not just served, but actually viewed (by a human). The technology to do this is on the market and is proven and will evolve again in the near future. At Infectious Media, we use viewed impression-level data to measure incremental conversions for an increasing number of clients. Focusing on incrementality means viewability is at the heart of our approach to programmatic and, crucially for our clients, means cookie bombing is never an option and only the highest quality inventory is targeted. This approach can open up a world of opportunity for brands to plan and invest strategically and continuously to drive their businesses forward. Dear Miss, First of all, thank you for being an usher tonight. I've always had an admiration for what you do, and for the whole world of the Great White Way. Tonight, I was really excited to see one of my favorite musicals being revived on Broadway. I used to live for this stuff, and after being estranged from the theatre scene for a while, I still do love it. however, it's been hard to get back to that world after a few "medical detours." Physically and emotionally. I came to the theatre with an equal mix of nerves and dread. In my old life, I would have just hustled right to my seat, 20 minutes before show time, devouring every last page of my Playbill, maybe running down to the orchestra to see if I could sneak a look at the musicians, and eagerly hurried back to my seat with elated anticipation as the first booming sounds of the orchestra flooded the building with astounding resonance. But tonight, like every night I go to see theatre now, I felt like I was intruding on a world I didn't feel quite as at home in. I tentatively walked towards the ticket stand, with equal parts adrenaline and anxiety, as I anticipated explaining my unique medical situation to the house manager, taking in their stupefied look, and keeping my composure as I tried to answer their baffled questions as calmly as I could. Advertisement I get it, though - I would be confused too. It sounds weird that because of all of my surgeries, I can't sit down. I don't mind if I don't have a great view - I can just stay in the back, where I won't disturb anyone for the many times I'll be in and out of the bathroom throughout the show. No, I don't get tired standing, and yes, I'm used to it, and double-yes, I know it's weird. It's not a preference, it's a necessity. And I know it feels ridiculous that I can't wait until the end of a song to use a bathroom - I hate it too, and I certainly don't want to be a distraction. And the food - I get it. Nine bottled drinks in my backpack may seem excessive for a two-hour show. As do the six blocks of cheese stuffed in the side-pockets. But no, I can't wait until the end of the show. I don't have a stomach and it takes a lot of work and constant calories to keep up my weight - which I'm still trying to gain more of. I get it, I do. it's a lot of weird accommodations I'm asking for. Not your usual "I need wheelchair access" or "I can't handle loud noises" or something like that. And I know I'm asking you for a lot of favors, and then you have to get a manager of the house to approve, or a supervisor, and I really feel bad that you have to do all that for me, in addition to the hundreds of people that are still waiting to be seated, staring at this skinny little girl trying to manage a backpack twice her size. I try to be as chameleon-like as possible - just tell me where to stand, and I'll fade into the background, really. Whatever I can get out of the show, I will, although I'll probably miss half of it in the bathroom. I know in some ways, it's easier to stay at home, but I really am looking for quality of life here, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life saying, "well, maybe I should just be thankful I'm alive." I'm living, but theatre is what makes me feel alive. And I really want to see this show - I'm actually an actress, although you may never guess that from all of my requests right now. Advertisement Tonight was a bit complicated, I know. This theatre was super-strict about any food or liquid in the building, and I'm sorry, but my body doesn't make exceptions, even if a theatre has completely legit reasons and great intentions. So there was a little back-and-forth between my needs and the "powers that be" of the theatre, and the staff member was very understanding and was really trying her best to work things out. Maybe it's difficult to understand how rigidly I have to stick to my constant eating, standing and bathroom access. So I went downstairs to the general ladies' bathroom and just hung out there while the show started. I didn't know what else to do, and I felt like I was causing more commotion that I wanted. So I just waited there, trying to hear what was going on in the show through the speakers. I'm not upset about how hard it was for that usher to make these accommodations. I get that it's hard to appreciate exactly how extreme my crazy situation is. My stomach exploded, but that's another story - actually, I wrote a musical about it. See? I'm not just a sick girl with a disability, I do theatre too! I belong here! There is only one thing that made me upset. It's how I met you. You asked me a question when trying to work things out, which I really do appreciate. You came down, saw me in the bathroom, and before even introducing yourself, said "Are you the sick girl?" I hate that word. I really do. I immediately snapped back (and I'm sorry if that came across the wrong way, but it struck a nerve) "No, I'm not the sick girl. I have medical circumstances." Advertisement You didn't seem to be bothered by the difference in phrasing, and went on with your well-intentioned attempt to make my necessary accommodations. Eventually, it worked out, and thank you for helping me find a nice place to stand in the back and eat my cheese, while enjoying the show. But I really hope you heard me when I said "I'm not the sick girl." Believe it or not, I'm an actress. An actress that has a few extra...props and stage directions, I guess. What I really wanted to tell you is yes, I have crazy medical circumstances. And I hate them. I absolutely hate them and sometimes I want to scream like hell how unfair it is, that I can't even sit in a cozy velvet theatre seat, relax, and just enjoy the show. And more than that - I used to be just like those actors you're seeing up there now. I used to be SO in this world! Auditioning in New York, with an agent and everything. I knew all the latest composers, what the Broadway trends were, the most overdone audition songs to avoid at the time...that was me! I'm not just this skinny thing that should be in bed at a hospital, barricaded from the outside world. I have those moments sometimes, in and out of hospitals, but I'm strong, I'm vital, and I'm an actress, whether I also happen to be a patient or not. I want to tell you that I still do what I love, but in a different form, and hopefully inspiring people. I may not be up there with my Equity card, but I'm sharing my story through the magic of theatre - my addiction since the time I could remember. And maybe one day, I will audition again. Advertisement I know right now I look thin as a rail, I'm hunched over, embarrassed, insecure and trying not to feel ashamed that I can't behave like everyone else and not make a scene wherever I go. But for five years, I've been "making scenes" touring theatres, even some just a few streets down, singing, dancing and laughing about all of these medical nonsense. So you can call me whatever you want - weird, high-maintenance, difficult - although I really do appreciate all of the accommodations you are willing to make. But please, do not call me sick. I have medical circumstances. Circumstances that I cope with through the power of theatre. Circumstances that I wont let determine the course of my life. After the show was over, I went back into my life - with those same medical circumstances, as I frantically searched for a bathroom on the way back to my place. Whatever it was, I was going back to my life. A life that is so much larger than sitting or standing. So the next time you meet someone that needs special accommodations, please, don't call them the "sick girl." Hundreds of people mill in and out of a theatre every day. What if we judged all of them with the first label that comes to our minds? What if we judged all the actors on stage with the costume they wore? Advertisement Theatre's about opening up our preconceived notions. I hope I was able to do that for you. Even though all I said was "I'm not the sick girl." Maybe one day, you'll see my show, and meet the person behind the patient. And I really did enjoy the show, by the way. So thank you. I had a great view. Wishing you the best, Amy Trump's misogynist behavior, which by now we should fully expect, has released another fecal storm and everyone is offended. A New York Times headline read: "Tape Reveals Trump Boast About Groping Women---GOP Leaders Recoil in Shock." Cleaning up the language of the video in question, the Times reported that "Mr. Trump, then newly married to his third wife, Melania, crassly boasted about groping women's genitalia, vulgarly commented on their bodies and generally described women as sex objects who could not resist his advances." Among the shocked and offended were Trump's vice presidential running mate Mike Pence, who said: "As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump in the eleven-year-old video released yesterday." Paul Ryan was offended, actually "sickened" by Trump's comments. Many other Republicans joined the chorus. But here's the thing: I'm shocked that everyone is so shocked. Let's face it: Only very recently has the idea of men grabbing women's genitalia, or any other part of a female body, on the street, in the subway, or on a date, unbidden, been seen as sexual assault. For years, those unbidden grabs were friskily referred to by men as "copping a feel" and would never, ever have landed any guy in front of a judge, much less in jail. "Lighten up," was our directive. Advertisement Once in Greenwich Village a young guy in sweatpants who had been coming towards me suddenly grabbed my vagina; I ran after him for blocks, yelling and screaming, until, exasperated and humiliated, I lost him in the crowd. On another occasion, I was momentarily paralyzed, stopped in my tracks, as I watched a tall, slender, Brooks Brothers' guy walk off merrily swinging his briefcase after grabbing my ass as I ascended the subway stairs at West 57th Street in front of him. Thankfully, things are changing; this behavior is being recognized for what it is--a crime. What surprises me is that Republican Party leaders like Pence and Ryan, so self-righteously appalled by this image of Trump feeling empowered to grab a woman in her most private part, do this in legislatures every day. They effectively advocate forced childbirth by impeding women's access to birth control, morning-after pills, and safe, legal abortion. They comprise the health and lives of young low- income women by banning funding to Planned Parenthood and laboring to close down clinics, depriving these young women of all reproductive health and preventive cancer care. They vote against equal pay for equal work, paid maternity leave and paid sick leave. While they criticize Trump for his sense of entitlement to the bodies of women, they have the same sense of entitlement. They refuse to respect women's moral authority, spiritual beliefs or choices--to work or not work, to combine motherhood and career, to choose or reject motherhood, to carry a pregnancy to term, or not. They may not grab "pussy" the way Trump says he can, but make no mistake: they grab it, without apology. That, too, is criminal. When will lawmakers taking these liberties with women's bodies shock us, too? For the last 18 months, the National Center for Science Education has been conducting an experiment in Iowa City. Our question: Can a grassroots community effort improve understanding and acceptance of topics such as climate change and evolution that are societally, but not scientifically, controversial? We've been writing about the results on the NCSE blog, but if you missed them, here are a few recent highlights. "you can't do evolution outreach here" One of the reasons that many classroom teachers avoid or downplay teaching evolution and climate change is fear of controversy. Just one angry parent can have a stultifying and, often, lingering effect. So when we started talking about organizing Science Booster Clubs to bring hands-on evolution and climate change activities to community events in Iowa City, many people in local education circles were skeptical. A little more than a year later, after dozens of successful and popular events, the Iowa City Science Booster Club was asked to develop a science outreach booth focused on evolution at the Iowa State Fair. We estimate that some 10,000 people came by the booth in just one day. How did we get from "no way" to "more, please!" so quickly? Emily Schoerning, the National Center for Science Education's Director of Research and Community Organizing, tells the story here. Advertisement the secret to improving adult science literacy: it's not what you expect Sure, it's fun to do science activities at community events, but does it have any lasting impact? Preliminary results from our new Science Booster Club program in Iowa suggest that it does: scores on a stripped-down test of science literacy improved significantly in a community that held six events in the last year. Was it the brilliance of the programming? The skill of the presenters? No doubt that helped. But we think the answer may be simpler and more universal. Emily explains in her recent post: "Outreach With Impact". can graduate students change the world? why, yes. Yes, they can. What happens when you let a molecular biology graduate student out of the lab and put her to work facilitating fun science activities at a farmer's market? Changed lives, that's all. In "Nice to Meet You," NCSE's newest staff member, Claire Adrian-Tucci, describes how she was bitten by the science outreach bug, and how she felt when she saw "the light bulb come on above people's heads" after she handed them a thermometer and packed them into a small plastic greenhouse. NCSE Booster Clubs are scaling up Photo courtesy of Flickr Commons. Although the West has had an uneasy relationship with individuals of the Muslim faith since the Iran hostage crisis, after 9/11, two Middle Eastern wars, a regime change in Libya, and civil war in Syria, Muslims have become the favored target of the Western world. With anti-Muslim and other xenophobic rhetoric pushed into hyperdrive this election season, it's the sort of story American Jews like me are not entirely unfamiliar with. My grandparents, who had the foresight to stash money away in the Netherlands before their assets in Germany were frozen, fled from Hitler's Germany in 1938. Other less fortunate members of my family, whose ancestors in Westphalia had lived and often thrived as horse and cattle dealers for almost two-hundred years, never thought Germany would actually harm its own people - they were "Proud Germans" after all! - and didn't realize they should have left until it was too late. Advertisement Many may dismiss the notion that America could ever become a fascist state under a rogue leader such as Trump. They may be right, but what many don't realize is how similar our current situation is to Pre-Nazi Germany. Prior to Nazi-takeover, Germany was in fact a democracy with a highly liberal constitution. Then, in the midst of an economic depression, Hitler offered middle class Aryans a solution in the 1932 Presidential election - Germany's last democratic election before becoming a Nazi state - where he campaigned on a platform to strip Jews of citizenship and "guarantee jobs and benefits" for all who had "German blood." Interestingly, Hitler didn't even win. Paul von Hindenburg of the Independent Party captured 53% of the vote, beating Hitler of the National Socialist German Workers' Party by 16 points in a three-party contest. Shortly after, arch-conservative Hindenburg appointed him Chancellor, providing Hitler with a launching pad for his populist movement, supported by big business, to among other things, "make Germany strong again." That last phrase may sound a bit familiar. In any event, the appointment of this man who some considered to be "a clown" ended up being a tremendous mistake. How did this all happen in a liberal democracy? How did a man who in 1932 lacked majority support in Germany and actually lost Germany's last pre-Nazi democratic election end up getting Jews into ghettos seven years later? And then pull of "The Final Solution"? These questions and others have been addressed by many books, papers, and articles. (The Hitler Myth: Image and Reality in the 3rd Reich is a good starting point.) This article certainly won't answer them, though a moving passage from Milton Mayer's 1955 book, They Thought They Were Free: Germans 1933-1945, which examines illusions of freedom and the development of fascism in Germany, provides some crucial insight: Advertisement "That's the difficulty. If the last and the worst act of the whole regime had come immediately after the first and the smallest, thousands, yes, millions would have been sufficiently shocked. If, let us say, the gassing of the Jews in '43 had come immediately after the 'German Firm' stickers on the windows of non-Jewish shops in '33. But of course this isn't the way it happens. In between come all the hundreds of little steps, some of them imperceptible, each of them preparing you not to be shocked by the next. Step C is not so much worse than Step B, and if you did not make a stand at Step B, why should you at Step C? And so on to Step D. "And one day, too late, your principles, if you were ever sensible of them, all rush in upon you. The burden of self-deception has grown too heavy, and some minor incident, in my case my little boy, hardly more than a baby, saying 'Jew swine,' collapses it all at once, and you see...everything has changed and changed completely under your nose. The world you lived in - your nation, your people - is not the world you were born in at all." In these two paragraphs, Mayer sums up at least part of Hitler's genius: The brutality of Hitler's fascism may only have been matched by its banality, and its slow creep upon a nation. Although the reasons people obey authority while disregarding their own conscience are highly complex, Mayer highlights one rather simple and important reason why people do this: People fail to act on small, incremental steps. The Holocaust could not have happened over night. That's why there were five long years between the boycotts of Jewish businesses in 1933 and the massive violence of 1938, followed by the corralling of Jews into ghettos the next year. And then things got much, much, worse. Even if liberal democracies can be fragile enough to turn into Fascist states, is Trump the man who would do it? The Klu Klux Klan apparently thinks so, which is presumably why they endorsed him and stated "A lot of what he believes, we believe." Among their similarities Hitler had while Trump has a desperate need for power and adulation. But they also have their differences. While Hitler was deeply motivated to eliminate races and groups he believed were inferior, Trump who was considered not too long ago a "liberal's liberal," began a Republican Presidential bid as a publicity stunt, and during his current campaign appears focused on saying and doing almost anything to aid in his rise to power. In other words, he is not clearly driven by a personal ideological agenda. The thing is, this may not make him less dangerous as Commander-in-Chief. Using, for instance, Presidential Executive Orders (which may not be necessary, but are useful tools that carry legal weight) with a Republican majority in Congress and a right-leaning U.S. Supreme Court, it would not be difficult to imagine how this man who has been called a textbook narcissist and likely sociopath would eventually push aggressive anti-Muslim and other xenophobic policies - ones that may or may not break federal law - in order to please his most ardent supporters, many of whom hold deeply hostile views toward all Muslims and non-whites. (That's a simple example of how governmental check-and-balances don't always work or protect The Constitution.) It's true, he lacks any of Hitler's discipline that made him so effective, but Trump may not need it. Although Trump himself has little interest in governing, he has stated a preference for his cabinet to be populated by business executives and military generals who will follow his directives. As noted by Mayer, Hitler's slow crawl of escalating acts eventually forced the country to deal with its "Jewish swine" problem - a notion that in some form had infected the mind of at least one young infant. Several years from now, might some be calling for us to address the "Muslim swine" problem? Or, imagine if there were another major terror attack. No "slow crawl" necessary. Advertisement By Hong Soon-do, Beijing correspondent, AsiaToday As China prepares to introduce a new leadership in 2022, eyes are not only on Xi Jinping's likely successors or so-called sixth generation Communist Party leaders but the chosen few expected to come to power in 2030s when China might overtake the U.S.. At earliest, some of the seventh generation could be the objects of promotion discussion during the 6th plenary session of the 18th Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, which will be held from Oct. 24 to 27. According to a source familiar with China's political information on Sunday, such observations are not exaggeration considering the fact that the fifth leadership will officially leave office in 2022. The leadership of the next next generation generally receives spotlight five years ahead of the succession of the next generation leadership. It means that eyes are now on the seventh generation. Besides, China has its leaders planned far off into the future so the rise of the seventh generation can be seen as the reflection of the demands of the times. The particularly noteworthy leader of the seventh generation is Liu Jie, former secretary of Xinyu Committee of CPC. He is expected to be promoted to vice governor of Jiangxi Province in the near future. (Source: search engine Baidu) The seventh generation, which is often referred to as "qi ling hou" - those born in the decade of 1970s, is getting the spotlight by Chinese media outlets, including the communist party's flagship newspaper People's Daily. The particularly noteworthy rising star of the seventh generation is Liu Jie, former secretary of Xinyu Committee of CPC. Liu Jie is a technocrat who has been receiving the party's attention since young. He is yet regarded as the copy of Hu Chunhua, party secretary of Guangdong and the strong candidate of the next general secretary Hu Chunhua. It is widely rumored that Liu Jie will soon be promoted to vice governor of Jiangxi Province in the near future. Another noteworthy rising political star is Teng Gang, mayor of Xiaogan City. Both Liu Jie and Teng Gang are known to be leaders of the seventh generation. Teng Gang, mayor of Xiaogan City, is regarded as a rival of former secretary Liu Jie. (Source: search engine Baidu) Apart from them, Liu Jian, 46, party secretary of Xinjiang Atlay; Zhou Hongbo, 46, mayor of Nanning City; and Lian Yueqin, 45, deputy secretary of Huaian are also rising stars of the seventh generation. Wang Yi, 36, secretary of the Communist Youth League of Henan provincial party committee, is a young female cadre that stands out among her colleagues. She is on a fast track considering the fact that former general secretary Hu Jintao became a secretary of Gansu Province at the age of 40. Advertisement Wang Yi has become the secretary of the Communist Youth League of Henan provincial party committee in her mid 30s. If she keeps this momentum, she could become China's first female prime minister. (Source: search engine Baidu) Originally published in The Independent A recent poll published by the BBC suggested the majority of Brits don't think Islam is compatible with Western values, a thoroughly concerning finding considering how there are nearly 3 million people in the UK and 3 million in the U.S.A who ascribe themselves to the religion of Islam. This feeling of suspicion and anxiety towards the faith of Muslims is nothing new as Islamophobic sentiment continues to rise in the UK and is already rife in the U.S. The core Western values of democracy, freedom and justice can be seen as the bedrock of its civilisation. For practising, informed Muslims, freedom and democratic values are anything but new to them. Islam from its very outset advocated for complete freedom, justice and democratic values. It was Islamic injunctions which first spurred the great advancements made during the Islamic Golden Age from the 8th to the 13th century. Many are quick to point out though, how today, Islamic nations seem to have fallen into Dark Age depths. What one would find however, is this being a direct consequence of failing to follow Islamic injunctions faithfully, due to hardline clerical mindsets - as opposed to actually being a result of Islamic teachings. Advertisement From the outset, Islam has always advocated for a democratic form of governance, leaving it to the people to decide how and by whom they should be led. So any Muslim demanding Shariah Law forcibly be imposed in the West is not only entirely ignorant of Islam but insolent towards the freedom and opportunities Western countries offer - by which they spout their false ideology. To illustrate Islam's support for a democratic government, verse 4:59 of the Holy Qur'an clearly outlines the basic and main requirements for democracy. The people must take their vote as a responsibility and thus choose the most appropriate and suitable person to lead them. It then in turn exhorts those in authority to exercise justice. Further, it promotes dialogue and consultation to gauge public opinion and decide matters fairly as illustrated in 42:39. Muslims in the early era of Islam had this sense of responsibility. So when Islam itself supports a democratic form of governance and also requires Muslims to 'obey those in authority among them' (4:60), any Muslim speaking against the West while living amongst its freedoms is quite disingenuous. By the same token, those who really feel Islam isn't compatible with Western values ought to educate themselves on Islam's true teachings, even if some so-called Muslims won't. Advertisement Western Europe's largest Mosque (Photo by Ryan Taylor) If we take justice to be one of the Western values to be proud of, those unaware of Islamic teachings would be surprised to hear how the Qur'an strongly exhorts to absolute justice on more than one occasion (5:9, 6:153, 7:30) to the extent of saying 'Allah loves the just' (49:10). So much so that Harvard declared this verse as one of the greatest expressions of justice. Coming on to perhaps the most valued Western principle - and therefore the most contested issue around Islam - freedom, we find a similar tale. Those asserting Islam restricts freedom are grossly mistaken, or simply deceived by the oppressive political regimes in the Middle East - confusing the religion of Islam with oppressive political and dictatorial rule. What hardline Muslims and the uninformed so inexplicably miss is how, when the Prophet of Islam was forbidden to compel anyone in matters of faith, can his followers then have the authority to impose their beliefs on others? Time and again Islam's teachings uphold religious and personal freedoms. If dictators in the Middle East or radical Muslim preachers oppose the Prophet Muhammad in their words and actions then they're solely to blame. It doesn't mean Islam is incompatible with freedom or human rights, it means, hate-preachers and unjust rulers who claim to be Muslims are at odds with not only Western values - but the true requirements of their faith. The categorical verse, 'there shall be no compulsion in religion' states that no Muslim has the permission to compel anyone to follow their way of thought. This is supported by the well-known teachings of Prophet Muhammad who declared all men were free - no one being superior to another except by way of righteous conduct. He further took great steps to abolish slavery and liberate women in Arabia whose status as chattel was wide-spread. Speaking of such freedoms, a discerning mind is hardly required to consider how only after many centuries did the West do away with slavery. And it was only when women themselves started fighting for their freedoms with suffragette movements, did they finally win their right to be considered equal citizens. Advertisement Considering how Islam, a religion founded some 1400 years ago already expounded such values in primitive Arabia, the only conclusion one can reach is: Art and thought have long been adversaries of convention. When practiced with intention, both can call into question the moral legitimacy of social and economic norms kept (largely) in place to preserve the comfort of a few. So often is business and the drive for profit responsible for perpetuating these norms--and engendering cultural homogenization--that the notion of "corporate responsibility" is easily and justifiably scoffed at. However, rare cases occur when a business--typically helmed by an exceptional individual--demonstrates an earnest commitment to social justice or the promotion of free thought. Anand Mahindra, and his 18B dollar multinational group Mahindra & Mahindra do both. I first became interested in Mr. Mahindra upon watching him address the United Nations during the April 2016 signing of the Paris Climate Agreement. Mr. Mahindra was slated to speak just before Leonardo DiCaprio, and I expected him to make the requisite corporate responsibility pledge before Leo came out to drive home the historic nature and urgent necessity of the Agreement. Instead, Mr. Mahindra invoked the Indian myth of Samudra manthan, spoke of inner-consciousness, and the importance of ensuring "a more sustainable world that the human race will finally DESERVE to inhabit." I was not accustomed to hearing a businessman speak this way. His address was candid and eloquent, and evinced a spiritual depth rarely, if ever, found in the corporate world. I was heartened. Some time later I attended a conversation about race and racism featuring Homi Bhabha and Claudia Rankine at Eastern Michigan University. Intrigued by Bhabha's ideas on post-colonial India, I looked him up, only to discover that he served as the director of Harvard's Mahindra Humanities Center--a facility established in large part due to a 10-million-dollar gift made by Mr. Mahindra (a graduate of Harvard's Business School). Again, I found myself surprised by Mahindra, namely his commitment to a humanitarian agenda I long thought antithetical to bottom-line business. Advertisement Upon researching Mr. Mahindra further, one finds him to be a long-time advocate for education, equal opportunity, and creative expression. He is a founder of both Project Nanhi Kali--an NGO supporting and ensuring the education of young women in India; and Naandi Danone--the largest provider of safe drinking water to rural areas of India. His company, staying true to their Chairman's UN remarks, recently invested more than 350 million dollars in green energy. Mr. Mahindra's company has also, somewhat surprisingly, been at the core of funding the urban farming movement in Detroit, MI (where they have a U.S. branch). All of the above to say that when I saw the Mahindra name attached to a Blues Weekend happening in Chicago this Friday and Saturday I was far less suspicious than I otherwise would have been. The Mahindra Blues Weekend will take place at Buddy Guy's Legends nightclub and feature performances by prominent bluesmen Mr. Sipp and Jamiah Rogers (Oct. 7th) and Jimmy Johnson and Jimmy Burns (Oct. 8th). The two-evening festival is the American extension of the Mahindra Blues Festival which has taken place annually in Mumbai since 2011. The Mumbai festival, which remains Asia's largest blues gathering, was spearheaded five years ago by, you guessed it, Anand Mahindra. Mahindra developed his love for the blues through listening to legends like Muddy Waters and Chuck Berry, and has, in turn, brought living blues greats like Buddy Guy, Jonny Lang, Shemekia Copeland, and John Lee Hooker Jr. to the Mahindra stage in Mumbai. It may strike some as strange: the blues finding fanfare in India, but Mahindra says it's a fitting home: "The blues is a song of struggle, and you can see the pain of the people here (Mumbai), the deprivation is visible in this metropolis. But they're happy, optimistic people nonetheless." Mahindra's worldly approach to the blues and business will be on full display in the States this weekend. If you're near Chicago, love the blues, and want to give homage to a man (and company) committed to supporting the arts, get to Buddy Guy's Legends nightclub this Friday and Saturday. Advertisement What: Mahindra Blues Weekend Chicago Where: Buddy Guy's Legends (700 S Wabash Ave.) When: Oct. 7th (9pm) Oct. 8th (9:30pm) Who: Mr. Sipp & Jamiah Rogers (Oct. 7) Jimmy Johnson & Jimmy Burns (Oct. 8) Tourists scamper around a Maya monument in Merida. A stroll through the colonial district of Merida out in eastern Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula takes you back to the 18th century, when the surrounding henequen plantations made this city one of the richest spots on Earth. You half expect to see henequen barons in silk shirts, velvet breeches and knee-high leather boots strutting off to oversee the production of rope and twine from the plants' sword-shaped leaves. You can imagine ladies in hooped skirts and white petticoats heading to afternoon teas. Silver-plated carriages, it's said, once lined Merida's cobbled lanes like Rolls-Royces along Beverly Hills' Rodeo Drive. Your walk through the historic district takes you past the overseers' swanky mansions - at one time reportedly the homes of more millionaires than anyplace else in the country - government palaces, block-long museums, a classic grand cathedral and other landmarks in the city's rich mix of Maya and Spanish cultures. Legend has it the Temple of the Magician at the Maya ruins of Uxmal was built in one night. Spanish conquistadores showed up in 1542, ran the local Maya off, ripped the city down (the Maya called it T'ho, meaning City of the Five Hills) and built a new one for themselves on the spot. The bearded foreigners called it Merida after a city of the same name in Spain. Advertisement After a while the Maya started to drift back, at first to work in the fields, ranches and kitchens of the sprawling haciendas of their new Spanish landlords. In the mid-1800s, thousands more came out of the jungle to take jobs on henequen fields planted by the invaders. When the debut of synthetic fibers took the wind out of the henequen market in the early 1900s, many of the workers moved into town. Today, it's estimated that well over half of Merida's million or so residents speak both Maya and Spanish, a good number with Maya as their primary language. Pyramid of the Maya super-god Kukulkan at Chichen Itza. Besides Merida's own attractions, the city is the northern Yucatan's jumping off spot for day-trips to the region's famous archaeological sites, most less than two hours away. One popular tour takes visitors to the iconic Maya city of Chichen Itza, where the signature pyramid - one of the New Seven Wonders of the World - is the picture-postcard Temple of Kukulkan. The site typically hosts around 5,000 visitors a day. Maya astronomers watched the heavens from an observatory at Chichen Itza. Another eye-popper on the tour routes is the magnificent Maya city of Uxmal (pronounced oosh-mahl). Here, the distinctively oval Temple of the Magician (according to legend it was built in a single night) looms over acres of other temples, government buildings, ball courts and the like. Among the site's main structures are the Nunnery Quadrangle (actually a kind of office building), the Palace of the Governor (known for its 320-foot-long mosaic facade) and the House of the Turtles (so named for the turtle carvings on its doorway moldings). Advertisement A newer attraction on the tour routes - it's only 450 years old - is a colonial town full of yellow buildings called Izamal. One of the country's pueblos magicos (magic cities), Izamal features the 75 arches of the Convent of San Antonia de Padua on a hill covering what was once the big Maya Temple of Popol-chac. Izamal - well worth seeing - is about a 40-mile drive from Merida. For a change of pace, still another tour goes to a 146,000-acre biosphere reserve when tens of thousands of pink flamingos can be seen munching away on shrimp-like crustaceans in the shallow offshore waters. The tours usually get back to Merida in time for visitors to enjoy the city's traditional street festivals. You might find crowds watching folkloric dancers on one block, strolling minstrels on another and salsa bands on still another. Getting hungry? There are lots of food stands around the festivities selling Merida's classic lime soup, pipal pig (pulled pork in a tangy tomato sauce), stuffed cheese meringues and other tasty dishes. Everyone on the people-packed streets (vehicle traffic isn't allowed on certain nights) whoops it up together, locals and tourists alike, playing out a feast for the eyes and the palate that's been going on as long as anyone here can remember. Merida is known for its street festivals. The Meridian stewpot still boils over with the flavor of its mixed heritage, but modern times have added new spices to the gumbo. For example, Volkswagens now mix with calesa horsedrawn carriages on the city streets, youngsters dressed in hip-hop clothes sip coffee with friends in old-time Maya garb, and shoppers can dicker for goods at streetcorner markets or shell out their pesos at super-stores such as Costco, Sam's Club and Walmart. Advertisement For the more than one million refugees who have fled war in Syria and Iraq to Lebanon, mental health and psychosocial needs are many and complex. Unlike physical health issues, the lack of visible symptoms for mental health disorders often leads to them being overlooked. Many of the refugees who find safety in Lebanon have survived physical violence including torture, trauma, and have born witness to the atrocities of the unabated armed conflict. The most common psychological disorders among adult refugees in Lebanon are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. Continuous high levels of stress due to their precarious living conditions make their situation all the more worrisome. Appropriate medical care for those with mental disorders is therefore essential to mitigate immediate and long-term consequences for individuals, families and communities affected. On World Mental Health day, UNHCR staff in Lebanon interviewed two refugees in Lebanon who are now starting to rebuild their lives thanks to the specialized mental health and psychosocial services provided by UNHCR and its partners such as Restart. This critical support, as well as other related basic services, is made possible thanks to the generous and flexible funding received from the United States Bureau for Population and Migration (BPRM). Advertisement Iraqi refugee Zaid speaks with a UNHCR staff member about the trauma and torture he endured that led him to flee Iraq to Lebanon in 2014. S.Hoibak / UNHCR As a journalist in Iraq, Zaid, 24, had big dreams and ambitions. But after brutal kidnappings and torture he survived in 2011 and 2013, his dreams were dashed. "After my first kidnapping, I woke up in a dumpster and I understood that dreams don't come true easily". Zaid was so traumatized that he could not leave his house for nearly two years. Iraq is one of the world's dangerous countries for journalists, according to the NGO Reporters Without Borders. A deteriorating security situation and political tensions severely limit journalists in carrying out their job. In addition to facing assault and harassment, they are also subject to retaliatory attacks for their reporting. When Zaid started venturing out and working again, he was kidnapped one more time. After his release, his injuries were too severe and his pain unbearable. That's when he decided not to take any more chances and fled to Lebanon in search of safety. Advertisement Zaid's kidnappings left scars on his mind and body. When he arrived at the UNHCR office in Beirut, he was teary and emotional. "I could not look anyone in the eyes", said Zaid. "UNHCR staff could see this and referred me to Restart to get mental health support". He was also in severe pain from an injury on his right arm. The Restart social worker who received Zaid remembers when he first arrived to the center. "He was very confused and emotional at first." For one year, Zaid underwent psychotherapy. He had been feeling alone and isolated between the four walls of his room. The nightmare he endured in Iraq made him very withdrawn and unable to talk to anyone. Zaid speaks with UNHCR staff and his Restart social worker in the comfort of his home. Zaid lives in a room that Syrian friends helped him find. S.Hoibak /UNHCR His therapist, Hala, was the first person to whom he could really open up. Now he can talk freely about his situation, from what he endured in Iraq to the day-to-day challenges of living in Lebanon as a refugee. After receiving medical attention at the centre for his injured hand, Zaid was able to practice photography again and even became a self-taught graphic designer. "I learned a lesson this year - that instead of waiting and dreaming, I need to live in the present." His therapy has helped him to set goals and chart out how he plans to achieve them. "Now, I want to learn English and produce a movie to share my story." Zaid thanks his therapist Hala for all of her support during the therapy. S. Hoibak / UNHCRTwo months after completing his therapy, Zaid returns to the centre to meet his therapist, Hala. Extending his hand, he says, "Thank you Hala. You are my family". Psychotherapists work with refugee patients to lessen the impact of traumatic experiences they have endured and support them in adapting to their new situation. Zaid is one of the many refugees in Lebanon who have benefitted from mental health services provided through UNHCR. Advertisement Syrian refugee Nour recalls the story of her escape from her war-torn town while Emily, a Protection Officer with UNHCR listens attentively.S. Hoibak/UNHCR Nour, a single mother of two, fled from Syria in 2012 along with her parents and young children. She tells Emily, a Protection Officer with UNHCR, how the war had made her feel so helpless. As a Protection Officer Emily works with refugees with specific needs, including women and children, to make sure their rights are protected. "I feel very privileged to do the work that I do. Having grown up in the United States and now working in Lebanon, I am reminded every day of how we all share the same hopes and desires, and of how powerful and brave we can be. I am honored that those I work with tell their stories to me and trust me to help." Documentation of refugee stories is important so that UNHCR can refer those in need to appropriate support services and conduct necessary follow-up. S. Hoibak / UNHCR During one of her regular visits to the medical centre, Emily takes notes as Nour shares her story. As a trained nurse, Nour tried to assist the many wounded in her town during the war, but there was little she could do. Advertisement All the doctors in her area had fled. Nour and the remaining nurses had barely any equipment at their disposal. "There were no supplies - even basic pain killers and medications were not available. There were too many losses. Too much blood", she says. "It was so painful not to be able to help, when you have the skills but no means to do so". Nour describes how the sounds of bombings echoed relentlessly during her last month in Syria and how whole families were dying in front of her eyes. After losing yet another member of her own family, Nour decided to leave for good. "This was really the turning point. I was psychologically devastated and I could only think of my children's safety", said Nour. A few years ago, Nour started volunteering with UNHCR, going from family to family to inform them about available services, and help those in need to find assistance. Her skills as a nurse make her a great asset to UNHCR's volunteering programme, given the many health concerns that refugees face. Nour's participation in the programme also gave her back a sense of purpose. After her mother passed away, Nour had a breakdown and attempted suicide. Holding her hand, Emily listens to her story. S. Hoibak / UNHCR At one point, hearing about other refugees' suffering took a toll on Nour. She was affected by all the suffering she was hearing, as well as by her own pain. To make matters worse, tragedy struck again in 2015 when Nour's mother's health suddenly deteriorated. "I could not get her appropriate care quickly enough. I could not save her from dying." Advertisement It was all just too much and Nour felt her world was crumbling underneath her. She could not even be around her own children. Nour was driven to such despair that she tried to take her life by jumping into the sea from great heights. Her life was saved by a passerby, who pulled her back from the edge and brought her to the UNHCR office in Beirut. It was all just too much and Nour felt her world was crumbling underneath her. S. Hoibak / UNHCR UNHCR referred Nour to a psychiatrist, and she is now undergoing therapy, which allows her to sleep again, feel positive, and stop her panic attacks. "When someone is down, all you need is a hand to help you stand up again. My therapist Hala walked with me step by step", Nour said as she smiled at Hala listening to her every word. "I went from not even being able to tolerate my children, to being able to really embrace them again." When I started working at McDonald's I was nervous as anyone would be starting a new job. I was shy greeting customers and cautious counting the change. I worked slowly over the hot grills because I was afraid of being burned. I anticipated these little anxieties before I started work. But what I didn't anticipate -- and what no one should have to prepare for -- was my supervisor sexually harassing me on a daily basis. It seemed to begin the moment I walked in the door. Nearly every day, my shift manager would rub himself against me or try to grab my backside when he passed me. He would compliment my body and say he wanted to "do things" to me. I asked him to leave me alone, but he didn't listen. So after a few weeks, I complained to my general manager. I waited for some kind of repercussion -- but nothing happened. Then one day, when I was working at the front counter, he came up from behind and put a cellphone photo of his genitals in front of me. Dealing with daily harassment took a toll on my mental health and I constantly felt sick, angry and defenseless. That was my breaking point, and I mustered up the courage to take my complaints to McDonald's corporate. Again, I waited for some kind of response, but I was ignored. My story is all too common. A new survey shows 40 percent of women in fast food experience sexual harassment in the workplace, ranging from sexual jokes and groping to sexual assault. Dealing with daily harassment took a toll on my mental health and I constantly felt sick, angry and defenseless. I knew what was happening was wrong, but no one in management seemed willing to help me. I needed the money, too. But eventually I realized I would rather ask family for help with rent and food than live under this kind of duress, and I quit. According to the survey, many women experience similar feelings. Almost half of the women who had been harassed had negative emotional consequences, including feeling stressed out, depressed and afraid to come to work. And most women said they felt like they were on their own when it came to dealing with the problem. Less than half of us report it to their employer. And it's no wonder: one out of five of us who does report harassment faces retaliation from our employers -- cutting our hours, changing our schedule or duties, even firing us. We don't make a lot of money; I was paid only $8.50 an hour. Many of us have families to support. Our economic survival might depend on keeping quiet -- and that is beyond wrong. We are hard working. We don't make a lot of money; I was paid only $8.50 an hour. Many of us have families to support. Our economic survival might depend on keeping quiet -- and that is beyond wrong. Advertisement Women who work in fast food across the country are fed up with sexual harassment. We are determined to be ignored no longer. And so we are speaking out and filing complaints. I was among 15 McDonald's workers who announced Wednesday that we have filed federal sexual harassment charges against the company. We're also calling on McDonald's and other fast-food companies to fix the problems in their restaurants. They can tell employees what to wear, what time our managers can open and close our restaurants, and exactly how food must be prepared. So they should be able to make sure the women who work in their restaurants are safe too. It's time fast-food companies like McDonald's acknowledge our cries for a safe work place. No one deserves what I went through -- or what so many other women in fast-food go through regularly. Sexual harassment should never be part of the job. France recently announced that it is creating publicly-financed "deradicalization centers" to combat the rising tide of Islamic extremism. With over 230 people dead from terrorist attacks in Paris and Nice, the government is building a dozen centers across the country that offer counseling, medical treatment, and classes on history, religion, and philosophy for jihadists identified by the judicial system. Intelligence officials estimate that 9,300 French people have been radicalized in recent years and they hope to moderate many of them through this program. People should applaud France's actions to tackle extremism head on and seek to temper its radical elements. That society is correct to realize that it has serious integration problems. Its new effort recognizes that in a number of different nations, extremism and zealotry abound in schools, religious institutions, and advocacy organizations. Some of this has arisen domestically, while the rest has arisen as extremists have moved to the West in order to escape poverty and suppression at home. Other countries should follow the French as they lead this experiment, and determine what is successful and what is not. Its efforts follow those of Saudi Arabia, Yemen, Singapore, Malaysia, Denmark, and the Netherlands that have undertaken similar activities in hopes of taming violent efforts within their own societies. Advertisement It is no accident that we have reached this point in history. For many countries that have sought to absorb large numbers of immigrants and refugees, assimilation has failed as a strategy of societal integration. As I argue in my book, Megachange, most Western countries are not integrating new arrivals very effectively and as a result there has been a rise in the number and scale of terrorist incidents. The United States has witnessed shootings in San Bernardino, California and Orlando, Florida. Belgium has suffered violence in its capital city and Spain, the United Kingdom, and Norway are among the places that have experienced violent attacks. At its root, this violence reflects a fundamental backlash against modernity, secularization, and cosmopolitanism. A number of people around the globe hate the secular character of modern life and want to roll back the world to a social and religious order that existed centuries ago. They don't like the free role of women in modern societies and believe Western nations have become decadent due to their tolerance of alternative lifestyles. They resort to terrorism because they believe the world is facing an Armageddon battle pitting "moderns" against those holding traditional moral values. For the West, the question is how to deradicalize the extremists within its national borders. France's effort along with those elsewhere is designed to present new viewpoints to these individuals in hopes that "reason" will moderate them. By providing alternative perspectives, the French want to de-escalate the rhetoric, and encourage a dialogue with those who are angry and disillusioned about Western culture. A RAND analysis found that keys to successful deradicalization were "credible interlocutors" who could build relationships with militants and engagement not just with the individual extremist but with important family members as well. Programs that did these things offered more hope of attitude change than those which did not. Advertisement This is not just an issue for Europe and the Middle East, although it is particularly pronounced there. At an early age, young people in these places are exposed to radical viewpoints and encouraged to take violent actions. They go to schools that indoctrinate them in hatred for people from different backgrounds or religions. They learn creeds that glorify intolerance. Religious and/or educational leaders create an echo chamber where violence is legitimated and destructive beliefs are reinforced and intensified. The challenge is how to break this cycle of extremism, intolerance, and violence. Once civil society allows those types of perspectives to flourish, it is hard to shift back toward moderation and mutual understanding. Violence begets violence and extremism leads to extremist reactions from other individuals. "A civilization is not destroyed by wicked people; it is not necessary that they be wicked but only that they be spineless." Nelson Mandela It is time to recognize that Trump has ushered in the age of "Roadkill Politics" and now it is time to reject it and him. Trump has perfected the practice of running over his political opponents, and that is not a compliment. He has brought to the political arena his scorched earth approach to his business dealings, that is, ruining anyone who disagrees with him. Thus, he has taken negative campaigning to new heights, or actually in this case new "lows." It is time for Democrats and Republicans alike to reject this type of roadkill politics. In response to years of Trump questioning her husband's birthplace, the incredibly classy Michelle Obama reminded Democrats that "when they go low, we go high." As for Republicans, I have come to admire Ana Navarro for being one of the few Republicans who, from the beginning of his candidacy, has denounced Trump's behaviors as not fitting of a presidential candidate. Yesterday when I was texting a good friend about my admiration for Navarro, my friend replied, "I'm going to go a step further and say SHE should be the new face of the Republican party." I wholeheartedly agree. It is time to follow the advice of these two strong, brave women and denounce Donald Trump and his roadkill politics. Advertisement How did we get to this point? Well, I admit it was hard not to be somewhat amused by Trump's quick wit as he cleverly nicknamed his various opponents, for example, "lying Ted," "little Marco," and "crooked Hillary." Such phrases catch on quickly. However, we must also recognize that the efforts of journalists to fact-check Trump's derogatory claims about other candidates before those claims became widely believed, have fallen by the wayside. For example, news channels immediately reported Trump's claim (made with absolutely no evidence) that Hillary Clinton was unfaithful in her marriage when Trump asserted "I don't even think she is loyal to Bill..." http://www.politico.com/story/2016/10/trump-accuses-hillary-of-cheating-on-bill-229011 It's not like we don't all know that Trump tells these whoppers to gain attention. As the NY Times recently explained, they finally decided to call Donald Trump a "liar;" a term that journalists do not use lightly: http://www.npr.org/2016/09/22/494919548/new-york-times-editor-we-owed-it-to-our-readers-to-call-trump-claims-lies The only silver lining in this age of roadkill politics is that Trump's outrageous behavior has resulted in many more people following this political campaign. More than 84 million Americans watched the first presidential debate on September 26th, which was an all-time high. There may be an even greater number of viewers for the second and third debates. Unfortunately, I attribute this new-found interest in politics to the "road kill" effect: you see something grisly on the side of the road out of the corner of your eye, and you are powerless to look away as you drive past. In this campaign we have begun to look forward to the next horrible thing we can hear about the candidate we dislike. The roadkill politics of these past months has taken divisive and denigrating rhetoric to an extent that has rarely been seen in the history of our country. It is time to recognize that these words could tear our country apart. Advertisement How has Trump managed to lie repeatedly about other candidates without serious consequences? It is well-documented that Trump gets away with lying (and other questionable behaviors) by restraining those who would speak out against him through the use of non-disclosure agreements, gag orders, and fear of retaliation. During the 2016 Republican presidential primary, Ted Cruz claimed that he held back on attacking Donald Trump because he had seen Trump make "roadkill" out of the other Republican primary opponents: http://www.politico.com/blogs/2016-gop-primary-live-updates-and-results/2016/03/ted-cruz-donald-trump-roadkill-221217 Ultimately, Cruz became roadkill anyway. So, it seems that while everyone is aware of Trump's lies and mistreatment of others, few are interested in holding him accountable. This is somewhat curious since just last year the well-respected journalist, Brian Williams, was almost ruined when people learned that he had "embellished" a few times during his career. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/11/business/media/brian-williams-suspended-by-nbc-news-for-six-months.html So, we understand the need to hold journalists to a higher standard than the general public, but not a candidate for the presidency of the United States? Do we really not care when a potential POTUS is outright lying more than any candidate in history, as reported by PolitiFact? Have we become so cynical that we accept when Trump supporters defend his lying with the casual comeback, "Oh well, all politicians lie." Of course, those same Trump supporters applaud him for "telling it like it is." Now, you don't have to be a logic teacher (although, actually I am) but those two claims cannot be held at the same time. They are contradictory. One cannot be both lying and telling it like it is at the same time. I'm afraid that truth and consistency seem to be the biggest losers in the 2016 Presidential campaign. Can we sue Trump for his violence against truth and reason? Last week, I wrote a blog about how we might hope to heal the divisiveness of this presidential campaign by speaking well of our preferred candidate while declining to speak badly of the opponent. My son remarked to me (after reading the article) that while I had made a well-reasoned argument for embracing decency in our political discourse, the essay probably would not become popular or be widely read because it was a bit long and it wasn't vicious or sensational enough to keep people's interest. I immediately agreed with him and we began to laugh. You have to love the irony! The very thing I was writing about made it almost certain that no one would read it. Well, as my good friend and budding author, Rebecca Rodarte, often says, "This is the world we live in." Advertisement I guess it is. However, now that we have all heard the 2005 audiotape of Donald Trump in which he says horrible things about women, I am writing a new blog today. I have to take back my advice to "speak well of the other candidate" if that candidate is Donald Trump. I stand by my advice to focus primarily on defending your own candidate, yet I withdraw my advice to try to speak well of Trump. In my earlier article I quoted my mother's advice, "If you can't say anything nice, then don't say anything at all." But, I hereby reconsider that advice as not the appropriate adage in these circumstances. I think that in this case there is an overriding moral principle to employ. When you know something is wrong, you must speak up. Some people may read books and others listen to the media in times of uncertainty. I turn to cinema to find the answers. Within Ali F. Mostafa's latest film The Worthy, I found what I sought -- the answers to a few of humanity's questions. But also through this groundbreaking film that is at once entertaining, edge-of-your-seat enthralling and every bit as Hollywood blockbuster as it is truly Arab, I also discovered that I have many more questions. When a film can do all that, in just under two hours, it's a full-out winner. The Worthy world-premiered at the BFI London Film Festival, which is in itself a sign of the times. The festival must have realized they had on their hands a film with its finger on the pulse of our modern struggles, a precipice-side view into our most disastrous fantasies, complete with an opening line straight out of the headlines. Advertisement While a truck travels down a desert highway -- before the story turns to a dystopian, not so far future when the world has been plunged into chaos, all water supplies have been contaminated and only a few individuals have access to this transparent precious commodity, though stuck within a hell of their own -- in Arabic we hear Eissa (played by Mahmoud Al Atrash) speak in voiceover these haunting words. "The Stranger told my father, beware of the Black Flags, they only look out for themselves," he says. That uncomplicated nod to something so known to us today, an iconic mental image of doom, started for me a rollercoaster cinematic journey that sent shivers down my spine and kept my eyes peeled to the movie screen ahead -- even at times when I knew I should have looked away. But although The Worthy appears to be a prophetic work of art -- since the script by Vikram Weet was written "before all this," as filmmaker Mostafa pointed out during our interview in London -- it's also a proper thrill packed movie. A true cinema experience, an unadulteratedly violent, gory, action-filled thriller with great special effects and wonderful stars, The Worthy is an ensemble piece that easily showcases the talents of Arab superstars, the best from around the Region. From Ali Suliman, who plays Jamal with an inner tenderness only he possesses, along with favorite Palestinian actress Ruba Blal, whose performance as Raya is touching and wondrous, Maisa Abd Elhadi playing the silent Gulbin to perfection, Samer Ismail as the haunting stranger Mussa, Samer Almasri as Shuab the father, Rakeen Saad as Maryan his daughter, Al Atrash as her devoted brother and even Mostafa's own talented brother Mohammed as Daoud -- every single player in the film adds just what is needed to make the story human, believable and grandiosely entertaining. Not a drop more, and definitely not an inch less. Advertisement Rami Yasin, a co-producer on The Worthy along with Peter Safran and Steven Schneider, admitted that "initially the script was set in the States in a future world. When we got it, we were chatting about how to make it ours, how is this relevant to us? And we started with the world, our world." He continued, "where would the world be in ten years if this continues? And that's where it eventually reached." He also explained that "what we love about the story is this universality, which is basically a fight for our humanity. If all else fails, everything else fails, will humanity survive or not? And the world that we came up with was ours." Yet confining The Worthy to the Arab world, calling it an Arabic movie would be a mistake. Mostafa's film is grand because it represents a gigantic leap forward for an industry that perhaps seemed stuck in trying to tell their intimate stories, within a world craving grand spectacles. Personally, a couple of days after viewing it, I find myself craving The Worthy, wanting to watch it again. And when I think of the film, I forget I had to rely on subtitles to understand the dialogue. In fact, I can't help but feel I've watched cinematic history play in front of my very eyes. A true, mass-appeal, please-the-critics too film coming out of the Emirates, which both Western and Arab audiences can enjoy and yearn to watch. Maybe even side by side. History has been written. There is no turning back. Behind the grand project that is The Worthy stands a company I deeply believe in -- Image Nation Abu Dhabi. Pioneers of bridge-building as far as movies go, they have been synonymous with beautiful quality and superior projects since joining the cinematic landscape. From The Help, to 99 Homes, from He Named Me Malala to The Hundred Foot Journey, from Zinzana to From A to B, it seems all I crave to watch these days can be found within their catalogue of works. I asked Ben Ross, Head of Narrative Film & Television at Image Nation Abu Dhabi, what it was like to have the film premiere in London, at this particular point in time -- when its themes are so relevant to our daily lives. He kindly replied, "we were honored to premiere the film at the BFI London Film Festival, as the festival is a wonderful platform to introduce The Worthy to the world, not only as a next step in bringing a new Emirati film to the international stage, but to show the world cinema audience that stories from our region can be relevant with their content in a way that Western audiences most often think the region isn't capable of." He then added, "hopefully we can change these misconceptions one film at a time by telling universally-themed stories with our unique regional point of view." Mostafa also mentioned the global, contemporary importance of The Worthy when he told me "yes it's set in the Arab world, yes it has relevance to what is happening or could happen, but it is about "will humanity survive?" And that is a very universal story." When I pointed out that perhaps filmmakers are the prophets of our time, Mostafa kindly argued that "prophets usually foresee things that will actually happen; what we're doing is in pretense." I defended my position by letting him know that his films in particular have been wonderful learning experiences for me. His first City of Life taught me about life in Dubai, while From A to B was instrumental in understanding friendship, deeply. Mostafa, without missing a beat, replied, "but that's the job of a filmmaker. Not a prophet." I know that I took away from The Worthy a few messages, mostly about personal courage and how bonds can sometimes hinder our progress. I was also left with more than a couple of questions, which may end up getting answered in future chapters perhaps... The filmmakers did hint at a sequel during the Q & A after the successful London screening! Which all depends on how the film fares in its own market, with the help and support of home audiences. But I asked Mostafa and Yasin if they could choose a single message, to gift to their audiences, what would that be? Mostafa answered, "that humanity always prevails." Yasin, without missing a beat, then added, "love, it's the only thing that can see us through." By Marie Dennis, Co-President Pax Christi International and Eli McCarthy Ph.D., Director of Justice and Peace at the Conference of Major Superiors of Men. Cardinal Turkson, President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace at the Vatican, recently said the following while reflecting on the role of just war teachings: "In that case, Pope Francis would say: 'You don't stop an aggression by being an aggressor. You don't stop a conflict by inciting another conflict. You don't stop a war by starting another war.' Turkson continued, "It doesn't stop. We've seen it all around us. Trying to stop the aggressor in Iraq has not stopped war. Trying to stop the aggressor in Libya has not stopped war. It's not stopped the war in any place. We do not stop war by starting another war." With the ongoing issues of violence and conflict in our own country as well as the continuing attacks abroad in Syria, Iraq, Yemen, and Mexico, we write to share about an emerging discussion in the Catholic Church for a new approach to transforming conflict. This development correlates well with many insights from ecumenical and interfaith discussions. Advertisement During a conference in Rome in April 2016, this new approach primarily arose out of the direct testimony of people in the global south who are living in violent conflict zones. In turn, we appreciate the attention Tobias Winright and Mark Allman have given to this conference on nonviolence and just peace. We agree on the importance of the topic and the prophetic call to embrace nonviolent peacemaking more seriously. We also think an ongoing, respectful dialogue is enormously important. The authors are right that the statement from the conference was "not in any sense an official proclamation by the Vatican or Pope Francis." However, the Vatican participated actively in the conference through staff of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, including Cardinal Turkson, and through a personal message from Pope Francis. Let us underscore that the rationale for the conference was to encourage Catholics to engage energetically in the development of more effective nonviolent practices for protecting vulnerable communities, avoiding violent conflict, transforming structures of violence, and promoting cultures of peace. The focus was on active nonviolence. Our intent was not to compare the value of different versions of just war thinking, but rather to move just war thinking out of the way so we could have the honest dialogue we were seeking about nonviolence, Jesus, just peace, and the concept of justified war itself. Participants included those who valued and used the just war tradition, but who were open to imagining something new. We touched on concepts like policing during the conference, but know that conversation needs to be part of the ongoing dialogue. Advertisement The conference did not call for a simple "embrace of pacifism" as Winright and Allman suggest. It was not a conference on "pacifism vs. just war." Again, we were seeking a deeper exploration of Gospel nonviolence and a new moral framework for Catholic action in a violent world. Our final statement appealed to the Church to play a different role in the public arena - one that emphasizes the protection of all life, not the right or duty to go to war. The "different path" we see unfolding in Catholic Social Teaching points to a trajectory which we hope will lead to something new. In fact, the evolution of Catholic "just war" thinking has very much moved in that direction, but, we believe it is hampered by keeping the focus on the possibility of a "just war." The Church played a particular role over the years in the development of "just war" norms in international law. Those norms are well ensconced and will continue to function. Yet, now the Church can make a significant contribution to peace in a world too often ready for war by developing Catholic understanding of and commitment to nonviolent practices in international affairs (way beyond "conflict resolution") through education, sacramental life, preaching, seminary training, policy advocacy, and the investment of Church talent and treasure in the development of nonviolent tools for protection, conflict transformation, restorative justice and reconciliation. Winright and Allman claim that "bad use" of just war approaches doesn't justify moving on from "just war" as a moral framework. We would argue that a centuries-long record of failures to prevent or limit war despite ongoing evolution and extensive refinement of the just war framework should impel the Church toward a new moral framework. Moreover, we have come to recognize that just war language and thinking obstruct, if unintentionally, the development of tools and capacity for nonviolent forms of protection in dangerous situations, for nonviolent transformation of conflict, etc. - or considers them only as an adjunct to military action. Cardinal Turkson specifically affirmed this concern in a post-conference interview. For example, we spend little if any time trying to imagine how to humanize or illuminate the dignity of our enemies, which is not only a Gospel mandate but may be an essential step in overcoming extremist violence. And we spend so much talent and treasure preparing for what we think might be a "just war," that we have almost no resources available for nonviolent prevention, protection and community based programs that could help heal the root causes of war. Advertisement Recent "evolutions" in the just war tradition are important. We are aware of the significant contribution both Tobias Winwright and Mark Allman have made to this field. We hope they and other Catholic theologians and academics will bring their experience to the conversation about active nonviolence. We believe, for example, that the concepts and values inherent in jus ante bellum and jus post bellum thinking could be integrated into a new moral framework rooted in active nonviolence and just peace rather than embellishing the "just war" framework and the possibility of justifying war. Furthermore, while jus in bello criteria may have restrained some actors in militaries, and that of course is a good thing, the gains achieved by limiting some actions in war still are overtaken by the suffering caused by ongoing wars, resources given to preparing for war, development of nuclear weapons, the arms trade, and a war system embedded in our economy and politics. Vatican II and Pope Paul VI were clear that our goal is to "outlaw" war. We believe that one important way to move in that direction is to stop talking about the possibility of a "just war" and to emphasize nonviolent ways to deal with "real-life challenges," such as atrocity situations. The process of the conference was inductive, beginning with the experiences of people who live in actively or recently violent conflict zones, including Iraq, South Sudan, Palestine, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the DR Congo, Burundi, Uganda, Northern Ireland, El Salvador, Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico. Theirs were the voices calling for the Catholic Church to stop suggesting that war can be justified, to study and promote active nonviolence. Over and over again, they said, "We are tired of war. War is not the answer." Pope Francis reminded us as the conference began that conflicts cannot be avoided and that governments have a right to protect their people. We take that very seriously. But we take equally seriously the Holy Father's admonition about stopping an unjust aggressor, referring to ISIS: "I underline the verb: stop. I do not say bomb, make war, I say stop by some means." The question is how we respond to atrocity situations and other real-life challenges, not whether. Nonviolent/just peace approaches to extremist violence have been suggested here (Maria Stephan, USIP) and here (65 Religious Leaders). Advertisement At the same time, our appeal does not "blithely" assert that nonviolence can reduce conflict. In fact, nonviolence can escalate constructive conflict even as it reduces violent or destructive conflict, and, of course, given the reality of the world in which we live, nonviolence will not always be fully effective in the short-term. Clearly, neither is war! Our assertion is that the potential of creative, courageous, "scaled-up" active nonviolence is worth pursuing with more vigor and investment. The "just peace" approach to which the conference refers is not exactly the same as the "just peacemaking" proposal of Glen Stassen and others. Rather, it draws on elements of "just peacemaking" but it also would include specific criteria, virtues and practices to which "just peacemaking" does not refer. We are also suggesting such an approach as a way to enhance the role of the Catholic Church in forming Catholics to make nonviolent action even in difficult circumstances more plausible. The authors briefly point to Daniel Bell's work on virtue and just war. This is an interesting discussion. Eli has addressed the limits of this approach in his book (pgs. 86-88). In brief, Bell seems to distort the meaning of the cross; claims that just warriors should give (only) equal time to nonviolent developments as to sharpening the instruments of war; fails to give an account of human dignity and how that impacts his claims about war and virtue; and suggests that killing is an act of love towards our enemies. Conference participants, reflecting on the life of Jesus and the Gospel mandate to love our enemies, were deeply challenged to understand the significance of Jesus' "hard sayings" in the context of a violent yet graced world. Again, we believe in the obligation to protect the vulnerable. The question is how we do that in a manner that also concretely respects the life, inherent dignity and value of every person, even the enemy. Pope Benedict XV said "it is impossible to interpret Jesus as violent" and that "violence degrades the dignity of both the victims and the perpetrators." Pope Paul VI said that "the Church cannot accept violence, especially the force of arms." Our primary focus was on what the Gospels illuminate about nonviolence. The conference in Rome is a step in a long process of dialogue and discernment. As part of this process, the Catholic Conference of Bishops in Japan recently endorsed the appeal. We hope this process will lead before too long to an encyclical on nonviolence and to a much deeper understanding of and commitment to active nonviolence throughout the Catholic community worldwide. It seems to us that the ground work of scholars like Tobias Winwright and Mark Allman with the Catholic Peacebuilding Network and many others could help the Catholic Church articulate a moral framework built on active and creative nonviolence as an effective antidote to the senseless spirals of violence that surround the elusive pursuit of a "just war." Cuban Black Beans A beloved South Florida staple, Cuban black beans keep covered and refrigerated for several days, and like many pulse dishes, the flavors deepen and improve over time. Mas sabor, muy bueno et es buena para el corazon. Pulses are good for your heart. 4 cups black beans, cooked or 2 15-ounce cans black beans, rinsed and drained 3 tablespoons olive oil 2 onions, chopped 4 cloves garlic 1 jalapeno, chopped 1 red pepper, chopped 1 carrot, chopped 2 stalks celery, chopped 2 teaspoons cumin 1 teaspoon coriander 1 teaspoon paprika, sweet or smoked 1/2 teaspoon dried epazote or oregano 1 tablespoon tomato paste 1/2 cup vegetable broth or bean cooking liquid 1 teaspoon sherry vinegar sea salt and fresh ground pepper to taste optional -- a handful of fresh cilantro leaves, chopped In a large soup pot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the chopped onion, stirring occasionally until onions begin to turn golden and translucent, about 3 to 5 minutes. Add the chopped garlic, jalapeno, red pepper, carrot and celery. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes, or until all the vegetables soften. Add the cumin, coriander, paprika, epazote, tomato paste and vegetable broth. Then pour in the cooked black beans, stirring to combine. Splash in the vinegar and bring beans to a low boil. Cover and reduce heat to low. Give the beans about half an hour to simmer and get to know the vegetables and spices they're cooking with. Season generously with sea salt and pepper and sprinkle with optional chopped cilantro for garnish. Serves 6. Somewhere between 50 and 150, whether by talent acquisition or company acquisition, if strong relationships aren't fostered, culture is more than likely to go off the rails. The second part in a series exploring the why, when, and how of managing company culture in a growth organization. If you've ever had to work with another human, you know good relationships make for good work. These bonds are the conduits of culture, and while they don't guarantee success, you can be sure it ain't happening without them. Think of relationships as connective tissue: take this essential layer away and business would just be a pile of old laptops and financial documents. Advertisement No blue chip CEO will argue the point: the human side of business is critical to success. But how does this system of relationships change as startups emerge from their proverbial garages with dreams of long-term success? In post one, I proposed an answer: relationship decay. As co-workers increase in number our brains have to work harder to remember all the names, faces, and details. We are forced to choose who we know and how well. When our brains have to work harder to remember all the names, faces, and details, we are forced to choose who we know and how well. Why should anyone care about relationship decay? It is the reason startup cultures fail. Without foresight and guidance, startup cultures weaken with growth. It's hardly noticeable at first, but when it gains momentum employees will look up and no longer know all of the who's and what's that make the organization work. This is it: the moment culture is at greatest risk of unraveling. If we can see it coming maybe we can prepare for it. DR. DUNBAR, I PRESUME? In 1993, British anthropologist Robin Dunbar theorized that as a group grows in size it requires more relationship strengthening activities or "social grooming" to operate effectively. In his research of primates, he observed that the more individuals in a group, the more relationships existed. The more relationships there are, the more social grooming is needed. The more social grooming that's needed, the more energy is required to maintain the groups structure. I'll let him tell you. Advertisement Nonhuman primates maintain group cohesion through social grooming; among the Old World monkeys and apes, social grooming time is linearly related to group size. It turns out for primates, social grooming is mainly achieved through, ta-dah, actual grooming. But I'm interrupting: Maintaining stability of human-sized groups by grooming alone would make intolerable time demands. [...] the evolution of large groups in the human lineage depended on developing a more efficient method for time-sharing the processes of social bonding. (Spoiler alert: it's language.) In human conversations about 60% of time is spent gossiping about relationships and personal experiences. Language may accordingly have evolved to allow individuals to learn about the behavioral characteristics of other group members more rapidly than was feasible by direct observation alone. Fascinating. But no matter how chatty we may be, even homo sapiens have an upper limit when it comes to group size. Dunbar concludes that groups can only grow so large--eventually what it takes to maintain the relationships outweighs the benefit of being together. When the number of individuals grows beyond 150, now known as Dunbar's Number, the group will divide or create subgroups. (Even author Malcolm Gladwell name checked this phenomenon in his book The Tipping Point.) Advertisement Neighborhoods within towns, teams within leagues, and even clans within online communities are all examples of organized groups that more or less adhere to Dunbar's theory. So that's our moment of risk, yes? I wasn't so sure. I had seen organizational culture go through significant change well before that. So I did some more digging. It turns out, when it comes to work, the wheels on the culture wagon may get wobbly way before Dunbar might expect. WHEN CULTURES GO COCKEYE Internet Cryptography Pioneer Christopher Allen has tussled with Dunbar's number in a few well-written articles. In them he argues that groups subdivide at significantly less than 150; probably around 50 he argues. Why? For groups that come together for reasons less than true survival, the amount of energy required to maintain relationships above fifty individuals is greater than the benefit received. While corporate America's competitive environments can evoke "kill or be killed" attitudes, we aren't fighting off large toothy predators like our hairier ancestors, even if sometimes it feels like it. While corporate America's competitive environments can evoke "kill or be killed" attitudes, we aren't fighting off large toothy predators like our hairier ancestors, even if sometimes it feels like it. Add the layers of management, departments, and new locations that happen around this time and, boom, culture spaghetti all over the floor. Does Allen prove an exact number for this phenomenon? No. But it doesn't matter. When it comes to an organization subdividing and relationships weakening (or not happening in the first place), the story is the same nearly every time. Somewhere between 50 and 150, whether by talent acquisition or company acquisition, if strong relationships aren't fostered, culture is more than likely to go off the rails. And if leaders aren't looking, when they are finally forced to tangle with the symptoms of an unraveling culture it will be too late. Advertisement Maybe not too late, but the sooner founders and leaders realize that culture can and should be designed, the sooner they can begin thinking about how to strengthen relationships even as their organization grows beyond 50, 500, or 5000. Donald Trump, 2016 Republican presidential nominee, and Hillary Clinton, 2016 Democratic presidential nominee, speak during the second U.S. presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. As has become tradition, the second debate will resemble a town hall meeting, with the candidates free to sit or roam the stage instead of standing behind podiums, while members of the audience -- uncommitted voters, screened by the Gallup Organization -- will ask half the questions. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images You would be forgiven for assuming that I spent this weekend raising a glass to Donald Trump's downfall. For here is a man that embodies everything the Women's Equality Party is fighting against. And finally equality appeared to have trumped misogyny, marking the end of his presidential campaign. But as messages flooded in from our supporters proclaiming a win for women's rights, I was left wondering how it is that he has come so close to being the leader of the free world. And in that moment, I dared to ask myself -- in a whisper -- whether last night's presidential debate was the last gasp for misogyny or the last, desperate gasp of the consensus against it? Advertisement Watching Trump's campaign has been like watching Louis Theroux meet Jimmy Savile. Everybody knows that Trump is a predator because, just like Savile, he speaks the truth as though it were the opposite of the truth, daring us to call his bluff. His fame makes it especially hard for people to challenge his behavior, and when they do he is protected by the institutions that legitimize it. Friday's revelation that Trump used his fame to prey on women apparently crossed a line. Somehow it stood out from the previous allegations of sexual assault, Trump's depictions of women as 'fat pigs' and 'disgusting animals,' and his suggestion that women would have to face some form of punishment if abortion were made illegal. It could be distinguished from his proposed ban on Muslims, and his pronouncement that Mexicans are rapists. [As Women's Equality Party Leader, Sophie Walker, said at a recent rally "Racism seldom travels alone. It travels with its counterparts -- sexism, misogyny and homophobia."] Because if we can move the line freely, then we will always find ourselves on the right side of it. Ahead of last night's presidential debates, unable to claim misrepresentation in the face of audiotape evidence, Donald Trump did the unthinkable. He held a five minute public meeting with women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual attention or rape. Not to listen to these women's experiences or take them seriously -- this is a man who won the Republican nomination in spite of a federal lawsuit filed against him for rape of a minor -- but to use them as pawns in his political game-playing. And as the debate unfolded, 'locker-room talk' was pitched against presidential impeachments, and groping was contrasted with the actions of Isis. Rather than feeling outraged at Trump's misogyny, we were expected to feel grateful to have escaped Bill Clinton's: 'Mine were words, his were actions,' Trump said. Advertisement Trump's attempt at moral relativism minimizes the abuse that women experience and trivializes our role in preventing and responding to it. It means Nigel Farage can affectionately describe Trump as a "big alpha male" in the post-debate analysis, after explaining to Women's Equality Party Co-founder, Catherine Mayer, at Progress 1000 last month that he hadn't endorsed Trump because "He's a bit of a sexist." It means Louis Theroux can develop a friendship with Savile while reporting to his superiors that a woman had contacted him to say she had been abused by Savile at the age of fifteen. It means the remaining GOP leaders can continue to support Trump because 'he gets it right on the other issues.' And in this way, we fail to understand how misogyny is connected to all the 'other issues.' We fail to see how characterizing Muslim women as unable to speak without permission, is linked to a national security strategy that relocates people to the other side of a wall. We fail to recognize how describing breastfeeding as 'disgusting' is the preamble to an inadequate parental leave policy. We overlook the fact that appointing an all-male team of economic advisors is the basis for having no policy on equal pay. The Women's Equality Party was created just over a year ago to join those dots. Recognizing that partisanship too often clouds judgement when it comes to equality for women, we decided to open our membership to people from right across the political spectrum. We went out with six goals -- equal pay; equal parenting and caregiving; equal education; equal treatment in and by the media; equal representation in politics and public life; and an end to violence against women -- because we understood that progress on gender equality required progress on all of these fronts. State Sen. Laura Woods (R-Arvada/Westminster) has, in part, focused her political career on trying to stop women from having access to an abortion, even if they were raped. Or even for a teen who was raped by her father. Woods' goal is to eliminate a woman's right to choose, no matter what the circumstances that led to a pregnancy. As part of her anti-abortion crusade, Woods wants to eliminate all government funding for Planned Parenthood, the women's health organization that mostly provides basic family planning and health-care services, but also offers abortion services. Advertisement By law, Planned Parenthood cannot spend the money it gets from the federal government on abortions. Instead, Planned Parenthood uses the tax money to provide low income Medicaid patients with basic care, like HIV and STD tests, birth control, breast and cervical cancer screenings, and such. None of the money goes for abortion. So, to translate the political rhetoric into reality as we see it in Woods' district, what would de-funding Planned Parenthood mean for Arvada? If Planned Parenthood's clinic in Arvada were to lose its government funding, as Woods wants, then about 1,000 low-income patients, covered by Medicaid and another federal health program, who rely on the clinic for cancer screenings, STD tests, women's health care, and other basics, would have to be turned away, according to Whitney Phillips, a Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains spokeswoman. "At Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains we believe that people should be able to get the care they need regardless of their zip code," said Phillips in an e-mail. "Without access to Planned Parenthood in the Arvada community, nearly 1000 low-income residents would be forced to seek the care they need elsewhere. People come to PPRM for high-quality, non-judgmental, confidential care that patients may not be able to receive otherwise. Planned Parenthood serves a vital role in these communities and may be the first and only place patients can go for the care they need." Would these patients be able to get care elsewhere? No one's studied the full impact in Colorado if Planned Parenthood lost federal funding, leaving some 80,000 low-income people statewide in need of a new clinic. In Texas, defunding Planned Parenthood would result in, among other things, a 27 percent increase in births among women who use injectable contraception, according to one study. In Arvada, health-care providers would likely be able to absorb Planned Parenthood's patients, according to Marc Williams, a spokesman for the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. But it's not guaranteed. And patients might have to go to the wider Jefferson County area to get care, Williams wrote me, which spotlights one of a handful of hardships that Arvada residents might face if Woods had her way, and Planned Parenthood were de-funded. Because low-income people rely on public transportation, the location of a clinic, while theoretically not an insurmountable barrier to access, may in reality determine whether a patient gets health care at all. Advertisement Waiting lists or delays at other clinics are also an unknown. Possibly more serious, especially from the perspective of women seeking birth-control or family-planning services, is the preferences of patients served currently by Planned Parenthood. Some women seek out Planned Parenthood, specifically, because the organization prides itself on respecting women's privacy and being sensitive to the medical as well as social needs of patients. Maybe Woods, who isn't returning my calls, has an alternative for these women, and other patients, who'd be turned away if Woods succeeded in defunding Planned Parenthood. If so, she hasn't talked about it. Her priority appears to be on attacking Planned Parenthood first and worrying about its patients later, if at all. At Camp David in 2000, during the most hopeful discussions about resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, a Palestinian representative at the table denied any Jewish historic connection to Jerusalem. Speaking of the Holy sites, he referred to the Dome of the Rock and Al Aksa mosques sitting on the Temple Mount, but labeled as fantasy the notion that there had ever been a Jewish Temple on that spot or in the city at all. This allegation at a critical juncture undercut the aspiration of achieving a two-state solution -- the Jewish state of Israel and a Palestinian state -- and proved devastating to the left-of-center Israeli delegation seeking a compromise that would serve the interests of both peoples. With the hope that each side was finally willing to accept one another's narrative, now the Israelis were being told once again that they had no legitimacy in their historic homeland. This came to mind as we learned about a "DeCal" student-led course being offered at the University of California, Berkeley, called "Palestine: A Settler Colonial Analysis." The class thesis and much of its syllabus are built on the foundation of the denial of the Jewish connection to the land of Israel. Advertisement Issues of academic freedom aside, it is important to understand the underpinnings of such an approach. If this were a course focusing on Israeli control of the West Bank since the 1967 Six Day War and it blamed the status quo simply on Israel, many informed observers would be unhappy with a biased, one-sided presentation of a complex issue. Here, however, we are not dealing with bias alone, but with rewriting of history, either by falsehood or omission. The accusation that underlies the syllabus is that the Jewish return to Israel and the recreation of the Jewish state is a classic example of colonialism. The rationale employed is only justified if one simply denies the three thousand year history of the Jewish people. The prejudice is apparent from outset as the course begins its look at Israel in the 1880's, as if political Zionism was simply one more manifestation of European colonialism of the 19th Century. The misleading premise willfully ignores that Jews made up the majority population of Jerusalem at the advent of the Zionism movement. And though it is true that nationalism in 19th Century Europe was a backdrop for the advent of Zionism, unlike any of the other overseas ventures in the 19th century, Zionism was rooted in the daily lives of millions of Jews the world over for millennia. Jews prayed three times a day for a return to Zion. At Jewish wedding celebrations, a glass was broken to remember the destruction of the Jerusalem Temple even on the happiest of occasions. Indeed, it is safe to say that there never would have been a Jewish people and they surely would not have survived for so long without the fundamental connection to the land of Israel. Simply put, to deny this history is an out-and-out lie. It is anti-Semitism because it's an immense falsehood intended to harm the Jewish people and to deny them their right to self-determination in their historic homeland. Advertisement None of this is intended to negate the fact that there is another people in the land and that they too have rights and expectations. That is what the partition of Palestine by the UN in 1947 was about, providing for a Jewish state and an Arab state in Palestine. And that is what a two-state solution is about today. The course reinforces an approach to the conflict that hurts both sides, but ironically the Palestinians far worse. The denial of Israel's legitimacy, which is the clear intention of the course, is the central reason why the conflict has not been resolved and why a Palestinian state has not emerged. With friends like the course sponsors, the Palestinians need no enemies. There are so many more troubling aspects to such a class, not the least of which is that it leaves many Jewish students and community members with the impression that anti-Semitism is treated differently than other forms of prejudice. On campus, it would seem, anti-Semitism cloaked in scholarship is tolerated and defended under academic freedom in a way that other bigotry is not. Most important, however, from an academic standpoint, is the travesty of the distortion of history under the guise of an academic discipline. Whatever one thinks of colonial analysis as a discipline, it can be defended as a legitimate concept. Misapplying it to the Jewish people's ties to the land of Israel, however, is a betrayal of the pursuit of truth and the recording and understanding of history. It should be seen for what it is: anti-Semitism, manifesting as a calculated tactic in the effort to delegitimize the state of Israel and the Jewish people. As usual, I'm leaving it to others to dissect the second Presidential debate in terms of policy and politics and instead focus on what we can learn from that exchange to become better critical thinkers and effective communicators. As readers of Critical Voter well know, the most important question that needs answering in order to understand the dynamic of a persuasive presentation is "Who is the actual audience?" The second debate used a Town-Hall style format, which tried to create an intimacy one sees in smaller (often untelevised) small-group meetings that take place earlier in the campaign season. As noted here, appearances candidates made at VFW halls before the New Hampshire primary actually involved personal interaction with audience members, if only because those were the only people participating in or viewing the event. Advertisement But in a televised general election debate being viewed by over a hundred million people, that wider audience obviously takes precedent over the people in the room, who must also stand in line for attention behind the media - another audience both candidates are appealing to for stories of victory and momentum. In the past, Presidential candidates did a reasonable job trying to make their appeals to these wider audiences appear as answers to questions posed by the "real people" standing in front of them. But another benefit of this year's race between one candidate with so-so rhetorical skills (Clinton) and another candidate who eschews formal political oratory altogether (Trump) is that it gives us outsized examples to learn from (much like we dissect large frogs to learn anatomy vs. tiny newts). For instance, would anyone watching that debate think for a moment that either candidate took the slightest interest in any of the questions being asked by the audience, much less the human beings asking those questions? In Town-Hall debates that took place during previous election, candidates more skilled in rhetorical technique used a combination of (1) thanking the questioner by name; (2) complimenting him or her on the importance and insightfulness of their query, and then (3) paraphrasing the original question for the wider audience (both in the room and on TV) with subtle changes designed to link the question to a talking point the candidate already had prepared in advance. Advertisement Those who viewed the debate through the lens of rhetorical craftsmanship will have noticed that neither candidate took the trouble to go through these steps beyond the perfunctory. In fact, few answers to any question veered off the main goal of each presidential aspirant: to move the camera back to the negatives associated with their foe (the only dynamic that seems to be impacting this year's presidential race in any way). This doesn't make Clinton and Trump any more or less disinterested in close-at-hand human beings than were previous aspirants for the Oval Office. After all, candidates Obama, Romney, McCain, Bush, Kerry and Gore all went through the rhetorical motions of trying to appear interested in what flesh-and-blood people were asking them while actually planning how to inject their pre-prepared zingers, gotchas and talking points into their response. In fact, one has to go back to Hillary's husband to find someone able to pull off this trick without coming off as insincere. Bill Clinton's great political gift was his ability to generate an ethos bond with people right in front of him, giving them the impression that he valued their opinion and would prefer talking to them one-on-one vs. being anywhere else in the world. And he was able to generate this kind of chemistry, even while doing what every other presidential candidate has done in the television age: communicating his preferred message to an unseen audience beyond the debate stage. In contrast, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump gave the impression that the entire experience was an ordeal to get through without making a blunder, vs. an occasion to spend time answering the honest questions of real voters. Perhaps it is in this disinterest in creating a genuine ethos bond with people hungry to feel some sort of personal connection to their potential president that has created historic negatives for both candidates, rather than this tax return or that e-mail server. Advertisement Kirk Fogg was joined by actors Isabela Moner, Colin Critchley, Jet Jurgensmeyer, the voice of Olmec himself, Dee Bradley Baker, and executive producer Michael Sammaciccia for a special panel for Legends of the Hidden Temple: The Movie at New York Comic Con last Thursday (October 6th) in New York City. Fans in attendance were able to hear that the film would premiere this Thanksgiving, get their questions answered from the cast and crew, and watch a behind-the-scenes look at the TV movie. Check out the newest trailer for the film below. Advertisement Legends of the Hidden Temple: The Movie follows three siblings, Sadie (Moner), Noah (Critchley), and Dudley (Jurgensmeyer), who break away from a lackluster tour in a jungle, finding themselves immersed in a high-stakes adventure comprised of obstacles that they must complete in order to escape alive. The TV movie will feature elements from the original game show including: Olmec, a talking stone head who greets anyone who dares to enter the temple; The Steps of Knowledge, the entrance to the temple and launching pad for the mission; and cameos from a green monkey, red jaguar, and silver snakes, among others. Prior to New York Comic Con, Celeb Secrets had the opportunity to sit down with Jet Jurgensmeyer and Colin Critchley to talk all things about the TV movie. In the interview below, the boys reveal the similarities and differences between the hit 90's game show and the film, what it was like filming on set, and what they learned from original cast members Kirk Fogg and Dee Bradley Baker. They even reveal some major behind-the-scenes secrets, which you can only hear by watching the video below. Make sure to tune in to Legends of the Hidden Temple: The Movie on Saturday, November 26th @ 8PM ET/PT on Nickelodeon. Advertisement A few days back, we were having a conversation at the Heartfulness Meditation Center in New Jersey, USA, about the significance of various rituals and customs that have been observed in society since time immemorial. Many of these rituals are followed with rigor and discipline, which is a good thing. What makes them more joyful and impactful, though, is knowing the true significance of the principles behind them. Our conversation touched upon various topics, like the reasons for adorning the red pigment, sindoor, as a dot on the forehead of married women in India, praying before eating, and fasting on special occasions. I would like to share with your some of my thoughts on the concept of fasting. So many traditional rituals are disappearing from modern civilization, but fortunately something is still preserved amongst the innocent people in villages. They may not understand the significance of these rituals, but they have maintained their observance. Among so-called educated people, we have issues when someone asks us why we are doing what we are doing. As a result, when we have no justifiable explanation, we avoid observing rituals for fear of being looked upon as old-fashioned or without real understanding. We need to study and try to find the significance behind most rituals. Advertisement Lets start with the significance of Ekadashi in the Indian culture. Many people observe a fast on Ekadashi days. It is a widely prevalent ritual, but not deeply understood. Ekadashi is a Sanskrit word for the number 11. It stands for the 11 day of each half of the month in the lunar calendar. So there are two Ekadashi days in each month: one is in the first half of the month when the moon is waxing, and the second is when the moon is waning. These days have a very special significance for health, and the practice has been connected with religion for the sole purpose of health and well-being. Had it not been associated with religion, common people would not have followed such dictums. It is good to moderate the intake of food on these days so as to counter the impact of the lunar system on the human body, as our body is 60-70 percent water. You can see the impact of the moon on the water in the oceans. It is significant. On full moon nights there can be tides rising up to 20 or even 30 feet. Similarly, this has an impact on the human system also. Especially during the full moon, records show criminal activity is greater than usual on these days. The term lunatic actually comes from the lunar effect on the human nervous system. Our Elders must have observed this. From the 8 day of the lunar cycle, the effect starts rising and reaches its peak on the 15 day. Midway between these two is the 11 day, Ekadashi. If we moderate our intake on that day, we can neutralize the lunar impact on our system. Advertisement Closer to home, the great Masters of Sahaj Marg have suggested fasting on certain special occasions. One such occasion is the day when a trainer is given permission to start imparting training to others. You may ask why trainers are asked to fast on the day they are given permission to work? In Sahaj Marg, the special preparation for training a candidate goes on for days, perhaps even years, before the work is complete. On the day when permission is granted, qualitatively the trainer becomes a spiritual conduit of the divine Transmission, and, on this day, most of the yogic chakras [1] of such a person are purified and brought to some sort of opening or blooming. These chakras are also divinely charged, enabling the trainer to become a conduit for the spiritual work. When this happens, the divine charge remains very active for the next few days. This divine charge is so subtle compared to the energy that we derive from solid food that, if we were to eat, the grosser energy from the food would naturally displace the subtle divine charge. On this day, the idea is to tune in, receive and allow the charge to be completely absorbed. Hence it is recommended to fast on this day. I hope you can appreciate the importance of moderation in food on such an important day. Earlier this week, I was reading about the fascinating work done by Dr Yoshinori Ohsumi on autophagy, for which he was awarded the Nobel Prize for medicine this year. Thanks to Dr Ohsumi and others following in his footsteps, we now know that autophagy controls important physiological functions where cellular components need to be degraded and recycled. Autophagy means to self eat, and is the process by which the body eats its own damaged cells and unused proteins. After an infection, autophagy can eliminate those cells infected by invading intracellular bacteria and viruses. (Read more) Now, interestingly, in Ayurveda there is a saying, Starve a cold. I believe the ancients observed these correlations across a physical, emotional and mental spectrum. The above examples about Ekadashi and the preparatory work of a trainer in Sahaj Marg illustrate that autophagy may have a role to play also in our emotional and mental well-being, beyond just the physical body. I look forward to further pioneering work by scientists to validate the new frontiers in this field of research. Advertisement Send me your thoughts on this topic at daaji@heartfulness.org and I look forward to engaging with you all in a dialogue to go deeper into the subject. [1] Most people have heard of chakras or points, which can be described as centres of concentrated divine energy located at different places within the human system. Commonly it is understood that there are seven chakras from the base of the spine to the crown chakra, but the reality is more intricate and vast than that. Associated with each of the points are subpoints, and in the intervening space between the points is a network interwoven by numerous intricate fibres. As we proceed along, we pass through these intervening layers. All this together forms a network that can be described as the spiritual anatomy of a human being. I live in Lubbock, Texas. After Provo UT, It's the second most conservative city in the U.S. Here, we don't just have Republican candidates running for office - we have conservative Republicans, bent on proving how liberal the Republicans are. And oh, did I mention? I'm a climate scientist. That's right - I study one of the most politicized issues in the entire United States. When I moved here 10 years ago, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect. I knew a lot of people here would consider astrology to be more credible than climate science. I wondered, do they still run people out of town on a rail these days? But Texas surprised me. I've been surprised by how many different kinds of people, from oilfield engineers to Christian college students, want to talk about why climate change matters - to us, and to everyone else on this planet. I've also been surprised by the questions I get - some about the science, sure; but even more about politics, faith, and other topics near and dear to our hearts. Advertisement To answer these questions, I teamed up with our local PBS station KTTZ to produce a new PBS Digital Studios web series, "Global Weirding: Climate, Politics, and Religion." Every other Wednesday, for the next six months, we'll be rolling out a new video exploring climate change and what it means to all of us. In this series, we're going to tackle all the climate change issues you've heard about, head-on. I'll be discussing the history of climate science--did you know this field of study dates back to the 1820s? I'll explore why a stable climate matters in this age, when we have more than 7 billion people on the planet. I'll look at all the wacky weather we've been seeing across the globe recently, and how it is connected to climate change. I'll also talk about religion, and what that has to do with science. And I'll bring up the big one -- how did we get to the point where our place on the political spectrum is the best predictor of what we think about climate change? I've just returned from a power walk with Sbusisiwe Myeni, a dynamic Zulu woman I met in South Africa when we were paired as mentor and mentee by Vital Voices, the global women's empowerment organization. Sbu, as she calls herself, was chatting away from her home in KwaZulu Natal where it was pouring rain, and I was walking under blue skies in Washington DC. But through the power of FaceTime, we carried on a conversation as if we were walking together side by side, Over the past year, through technology, we've had many of these chats, and deepened our friendship, which began during our first walk together in a Johannesburg park on Global Women's Mentoring Day in March of 2015. Sbu, a former banker in Johannesburg, had been selected as a promising young African leader to be part of the Global Ambassadors Program, a Vital Voices-Bank of America partnership, and I was working at the time as head of global communications for Marriott International, the world's largest hotel company. The program matched a diverse group of American women who had reached a certain point in their careers with talented African women aspiring to make a difference in their continent. Both of us had come to the Global Ambassadors Program with certain expectations about mentoring. Sbu had recently left her banking job and was looking for tactical advice on how to expand an after-school program for disadvantaged youth in her community. I was hoping that I had some helpful ideas from my career as a journalist and global business executive on how she might get funding and visibility for her worthy project. Neither of us imagined the electricity we'd generate that would jolt both of us in new and exciting directions. Advertisement As Sbu described her project, I was entranced by her storytelling about the Valley of a Thousand Hills, where she and her twin sister had grown up in a nurturing environment. Her goal was to restore a quality of life for children today who face a different landscape with dream-shattering youth unemployment, HIV-AIDS and lack of access to higher education. The TV journalist in me visualized the narrative with wide shots of the beautiful landscape, cutting to the faces of young children who saw no future, as they were rescued by Sbu's vision. The business executive in me saw the opportunity for compelling new branding, marketing, and a development strategy. The more we brainstormed, Sbu's ideas expanded from the after school program to include a tourism business that would provide sustainable jobs to youth in the area. Her enthusiasm for creating and leading a project like this was contagious. Unexpectedly, I was swept away with a desire to do something on my own to improve the lives of children and hardworking families in my own community, whether it was making college more affordable, tougher gun safety laws, immigration reform, or equal pay for equal work. By the end of the weeklong program, Sbu was fired up with a new and bigger purpose, and I was on my way to running for US Congress, an opportunity that had surfaced with an open seat in my home congressional district. Neither of us could have imagined how two women, from opposite sides of the planet, would find themselves, at the same moment, compelled to take all that they'd learned in their previous careers and put it towards service in their community. Both of us were being held back by an abundance of caution, and needed the other to propel the leap forward. Advertisement My take-away was the realization that you need to be open to new possibilities no matter what stage in life you find yourself. Even after 40 years and two fairly distinguished careers, I realized I could continue to improvise and reframe my life, if I was purposeful and fearless. Most importantly, I had found the confidence to risk failure, something I had cautiously avoided my entire life, in order to keep learning and growing. 18 months later, Sbu and I will be together this week in California when Vital Voices reunites 100 of the accomplished women leaders that they've honored and mentored over the past decade. All of us will have new stories to tell and advice to share as the roles of mentor and mentee. Sbu has broken ground on three buildings to house her growing program, including a guest house for visitors to stay when they walk through a Valley of Thousand Hills. Each one of those hills represents the 1000 children in her community she will serve with new jobs or scholarships, and she's well on her way. After leaving my position at Marriott last year to run for Congress, I lost a close election four months ago in a hotly contested Democratic primary. Every day on the campaign trail I improvised and stretched in new ways to connect more deeply with my local community as an advocate for women and children. For me, running and honing my political voice as a candidate was a victory. The last four days or so have shown that much of our political discourse has been reduced to little more than clickbait. On Friday a video was leaked showing Donald Trump discussing women in crude, vulgar, and also downright strange language. His talk of "moving heavily" on a woman and using the phrase "furniture shopping," as if it had some hidden sexual innuendo, was bizarre. However, the moment on the tape when he boasts of grabbing women by their private parts has rightfully drawn the most attention. A candidate for President of the United States openly bragged and joked about sexually assaulting women. For a brief moment it looked like the Republican enablers who have turned a blind eye to so many racist, sexist, bigoted, dangerous and foolish thing their candidate has said, had finally had enough. On Friday and Saturday Republicans who had not seen it fit to abandon their candidate when he insulted Mexicans or Muslims, was revealed to have consistently used sexist language over the last few decades, was shown to have very disturbing links to Russia, demonstrated an ignorance of the basics on most issue or of how governance works, began to leave their candidate. Although it was good to see that there was a line that many Republicans would not allow their candidate to cross, it was distressing to see how many lines they had let him cross in the previous months. It was additionally difficult to avoid the conclusion that for many in the GOP racist and Islamaphobic language was acceptable, because they don't need those votes they way they need the votes of the white women who were rightly furious about the leaked video. Advertisement And then the debate happened. The question about the tape came up right away, but Trump managed to stumble through with a semi-apology. The Republican nominee spent the rest of the night attacking Hillary Clinton, threatening to have he locked up if he were elected, and physically and verbally bludgeoning and stumbling through the ninety minute debate. By Monday morning it was not clear who had won the debate, but it was clear that a Presidential nominee caught on tape bragging about disgusting and criminal behavior was no longer a top story. This is the media climate in which this election, and perhaps all future politics, will occur. We are now a country where pretty much everybody will get two paragraphs into a story about the economy, decide to click on that post about the 22 most embarrassing things that happened on a first date, notice the sale on dog treats, and then get curious about the weather in Petaluma. This was the dynamic that saved Trump's candidacy over the last 96 hours, but it may also be the one that does irreparable damage to our democracy. Advertisement We have now become a political community where we literally cannot remain focused on the possible criminal behavior of a candidate for the highest office in the land for more than a few days. It turned out to be timely for Trump that the debate was scheduled for Sunday, but if it hadn't been the debate it would have been something else. Thus far he has changed the conversation about his anti-Mexican comments by breaking new ground in Islamaphobia, has drawn attention away from the Trump University ripoff, remember that?, by revelations about his campaign's ties to Russia. Sunday night was just the latest in this pattern; and we can be sure there will be another scandal that will arise to distract our attention from his ominously nervous body language during the debate. That has been the singular contribution of the Trump campaign to political strategy. He has turned the previous conventional wisdom of "when you're in a hole stop digging," into "when you're in a hole, get out and immediately start digging a deeper one." Review sites -- they're everywhere, and many business owners have a love/hate relationship with them. Often too concerned a single bad review can make or break the success of the enterprise, some will stalk the sites for anything said about their company, while others completely ignore them. Neither approach is ideal -- it's easy to take things way too personally, and ignoring it all together can present missed opportunity for feedback and growth. Considering up to 70% of people, depending on age group, trust consumer opinions posted online online, which in right behind branded websites at 75%, and only 85% of people trust recommendations from people they know - what your online review profiles say about you is more important than you may realize. As of 2015, 92% of customers read online reviews, up from 88% in 2014. So - since most people are reading, and trusting, what reviews have to say about you, isn't it time you learn how to make them work for you? Check for and Claim Any Existing Business Profiles Chances are, you already have a profile on sites like Yelp, even if you haven't been reviewed yet. For instance, House Buyers Phoenix has a Yelp profile with extensive photos and imagery, and no reviews. Each unclaimed business listing like that one has the option to claim the profile to manage with a free Yelp Business Owner's account. Advertisement When you claim your profile, provide as many details about your business as you can - hours, price range, menu (for restaurants, food trucks, and other food-based businesses), products/services, phone number, address, website, accepted payment methods, whether or not walk-ins are accepted, service area, etc. The more detail, the better, as this can keep you one step ahead of the competition, and show reviewers that you're actively paying attention to the profile. Create Profiles if You Don't Have a Presence There are countless places to list your business online, and you should go beyond the generalized big ones like Google My Business, Yelp, and TripAdvisor, to look for smaller, more niche sites, too. For instance, restaurants can also look into sites like Zomato (formerly UrbanSpoon), OpenTable, and Zagat, while contractors can also look into HomeAdvisor, Porch, Angie's List, and Houzz. Use the same standard, accurate listing for all your profiles to help boost your search engine optimization (SEO) efforts. If you must update one listing, update them all. Advertisement Read the Fine Print on Industry Specific Review Sites While listings on the industry specific review sites can be a great thing because they will bring you more targeted traffic than a generalized site, sometimes, it's worth reading the fine print, especially if you pay for membership there. Some sites may remove your listing, and all of the reviews that come along with it, damaging a potentially vital traffic source for inbound leads. Before you pay to join any website, find out what happens should you wish to discontinue your membership in the future. Gather Reviews You have to be careful here, because Yelp won't accept reviews if they believe you've asked your customers for them. Other review websites have similar policies, as well. There's no harm in asking your clients and customers to leave you a review, but you'll want to do it quickly after they've used your services - too long and they're likely to ignore your request. Any time a customer compliments you via email, in-person, or over the phone, let them know you'd appreciate if they could leave the same feedback on a review website of their choice. Make it easy for customers to review you. If they have to work for it, they're probably not going to. Link to all your review profiles on your website. It's easy as many of them offer downloadable graphics for you to use on your website and social media profiles. You can always offer an incentive for customers to leave a review - since this is not the same thing as buying reviews. (Don't do that!) Offer a discount or small freebie for the next time they come in exchange for their review on a review site of their choice. Make sure the offer applies regardless of the content of the review - you're not incentivizing only positive reviews - you're incentivizing any review. Start a program where you incentivize employees who are mentioned by name in reviews. Employees will be more apt to provide better customer service, and suggest that customers leave reviews if they have a reason to. Choose the bonus program that makes the most sense for your business. Advertisement When someone takes the time to review your business, make the effort to thank them. Many review sites make it easy for you to do this right from within the management platform. This will make your satisfied customer more likely to become a loyal one - and you can surprise them with a discount code in response. Respond to Negative and False Reviews One of the biggest benefits of claiming your review profiles is the ability to respond to negative and false reviews. If your profile is full of happy customers, great, but most people know there's no way you can keep 100% of your customers happy 100% of the time. As such, a bit of neutral or negativity isn't really a bad thing. In fact, too many raving reviews can send the "fake" flags flying.... See Amazon's recent decision to stop reviewers from getting discounted products in exchange for a review, if you want to know more about why. When you do respond to a negative or false review, remain polite - as the comments will be visible by anyone who comes to visit the profile in the future. Simply acknowledge the customer experience, apologize, and provide a contact method, such as email or phone, to take the resolution off the review site. Future viewers will understand that sometimes bad things happen, and will see that you took the initiative to handle the issue in a positive manner. This goes much further in earning business than bashing a customer for leaving you a bad review. He started his campaign by describing Mexicans who come to America as rapists. He has not apologized. He publicly questioned the birthplace and citizenship of the country's first African-American president for five years. Even after the provision of a birth certificate. He has not apologized. He insulted the mother of an American soldier who died serving his country. He did not apologize. He has said, "I have blacks counting my money... I hate it... Laziness is a trait in blacks." He has not apologized. Advertisement He was asked in a national debate about calling women "pigs, slobs and dogs." He has not apologized. He has also said of women, "you have to treat 'em like shit." He has not apologized. He asked in a public rally for Hillary Clinton's Secret Service detail to disarm. He has attacked her looks and her health. He has not apologized. He intimated that one of his primary opponent's father was involved in the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. He has not apologized. He has impugned the heroism of a U.S. Veteran who was held captive in a Vietnam prison for more than five years. He has not apologized. Advertisement Another week of early voting has passed and at least 429,337 people have voted in the 2016 election. I say "at least" because I do not have information from all the states, and information from some states is a little out-of-date. This week should see an acceleration of early voting as mail ballots are sent to domestic civilian voters in a number of states. The week ended with revelations of lewd comments made by Donald Trump that prompted a number of Republican elected officials to renounce their endorsements of him. Some of these officials have called upon Trump to withdraw from the election. Trump's combative second presidential debate performance signals no intent to accede to their demands. In any case, the die has been cast with the ballots. There is no way to remove Trump's name from the ballot at this late date. In every state, military and overseas civilian voters have been voting since late September, as required by federal law to afford these people an opportunity to receive and return their ballots. Many domestic civilian voters have already returned ballots, too. Millions more ballots have been printed and have already been sent or will be sent soon. We are beyond the point where ballots can be changed. Advertisement Candidates do occasionally pass away or decide to quit the race. There are ways for parties to select replacement candidates. When this occurs when ballots are already printed, it is understood a vote for the candidate named on the ballot is a vote for the replacement candidate. This would undoubtedly create much voter confusion. Some Republicans have said they will write in Mike Pence rather than vote for Trump. Some states require write-in candidates to file paperwork in advance of the election in order to become official write-in candidates; those that do not do not have votes counted for them. In the extremely unlikely event Mike Pence became a replacement for Trump, additional voter confusion would arise when voters decided to write in Pence's name instead of casting a vote for Trump. I would consider such write-in votes to be a clear sign of voter intent, but the legal status of such votes is murky and would undoubtedly be litigated if Pence won. Ominously, a four-four Supreme Court may deadlock on any legal questions, leaving the patchwork of lower courts to decide the election. The legitimacy of the election would be severely damaged. Let's hope that the election is decisive enough that the courts do not have to get involved. A frequent criticism of early voting is that early voters may regret their vote if late breaking news changes their mind. I do not believe that Trump's revelations are new news to the earliest of early voters. The earliest of early voters are extreme political junkies. These people have already formed a strong opinion of both major party candidates and few will be swayed by virtually any news that is revealed between now and Election Day. Indeed, the initial polling suggests that a considerable segment of Republicans continue to support Trump. Advertisement So, what does early voting tell us about the state of the election? Keep in mind that these are a drop in the bucket of the 130 million or more votes that will be cast in the election. There is nearly a month left and much can happen in what has already been an eventful election. I continue to focus on only three states where there are good comparisons to be made to 2012: Iowa, Maine, and North Carolina. I expect to soon expand analysis to other states. For now, I'm primarily looking at the more numerous ballot requests, I also expect soon to start focusing analysis on returned ballots. Iowa A recent Des Moines Register poll gives Trump a +4 lead, and the early vote strongly suggests Trump is poised to do better than Romney did in 2012. In the absentee ballot requests, registered Democrats are running 50,024 requests behind their 2012 level. If there is improvement for Hillary Clinton, it is by way of a drop-off of Republican early voting interest that started following the prior week's presidential debate. The Wednesday the week before last, registered Republicans were running slightly ahead of their 2012 level, but are now running a deficit of 14,099 requests. The Iowa Secretary of State's office reports absentee ballot activity by congressional district (although the state does not split its Electoral College votes among its congressional districts), and has comparable 2012 reports. Looking across congressional districts, both parties are seeing the least drop-off from 2012 in the Third Congressional District, which is where the state's largest city, Des Moines, is located. Dallas County, where Des Moines suburbs are located, is the fastest growing county in the state, with 9.4 percent growth since 2010. Other parts of Iowa are growing, too, so this is only a partial explanation for the relatively higher volume of absentee ballot requests. I suspect that greater voting interest is coming from larger cities, but interest is languishing in rural areas. The drop-off is particularly acute for the Democrats in the First and Second congressional districts, which may hold the key to the election in Iowa. The eastern part of Iowa, along with Southwestern Wisconsin, Western Illinois, and Southeastern Minnesota, is one of the few regions of Democratic strength in rural America. Declined voting interest in this region spells trouble for Clinton in Iowa, and potentially has implications for Wisconsin. North Carolina The New York Times' Upshot projects that Trump has a +1 lead among people who have returned ballots. I believe this could be an accurate estimate, but the problem for Trump is that the lead should be larger in the mail ballots. It is imperative for him to build a lead to offset the 90%+ of in-person early voters who tend to lean Democrat. Registered Democrats continue to vote and request ballots at levels above 2012 and Republicans below, suggesting the polling is correct that Clinton will do better than Barack Obama in North Carolina. North Carolina provides a wealth of election information. It is possible to make a 2012 and 2016 comparison for different types of voters, and by where they live. Among the ten largest counties, Ballot requests from registered Democrats are up 17.4% over their 2012 levels, but are only up 9.2% in the remainder of the state. Population growth is also a factor, as large population centers tend to continue to exhibit the fastest growth. Republicans are actually facing a larger decline the ten largest counties, off 27.3% from the 2012 levels, compared with a decline of 21.8% in the remainder. Here, in a reverse of Iowa, the problem for Republicans is widespread, but more acute in the urban areas of North Carolina. If there are hidden Trump voters in rural North Carolina, they are so stealthy they haven't requested a ballot from election officials, yet. Advertisement Maine Maine continues to look similar to 2012 for the Democrats, as does the First Congressional District. There has been marked improvement for the Democrats in the Second Congressional District, the district that could go for Trump, as Democratic interest in voting has increased above 2012 levels. Florida Since there is much speculation about Florida, some of it coming from the Clinton campaign, I have to reiterate that Florida's mail ballot law changed since 2012. Anyone who requested a ballot during 2014 or since has a standing request for the 2016 election. Some counties allow voters to check a box on their ballot return envelopes to serve as a new request. These options were not available prior to 2012. As a consequence, in 2014, Democrats narrowed a traditional large advantage Republicans have in mail ballots. Registered Republicans have only a 3.1 percentage point lead in ballot requests at the end of the week (the lead narrowed much when Palm Beach reported its domestic absentee ballot requests on Friday). If Democrats take a lead in mail ballots, that would be noteworthy. I don't think they will. I believe most likely that we will have to wait for the first week of November once the in-person early voting in in full swing to get a good read on Florida's early vote. Summary Since the first presidential debate, Clinton continues to fare above Obama in North Carolina. Republican weakness is particularly acute in the North Carolina's largest counties. Trump continues to fare better than Romney in Iowa, but has potentially lost some momentum. Clinton's weakness in Iowa may extend to southeastern Wisconsin, where there is no comparable early vote data available. Maine continues to look similar to 2012 statewide and in the First Congressional District, and the Second Congressional District is looking better for Clinton. Advertisement Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump speaks during the presidential town hall debate with Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY Hillary Clinton wasn't as dominant against Donald Trump in comparison to the first debate, but her opponent -- with his unhinged responses that went all over the place -- convinced me that on the whole Mrs. Clinton won. The first half hour, Donald Trump couldn't give a straight or sincere answer regarding the topic of the moment: the release of an Access Hollywood backstage interview with Billy Bush in which he spewed sexual braggadocio regarding his temptations and treatment of women. He boasted that as a TV personality he could pretty much do what he pleased. When caught, he denied that his worst statements, groping a woman's pussy, ever actually happened. Advertisement Moderator Anderson Cooper reiterated his question whether Trump actually did what he stated on the audio in the video, but the GOP nominee disavowed it and deflected the conversation to either what he considered more important, our battle with ISIS, or essentially said that, whatever he did, Bill Clinton was worse. He mentioned four women in the audience, one of whom was a young rape victim in a case Hillary Clinton defended as a court-appointed attorney and he blasted her because she got the accused off. Other women in the audience, such as Paula Jones, who received $850,000 in a settlement with Bill Clinton, had been dealt with 18 years ago and, though the former president was impeached because of a legal technicality regarding his sexual activities, he was not convicted by the Senate. In any event, it's not Bill Clinton running for president. Hillary was accused of defaming and attacking the women and decided not to respond. Probably a good strategy as the nation's disgust of Trump has been so widespread as to cause many GOP senate heavyweights to withdraw their support, from Arizona's John McCain to Alaska's Lisa Murkowski to New Hampshire's Kelly Ayotte -- plus, former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and even conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt, who had been an apologist for Trump on MSNBC. Who among the Democrats have abandoned Hillary Clinton and/or thrown their support to Donald Trump? My only complaint was Hillary's response to a leaked email of one of her Wall Street speeches, where she was alleged to have a "public" and "private" position on certain issues. It made sense not to reveal the inner workings of a compromise behind the scenes while espousing a policy that might not totally come about, but her analogy to Abraham Lincoln's backroom dealings to get support for the 13th Amendment, however accurate it may have been, and linking it to her having seen the film Lincoln, was not her finest moment and invited a derisive retort, the only effective comeback against her by Trump. Advertisement I think she also should have refuted some of his charges about the economy and foreign policy, but I was glad she specifically mentioned there's been no proof her server was hacked, nor that anything bad in the world has been attributed to any of her emails. This was verified by CNN. However, fact checkers probably had a field day dealing with Trump's negatives about Hillary and Barack Obama, his statistics in most instances not accurate at all -- whether about crime being up (It's down), the economy is tanking (It's doing better), unemployment is down. Might there be improvement in Obamacare, of course, and part of the problem is that many Republican governors have not permitted Medicaid funding by the federal government, which would bring down costs in those states. But premiums are going up all around, not only with those covered by insurance exchanges, and so, once again, Trump's attacks on her record, and that of Obama, like most of his charges, don't paint an accurate picture. Also amazing was his difference of opinion with his running mate, Governor Mike Pence about military action in Syria. Didn't he realize how that would sound? But let's go further. Apart from his inability to have an effective response to his sexual misdeeds, Trump seemed to feel that constantly shouting negatives about Hillary, repeatedly calling her a liar and barking that what she and Obama had done was terrible, would be effective. Perhaps to his base, but I'm sure it hasn't moved anyone in the middle to his side. In fact, Trump's outrageous suggestion that he would direct his attorney general to have a special prosecutor go after Hillary, and when pressed, said she would go to jail is so over the top and confirms Hillary's pronouncements that Mr. Trump clearly doesn't have the temperament to be president. Advertisement So, while Hillary was not as commanding as she was to a generally dithering Trump two weeks ago, her game plan may simply have been not to rock the boat. Say what is needed to defend and declare the truth about her record and keep on trucking for the next month. She has more than enough support from her husband, her former opponent Bernie Sanders, liberal icon Elizabeth Warren, Vice President Joe Biden, the first lady and the current very popular president of the United States. Pictured: The Sasan coal-fired power plant in Singrauli, India. Photo by Neha Mathew. Earlier this week, the Paris Agreement on Climate Change finally met the requirements for entry into force, marking a historic global moment and demonstrating unprecedented cooperation between the world's biggest carbon emitters -- including China, the U.S., the EU, and India. This news has ensured that the Paris Agreement will enter into force well ahead of schedule, and it is because of leadership from countries like India that we have witnessed the biggest step forward yet in strengthening the global commitment to climate action. And for India -- the world's fourth largest carbon emitter -- this announcement is a strong affirmation of its commitment to its sustainable development and carbon emission reduction goals. India faces one of the biggest challenges in increasing and advancing its energy capacity to efficiently meet growing energy demand. Intent on increasing domestic energy security, India previously announced a plan to double domestic coal production to 1.5 billion tons by 2020. But plans to ramp up generation from coal are at odds with lower-than-expected energy demand as well as a drop in coal production due to floods and local protests, which have resulted in decreased production targets. Latent energy demand, although variable, also points out the potential need for India's energy planning to refocus on the use and distribution of energy. Advertisement And it is clear that local communities will not acquiesce when faced with coal projects that will destroy their homes and livelihoods. For years, locals have been pushing back against the unchecked and unnecessary development of destructive fossil fuel projects to protect their communities and their families. But tragically, these acts of peaceful resistance sometimes turn deadly. This week, six people were killed near Hazaribagh when police opened fire on a protest against the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) -- the national power company of India -- and its failure to gain the necessary 70 percent approval to move forward with the acquisition of forest land. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi, the Indian government has set an ambitious target of achieving 175 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2022, including 100 gigawatts of solar power. Over the past two years, India has seen growing and unprecedented momentum toward clean energy growth and investment. As of April 2016, India achieved an installed capacity of nearly 7 gigawatts of grid-connected clean, renewable energy. Already in 2016, off-grid solar power has surpassed capacity targets. In June, the World Bank announced $1 billion to support expansion of solar through investments in solar generation. India is also on track to become one of the largest solar installers globally and the country's total installed solar capacity has grown by over 80 percent in the past 12 months to reach 8.1 gigawatts. In states like Bihar, where 82 percent of people lack access to electricity, successful campaigns like 100 percent Renewable Energy for Bihar have mobilized communities and political leadership, while increasing energy access. Last December during the Paris Climate Summit, India led the way forward with solar and clean energy, pledging $30 million over five years and announcing the creation of the International Solar Alliance. During Prime Minister Modi's fourth visit to the U.S. this past June, the South Asian leader and President Obama committed to redoubling U.S.-India cooperation on climate and clean energy. The announcement included collaboration on a new initiative under the International Solar Alliance and the implementation of two new financing facilities to drive $1 billion in new solar investment beyond the grid. As evident in the image below, in just six years, India is projected to have the largest electricity generation capacity increase from renewable energy sources (RES). Advertisement Electricity Generation Capacity in India (Source: IEEFA) And while it is promising that India is projected to have the largest increase in electricity generation capacity from renewable energy sources, this is only the tip of the iceberg. The reality is that barriers to clean energy development in India include problems with the country's grid infrastructure, high cost of financing, inefficiencies in power distribution companies and issues with land acquisition, continued dependence on domestically-produced coal, inefficient coal-fired power plants, and an inadequate grid. Put together, all of these factors threaten to complicate India's energy access problem. As this 2016 report from CoalSwarm shows, India's coal development pipeline could derail renewable energy ambitions. Too many Indian communities have been stripped off their farming and forest lands and played witness to mass displacement, polluted air and water, and several other human rights crises. In Singrauli, the U.S. Export-Import Bank used U.S. taxpayer dollars to finance the development of the Sasan Ultra Mega Power Plant. Communities in Singrauli have been driven out of their lands and displaced several times by the development of 11 thermal power plants and nine coal mines. To this day, the Tata Mundra Coal-Fired Power Plant, initially funded by the World Bank's International Finance Corporation, continues to plague fishing communities and farmers. Although the World Bank itself has taken several steps to address climate change, it continues to finance fossil fuels, especially in developing countries like India. This week, the World Bank is hosting its annual meetings, where the Sierra Club and Oil Change International are specifically demanding actions from the World Bank in order to align its lending with the Paris Agreement and the sustainable development goals. Advertisement Historically, the world's largest developed countries have all relied heavily on fossil fuels, a trend that has rapidly been shifting in recent years. In the U.S., for example, this toxic reliance on fossil fuels has significantly transitioned toward a pathway forward to 100 percent clean and renewable energy. But India still stands to enable the perpetuation of dirty fossil fuels. According to Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF), around $13 trillion is needed in zero-carbon energy investment between now and 2040 in order to meet global climate targets and accelerate the shift from coal to renewables. Why do insurance companies treat mental health differently than physical health? originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. Answer by Tim Kaine, Democratic candidate for VP and senator from Virginia, on Quora: Despite the fact that more than 40 million adults and nearly 17 million children in America are coping with a mental health condition, there has long been a stigma and shame around these issues. Unfortunately, that stigma has made its way into our healthcare system. Health insurance providers and employers have historically covered mental health and addiction differently than treatment for other medical conditions. As a result, patients face far too many barriers when trying to access the mental health services they need: higher out-of-pocket costs, longer waiting periods, and limited in-network providers in their communities. Advertisement In response to this clear discrimination, Congress passed the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act of 2008 (Parity Law), which Hillary Clinton co-sponsored. The law requires mental health benefits under individual and group insurance plans to be equal to benefits for other medical conditions. President Obama built upon the Parity Law by requiring that insurance plans offer mental health coverage as an essential health benefit in the Affordable Care Act. But parity is sadly still not a reality for individuals living with mental illness and addiction today. Unfortunately, these laws are too often ignored or not enforced, and as a result, millions of Americans still get turned away when they need help the most. Patients are twice as likely to be denied coverage by a private insurer for mental health services as they are for general medical care. Barriers like these are simply unacceptable for anyone seeking treatment for mental health. When it comes to mental health, help should be immediate--and focused on treatment, not judgment. There's no quick fix to eradicating the stigma in both our country's culture and laws. But we can start fixing the system by enforcing mental health parity to the full extent of the law--including strengthening federal monitoring to make sure insurers are complying and making it easier for patients to file a complaint when their rights are violated. Advertisement It's time we make sure every American gets the quality mental health care they need--without shame, without stigma, and without the barriers. That is what Hillary and I intend to do in office. Hillary has worked on these issues for decades, and she has a plan to address the problem head-on, once and for all. This question originally appeared on Quora - the knowledge sharing network where compelling questions are answered by people with unique insights. You can follow Quora on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+. More questions: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump shakes hands with Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton following the second presidential debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016. (AP Photo/Patrick Semansky) As I watched the second Presidential debate last night, I was mindful of the fact that several topics were simply ignored and not even brought up by either the moderators or the candidates themselves. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are running to be President of the United States -- a position that entails not only handling domestic situations, but also serving as one of the most pertinent figures on the world stage. And yesterday, in front of an international audience (thanks to technology), there was no mention of Haiti when the latest reports show that over 1,000 people have died from the devastation of hurricane Matthew. Back here at home, police and criminal justice reform are core issues that many communities are pushing for continuously. How could this debate, taking place 15 miles from Ferguson, in the shadows of where Michael Brown was killed, fail to even touch on this important subject? Ignoring our concerns is continuing to marginalize us and we refuse to be left out. Advertisement Reuters reported today that Haiti started burying some of its dead in mass graves as over 1,000 people died, and now some 1.4 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. Doctors are warning of a cholera crisis and sadly, more deaths can be expected as disease spreads. How can we have a Presidential debate at the same time that such a huge tragedy is taking place in the western hemisphere and it's not even mentioned? If over a 1,000 people died in another part of the world, the debate would have opened with a question about it. We would be lying to ourselves if we think otherwise. Even when it comes to the subject of immigration, why are the high number of Haitian deportations never discussed? These are glaring omissions that we cannot just gloss over -- nor should we. Two years ago, we at National Action Network were organizing rallies and pushing to get justice for Eric Garner who died after being placed in a police chokehold in Staten Island. While calling for accountability and reform in this case, another tragedy took place a few weeks later in Ferguson, MO when 18-year-old Michael Brown was shot and killed by police. The issues that we raised with Garner's death, Brown's death and others through the years were not even uttered on the debate stage Sunday night. The rallying cry for criminal justice reform has now gained support from both the left and the right, but somehow there wasn't even one question about it. As communities of color and the poor continue to suffer the most from harsh police tactics, disproportionate summonses, arrests, tougher sentences and more, we need to know precisely where the candidates stand on these issues. What will either Clinton or Trump do to stop unjustified police killings, or to reform policing in America? What kind of Attorney General would they nominate? What kinds of recommendations from President Obama's Task Force on 21st Century Policing would they implement? These are all extremely relevant and pertinent questions that were completely left out of this second Presidential debate. As a civil rights leader, much of my work has focused on fighting on behalf of the voiceless, advocating for justice and ensuring that we have a seat at the table. When people already face societal inequities, ignoring their concerns is not alleviating those inequalities - it is simply disenfranchising them further. Social exclusion is a real thing and we saw it on full display during this debate. Whether done on purpose or subconsciously, the moderators and candidates simply left out certain topics and challenges that we need solutions and answers for. When people sometimes ask why I continue to organize and march, this is why. We cannot afford to be left out. We must raise our voices ourselves. We refuse to be further silenced. And we can't have drive-by shooting candidates or moderators; the tasks before us are far too great, and we need to know who is and who isn't up to the challenge. Body justice is being able to live as a human being in your own body and have it treated with respect. No groping, no sexual assault, no 'stop and frisk,' no throwing your body out because we just don't like your religion or national origin, and no shooting. This is a concept unknown to presidential candidate, Donald Trump, not only in his recorded admission to sexually assaulting women but also in commending stop and frisk for reducing murder rates in New York (it didn't), pushing law and order as the buzzword response to the killing of unarmed and innocent African Americans, and demeaning some bodies as illegals. There is no such thing as an illegal body. There are just human beings who may or may not be in violation of certain laws. Never have we needed body theology as much as in this election. It is astonishing how much this election is about the integrity of some bodies versus the right to assault, denigrate and kill other bodies. This is body theology on display. Advertisement As I wrote in March of this year, Hands, Fingers, Knees and Toes: Feminist Body Theology and the #GOPDebate for the Huffington Post about Trump's defending his tiny fingers and rejecting the idea that his male genitalia were similarly, shall we say, diminished, feminist body theology looks at how the human body has been religiously and culturally symbolized over history. It is no surprise to anyone that the male member, as Augustine of Hippo phrases it, symbolizes power and control and it certainly does for Trump. Let's flip this script to justice-making, however. My body, your body and the bodies of all human beings are ourselves. Our Bodies, Our Selves was a ground-breaking text that helped women understand their own bodies and make good choices for health and sexuality. It has become a movement. Justice-making for bodies means that and much more. It means being able to be transgender and have a restroom available for your own bodily needs, for example. Why is it that bathroom hysteria about having restrooms adequate for the full range of human bodies is framed as the fear of male predictors in women's bathrooms. Advertisement This push back against justice and equity for transgender persons in public spaces is even more astonishing these days as an admitted predator on women, Donald Trump, is seeking the presidency. There is no evidence of male predation in regard to restroom use, however. "The anxiety isn't men in women's bathrooms, it's about masculinity in the wrong place," said Katherine Franke, director of Columbia Law School's Center for Gender and Sexuality Law. "It's portrayed as a threat to women, but on a much deeper level, it's about what it means to be a man and what it means to be a woman." Body theology and justice can be summed up in the same way. For millennia, males have insisted on access to female bodies, and the laws that were made restricted only some men from sexual access to the bodies of women who "belonged" to other men. I have documented this extensively in Women's Bodies as Battlefield: Christian Theology and the Global War on Women. But this needs to be extended and complexified even further. Who gets to walk down the street in his or her African American skin and be an equal citizen under the law, free from unreasonable search and seizure? Who gets to live and work and not be a designated scapegoat for the billionaires who send jobs overseas (I'm talking to you, Trump)? Who gets to pee and who doesn't? Donald Trump and his own body theology problems reveal the deep reason why some bodies are rendered available for "use" in law, culture and religion, and some bodies are rendered powerful, inviolable, and permitted unfettered access to other bodies, bodies of different races, sexuality or national origin. Advertisement Trump is a huge problem, it is true. But the problem is not Trump. The problem is justice for bodies has not yet been achieved. The current blend of racism and hate that has become a part of American political discourse can be traced back to before Donald Trump became the Republican nominee for President -- all the way to when he demanded President Barack Obama's birth certificate, claiming that he was not born in the United States and thus constitutionally disqualified. This brand of bigotry grew when Trump announced his candidacy and in the same breath said Mexican immigrants were drug dealers, criminals, and rapists. It metastasized through his many hate-filled diatribes, his belief that a federal judge was unqualified and incapable of impartiality because of his ethnicity, and his inhuman attacks against Khizr and Ghazala Khan, parents of a Muslim-American soldier who gave his life protecting fellow troops. Simply put, for people like Trump and unfortunately many of his supporters, if you are not like them -- that is to say white and Christian -- you are not American. Even if you are President of the United States, a federal judge, or a slain U.S. soldier, you are still not American enough. So when this hateful and divisive tone has become a regular part of American political discourse, no one should be surprised to see Fox News broadcast some of the worst racist stereotypes targeting Asians, and specifically Chinese-Americans, on the O'Reilly Factor. Advertisement Nor should we be surprised that Jesse Watters, the "journalist" who led the ignorant reporting against Asians, issued a non-apologetic statement implying it was the fault of others for being unsophisticated enough to appreciate his racist humor. Donald Trump's candidacy has disturbingly legitimized this kind of bigotry -- once hidden, festering for generations just beneath the surface. Now it is in plain view, on-air, and a part of mainstream conversation in the unhealthiest way possible. Put simply, this brand of hatred and racism is now politically acceptable for millions of Americans. Unsurprisingly, Donald Trump and many of his supporters see people like me as "un-American." Never mind that millions of us were born, raised, educated, work and vote here. To them, we are the Perpetual Foreigner simply because of our race. To them, we will never belong because of our faces and the color of our skin. O'Reilly, Watters, and Fox News, like other media organizations, had an opportunity and a responsibility to counter this trend of bigotry. They had the ability to use their platform to take a stand. Instead, they chose to reinforce the ignorance and xenophobia that has penetrated our national discourse. Advertisement Even after two disastrous debate appearances, overwhelming poll numbers and one of the worst campaign scandals in modern history, if you talk to many reasonable people you'll still hear this whisper: I really think he might win. It's the fear of an electoral surprise--that the pollsters are wrong, that faith in logical, rational voters is faith without evidence. Post-Brexit this sort of skepticism seems even more reasonable. In light of recent events--after all the predictions that were wrong before--how do we even know what everyday people even think these days? I'll tell you this attitude is absurd and wrong. It reminds me of a story that Ulysses S. Grant tells in his memoirs about a night he spent on the wild prairies of East Texas. He and a fellow officer were near Goliad when they heard "the most unearthly howling of wolves" directly in front of them. They couldn't see the wolves through the tall prairie grass, but the men knew they were near. The other officer asked Grant how many wolves he thought were in the pack. Grant, not wanting to seem afraid, tried to lowball the number at twenty--knowing well enough, he said later, that it was still enough "to devour our party, horses and all, at a single meal." Grant thought that maybe they should turn around, but the other officer, having come from a part of Indiana where the wolves hadn't been completely driven out, smiled and pushed on. Advertisement The men arrived to find just two lone wolves sitting on their haunches. These were the sole animals who had made all the noise that had scared Grant so badly, that had convinced him he was overwhelmingly outnumbered. Four decades later, after a full life in public service and politics, Grant would relate that he often thought of this incident when he heard of a group changing course due to criticism or someone giving up because they were deterred by an unseen enemy. The lesson in such situations, he concluded, was this: "There are always more of them before they are counted." Which brings us to a lesson we would do well to remember in modern media when it comes to politics: There is always less behind the noise than you think. Certainly this is true in our current election, where the media had tried to convince us that behind Donald Trump is an overwhelming mass of white male blue collar workers who will be rising up as one (or in more extreme characterizations, a raging army of white supremacist lunatics who will riot in the streets if he's not elected.) Conversely, we're expected to believe that the unexciting Hillary Clinton is supported by no one, that she's a candidate created by vested interests, defended by "the media", and propped up by illusory political correctness--but insufficient votes. The results on election day, the narrative goes, may just shock us. Advertisement As David Plouffe, President Obama's former campaign manager and current informal advisor to Hillary's campaign, has observed: "This race is being covered in a way that suggests it's a dead heat. And it's not...Some polls closely capture where the race stands. But they're very incomplete. The Clinton campaign is doing large samples for modeling surveys of everybody on the voter file. So you have a very good understanding of how you believe 100 percent of the electorate will be allocated on election day. When you look at how 100 percent of the vote is likely to be allocated in Florida, I get very optimistic....I can get Donald Trump to within two or three in Pennsylvania, but I can't get him to a win number. The same is true in Virginia and Colorado. I know everybody goes crazy about the latest Cheetos poll, but I feel very confident about both New Hampshire and Florida. So that puts her over 300 [in the electoral college]. Trump has to pull off a miracle in the electoral college." To think that since Plouffe wrote that, Trump not only hasn't pulled off any miracles, he was caught in one of the most embarrassing hot mic scandals since the invention of recorded sound. Advertisement But I actually want to put that aside for a second so we can look at the boom-and-bust cycle of political movement in this country, particularly as it pertains to the media. Because it, as opposed to the surprising results of Brexit, is a far more predictable historical record to study. We seem to have forgotten the burst of enthusiasm and interest in the largely internet and college-driven campaign of Howard Dean in 2004 (then he finished third in Iowa). We forget Ron Paul at the beginning of the 2008 election as another internet-driven sensation which caused many to ask whether we'd finally found a viable outsider candidate. If you spent any time online in 2007, it was really made to look like we might have (when the reality, of course, was we hadn't). Very few seem to remember that the 2012 election was presented as a horse race (and in fact, Romney so believed it, he thought he might win!) Of course, the results were anything but close, with Obama securing 332 electoral votes and nearly 5 million more popular votes. How quickly we forget just months ago that Sanders was on the rise, that he was activating loyal young voters who would drive him past Hillary (and then, if they didn't, at the very least wouldn't back the ultimate nominee)? And let's not even get into the Gary Johnson and other third party candidate nonsense of earlier this summer. All these failed movements were defined by their claims to an ascendent voter bloc--one that the elites didn't understand, that hadn't been tracked before, that was going to surprise everyone. The only real surprise was how much none of this materialized. Yet here we are again. I think it's about time we start to recognize that in an insatiable media system, fringe candidates--from Dean to Ron Paul to Sanders to Trump--operate a lot like those wolves that Grant met out on the plains. It's a fact that in a system which favors extreme views and has an insatiable need for conflict, extreme and conflicting stories will be overrepresented. When candidates without a coalition see the bandwagon effect as their only hope, they will attempt to exaggerate their reach and the size of their base. They will over-rely on the rabidity of their fans to compensate for the big gaps in the lines. It will seem like there are many millions of them...until they are ultimately counted. Because noise carries further than signal right up until the point that the signal gets dialed in. Advertisement I'm not saying there were no Sanders supporters and certainly no one denies that millions of people will be voting for Donald Trump. It's just that enough non-stop coverage can skew the estimates and expectations of even the most rational observers. When you're on Reddit or Facebook and every reasonable comment is followed up by dozens of intensely argumentative responses from Bernie Sanders or Gary Johnson supporters it can start to feel like there are a lot of them out there--that there is a real movement afoot. Certainly, the Republican party fell for this in the primary, mistaking the fact that Trump seemed louder and bigger than his early opponents for a realistic chance of putting enough electoral points on the board to win. In fact, Trump has often touted--and exaggerated--the sizes of his rallies, as if that stat mattered. Today, Republicans and Democrats are falling for it again. When you go on Facebook and see endless amounts of anti-Hillary memes, you might start to think: Man, people really hate her. Sure some do--and many polls show that Americans have trouble finding her trustworthy--but even her "unpopularity" is not as unclear as it looks. The Daily Beast recently outed the almost-billionaire and founder of Oculus, Palmer Luckey, for secretly "putting money behind an unofficial Donald Trump group dedicated to "shitposting" and circulating internet memes maligning Hillary Clinton." There are also the reports that have shown how potentially a significant number of Trump's Twitter followers are fake accounts. And of course, there were the internet trolls of suspected Russian origin which broadcast pro-Donald support and propaganda. In Business Insider's piece on astroturfing, they quote Adrian Chen, who researched Russian trolls for a New York Magazine story in 2015, talking on the Longform podcast, "I created this list of Russian trolls when I was researching. And I check on it once in awhile, still. And a lot of them have turned into conservative accounts, like fake conservatives. I don't know what's going on, but they're all tweeting about Donald Trump and stuff." Advertisement I don't know if those were the people who started tweeting at me when I wrote two Trump pieces over the summer, but I can tell you, I don't normally receive many responses to my writing from people with 7 followers (in one case, the "person" had literally zero followers--which I didn't know was even possible). I do know that the people who disliked the article were far more vocal and loud and obnoxious that the ones who agreed. I happened to have a pack of coyotes living near my house--which can often sound like they're right next to my window--and the upside is that I've gotten good at ignoring empty noise. Another version of this throwing of sound is in internet polls, which candidates like Ron Paul, Donald Trump and even Bernie Sanders have often dominated. People don't understand that this is often deliberate manipulation. For instance, Trump's fans on 4chan and reddit made an explicit effort to have Trump win in every online poll around the outcome of the first debate--which Trump excitedly tweeted the results of--with users explaining how to cheat the system and vote again and again in each poll. Philip Bump in The Washington Post has compared this online behavior to a Trump rally: "These online polls are, again, garbage, no more representative of the population as a whole than is the crowd at a Trump rally. That comparison is very apt, in fact. The crowd at a Trump rally 1) is open to all comers, 2) is geographically isolated, meaning that while anyone can attend, it doesn't include a huge swath of people who vote, and 3) it rewards enthusiasm in a way that tends to obscure actual interest." (I'd also add that many attendees admit to showing up to Trump rallies "for the spectacle.") It's those last few points that are most interesting to me--in fact, they point to a fundamental reality of the internet. Not only does research show that anger is the most viral and provocative emotion--meaning that angry Trump supporters are going to be far more active than a resigned Clinton voter--but silence is often misinterpreted. Going back to what one programmer defined as Warnock's Dilemma, it's very hard to know what to make of a lack of response. The media's typical reaction is to cater to active audiences. If something is being shared, they cover it more. There is no positive sign of people simply nodding their head and moving on--a common reaction to common sense, middle of the road content--so there is no way to skate to that puck. By definition, normal, reasonable people are not an audience you can pander to. In the same way that no amount of media fawning makes HBO's Girls more popular than The Big Bang Theory, no amount of Trump media coverage changes his fundamental demographic issues. It has been the inability of his now alt-right driven campaign to realize this that doomed him from truly capitalizing on voter's real desire for change. It's what makes his most recent debate performance irrelevant. He landed plenty of punches on Hillary...but it pleased the crowd and not the referee-like undecided voters he needed so desperately to add to his base. Yes, it seems like there are huge amounts of Trump supporters out there. They are by definition louder and more motivated. They are naturally more compelling to cover. They are also engaged--or complicit--in forms of manipulation designed to create the sense of a movement which can't be stopped. Clinton hides from media coverage and doesn't make herself available even to be interviewed. Both approaches create feedback loops in which support for the former appears greater than support for the latter, because one is vocal and loud while the other is implicit and begins and ends at the ballot box. All of which brings us to where we are now. A good portion of Trump's supporters are not dumb--just as Sanders and Dean and Romney's weren't. Like Grant, they've just fallen for the noise. Some are excited by it, some are scared, some just don't know what to believe anymore. But it's all the same fundamental mistake. The underlying numbers haven't changed. We've just been gaslighted. The path to a Trump victory remains as unlikely--if not impossible--as it always was. Not only electorally, but personally--because every time Trump does get momentum, like clockwork, he rips of his Hannibal Lecter mask and says what he really thinks, ruining the very momentum his discretion had created. The only rotating variable is the media's interest in keeping things interesting and the natural phenomena of how noise carries. Hillary Clinton will almost certainly win. It is not a surprise. The only part likely to change is by how much or by how little. Advertisement I'm not just telling myself that so I'll feel better. I'm not hoping that's the outcome. I know the dangers of that. I'm also not running around getting worried and anxious as a form of virtue signaling. Both are pointless exercises rooted in the same bad assumption. The Stoic philosopher Hecato has said that hope and fear were the same. They are both based on irrational projections--of following the noise and ignoring the tricks that noise can play on you. Since the advent of online journalism, social media, and the increasingly partisan landscape of cable news, Americans have started to do something that researchers call "self-segregating" when it comes to learning about politics and current events. Many of us are watching, just not together: according to a recent Pew Research Center analysis of Nielsen Media Research data, the 2016 presidential election has led to an 8 percent jump in prime time viewership of cable news. The revenues for the three major channels, CNN, Fox News Channel, and MSNBC, are projected to increase by 10 percent to about $4 billion this year. That's certainly good for TV, but it's probably not good for us. This election, which has been punctuated by a shocking normalization of bigotry and the steady drumbeat of rambling, late night tweetstorms, has been more acrimonious and polarizing than any in recent memory. Whatever the results on election day, the political climate is likely to remain fraught. What can be done? A group of optimistic artists have launched a project designed to provide a model for how communities can counteract partisan polarization: The Democratic Cup. Maine-based Ayumi Horie and North Carolina-based Nick Moen have gathered a group of twenty-six stellar illustrators and ceramic artists, and together they have designed limited-edition porcelain cups decorated with imagery designed to encourage conversation and inspire hope for finding common ground during the election season. Their aim is to raise $100,000 from sales of the cups to benefit a group of non-profit organizations that focus on gender equality and women's health, combating systemic racism, immigration reform, gun reform, LGBTQ+ rights, and climate change. Each one is handmade in North Carolina by The Bright Angle Studio, and has an original design. You can read more about the artists, causes, and cups here. Advertisement Each artist involved drew inspiration from something slightly different, but almost all of them had a similar thought about what an unassuming, humble cup of coffee (and the conversations that happen over it) can do. "A ceramic cup is an invitation to sit, to slow down," says Roberto Lugo. "What better place to bring a conversation than at one of the few moments in contemporary life that we are most likely to be at peace: when we sit to drink our morning coffee." For Birdie Boone, it's largely about conversation: "stories and statements are spun left and right, sure, but they also can be altered, taken out of context, or may just be plain old lies. Sit down with someone, have a cuppa and a conversation. Face to face, with no additional input. Listen. Be tolerant, thoughtful, open-minded. Find common good. We need more of that." And Lauren Gallaspy sees metaphor in every aspect of the Democratic Cup project: "A cup is a vessel, small but effective. This project centers around small gestures with a big aim for an election that will have an enormous impact on our future. This project honors those who carry potential, who seek sustenance, who wish to live a life of pleasure and productivity. The act and the object is small, but the consequences could not be greater." The subjects depicted on the cups are icons and conversation-starters. Mike Corney's VOTE! Cup, created in collaboration with East Fork Pottery, was inspired by an unforgettable moment from the Democratic National Convention this summer: "When [Obama] uttered the name of "he who shall not be named," the crowd boo'ed. His response? Don't Boo. VOTE." Advertisement The Ruth Ruth Cup by David Gordon and Nick Moen celebrates the Notorious RBG, who is depicted in 18th century garb on one side and in her Justice's robes on the other. "Let's have a woman president already," says Gordon. "And while we're at it, more women supreme court justices, more women in power. Especially women like Ruth Bader Ginsburg, with her quiet and towering intellect, and love of opera." Klai Brown, Danez Smith, Nick Moen collaborated on a heart-wrenching cup called "What Did I Do," which depicts the faces of African-American men and women who have been killed by police officers over the past two years. Inside the cup, Danez Smith's text reads: "What did I do? What did I do? Be born? Be black? Meet you?" And Kristen Kieffer, who worked with Roberto Lugo, was inspired by the concept of Founding Mothers. "Through the illustrations of two strong, African-American female activists, Sojourner Truth (1797-1883) and bell hooks (1952- ), who've fought tirelessly for suffrage, emancipation, and equality, we wanted to add an air of positivity and conviction to the contentious discussions during this presidential race, says Kieffer. Christianity has changed over the years. This change has not taken place in Christianity's core beliefs, which are substantially the same as they were at the beginning. The change has happened in its outward expressions. The soul of the faith is little altered; its body has changed. When the faith began, it was considered a sect of Judaism. Its first members were all Jews, Jewish proselytes and Gentile worshipers of Israel's God. This remained true for years, but eventually non-Jews, including those who had never expressed any interest in Judaism, began putting their faith in the Jewish Messiah. Crossing that border strained the early church and forced her to think theologically about the relationship between Gentiles and Jews and the relationship between both groups and God. For the most part, the transition from Jewish sect to world faith was successfully made, and the Christ-followers, both Jews and Gentiles, viewed themselves as one new people - a new humanity united by faith in the God of Jesus. Advertisement That ethnically diverse early church, unlike its later manifestations, had almost no sway in society as a whole. The church had little money, few influential members, and scarcely any property. When they met together, it was not in ornate and spacious sanctuaries but in members' homes. Christians had no voice in civil government and Christianity was condemned as an illicit religion. During the first 250 years of the church, there were periods when Christians were routinely stripped of property, imprisoned and even executed. Yet under these unfavorable conditions, faith in Jesus Christ spread across the Roman Empire. People were converting to Christianity in large numbers, not because they were forced but because they believed the good news about God that Christians were sharing. There were times in those first two centuries when becoming a Christian made no social or financial - or even legal - sense, and yet people were choosing to become Christians in increasing numbers. After the Emperor Constantine decreed an official tolerance of Christianity in 313 AD, the church began to prosper materially. Christians could finally meet openly, and within twenty years church buildings were springing up. Government officials went public about their faith. The church became influential in society. Contrast the early church's social powerlessness to the medieval church's social dominance. Kings and princes acknowledged their allegiance to the church. Daily life was ordered around the activities of the church. Sundays were no longer work days, as they had once been, but days for people to go to church. When the church spoke, rulers trembled, and what the church wanted, she got. Advertisement The hegemony of the church faded with the Protestant Reformation, and faded even further with the secularization of the Enlightenment. In Europe and America, Christendom's social dominance diminished rapidly after the Second World War. Many Christians have bemoaned this loss of power while many secularist has cheered it, but both have seen it as a serious blow to the wellbeing of the church. I'm not so sure. Though some Christians feel threatened by the loss of cultural influence, it may turn out to be the bitter pill that saves a weakened church from its addiction to power and comfort. Christians may turn their eyes back to Jesus and away from cultural clout. Instead of a mad, every-man-for-himself scramble for the American Dream, Christians may again seek God's kingdom and discover there the riches of a relationship with God and each other. He is the Executive Vice President of Gibson Sothebys and among the elite real estate brokers in Boston having closed more than $100m in sales volume in just the first three quarters of 2016 alone. Whether it be a $5m Millennium Tower condo sale, a $7m estate sale in Brookline, or a $20m commercial sale, his massive sales volume is comprised of just a handful of deals and he prefers to keep it that way. He has become the confidant of many of the city's biggest players and moves easily in the city's top social circles. He often finds himself sharing seats on private jets or homes in luxury retreats as a guest of his many influential clients. But, Michael Carucci's story is not one of a silver spoon childhood, seamlessly blending into a world of affluence but rather a story of self-determination from a youth spent on welfare and in subsidized housing projects. This is a story of Michael Carucci, a person who found his own route to the American dream. Carucci's rise to the rarefied circle of top brokers in Boston was by no means linear. Beyond the normal struggles associated with success, Carucci has had to fight his own demons from his past which has occasionally led him to associate with the wrong people and make the wrong decisions. Having been brought up in a world where might was right and shooting straight was seldom viewed as a past success, Carucci's biggest accomplishment has been to rethink the world and how he relates to it. I recently sat down with Boston's best agent to find out his advice on creating a personal brand, building relationships with the affluent, creating a legacy, and bouncing back. Here's the real deal with Michael Carucci: Advertisement Relationships: Michael says that he learned a long time ago that he's not in the real estate business, although that's where he earns his living. Rather, he's in the relationships business. He explained that real estate is simply a commodity, and for him, he considers his transactions to be a score card of his success as a relationship builder. He says that he spends all day every day, creating relationships with people. He doesn't have clients, he has friends. He says the difference is that friends trust you, believe in you, and are invested in your success.Michael believes that the byproduct of close family-like friendships with a handful of people is immense trust, and that trust results in business. Falling Greatly: Roger Crawford once said, "Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional." Carucci says that the success he enjoys today as a top real estate agent in Boston, could not have been possible without the struggle. He admits to running with the wrong crowds at a young age. Early in his real estate buisness, he got mixed up with a real estate client that almost cost him his career. There were many years where everything went against him and where every single day was a challenge. Carucci says he's extremely thankful for the hardship he went though and when people still ask him about those very public times, he candidly talks about them. Michael says that although there were very difficult times in his life, where just getting out of bed was a chore, those times taught him mental toughness, resiliency, and the determination to win. He says he learned to block out naysayers, and to believe in himself. He learned to keep his circle very small, and to trust and confide only in the few who believed in him. Carucci says that those hard times have contributed to much of his success today. He says that what he's learned from spending so much time with CEOs and industry tycoons, is that they all went through massive hardship to get to the top, and the struggles they face are a badge of courage they all now wear bravely. He says that the friendships and bonds he has with friends and business associates are stronger because if there's one thing they've all been through and understand, it is overcoming adversity. Carucci's advice for those going through tough times, is to keep getting up, putting one foot in front of another, and never allowing defeat. And for those who have been through struggle and huge obstacles, he recommends being transparent with people about the journey, because that's what makes you amazing. Legacy: Michael says that legacy, for him, has nothing to do with real estate or his close friendships, but rather with his family, which includes his three kids and his ex-wife, Darlene, who he very much still cares for and considers family. I've known Michael for some time, and when I receive a text from him, there's a good chance there's a profoundness to it. One evening, out of the blue, I received a text from Michael of a picture of he and his adult daughter, Micaela. at the Boston Ballet. The text said something to the effect, "When I look at my daughter I see so much hope, beauty, and greatness in the world." Once you get to know Michael, he enjoys opening up and talking about all three kids. Michael was excited to send Savannah, his youngest, on a European trip over the summer so that she could explore art, culture, and the world from a different perspective. He could spend hours talking about his son who is building his own business in Colorado. Michael says that there's only so many days we each have on this earth, and so, for him, building a legacy is about giving the next generation the opportunities, tools, motivation, and push to go make the world a better place. Advertisement "I question America. Is this America, the land of the free and the home of the brave, where we have to sleep with out (sic) telephones off the hooks because our lives be threatened daily, because we want to live as decent human beings, in America?" Fannie Lou Hamer, Mississippi Civil Rights Activist at the 1964 Democratic National Convention The 2016 election cycle in the United States has been protracted, hostile, and ranged from merely discordant to bizarre. The level of xenophobia, misogyny, and racial hatred so openly expressed without conscience is utterly breathtaking. It is all reminiscent of the paralyzing terror that African Americans endured for a century following the abrupt end of the Reconstruction Era in the late 1800s. While not remotely as harsh, there are parallels between the experiences of African Americans over the century following the Reconstruction Era and that of disenfranchised communities during the 2016 election. Against this backdrop, I believe that the 2016 Presidential Election is probably more important than the historic 2008 and 2012 elections of President Obama. As an African American mother parenting alone without support, I am more concerned about the 2016 election than any since I cast my first vote in November 1980. While I strongly disagreed with the policies of Presidents Reagan, George H.W. Bush, and George W. Bush, I was confident that they all respected and understood the gravity of the office. In this presidential election, one candidate's daily meltdowns and out of control machinations have caused me to fear for my and my children's personal safety and security. As a United States citizen in 2016, I should not have to fear for my family's personal safety. Advertisement While less now than in earlier generations, single mothers, particularly those of color, are still stigmatized. Despite our increased numbers, it is rare for politicians at any level to craft a policy agenda focused on the "kitchen table" issues that affect the lives of single mothers and their children. These kitchen table issues include equal pay, reasonable leave policies, access to excellent child care, affordable housing, safe neighborhoods, well resourced schools and educational opportunities, and comprehensive health care. That said, there are three kitchen table issues that are of paramount importance to me as a single mother in this election season. The first issue concerns the overuse of deadly force by police against African Americans. Quite frankly, I no longer have the mental capacity to absorb the gut wrenching pain that occurs each time an African American man, woman, or child is killed by police. It should be noted that I have condemned the senseless murders of police officers like those in Dallas who were simply trying to protect and serve. That said, I have a young adult son and teenage daughter. They have never been arrested or in trouble with the police. Both are honors students and my son will graduate from college in December. He defies every stereotype and statistic associated with African American males. I am exhausted with worry that my brilliant children will have an unfortunate encounter with police and never come home again. All of this saddens me because I represented police for several years. I know first hand that policing is an incredibly difficult job. I gained tremendous respect for the police officers who I represented because they conducted themselves as professionals. However, I believe that law enforcement must first "police" itself and prune the bad apples weighing down its departmental tree. These bad apples are not necessarily bad people. They just may not possess the temperament needed to be a good police officer. Implicit bias and racism are cancerous metastatic tumors that have destroyed the relationships between police departments and the communities of color they serve. Policing practices must be dramatically reformed. Business as usual over policing and unchecked deadly force is destroying our country. I do not want my own children to be innocent casualties of a practice that they did not start. I am a single mother living with depression. As such, my second kitchen table issue is the need for comprehensive mental health care that includes a plan to address the scarcity of psychiatrists and advanced nurse practitioners. The nationwide shortage of psychiatrists and advanced nurse practitioners to manage medications has reached critical mass. It has been nearly impossible to find a psychiatrist or advanced nurse practitioner to regularly evaluate my medications to ensure that they still effectively treat my depression. I am not alone. There are literally thousands of individuals living with a mental illness across the United States facing this same dilemma. As a solo mom parenting without support, my children need me to be both mentally and physically healthy. Comprehensive mental health care will allow my children to have and see the very best of me. Advertisement My final kitchen table issue, the right to vote, is my personal holy grail. The right to vote is sacrosanct. It gives me a voice at the table and makes my other kitchen table issues possible. As such I am passionate about protecting the voting rights of African Americans. The full frontal attack on the voting rights of African Americans only accelerated after President Obama's first election in 2008. In June 2013, the United States Supreme Court issued its landmark decision in Shelby County, Alabama v. Holder, Attorney General et al 570 U.S. _ (2013) hereinafter Shelby. Prior to the Shelby decision, specifically identified states and cities with a history of racial discrimination were required to submit all proposed changes in voting laws to the federal government for "preclearance" meaning review and approval before the law could be implemented. The Shelby decision eliminated the preclearance requirement which allowed states with a history of discrimination to immediately enact or implement voting laws without federal oversight. For example, in the wake of Shelby, states like North Carolina and Texas immediately moved to implement strict photo identification requirements, reduced the amount of time allowed or precincts available for early voting, and made it more difficult to register to vote. The virtual patchwork quilt of laws that have been enacted across the United States have the potential to generate so much confusion that certain groups will not bother to vote this November. Such an untenable result is antithetical in a nation founded on the principles of liberty, justice, and freedom for all people. So, it now falls to me and others who "hold these truths to be self-evident" to educate and equip single mothers, African Americans, and other disenfranchised groups to bring their collective voices to the table by exercising the right to vote. Though daunting and at times discouraging, this critical work continues. In the words of my Spelman Sister, Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon "We who believe in freedom cannot rest." Long, long ago, in 1998, I wrote a graduate thesis on Charismatic Leadership and the role culture plays in the phenomenon. I won an award for that thesis, and it has been on my mind frequently as I have watched the rise of Donald Trump. At first I scoffed at the idea he could become a candidate, then I watched uneasily as he bullied and browbeat his Republican opponents into the dust. I was incredulous as he accepted the GOP nomination, and I still cannot believe that the Republicans allowed him to basically take over the party. So how did he do it? How does a rich, egotistical New York real estate developer who became famous for his tabloid exploits with women, marriages and casinos in the 80s and 90s morph into a political candidate? How does a reality tv star with no real knowledge of policy, politics or foreign affairs catapult himself to the top of the Republican ticket? I have watched, and I have studied. Donald Trump is a charismatic figure, and he has effectively tapped into fear. Trump's base of followers consists of high school or less educated, white, working and middle class people. He has tapped, quite knowingly, into their fear of "the other". He became famous for his birtherism, a racist and xenophobic belief that our first Black president could not possibly be an American, but had to be a socialist, Muslim "plant" who wanted to destroy America. Where does this hysteria come from? The last thirty or forty years has seen America change from a manufacturing and industrial economy to a service and technological economy. American companies, including Trump's companies, do their manufacturing overseas, where it is cheaper. Well paid manufacturing jobs, part of our economy for many years, are no longer competitive in America. These displaced laborers see the world they grew up in being threatened by multiculturalism, globalization, free trade and technology. They are angry, and when people are angry, they seek a scapegoat. It is understandable, this anger, such as it is, but it is dangerous at best, calamitous at worst. Advertisement Enter Donald Trump. He tells Americans he will make our country great again, that our fictitious decline is the fault of Mexicans and Muslims and the evil Kenyan born Black President who is secretly a follower of Islam. The message is by ridding our country of these job stealing illegals and "Islamic terrorists", by building a wall to keep them out, America can bring back manufacturing jobs and return to the old days. By appointing super conservative judges to the Supreme Court, America can get rid of women's right to choose, marriage rights for all citizens, affirmative action, health care laws, environmental protections and change the immigration laws to exclude, and expel, "undesirables". Donald Trump has stirred the pot, and brought out the un-American part of America's nature. Trump's charisma has a mission to seek change: its goal is to remain outside the realm of ordinary life. It exhibits no rational economic conduct. The charismatic Trump is above the law, and has no interest in legal codes, formal rules, or abstract principles. Those who follow Trump project their own beliefs onto his leadership, and are emboldened by the reflection. We see this play out daily in Trump rallies across the country. Trump and his followers seek the return of the "glory days". As a result, we see the behavior of these people at Trump rallies, freed from political correctness they enthusiastically exhibit racism, sexism, xenophobia, and promotion of violence. For his opponent, a woman, there is disdain and hatred, but t-shirts reading "Hillary sucks but not as good as Monica" or "bitch" debase all women, not just Hillary Clinton. Cries of "lock her up", the belief that she has "killed millions of people" and rigs the system in her favor, is hysterical hyperbole. Trump's comments that the "second amendment people" could take care of Secretary Clinton, and her Secret Service Agents should "drop their guns", are incitements to violence. Offering to pay legal expenses for "hitting" protestors is not exactly the norm for a candidate. How does he get away with this unimaginable propaganda? Trump has touched a deep vein within his following: he does not espouse new belief systems, but brings out the old and familiar anger, hatred, racism, and sexism of his base. Trump legitimates these feelings, and encourages people to express them. Now, with the release of the video of him saying he can basically do whatever he wants to women because he is a "star", his supporters are still defending the indefensible. We truly are in some sordid reality show. Students of history find these truths disturbing, to be sure. Charismatic figures who promote fear and ignorance do not bring peace and stability to their nations. Like others before him, Trump believes himself above all others, only he can fix America, only he knows the way. A demagogue who sows fear, objectifies women, and ignites hatred is not the leader America needs. We need a calm, steady hand at the wheel, with policies that will help our millennials, our middle class, our economy, our multiculturalism and global society grow. Trump represents the worst of America, and we must be sure he does not get the chance to destroy our nation. The only weapon we have to fight him with is our vote. Make sure it counts. Outside of those who are die hard coaster fans, how often does the average family visit an amusement park? Once a year? Maybe twice? Or for some it's every few years. But the sad thing is that when you ask the average person to name a park, most are only able to name the local amusement park, and Disney World/Land. The fact of the matter is that most people have heard of or been to a Disney park, but many of these other great amusement parks are getting passed up. Through my experience of visiting over 40 different parks across the country, I've learned that you don't have to visit Disney to have a great time. Obviously there's something magical about walking through Tomorrowland, but believe it or not, there's plenty of parks out there that I would say give just as wonderful of an experience. And they're cheaper. So based off of my travels, I've compiled a list of 10 of my favorite parks across the United States. Now I haven't been able to make it every where, so obviously not every park is going to get a mention, but I am a huge fan of all of the parks listed below, and I think they're absolutely worth a visit. Advertisement In no particular order, lets kick things off with Carowinds. What makes this park so special? Well, those who venture out to Charlotte, North Carolina, will notice how the park sits on the state line. That's right, Carowinds' entrance sits on both North Carolina and South Carolina. As a result, many of the coasters here reside in two states. One of these, Fury 325, was just recently voted the Best Roller Coaster in the World in the Golden Ticket Awards. So if Fury wasn't enough to make you want to visit, what's great about this park is how they embrace Carowinds as the place where the Carolina's come together. Because of this, much of the food offered here is a Carolina classic- such as the barbecue at Harmony Hall. Also available is one of the best water parks around, called Carolina Harbor, which just recently underwent upgrades, so now it's better than ever! Advertisement Next we have Holiday World! Located in Santa Claus, Indiana, this park is home to four different themed lands- Christmas, Halloween, Thanksgiving, and 4th of July. All of the rides in these areas follow the theme of the area. The park itself is filled with lots of rides for the families, including a great water park called Splashin' Safari. Splashin' Safari has consistently been voted one of the best water parks in the world, due to the cleanliness and vast array of water slides. Of course, it wouldn't be a theme park without roller coasters, and Holiday World has five of them. Not as many as some of the other parks on this list, but each one of them provides a great experience. Three of those rides are exhilarating wooden coasters, traveling out into the woods and back. The parks newest coaster, Thunderbird, opened back in 2015 and remains one of my favorite coasters I've ridden. Oh, and did I mention there's free soda? That, in combination with free parking, and free sunscreen, make Holiday World a great place to visit with the whole family! Six Flags Fiesta Texas, in San Antonio, Texas, is up next. What sets this park apart from the others is its unique integration into a quarry wall, that serves as the parks backdrop. Multiple roller coasters are even built into this, allowing them to incorporate elements that they wouldn't have included otherwise. Advertisement Many consider Fiesta to be the prettiest Six Flags park, and that is something I absolutely agree with. When you take into account the quarry, its Texas charm, and uniquely themed areas, there's no denying what a an awesome experience it is to visit. If you ever find yourself in south Texas checking out the Alamo, make sure to dedicate a day to this beautiful park. Everyone's heard of Hershey, Pennsylvania. There you can find the headquarters for Hershey's Chocolate- and the tourist destination Hershey's Chocolate World, found right next to the Hersheypark. Those who visit Hershey are anticipating partaking in delicious treats- and Hersheypark has tons of them. No wonder its called 'The Sweetest Place on Earth!' However the chocolate isn't the only thing that is sweet here. When one enters Hersheypark, brace yourself for a full day of fun- because that is exactly what you're going to have. 13 roller coasters weave their way in and out of the park, passing over the midway into drops, loops, twists, and turns. These 13 rides alone make the visit to Hershey worth it, and I find myself continually impressed at how amazing their roller coasters are. Advertisement Knott's Berry Farm can be found just 10 minutes from Disneyland, in Buena Park, California. As a result, this park definitely gets a bit more traffic than most, but I'm consistently surprised at the amount of people who make pilgrimages to Disney, but don't even bother to consider a visit to Knott's. Many will know Knott's as America's first theme park. The place officially opened up in 1920, and is full of charm, great roller coasters, and a working ghost town. In combination with its great food, shows, and children's rides, this is absolutely worth a stop if you happen to find yourself in Southern California. Because unlike Disneyland, there's something here for the family, AND the thrill seekers. The worlds largest amusement is located in Jackson, New Jersey, and is called Six Flags Great Adventure! The park houses 13 roller coasters, tons of family rides, and an entire safari! Along with several animal encounters sprinkled throughout the park, there's certainly something for everyone! Chances are, if you've heard of Six Flags Great Adventure, you've probably heard of this coaster: Kingda Ka. Standing at 456 feet high, this is the tallest roller coaster in the world, as well as the fastest in the U.S. But that's not even the true star of the show! Coaster enthusiasts across the country make visits to this park for El Toro- single handedly one of the best wooden roller coasters in the world. Advertisement Kings Island, in Mason, Ohio, is next on my list of favorites. When guests come to Kings Island, they expect to have a good time. And I think it's safe to say that most everyone comes out satisfied, and of course, exhausted. This 364 acre amusement park not only has what has been voted the #1 kids area, but also one of the best Top 3's of any amusement park- Diamondback, Banshee, and The Beast. Each one of these is considered one of the best of their kind, and is the sole reason many coaster junkies travel to southern Ohio. Kings Island has been getting a lot of attention lately, as they are currently building one of the most anticipated coasters of 2017. Mystic Timbers will be the parks 5th wooden roller coaster, and helps Kings Island take the record for the most wooden track at any park in the world. One of the parks I just can't seem to stay away from is Dollywood. Located in eastern Tennessee, in Pigeon Forge, is one of the most charming parks I've ever been to. Like Holiday World, they may not have as many roller coasters as some of these others (8), but its still a must visit. The entire park is encased with southern charm, great food, nice employees, and tons of rides for guests of all shapes and sizes. Advertisement Dollywood, as you may have guessed, is partially owned by Dolly Parton, which means much of the park revolves around shows. Dollywood has won the Golden Ticket Award for Best Shows, as well as Best Christmas Event- Smoky Mountain Christmas. During this time, the park is decked out with millions of lights, giving guests a completely different experience compared to if you were to visit in the summer. The parks newest coaster, Lightning Rod, opened this past year, and also won the Golden Ticket Award for Best New Coaster of 2016. It remains the only launched wooden coaster in the world, as well as the fastest wooden roller coaster. Coaster junkies all over flock to Six Flags Magic Mountain (Valencia, California) to experience their record breaking amount of roller coasters- 19, which is more than any other park on the planet. If you like roller coasters, then this is the place to be. There you will find 4 kid coasters, 3 family coasters, and then everything else is left for those looking for an adrenaline rush! While the park may be lacking in some of the other departments, such as shows or thrilling flat rides, there's no denying that the park boasts what could be argued as the best collection of coasters in the world. Advertisement So how do you end out a list of 10 of the best amusement parks? With arguably the best park in the U.S., of course! Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio is truly one of a kind. The resort sits on a peninsula jetting out into Lake Erie, meaning if you get tired of the rides, you can go and chill on the beach! Or if its too hot out, go relax in the pool in the on-site hotel, or head over to Cedar Points water park, which is being upgraded in 2017 as Cedar Point Shores! In total, the park houses 16 roller coasters, some of which are known to be some of the best out there. Millennium Force has been considered one of the best coasters in the world; Maverick is small but powerful, and my personal favorite in the park; Top Thrill Dragster is one of the tallest and fastest rides out there, taking riders up 420 feet into the air at 120 mph; and Valravn is their new-for-2016 coaster, which drops riders down a 200+ foot drop at a 90 degree angle. But what makes Cedar Point truly spectacular is the overall experience when you come here. Amazingly, they're able to pack in over 70 rides onto this peninsula, meaning there's plenty for the kids to do while the older ones are off conquering the coasters. Advertisement As you may have noticed, I did not order these parks in any sort of Top 10 list. These are my personal 10 favorite parks, and I've attached the Top 10 above in case you're interested in seeing how I've ranked them, but the bottom line is that no matter what demographic you fit in, each of these parks offers something for everyone. If you get the chance, you will not regret paying them a visit. -Taylor Like what you see? Subscribe to Coaster Studios here: https://www.youtube.com/user/TheCoasterguy14 Journalism was once a completely respectable profession. Reporters traditionally have been trained writers, and for me one of their real virtues has always been that they write well -- sometimes extremely well -- on a tight deadline. Anyone who has struggled for years writing a novel -- as I have, on several occasions -- must of necessity marvel at the ability of a good journalist to tell a story, have it edited, perhaps re-write it and have it re-edited, all in a matter of a few hours before going to press or on camera. This is a charmed capability, and I have spent my entire writing life admiring good reporting. Now we have Fox. Television journalism is of course nothing new, and has often been quite good. Jim McKay's reportage on ABC of the terrorist attacks at the 1972 Olympic Games remains in my memory one of the most gripping examples ever of what good television journalism can do. Also, almost everything that came with television's coverage of the Vietnam war was exemplary of what good journalism must do, which is to get the real facts, weigh all sides of the story, and then tell it as truthfully and clearly as possible, no matter the consequences. In war, the first casualty is truth, as we have learned in the engagements subsequent to Vietnam, with their "embedded" journalists and heavy military "minding" and censorship. The reporters in Vietnam kept the casualty alive and breathing for the duration of that conflict. Advertisement Fox News has now become the prime purveyor of yellow journalism. Originally the child of a circulation battle in the 1890s between Joseph Pulitzer's New York World and William Randolph Hearst's New York Journal, "yellow journalism" sacrificed truth in favor of sensationalism in order simply to sell more papers. It was a business ploy, not an example of high journalistic ideals. Under the influence of the recently deposed Roger Ailes, Fox News has embraced the unbridled goal of increasing viewership and sales through neo-conservative shouting, so that, on that network, journalism has descended from any high ground it once may have occupied. On Fox, commentators are no longer reporters; they are editorialists. They do not seek the facts and are not fair in their judgments. They turn the injudicious selection of certain facts to the service of their long-ago received political ideologies, gather themselves together for the camera, and once it's on, they opine. This has all been documented and argued over for many years. But for the past decade or two, Fox has become so yellow that journalism itself barely exists there. At such places, what may once have been healthy respect for proper journalistic practices has become a rabid pursuit of blowhardism and personal hubris. But Partisan Rant is not Journalism. A Rude Interruptive Voice is not Journalism. A Sneer is not Journalism. What qualifies Fox's Bill O'Reilly, for example, to speak with such dismissive intensity when he's exploring the few . . . well. . . ideas that he has? He brays about illegal immigration without having read much, it seems, about the proud history of illegal immigration to the United States, from the day the Republic was founded. He also makes the mistake of lumping traditional politicians from the Democratic and Republican parties together, implying that they are all...well, to be fair, Democrats more than Republicans... just a bunch of weak-minded, timid time-servers who can't see, or won't engage, the real issues facing the American electorate. And, of course, O'Reilly savages Black Lives Matter, seemingly knowing very little about it or its predecessors...the American Civil Rights movement, for example. Advertisement After the recent presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, much was made by several Fox TV commentators about the role the moderator played, NBC's Lester Holt. Mr. Holt's performance was criticized by Yellow Fox because, they believed, he could not possibly give balanced and fair treatment to Mr. Trump. Leaving aside for the moment the question of whether Mr. Trump himself ever gives balanced and fair treatment to anyone, one need only look at a sampling of Mr. Holt's reportage in general to conclude that he is an honest, judicious, and fair man, as corporate news readers go. He is not a purveyor of Yellow TV. He represents the more traditional notion of journalism, in which all sides be considered and the truth be told. Bill O'Reilly doesn't do that. The expatriate American journalist Larry King (not the television host) has written that "the British media [are] as untroubled by logical inconsistency as they are by a shortage of facts, lack of knowledge, or deficiencies in spelling, punctuation, and grammar." The same could be said of contemporary American Yellow Fox. By Constance Bommelaer de Leusse and Tereza Horejsova How can we create a more inclusive Internet? What are the practical steps we can take to expand global connectivity? This week, leaders from some of the Internet's main organisations and businesses, together with the World Bank, are gathering in Washington D.C. to discuss these questions. Why? Because bringing people online is one of the most powerful tools for development, and the world has finally woken up to see it. Last year, the international community took on a historical commitment through the adoption of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The Internet is now seen to have a central role in reaching them all, from alleviating poverty to empowering women and youth on all continents. We are already seeing ambitious projects and increasing amounts of funding becoming available, and the link between development and the Internet has been officially acknowledged by a number of prominent policy bodies. As an example, only last month the UN Broadband Commission members said that sustainable development goals couldn't be achieved without affordable and universal access to ICTs and broadband connectivity. Ambitions to catalyze Internet-based Development are finally coming into place but the important question remains: how do we move from speech to action, and from action to success? A challenging possibility It is generally assumed that the Internet boosts development, especially in countries like China, India or Brazil, and it is estimated that ICT capital is already contributing on average 15% to the GDP growth in the developing world. However, although evidence of the Internet's inherent power is growing, the assumption of the Internet being an engine for development does not apply automatically. The first warning came with the World Bank report arguing that 'digital dividends' are not reaching all of the corners and social strata in the developing world. Hence, overcoming some of the infrastructure challenges will not automatically go hand in hand with development. The Internet is in essence an ecosystem, where good decisions on infrastructure need to be backed by empowered users and good policy frameworks. Development is also too complex to be reduced only to access to the Internet. Connecting rural villages and communities is a necessary first step, but it is actually not decisive for making the Internet's impact on society. Much more needs to be done. People need to be trained, they need to trust the Internet and they need to find it relevant. What is digital has to fit into local social and cultural realities, including legislation that enhances users trust in the use of the Internet. Advertisement Inclusion is the key Because Internet inclusion is more than fiber and connecting devices - It's about ensuring that no one is left behind. Let us take a few concrete examples: Knowing how to use the Internet and getting used to the online dynamics is a process of confidence and changing habits: A villager in Kenya can benefit from digitally transmitted tools on, let us say, long-term weather forecast helping him or her to make good farming decisions. But taking the initial decision to invest in a mobile-enabled phone can be a concern to start with. The Internet will not solve the day-to-day business challenges with a magic wand, but is dependent on a wider environment that supports the transition: A small entrepreneur in Myanmar can effectively use online presence to boost his business and make profit quicker and easier but he will still have a barrier in using the Internet as productively as entrepreneurs in the advanced economies due to for e.g. the availability of payment systems. To freely explore and participate in the online world should not be considered an added bonus, but as the fundamental right that it is, and as intrinsic part to an Internet of opportunities: An activist in an authoritarian country has a tool that - as history has shown - can bring real societal changes. But with censorship and restricted Internet access in some countries, the opportunity for the Internet to be a tool for social empowerment will not be the same opportunity that the luckier of us takes for granted. Advertisement The way forward The Internet can make a real impact if we address this gap between possibilities and realities in an open, collaborative and constructive way, and at all levels of governance - whether local, regional or global. Because if we want the villager to connect it requires work among all stakeholders to support education and capacity building. If we want the entrepreneur to succeed we must work together to ensure that 'new kids on the block' have as equal opportunity to innovate as Google and Facebook have had. And if we want empowered users we must ensure a trusted Internet that respects privacy and protects our rights. All of the Internet's stakeholders - businesses, civil society, governments, and the technical community - hold a piece of the puzzle. To make Internet-based Development a reality, we invite them to unite forces and focus on the immediate next steps that need to be taken: Expanding infrastructure: Private sector needs to invest for the infrastructure to provide Internet access and to create and host services, leaving to governments to prioritize areas with high costs or low demand. Fostering skills and entrepreneurship: A skilled technical community is necessary to deploy and operate access and content infrastructure. It is also necessary to develop human capacity so that there are entrepreneurs, developers and others to create content and services and the innovative new business and delivery models built on them. Developing a supportive governance system: Good governance is needed to set the principles and rules of an enabling environment for a local Internet ecosystem, and specific policies to promote infrastructure investment and human capacity. Governments can also deploy their own content and services and encourage people to make the most of the Internet Discussions held in Washington D.C. this week, addressed many of these issues. And the mixed types of participants of the event already give a good hope for taking on the challenge in its entirety and complexity. Because promoting an Internet that supports the SDGs is not only technical, it is not only policy, and it is not only developmental. It is all of the above. Advertisement Constance Bommelaer de Leusse is the Senior Director of Global Internet Policy at The Internet Society. Strategic thinker, coupled with experienced and practical hands-on approach, she leads the organization's engagement with the UN (SDGs, WSIS, etc.) with a strong focus on Internet governance issues at the intersection of media development and Human Rights. Tereza Horejsova is the Director for Project Development for DiploFoundation, an NGO established by the governments of Switzerland and Malta to help increase capacities of small and developing countries to participate more efficiently in the global policy process, with the focus on the field of Internet governance. Rafael Marchante/Reuters In recommending Antonio Guterres as the ninth secretary general of the United Nations, the Security Council made many people unhappy. Much has been made of the fact that Guterres is the latest in a long string of male secretaries general, and is also from a wealthy Western European country. But the Security Council has promoted a leader who is well-connected at the executive level, deeply experienced within UN structures, and holds a wealth of experience from working with nongovernmental organisations worldwide. Guterres served as the prime minister of Portugal, the EU's southwestern-most state, from 1995 to 2002. He also led the UN's refugee agency for a decade from 2005 to 2015. His experience as a European head of state spanned the years of the Yugoslav wars of succession, and the 1995 EU enlargements, when three new states were added, and 2004 when the union grew by another ten. Advertisement As high commissioner for refugees, Guterres dealt with humanitarian issues related to migration from sub-Saharan Africa, as well as between Asia and Africa. Serious work on refugee questions, which concern human security across all generations and all continents, demanded he work with rescue committees, climate scientists, Doctors Without Borders, the International Organisation for Migration and many other civic organisations. He had to find out information from those on the ground, as little existed elsewhere. Antonio Guterres of @refugees came to #Serbia. We told him how sick & miserable the long journey makes our patients. pic.twitter.com/7gn8wabnWb MSF Sea (@MSF_Sea) November 18, 2015 This job offered Guterres not as many conversations in the halls of the Consilium building in Brussels, or the kind of welcome to world capitals as he had in his previous role, but demanded an approach akin to that of an investigator. It is safe to suggest that Guterres must know the world we live in today more globally and more intimately than many other former ministers or executives. Guterres's duty at the UN was to demand that refugees be afforded a place in this world - a job that took him across the globe to face governments who were closing borders. These were tasks he carried out with a level of integrity and independence that was recognised sometimes even in a popular press that seldom pays attention to the UN. Advertisement Even if an election of a Mediterranean man came as a surprise and a disappointment to many, given that the seat was supposed to be earmarked for an Eastern European woman, perhaps it should not be. Refugee questions have risen to the top of the European and United States foreign policy agendas in the course of the Mediterranean refugee crises. Migration is not new, and there are many reasons behind migration flows, including climate change, the war in Syria and elsewhere, political unrest and global inequality. Perhaps what the world needs now is an expert with ground-up knowledge of global politics with a good ear in the capitals of Europe, the continent which many wish to migrate to the most. The UN has promoted someone from within its structures before, in the case of Kofi Annan, in 1997. Annan worked as a deputy and subsequently the head of the UN's peacekeeping operation, a job to which he was appointed by a another Mediterranean man, Boutros Boutros-Ghali, in 1982. Guterres knows the UN's own structures from within and does not have to get to know the quirks of the secretariat building's corridor politics by trial and error. This will help him pursue his agenda from the beginning. Advertisement His previous duties have concerned the most current questions of globalism. He speaks many of the official languages of the European Union - and has experience as a head of state negotiating with Brussels. Perhaps he is therefore also uniquely qualified to translate and explain global politics to the European Union's various institutions and to other Western leaders as well. Guterres may not be the perfect secretary general for 2016, but he was the right candidate for the job in today's unbounded world. Crossposted from UN Women. Photo: Malawi Girl Guides/Otchiwe Nkosi Child marriage is a very big problem in Malawi. As soon as a girl reaches puberty, everyone thinks she is ready for marriage. Girls are dropping out of school to get married. This country has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the worldone out of two girls are married before the age of 18. In 2014, I visited a rural community in the Mangochi district, where I met a 14-year-old girl, Chikondi, already married and with a baby in her arms. I asked her why she had gotten married. She said, her parents married her off to an older man so that he could support her and her family. It was heartbreaking! Last year, eight of our Girl Guide trainers participated in a workshop in Lusaka, Zambia, organized by WAGGGS and UN Women, and learned how to use the Voices against Violence curriculum to stop violence against women and girls. They came back to Malawi and trained me and others. The curriculum helps girls understand what is violence, how to speak out against it and seek support when they experience violence. Advertisement But we cant end child marriage by only teaching the girls. We have to talk to parents, community leaders and counselors so that they realize this is illegal and wrong. We have to engage menthey have the decision-making powers. After we met Chikondi in Mangochi, our Girl Guide group went back to talk to her parents. It took some time, but eventually we were able to convince them to bring their daughter home and send her back to school. When you stop violence against girls, they can change this world for better. Elizabeth Chatuwa, 28, has been a Girl Guide since she was 10 years old. Today, she is the District Youth Commissioner for the Malawi Girl Guides Association. She mentors girls and assists youth leaders in delivering programmes, including the Voices against Violence curriculum, developed jointly by UN Women and the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, to make girls and young women aware of their rights, to prevent child marriage and other forms of violence and to encourage girls to stay in school. Her work contributes directly towards Sustainable Development Goal 5 and its target on ending all forms of violence against women and girls, including child, early and forced marriage. It also contributes to Sustainable Development Goal 16 and its target on ending violence against children. Advertisement To see the entire International Day of the Girl Child package, visit the UN Women global website. Hutchinson city council examines what to do about chickens The issue is before the planning commission because chickens are part of land use codes written to address larger animals. Soundtrap Raises $6M Round For Online Recording App [UPDATED] Online music and audio recording studio Soundtrap has raised $6 million in funding to accelerate product development and to bring its popular cloud-based platform to new markets. The Soundtrap $6 million Series A round was led by Nordic VC firm Industrifonden, with participation from existing owners and additional new investors including Peter Sterky, former CFO and COO of Spotify. Our vision is for Soundtrap to be the go-to platform for everyone, everywhere, to collaborate around music making and creative audio production across any device. As we enter new markets in the education and consumer sectors, we have our sights set on accelerating our first mover advantage in product and business development. We recently signed a North American distribution agreement with SYNNEX Corporation, says Per Emanuelsson, co-founder and CEO, Soundtrap. Founded in 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden, Soundtrap is also an official Google for Education Partner and is one of three companies selected for Googles Creative Apps for Chromebook bundle, a program launched by Google in June 2016. Share on: Warner Music Group has filed an offering for $630 million in senior secured notes. The funds will be used to pay of older debt that that the company is carrying at a higher rate. The full press release: Press Release: NEW YORK, NY(Marketwired Oct 10, 2016) On October 10, 2016, Warner Music Group Corp. ("Warner Music Group" or "WMG") announced that through its wholly owned subsidiary, WMG Acquisition Corp. (the "Company"), it intends to commence a private offering (the "Offering") of $630 million aggregate principal amount of senior secured notes, which are expected to be issued in a combination of euro- and dollar-denominated notes (the "Notes"). The Notes will be offered in a private offering exempt from the registration requirements of the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"). The Notes will be offered only to qualified institutional buyers pursuant to Rule 144A and to certain persons outside the United States pursuant to Regulation S, each under the Securities Act. The Company intends to use the proceeds of the Offering, together with available cash, to repurchase, redeem or discharge all of its currently outstanding 6.250% Senior Secured Notes due 2021 and 6.000% Senior Secured Notes due 2021. The Notes have not been registered under the Securities Act and may not be offered or sold within the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release is for informational purposes only and is not an offer to sell or purchase nor the solicitation of an offer to sell or purchase securities and shall not constitute an offer, solicitation or sale in any state or jurisdiction in which, or to any person to whom such an offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful. The School Building Committee hopes to have some preliminary options by December. Clarksburg Brings on Jones Whitsett for School Study CLARKSBURG, Mass. The School Building Committee has hired Jones Whitsett Architects Inc. to do the feasibility for a new or renovated school. The committee's first choice easily passed muster with the Massachusetts School Building Authority at its last meeting. "We all agreed on Jones Whitsett to be our architect," Superintendent Jonathan Lev said on Thursday. Lev had gone to Boston two weeks ago with School Committee and Select Board Chairman Jeffrey Levanos and Laura Wood, another member of the School Building Committee. They had expected there might be another meeting and more interviews but were pleased to find the MSBA was fully on board. "They aproved it with no further questions," Levanos said. "Jon thought we would have had to go back but everyone agreed that Margo Jones was the best for us." Jones did an initial feasibility study for the school a decade ago as Margo Jones Architects. Her firm also did the design for Williamstown Elementary School and most recently the $30 million Colegrove Park Elementary School in North Adams. The content you are trying to view is exclusive to our subscribers. To unlock this article: Public Health Alert for Chicken Product Due to Possible Salmonella Contamination Lynwood, Washington - The U.S. Department of Agricultures Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) is issuing a public health alert out of an abundance of caution due to concerns about illnesses caused by Salmonella that may be associated with a chicken salad product sold from Costco Store #1190, in Lynwood, Washington. The chicken salad item for this public health alert was produced Aug. 26 through Sept. 2, 2016. The following product is subject to the public health alert: Varying weights of Costco Rotisserie Chicken Salad. This product was sold directly to consumers who shopped at Costco Store #1190 in Lynwood, Wash. On September 26, 2016, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) notified FSIS of an investigation of Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- illnesses in the state of Washington. Working in conjunction with CDC and the Washington State Department of Health, FSIS determined that there is a possible link between rotisserie chicken salad from Costcos Alderwood store in Lynwood, Wash. and these illnesses. Based on epidemiological evidence, four Salmonella I 4,[5],12:i:- case-patients have been identified with illness onset dates ranging from September 2 to September 6, 2016. Traceback investigation indicated that three of these case-patients consumed rotisserie chicken salad purchased on August 26, August 31 and September 2, 2016 from this Costco location. No product has tested positive for this strain of Salmonella. Clinical isolates associated with this investigation were tested for antibiotic-resistance, and three isolates from Washington State were found resistant only to tetracycline and susceptible to other antibiotics commonly used to treat salmonellosis. FSIS continues to work with Costco and public health partners on this investigation, and will provide more information as it becomes available. Consumption of food contaminated with Salmonella can cause salmonellosis, one of the most common bacterial foodborne illnesses. The most common symptoms of salmonellosis are diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever within 12 to 72 hours after eating the contaminated product. The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days. Most people recover without treatment. In some persons, however, the diarrhea may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Older adults, infants, and persons with weakened immune systems are more likely to develop a severe illness. Individuals concerned about an illness should contact their health care provider. FSIS and the company are concerned that some product may be frozen and in consumers' freezers. Consumers who have purchased this product on August 26, August 31 and September 2, 2016 are urged not to consume it. This product should be thrown away or returned to the place of purchase. Flu shot: Your best bet for avoiding influenza Scottsdale, Arizona - This year's annual flu shot will offer protection against the H1N1 flu virus, in addition to two other influenza viruses that are expected to be in circulation this flu season. A vaccine that protects against four strains of the virus will also be available, as will a high-dose flu vaccine for adults age 65 and older. Influenza is a respiratory infection that can cause serious complications, particularly to young children, older adults and people with certain medical conditions. Flu shots are the most effective way to prevent influenza and its complications. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that everyone 6 months of age or older be vaccinated annually against influenza. Here are the answers to common questions about flu shots: When is the flu vaccine available? Because the flu vaccine is produced by private manufacturers, its availability depends on when production is completed. For the 2016-2017 flu season, manufacturers have indicated shipments are likely to begin in July or August and continue throughout September and October until all vaccine is distributed. Doctors and nurses are encouraged to begin vaccinating people as soon as the flu vaccine is available in their areas. It takes up to two weeks to build immunity after a flu shot, but you can benefit from the vaccine even if you don't get it until after flu season starts. Why do I need to get vaccinated every year? New flu vaccines are released every year to keep up with rapidly adapting flu viruses. Because flu viruses evolve so quickly, last year's vaccine may not protect you from this year's viruses. After vaccination, your immune system produces antibodies that will protect you from the vaccine viruses. In general, though, antibody levels start to decline over time another reason to get a flu shot every year. Who should get the flu vaccine? The CDC recommends annual influenza vaccinations for everyone age 6 months or older. Vaccination is especially important for people at high risk of influenza complications, including: Pregnant women Older adults Young children Children between 6 months and 8 years may need two doses of the flu vaccine, given at least four weeks apart, to be fully protected. Check with your child's health care provider. Chronic medical conditions also can increase your risk of influenza complications. Examples include: Asthma Cancer or cancer treatment Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) Cystic fibrosis Diabetes HIV/AIDS Kidney or liver disease Obesity Who shouldn't get a flu shot? Check with your doctor before receiving a flu vaccine if: You're allergic to eggs. Most types of flu vaccines contain a small amount of egg protein. If you have an egg allergy, you can receive the flu shot without any additional precautions. If you have a severe egg allergy, you should be vaccinated in a medical setting and be supervised by a doctor who is able to recognize and manage severe allergic conditions. There are also flu vaccines that don't contain egg proteins, and are Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved for use in people age 18 and older. Consult your doctor about your options. You had a severe reaction to a previous flu vaccine. The flu vaccine isn't recommended for anyone who had a severe reaction to a previous flu vaccine. Check with your doctor first, though. Some reactions might not be related to the vaccine. This year the vaccine is recommended as an injection only. While there is an FDA-approved nasal spray vaccine that consists of a low dose of live but weakened flu virus, the CDC no longer recommends nasal spray flu vaccinations because during the last three flu seasons, the spray has been relatively ineffective. The flu shot contains an inactivated vaccine made of killed virus. Because the viruses in this vaccine are killed (inactivated), the shot won't cause you to get the flu, but it will enable your body to develop the antibodies necessary to ward off influenza viruses. The injection is usually given in a muscle in the arm. If you're between 18 and 64 years of age, you may also choose an in-the-skin (intradermal) vaccine, or you may prefer to have your vaccine delivered using a jet injector device, which uses a high-pressure, narrow stream of fluid to penetrate the skin instead of a needle. Can the vaccine give me the flu? The flu vaccine can't give you the flu. But you might develop flu-like symptoms despite getting a flu shot for a variety of reasons, including: Reaction to the vaccine. Some people experience muscle aches and a fever for a day or two after receiving a flu shot. This may be a side effect of your body's production of protective antibodies. The 2-week window. It takes about two weeks for the flu shot to take full effect. If you're exposed to the influenza virus shortly before or during that time period, you might catch the flu. Mismatched flu viruses. In some years, the influenza viruses used for the vaccine don't match the viruses circulating during the flu season. If this occurs, your flu shot will be less effective, but may still offer some protection. Other illnesses. Many other diseases, such as the common cold, also produce flu-like symptoms. So you may think you have the flu when you actually don't. What kind of protection does the flu vaccine offer? How well the flu vaccine works can vary. The flu vaccine is generally more effective among healthy children age 2 and older and adults age 64 and younger. Some older people and people with certain medical conditions may develop less immunity after receiving a flu shot. According to the CDC, in past flu seasons when the match between the flu vaccine and circulating strains of flu virus is close, a flu shot is 71 percent effective in reducing flu-related hospitalizations among adults of all ages, and 77 percent effective among adults age 50 and older. The flu shot may reduce a child's risk by 74 percent. Can I lower my risk of the flu without getting a flu shot? With or without a flu shot, you can take steps to help protect yourself from the flu and other viruses. Good hygiene remains your primary defense against contagious illnesses. 4 tips for patients seeking individualized medicine Rochester, Minnesota - The promise of precision medicine is becoming a reality as more doctors bring individualized therapies to the bedside. You or a family member could benefit if you suffer from illnesses such as cancer, heart disease, a rare undiagnosed disease or a genetics-based condition. Individualized medicine, also known as precision or personalized medicine, is the concept that prediction, diagnosis, treatment and, eventually, prevention, can be targeted to your individual needs based on genetic profile, environment and lifestyle. But how do you seek these novel individualized therapies? It often starts with a conversation with your doctor. The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine, a catalyst in moving personalized medicine therapies from the laboratory to clinical care, offers these tips on how to talk to your doctor about individualized medicine therapies: Ask whether applying genetic testing might improve ways of predicting, diagnosing and treating your condition. If you are having trouble with medications, ask your doctor if a type of DNA testing known as pharmacogenomics testing could identify treatments that are safer and work better with your genetic makeup. For cancer patients, ask if having your DNA sequenced would provide doctors molecular information to improve treatment plans. Ask if the DNA testing results can be integrated into your electronic health record, so all medical providers can access this data and coordinate your care. Precision medicine is already integrated into clinical care. It is important for patients to learn about options, so they can understand whether they are the right candidate for these target therapies, says Keith Stewart, M.B., Ch.B., the Carlson and Nelson Endowed Director of the Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine. They should approach their physicians, seeking an honest and open discussion about benefits and possible challenges to integrating these new therapies into their treatment plans. Those who should talk to their doctors about individualized medicine therapies include: Cancer patients whose tumors are not responding to their treatment plans may want to ask their physician about genetic testing to identify individualized therapies. People with a mysterious illness or rare disorder who have been visiting many doctors and clinics for years without getting a diagnosis might want to have DNA testing that could identify a genetic disorder. Couples who are planning a family and want to understand their genetic risk should seek DNA testing. Patients who have difficulties with medications that dont work or are causing side effects might benefit from DNA testing.* *Note that this is not a comprehensive list of all patients who might benefit from individualized medicine. Individualized medicine and how it can benefit patients are the key topics of Individualizing Medicine 2016: Advancing Care Through Genomics. This two-day conference at the Mayo Civic Center in Rochester is bringing together leaders in the field of medicine from around the world. More than 800 medical providers, researchers and biotechnology innovators are attending. Dr. A. Keith Stewart is the Carlson Nelson Endowed Director Center for Individualized Medicine Anna Maria and Vasek Polak Professor of Cancer Research Division of Hematology-Oncology Mayo Clinic. The Mayo Clinic Center for Individualized Medicine is hosting the Individualizing Medicine conference with support from the Satter Foundation. Terrorist Attack in Jerusalem Washington, DC - The United States condemns in the strongest possible terms the terrorist attack that took place today in Jerusalem, which resulted in the death of two Israelis and injured several others. We extend our deepest condolences to the families of those killed and our hopes for a quick and full recovery for those wounded. There is absolutely no justification for the taking of innocent lives. We also condemn the statements glorifying this reprehensible and cowardly attack. Secretary of State John Kerry's Calls with His Royal Highness Deputy Crown Prince Bin Salman and Foreign Minister al Jubeir Washington, DC - Secretary Kerry spoke on Sunday, to both His Royal Highness Deputy Crown Prince Mohammad Bin Salman and Foreign Minister Adel al Jubeir regarding the situation in Yemen. Secretary Kerry reiterated our deep concern about the October 8 attack on the funeral hall in Yemen that resulted in a large number of civilian casualties. He welcomed the Deputy Crown Prince's commitment to launch a thorough and immediate investigation of the strike and urged him to take urgent steps to ensure such an incident does not happen again. The Secretary also reiterated the need for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and the Deputy Crown Prince stated his desire to institute a renewable 72-hour cessation as soon as possible, provided the Houthis will agree. The Secretary also noted, as part of the broader de-escalation effort, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia's legitimate request that the Houthis pull back weapons from Saudi Arabia's border and respect its territorial integrity. The Secretary expressed appreciation for the Deputy Crown Prince's support for returning the Houthi/ Saleh negotiating delegation to Sana'a as soon as possible to facilitate the UN-led political process. Secretary Kerry emphasized that the United States will work closely with all parties to establish the cessation of hostilities and revive the political process. This Isnt Our Last Love Letter Dear Don Don, Way back in 92 I walked into the room and knew Never felt this way before I shook your hand while gazing into your eyes And the feeling grew As I took a seat I knew A love that would have my heart Forever I knew Way back in 92 They say love at first sight doesnt always last or isnt true We were the exception to that rule Our love had no where to hide A spark set fire As if this is how the universe started I never doubted our love or what we could do Together we grew Forming a bond everlasting That became our glue My euphoria was YOU Im eternally grateful for the love and life we shared For how fortunate we were : to have and to hold through sickness and in health Til death do us part Until we are together again This isnt our last love letter I love you with all my heart and soul Yours forever, Deirdre (Mrs. Hank Snow) Im fortunate to have fallen in love with, marry and make a life with the sharpest, coolest, funniest, most rare, bad ass, tender loving, loyal man on the planet, my husband Don Imus. A True American Hero I dont know why it has been so hard for me to write about my dear friend Don Imus. I certainly know what he meant to me, my family, my charity, my hospital and the millions of fans that listened and loved him for so many years. I keep reading all the beautiful condolences that people are writing about how much a part of their lives were effected by listening to him over the years. But what most people dont talk enough about is what he did for all of us. In every sense of the word, he was an American Hero. His work with children with so many different illnesses and his dedication to their future was unmatched by anyone I have ever known or heard about. Besides raising over $100,000,000 for so many causes, he took care of young people for over 20 years in a state where he could not breathe. Along with his incredible wife Deirdre, he created a world where children were not defined by their disease. That was a miracle! He was a miracle. I will miss him ever day for the rest of my life. I was blessed to be a part of his and Deirdes life. No one will ever do what he did. I love you Don Imus - A TRUE AMERICAN HERO David Jurist IMUS IN THE MORNING FIRST DAY BACK! Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Wesley Snipes first Blade movie is often overlooked when it comes to superhero films despite almost single-handedly rejuvenating the genre back in 1998. In recent years, however, Marvel studios have reportedly been looking at rebooting the series, Snipes previously revealing he had a really productive and a wonderful meeting [with Marvel] and we discussed a number of things, in which they discussed the possibility of Blade 4. Ever since, rumours surrounding the project have been hitting the internet, some hinting at a Netflix series, others about a film concerning Blades daughter, Fallon Grey. Thanks to a rather surprising source - Kate Beckinsale - we have confirmation a Blade project is definitely in the works. 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 While appearing at New York Comic-Con to promote her upcoming film, Underworld: Blood Wars, the actor was asked whether there was any chance her character Selene and Snipess Blade would ever cross over. No. We had that idea, she told the audience, according to SlashFilm. No. Theyre busy. Theyre doing something with Blade. Moving swiftly past the idea of an Underworld/Marvel crossover, Beckinsale is surely confirming Blades appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the near future, Snipes or no Snipes? Recently, Ghost Rider appeared in Marvels Agents of SHIELD and The Punisher in Marvels Daredevil; perhaps we can expect Blade to appear in another show/film before having his own. Also at NYCC, Marvels Iron Fist panel was filled with exciting surprises, including a new trailer and confirmation Sigourney Weaver will be in The Defenders series. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Daniel Craig has pulled a U-turn on his rumoured refusal to return as James Bond, telling a crowd that he has the best job in the world. The British actor, 48, hinted that he will be reprising his iconic role as the secret agent when asked about the possibility at the New Yorker Festivals Beyond Bond panel. Ive got the best job in the world doing Bond, he told fans at the event. If I were to stop doing it, I would miss it terribly. I love this job. I get a massive kick out of if and if I can keep getting a kick out of it, I will. Craigs comments will come as a surprise to many after he seemingly ruled out a 007 comeback after filming wrapped on Spectre last year, memorably saying that he would rather slash his wrists than do another Bond movie. Daniel Craig Awkward interview with This Morning.mp4 They say that s**t sticks and that definitely stuck, he said when questioned about his strong remarks. It was the day after filming. Id been away from home for a year. Nevertheless, ever since Craig suggest that he was done with playing the suave spy, speculation surrounding who might replace him has been rife. Poldarks Aidan Turner is the current favourite, with James Norton, Jack Huston, Idris Elba and Tom Hiddleston also among the touted names. Craig will next be seen starring in Steven Soderberghs Logan Lucky and the upcoming TV adaptation of Jonathan Franzens novel Purity, about a young woman raised in unusual circumstances in North Carolina. Get our free weekly email for all the latest cinematic news from our film critic Clarisse Loughrey Get our The Life Cinematic email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Life Cinematic email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Over the past few weeks, theres been a growing concern over whitewashing in Hollywood films, two recent examples include Tilda Swintons Ancient One in Doctor Strange - the character being Tibetan in the Marvel comic books - and Scarlett Johanssons The Major in Ghost in the Shell. Add Matt Damon to the list, as his upcoming role in The Great Wall has sparked outrage from numerous people around the world, including Fresh off the Boat actor Constance Wu, who addressed the controversy in an online statement. Speaking at the New York Comic-Con, Damon addressed the whitewashing claims, saying It was a f**king bummer, adding that the cast felt wounded by the backlash. To me, whitewashing, I think of Chuck Connors when he played Geronimo, he said according to ScreenCrush. Speaking about the initial teaser, he added: Theyre trying to establish a number of things in 30 seconds or a minute or whatever they have; its not a full-length trailer, its a teaser. Hollywood whitewashing controversies Show all 11 1 /11 Hollywood whitewashing controversies Hollywood whitewashing controversies Scarlett Johansson cast as Motoko Kusanagi in Ghost in the Shell Blonde, white US actress Scarlett Johansson was announced to be playing the clearly Japanese character Motoko Kusanagi in Hollywood's Ghost in the Shell remake, much to the dismay of Asian film fans Hollywood whitewashing controversies Tilda Swinton cast as The Ancient One in Doctor Strange Marvel sparked outrage when Anglo-Scottish actress Tilda Swinton was cast as Tibetan mystic The Ancient One alongside Benedict Cumberbatch in Doctor Strange Hollywood whitewashing controversies Zoe Saldana was criticised for 'blacking up' to play the considerably darker-skinned soul singer Nina Simone in Nina AP Hollywood whitewashing controversies Jake Gyllenhaal stars in Prince of Persia The half Jewish, quarter Swedish actor was cast to play a Middle Eastern Prince in Disney's 2010 film Hollywood whitewashing controversies Rooney Mara as Tiger Lily in forthcoming film Pan Mara was been cast in the role of American Indian Tiger Lily, sparking an online protest from angry film fans Warner Bros Hollywood whitewashing controversies Christian Bale plays Moses in Ridley Scott's Exodus: Gods and Kings Ridley Scott claimed he would never cast 'Mohammed so-and-so from such-and-such a country' in a lead role in his Biblical epic, and went on to cast an entirely white cast instead Hollywood whitewashing controversies Jim Caveziel plays Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ Catholic star Mel Gibson chose to cast a Caucasian American actor in the role of Jesus for his controversial film AP Hollywood whitewashing controversies Micky Rooney plays a Japanese neighbour in Breakfast at Tiffany's Who better to play Holly Golightly's Japanese neighbour IY Yunoishi than American actor Mick Rooney. At least Hollywood has come some way since 1961 YouTube Hollywood whitewashing controversies Ben Affleck as Tony Mendez in Argo Ben Affleck became the subject of a few editorials in Latin American newspapers for casting himself (an American with English, Irish, Scottish and Swiss ancestry) as a Mexican CIA operative Hollywood whitewashing controversies Jennifer Connelly plays Alicia Nash in A Beautiful Mind Alicia Lopez-Harrison de Larde was a naturalised US citizen from El Salvador, but was played by an actress of Jewish, Irish and Norwegian descent YouTube Hollywood whitewashing controversies Chinese actresses cast in Memoirs of a Geisha What better way to alienate Japanese cinemagoers than to cast three Chinese actresses in the lead roles in a film about Japanese culture REUTERS Theyre trying to tease the monster. Theyre trying to speak to a bigger audience. You probably dont know who this director is in Middle America, the Steven Spielberg of China. Dont worry, they speak English in this movie you hear my voice speaking English. Dont worry, Matts in the movie, youve seen this guy before. So theyre trying to establish all these things. And by the way, there are monsters. So theres a lot of pipe theyre trying to lay in that 30 seconds. Damon revealed how co-star Pedro Pascal (Narcos, Game of Thrones) called him soon after the first teaser was released to say: Yeah, we are guilty of whitewashing. We all know that only the Chinese defended the wall against the monsters when they attacked. Previously, director Zhang Yimou - best known for House of Flying Daggers, Hero, and Raise the Red Lantern - said of the controversy: The Great Wall is the opposite of what is being suggested. For the first time, a film deeply rooted in Chinese culture, with one of the largest Chinese casts ever assembled, is being made at tent pole scale for a world audience. The Great Wall, which hits cinemas in 2017, marks the most expensive film ever shot entirely in China, having a budget of $135 million. Also at Comic-Con, a second trailer was released, showing more the films monsters. Sign up to Roisin OConnors free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Roisin OConnors email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Beth Hart has unveiled her new album Fire On The Floor, which you can have a first listen to here on The Independent. Listen to the album in full below: Still going strong after a two decade career, 2015 was a year that really saw Beth Hart come into her own. Releasing Better Than Home, which received critical and commerical praise, led her to perform at Amsterdam's cavernous Heineken Music Hall, and in 2016 she performed her first solo show in London at Union Chapel, which was subsequently named its gig of the year. Hart worked with producer Oliver Leiber for Fire On The Floor: "Oliver rounded up some amazing musicians," she says of their work together. "Michael Landau and Waddy Wachtel are legends, so when I found out we had them, I just couldnt believe it. If you dont have great musicians, youre not gonna have a very good record, are you? "We recorded sixteen songs in three days, but then we spent a long time mixing. Oliver is a brutally hard-working person, but hes also incredibly sensitive and that combination works so great. Hes strong and focused, but still so vulnerable, and his heart is wide open. Im so proud of what he did on this record." Read the Q&A we did with Hart on the album's title track below What are you listening to at the moment? At the moment Ive been listening to a lot of Nina Simone, Howlin Wolf, Billie Holiday and Humble Pie. I kinda go through phases of listening to choice music, I listen to a lot of jazz these days, a lot of Dinah Washington who Im a huge fan of, it changes all the time, but thats what Ive been listening to a lot lately. What has the process of putting Fire On the Floor together been like in comparison with your previous work, and how are you feeling now it's complete? I made Better Than Home out in New York City and it was a very difficult and painful process. Some personal things were going on with the producer being very ill and it was a very painful record to make. I write a lot and I have a lot of songs when I go in to record, for Better Than Home I had almost 50 songs, so when I was finished with it I had this huge catalogue of stuff I was really excited about but just didnt happen to make it on Better Than Home because of the direction. I write in a lot of different genres; I had a bunch of jazzy and bluesy stuff and kinda alternatives to Jazz and blues that I really wanted to do and I knew because that the experience had been so difficult with Better Than Home, when you fall off a horse they say get back on otherwise youll be scared, it was kinda like that, Ive gotta get back in the studio right away and have a positive one or I might have a really tough time next time I go make a record. Enjoy unlimited access to 70 million ad-free songs and podcasts with Amazon Music Sign up now for a 30-day free trial Sign up So we called up a really good and old friend of mine who I had worked with previously when I was much younger, a producer named Oliver Leiber and I sent him all the songs and we chose and worked on what we were gonna do and it was awesome. He put together the best frickin band, unbelievable players and it was a total of 3 days of recording and it was absolutely incredible. Oliver Leiber is really an absolute genius and he is a beautiful person to work with. It was incredible, Im really happy with the results on the record. What was the first gig you ever played, and what's been the best so far? The first gig I consider my recital when I was 4 years old, it was really great, my teacher Mrs Davies didnt make me play Mary Had A Little Lamb, I had started writing music then she let me play something that I had written and my sister Sharon who has passed away since, she was 10 years older than me, walked me up to the piano and picked me up and put me on the bench and it was such an awesome day and I was so nervous. Its funny, Ive never lost that, I still get nervous to this day. My favourite gig; the Kennedy Center Honors when I got to honour Buddy Guy, I loved that. (Beth Hart/Greg Watermann (Beth Hart/Greg Watermann) "Another that was a really special gig for me; after all my drug problems, I lost my record deal and my whole life was crap, I had to start over again, when I was 29 I got to pay a show at the Paradiso In Amsterdam and the audience was so unbelievable, all these people came and they all knew the music, it was such a beautiful feeling, I got to be sober and got to feel what it was like to work again. I think I also didnt think I deserved it, but through recovery you get to learn to forgive yourself and the audience made me feel like I totally deserved a second chance. My third favourite is the other night I got to play the Hollywood Bowl, I remember I first time I went there was to see Yo-Yo Ma play, I was a cellist growing up, and Yo-Yo Ma is the greatest cellist of all time, I got to play there the other night and oh my God, it was an awesome experience." Fire On The Floor, the new album from Beth Hart, is out on 14 October via Provogue Sign up to the Independent Climate email for the latest advice on saving the planet Get our free Climate email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Independent Climate email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Global warming has caused the area affected by forest fires in the western United States to double over the last 30 years and the problem will continue to get worse until the trees start to run out, according to new research. Higher air temperatures dry out vegetation, making it more prone to combust, as witnessed with increasing ferocity in states like California and Oregon. While some parts of the world will get wetter as the climate warms, fires have been increasing in places like the Amazon, Indonesia and Canada's boreal forests. Residents escape the flames engulfing Fort McMurray, Canada, earlier this year (EPA) Climate scientists had predicted wildfires would increase in places, but the new study, funded in part by Nasa, is one of the first to quantify the effect. One of the researchers, Professor Park Williams, a bio-climatologist at Columbia University, said: No matter how hard we try, the fires are going to keep getting bigger, and the reason is really clear. Climate is really running the show in terms of what burns. We should be getting ready for bigger fire years than those familiar to previous generations. An extra 4.2 million hectares of forest fires about 16,000 square miles, the same area as Denmark were estimated to have been caused by human-induced climate change between 1984 and 2015, according to a paper in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. This increase nearly doubled the area that would have burned if the temperature had not risen, the researchers found. Eventually the fires will be so extreme that the remaining forests are too fragmented for flames to spread easily between them. There's no hint we're even getting close to that yet. I'd expect increases to proceed exponentially for at least the next few decades, Professor Williams said. While the worlds average temperature has risen by one degree Celsius since pre-industrial times, the increase within forests in the US West has been sharper. Since 1970, temperatures have gone up there by 1.5C and this increase is expected to continue. Warmer air can hold more moisture, so water is sucked out of plants, dead vegetation and the soil, creating tinder dry conditions. 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 Ironically firefighting is another reason for the rise in forest fires. When a blaze is put out, this can have the effect of simply saving dry fuel for another day and a bigger fire. Last year, the US Government alone spent more than $2.1 billion (1.7bn) fighting fires. Science news in pictures Show all 20 1 /20 Science news in pictures Science news in pictures Pluto has 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen Pluto has a 'beating heart' of frozen nitrogen that is doing strange things to its surface, Nasa has found. The mysterious core seems to be the cause of features on its surface that have fascinated scientists since they were spotted by Nasa's New Horizons mission. "Before New Horizons, everyone thought Pluto was going to be a netball - completely flat, almost no diversity," said Tanguy Bertrand, an astrophysicist and planetary scientist at NASA's Ames Research Center and the lead author on the new study. "But it's completely different. It has a lot of different landscapes and we are trying to understand what's going on there." Getty Science news in pictures Over 400 species discovered this year by Natural History Museum The ancient invertabrate worm-like species rhenopyrgus viviani (pictured) is one of over 400 species previously unknown to science that were discovered by experts at the Natural History Museum this year PA Science news in pictures Jackdaws can identify 'dangerous' humans Jackdaws can identify dangerous humans from listening to each others warning calls, scientists say. The highly social birds will also remember that person if they come near their nests again, according to researchers from the University of Exeter. In the study, a person unknown to the wild jackdaws approached their nest. At the same time scientists played a recording of a warning call (threatening) or contact calls (non-threatening). The next time jackdaws saw this same person, the birds that had previously heard the warning call were defensive and returned to their nests more than twice as quickly on average. Getty Science news in pictures Turtle embryos influence sex by shaking The sex of the turtle is determined by the temperatures at which they are incubated. Warm temperatures favour females. But by wiggling around the egg, embryos can find the Goldilocks Zone which means they are able to shield themselves against extreme thermal conditions and produce a balanced sex ratio, according to the new study published in Current Biology journal Ye et al/Current Biology Science news in pictures Elephant poaching rates drop in Africa African elephant poaching rates have dropped by 60 per cent in six years, an international study has found. It is thought the decline could be associated with the ivory trade ban introduced in China in 2017. Reuters Science news in pictures Ancient four-legged whale discovered in Peru Scientists have identified a four-legged creature with webbed feet to be an ancestor of the whale. Fossils unearthed in Peru have led scientists to conclude that the enormous creatures that traverse the planets oceans today are descended from small hoofed ancestors that lived in south Asia 50 million years ago A. Gennari Science news in pictures Animal with transient anus discovered A scientist has stumbled upon a creature with a transient anus that appears only when it is needed, before vanishing completely. Dr Sidney Tamm of the Marine Biological Laboratory could not initially find any trace of an anus on the species. However, as the animal gets full, a pore opens up to dispose of waste Steven G Johnson Science news in pictures Giant bee spotted Feared extinct, the Wallace's Giant bee has been spotted for the first time in nearly 40 years. An international team of conservationists spotted the bee, that is four times the size of a typical honeybee, on an expedition to a group of Indonesian Islands Clay Bolt Science news in pictures New mammal species found inside crocodile Fossilised bones digested by crocodiles have revealed the existence of three new mammal species that roamed the Cayman Islands 300 years ago. The bones belonged to two large rodent species and a small shrew-like animal New Mexico Museum of Natural History Science news in pictures Fabric that changes according to temperature created Scientists at the University of Maryland have created a fabric that adapts to heat, expanding to allow more heat to escape the body when warm and compacting to retain more heat when cold Faye Levine, University of Maryland Science news in pictures Baby mice tears could be used in pest control A study from the University of Tokyo has found that the tears of baby mice cause female mice to be less interested in the sexual advances of males Getty Science news in pictures Final warning to limit "climate catastrophe" The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has issued a report which projects the impact of a rise in global temperatures of 1.5 degrees Celsius and warns against a higher increase Getty Science news in pictures Nobel prize for evolution chemists The nobel prize for chemistry has been awarded to three chemists working with evolution. Frances Smith is being awarded the prize for her work on directing the evolution of enzymes, while Gregory Winter and George Smith take the prize for their work on phage display of peptides and antibodies Getty/AFP Science news in pictures Nobel prize for laser physicists The nobel prize for physics has been awarded to three physicists working with lasers. Arthur Ashkin (L) was awarded for his "optical tweezers" which use lasers to grab particles, atoms, viruses and other living cells. Donna Strickland and Gerard Mourou were jointly awarded the prize for developing chirped-pulse amplification of lasers Reuters/AP Science news in pictures Discovery of a new species of dinosaur The Ledumahadi Mafube roamed around 200 million years ago in what is now South Africa. Recently discovered by a team of international scientists, it was the largest land animal of its time, weighing 12 tons and standing at 13 feet. In Sesotho, the South African language of the region in which the dinosaur was discovered, its name means "a giant thunderclap at dawn" Viktor Radermacher / SWNS Science news in pictures Birth of a planet Scientists have witnessed the birth of a planet for the first time ever. This spectacular image from the SPHERE instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope is the first clear image of a planet caught in the very act of formation around the dwarf star PDS 70. The planet stands clearly out, visible as a bright point to the right of the center of the image, which is blacked out by the coronagraph mask used to block the blinding light of the central star. ESO/A. Muller et al Science news in pictures New human organ discovered that was previously missed by scientists Layers long thought to be dense, connective tissue are actually a series of fluid-filled compartments researchers have termed the interstitium. These compartments are found beneath the skin, as well as lining the gut, lungs, blood vessels and muscles, and join together to form a network supported by a mesh of strong, flexible proteins Getty Science news in pictures Previously unknown society lived in Amazon rainforest before Europeans arrived, say archaeologists Working in the Brazilian state of Mato Grosso, a team led by archaeologists at the University of Exeter unearthed hundreds of villages hidden in the depths of the rainforest. These excavations included evidence of fortifications and mysterious earthworks called geoglyphs Jose Iriarte Science news in pictures One in 10 people have traces of cocaine or heroin on fingerprints, study finds More than one in 10 people were found to have traces of class A drugs on their fingers by scientists developing a new fingerprint-based drug test. Using sensitive analysis of the chemical composition of sweat, researchers were able to tell the difference between those who had been directly exposed to heroin and cocaine, and those who had encountered it indirectly. Getty Science news in pictures Nasa releases stunning images of Jupiter's great red spot The storm bigger than the Earth, has been swhirling for 350 years. The image's colours have been enhanced after it was sent back to Earth. Pictures by: Tom Momary The researchers said their findings should be taken on board by people living in forested areas. It means getting out of fire's way, he said. Id definitely be worried about living in a forested area with only one road in and one road out," Professor Williams said. In May this year, a firestorm devastated parts of Fort McMurray in Alberta, Canada, and the surrounding area, forcing 80,000 people to flee their homes. Experts said a combination of dry weather, less snow due to melting and record warm temperatures led to conditions that created perfect kindling. A Canadian police officer surveys the damage on a street in fire-ravaged Fort McMurray, Alberta. (Royal Canadian Mounted Police Alberta via The Canadian Press via AP) Will Ashley-Cantello, chief adviser on forests at WWF-UK, said the research underlined the need to stop using fossil fuels and cutting down forests. "Forests have always suffered and recovered from fires but its clear that these fires are becoming bigger and more common around the world as a result of human activity," he said. "We've also seen high levels of fire in the Amazon this year, and those in Indonesia are infamous. "Unless we act this trend will continue, and could act with climate change to form a feedback loop: forest fires feeds climate change, which means more fires. "We must reduce our climate warming emissions worldwide and mimic natural processes in the way we manage forests. The age of fossil fuels and deforestation has to end now. According to Forest Research, an arm of the UK Forestry Commission, the UK suffers relatively little from forest fires. Nevertheless, they do occur, especially in areas where grass pasture, heathland occur in close proximity, it says on its website. Fire is almost certain to become an increasing factor affecting the condition and longevity of some woods and forest areas in sensitive areas, and climate change is likely to be a contributory factor. Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for insider tips and product reviews from our shopping experts Sign up for our free IndyBest email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyBest email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} With each new iPhone thats released comes a wave of new cases to flood the market. Despite the two new models the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus being the same size as their respective predecessors, there have still been advances in the case market, from new entrants offering fresh takes on the materials and designs used, to improvements on existing ranges. Here, weve focused on three main criteria in assessing the best options out there: the level of protection they provide, how they look and fit onto the phone, and whether or not they allow the phone to remain fully functional (that is, all ports and buttons can still be easily accessed). Weve also considered covers that showcase the phone itself, given that Apple's latest iteration comes in five colours. Each of the cases weve featured below is designed to fit the iPhone 7, but theyre all available in the larger size too. 1. Mujjo Leather Wallet Case for iPhone 7: 34.99, Mobile Fun If you want a case to be able to store your essential cards credit cards, driving license and the like then usually youd have to opt for a folio-style case, which brings inevitable bulk. However, this case from Dutch brand Mujjo has the card pouch on the back of the case, securely storing two or three cards. The case itself is made from vegetable-tanned leather, and is flexible enough to absorb the impact if you drop it. Ships worldwide. Buy now 2. Apple iPhone 8 / 7 Leather Case: 45, Apple You cant go wrong with a case designed by the same people who designed the phone itself. Made using soft French leather on the outside and with a microfibre lining that is kind to surface of your phone, the case feels sleek and light, while the buttons are still fully accessible. Its available in seven different block colours. Buy now 3. Anita Ivancenko Winter Forest/Mountains Phone Case: 16, Etsy Illustrator Anita Ivancenko says that owning one of her cases is like having a piece of art in your pocket - and we agree. Choose from bold, monochrome geometric patterns or nature-inspired shapes in muted hues. Our pick is this wintery design decide for yourself whether you want it to be mountains or trees. Each case is made to order and they have a glossy finish. Buy now 4. Knomo iPhone 7 Premium Folio: 45, Knomo Knomo specialises in classy, well-thought-out bags, and it extends this expertise into the world of iPhone cases. This leather case has the added protective bonus of a front cover for your screen, which also has space to comfortably house two or three cards. The buttons and speakers arent at all obscured and so retain full functionality. Available in four earthy colours. Buy now 5. Griffin Survivor Clear Case for iPhone 7/6/6s: 19.98, Amazon A lot of cases can completely mask the design of the phone itself, but not so with this from Griffin. The polycarbonate material is completely see-through, although the ridged edges still give it a look of rigidity. Itll protect your phone from the usual drop height Griffin claims up to 4ft without adding too much bulk. Its scratch-resistant, too. Buy now 6. OtterBox Defender Series for iPhone 7/iPhone 8: 33.31, Amazon This American brand is renowned for its rugged and rigorously tested (each case goes through over 230 hours of assessment to prove its worth) protective cases, with the Defender among its best. The series has continued to cater for the iPhone 7, with a tough polycarbonate shell. Its hardly the most stylish on our list, but if its protection youre after, opt for OtterBox. Buy now 7. Spigen Armor CS Slim Fit: 24.45, Amazon If youre not inclined to always carry a wallet around, this case has a slide-away compartment at the back which allows you to store two cards while only adding an additional couple of millimetres to the thickness of your phone. The fit is reassuringly tight, thanks to a mix of hard polycarbonate exterior and shock-absorbing TPU interior. Buy now 8. Snugg iPhone 7 and 8 Flip Case: 9.99, Amazon Real leather cases come at a price, but if its the look youre after more than anything, there are less expensive, faux-leather options out there. At less than a tenner, this flip case is one of the best value options, providing inner pockets for cards and cash and leaving the buttons helpfully exposed for easy access. Its available in eight colours, ranging from the reserved black to the eye-catching pink. Buy now 9. HB London Palm Print Phone Case: From 34, HB London You might have seen Victoria Beckham carrying a glossy black phone case monogrammed with her initials. Its the work of new accessories brand HB London that specialises in glam personalised cases. You get a snap-on hard case, in a gloss or matt finish with initials in bold letters. There are marble-effect offerings in a big selection of colours, but we like the tropical-themed range, which includes this eye-catching palm print design. Weve been using ours for a few weeks and it still looks as shiny as when it came out the box. Our only gripe is that it fits on so snugly, we broke a few nails trying to get it off. Buy now 10. Native Union Clic Crystal: 29.99, Native Union Want to show off your new phone? Native Union is known for its design-led mobile accessories made from quality materials. The brand makes superior wooden and marble cases featuring its distinctive slash design in a contrasting colour. Those are back for the new iPhones, as well as this clear, scratch-resistant case with the coloured panel. Choose from four muted colours, including this smart green. Avaialble November. Pre order now The Verdict: iPhone 7 cases For a sleek-looking leather option, we like Mujjos case with its handy card holder. If its a rugged case youre after, go for OtterBoxs tough Defender. Anyone after a well-priced, more unusual design, check out Anita Ivancenkos illustrated cases. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Its been one of the most hotly anticipated beauty launches of the year but finally Kat Von Ds eponymous beauty line has landed in the UK and Ireland. The collection has been available online since 13 September but this week saw its debut exclusively at the department stores Oxford Street branch. The wait is over. Since its inception in 2008, Kat Von D has nurtured the brand to become one of the fastest-growing worldwide and established a cult status among macquillage maestros far and wide. Its not hard to see why though as the celebrated artist, musician and tattooists artisanal approach to makeup brings something most other brands strive for their entire existence; authenticity. An iron-willed figure, Kat knows where her priorities lie and shes not prepared to abide any less than the best. The collection is cruelty-free, vegan wherever possible and seriously high performance specialising in long wear, full coverage products. So what exactly can us Brits get our mitts on now shes finally crossed the pond? The launch spans the gamut of beauty categories from foundation and concealer to quality makeup brushes and powerfully pigmented shadows. For the face, there are two standout products which should sit firmly at the top of your lust-list; the "Lock-It" liquid foundation is seriously powerful offering to even out the most troublesome of complexions while the corresponding concealer works wonders with creamy, long-lasting coverage. Kat Von D Shade & Light contour palette, Lock-It foundation and Studded Kiss lipstick Kat is adulated for her famous feline flick and now you can get it too; or at least attempt to. The "Tattoo" liner is packed with pigment in a waterproof formula thats easy to apply. Its also fade, melt, crack and run resistant so if youre not a seasoned pro, be sure have an oil-based remover on hand. When it comes to the lips were truly spoilt for choice. Kats cult "Everlasting" liquid lipstick is the ultimate smudge-proof lippie that, unlike similar formulas, leaves your lips not only looking great but feeling seriously moisturised. Its also available in an impressive 26 shades. Dubbed as "lipstick heaven on earth", her "Studded Kiss" lipstick takes things to new heights. First of all, the packaging is divine with each shade cased in a glossy black studded cuff. But it's the formula that holds its own. The ultimate rebel girl rouge, this rule-breaking lippie is available in 39 shades covering everything from the perfect nude to the deepest of blacks. Weve waited what feels like a lifetime to get our hands on Kat Von D Beauty and it certainly doesnt disappoint. These are products that simply have no comparable counterpart in the marketplace; theyre unique, theyre powerful and theyre finally ours, all ours. Buy now at Debenhams.com, Debenhams.ie and in-store Oxford Street. Also launching at Debenhams Lakeside on 17 October. Sign up to IndyEat's free newsletter for weekly recipes, foodie features and cookbook releases Get our Now Hear This email for free Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the IndyEats email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Ive always thought of the egg as an ingredient that is so versatile but that versatility is often neglected because people return to their old egg favourites. My recipe collection combines eggs with some of my favourite Thai flavours and dishes, all inspired by the fast paced street food we create at Farang London. Ive been working in kitchens since I was 12 years old but fell in love with Thai food whilst working at the Begging Bowl in Peckham where I eventually became Sous chef. From there, I became head chef of the Smoking Goat Soho before starting Farang London, which Ive been lucky enough to build authentically, by sharing my love of Thai food face to face with customers. Egg-topped smokey aubergine salad Serves 2 When cooked over open fire, aubergine has an amazing way of transforming its flavour and texture into a smoky, soft bombshell of taste. This salad uses the runny egg to contribute to the dressing, its a perfect accompaniment to a barbecue and also delicious served with steamed jasmine rice. For this salad, Thai purple aubergine is used - this is thinner and easier to grill evenly in a short time. However, the more common large aubergine can also be used but it may need to be cooked a little longer on the fire. For the salad 2 Thai purple aubergines (these can be found in any good Asian supermarket, however the larger, more popular aubergine can be used instead) 2 medium eggs A handful of mint, picked and torn in half with fingers A handful of coriander, picked and washed. 100g Thai shallots, peeled and sliced thinly (banana shallots chopped thinly can be used instead) 20g Jasmine Rice For the dressing 4 limes, juiced 4 tbsp fish sauce (soy sauce if vegetarian) 4 tbsp tamarind water 2 tbsp caster sugar 1 mandarin, juiced (clementine will work too) tbsp chilli powder (a little less if you dont like heat) Make the dressing by mixing together all the ingredients. Light up the BBQ and allow the coals to turn white, or heat up a griddle pan on a high heat on the hob. Place the aubergines directly on the coals or on the griddle pan and allow to char, turning them over occasionally until they are soft to the touch. Then remove from the heat and leave to cool. If the skins are really charred peel the aubergines but if they are just caramelised leave them on. Cut the cooked aubergine into big chunks and place in a bowl. Fry the jasmine rice in a dry pan until golden. Then grind in a pestle and mortar or in a food processor until you have a fine powder. Toss together the aubergine, herbs and shallots. Bring a pan of salted water to a rolling simmer, then stir to create a whirlpool. Crack an egg into the middle and cook for four minutes or until the white is cooked and the yolk is still soft. Then remove from the pan with a slotted spoon. Dress the salad with your dressing and place on a plate then top with your poached egg, a sprinkling of toasted rice and a pinch of salt on the egg yolk. Salmon Laksa (British Eggs) Smoked Salmon Laksa with soft boiled egg Serves 2 300g red curry paste 100ml cooking oil 1 tbsp mild curry powder 2 British Lion eggs 1 tbsp brown soft sugar 2 tbsp fish sauce 200ml fish stock 400ml coconut cream 300g smoked salmon, roughly chopped into bite sized pieces 1 small handful coriander 3 tbsp peanuts, lightly crushed in a pestle and mortar 300g vermicelli noodles, blanched in boiling water and refreshed in cold water 1 lime Fry the curry paste in the oil and then add the curry powder. Fry for eight to ten minutes, moving all the time. Soft boil and peel your eggs - an average sized egg takes five minutes cooking time on a rolling boil. Once peeled, leave them aside at room temperature. Add the sugar into the paste and continue to cook for two minutes until the paste goes darker, then add the fish sauce and the fish stock and bring back to the boil. Once boiling, add the coconut cream and bring to a simmer. Check seasoning as you may wish for a little more sugar or fish sauce to taste. Lastly drop the smoked salmon into the curry and serve in a bowl with the cooked noodles. Pour the hot curry over the noodles to heat them. Garnish with a sprinkle of coriander, crushed peanuts, the soft boiled eggs ripped in half and dribbling into the curry and a wedge of lime to squeeze over for freshness. I always cook my eggs in salted water and then remove from the boiling hot water into ice cold water with a splash of olive oil. If you then peel the eggs in the water the oil gets between the shell and the flesh making them easy to peel. Cucumber and shrimp soup (British Eggs) Egg, cucumber and shrimp soup Serves 2) 600ml vegetable stock 1/2 cucumber (peeled, sliced into 3cm thick rough cubes) 12 shrimp, de-veined, peeled and cleaned 3 tbsp light soy sauce tbsp dark brown sugar 1 small pinch ground white pepper 2 beaten British Lion eggs Fried garlic (either buy from a shop or just lightly fry sliced garlic in vegetable oil) 1 small handful Thai basil (normal basil also works fine) 2 British Lion eggs (optional for topping) In a pan add the stock, soy sauce, white pepper, sugar and cucumber and bring to the boil. Cook gently for a few minutes to soften the cucumber. Next add the shrimp and continue to cook until they are cooked throughout. Spin the mixture and crack two eggs into the soup causing them to scramble as they enter the moving soup. At the same time add the remaining eggs to a pan of simmering water and soft boil for five minutes, then remove and peel the shell. Rip the egg in half and add to the soup along with a handful of fresh Thai basil and crispy garlic and serve. Adjust seasoning if needed to suit your own taste. Wok fried egg and spicy minced pork with garlic & ginger (British Eggs) Wok fried egg and spicy minced pork with garlic & ginger The beauty of an Asian stir-fry is in the preparation of ingredients if this is well organised, then cooking the dish need only take minutes. This dish is a perfect example of this as its a delicious lunch snack and uses the runny yolk of a wok fried egg to contribute a rich element to the salad, leaving a sweet salty, sour and spicy plate full. If you fancy a little more of a fill this dish is delicious served with steamed jasmine rice. Serves 2 250g minced pork belly 6 garlic cloves, peeled 4 red birds eye chilli, stems removed (use two if you dont like things too spicy) 30g ginger, peeled and roughly chopped 1 tbsp coriander root, chopped (this can be brought attached to the leaves in most good Asian supermarkets, however if you cant find just leave out) A handful of coriander, washed A handful of mint, torn in half Thai shallots, peeled and sliced (banana shallots work well too) A handful of Thai basil (normal basil can be used instead) 100g cherry tomatoes, mashed a little with hands Vegetable oil, for frying 2 large British Lion eggs 2 whole limes A little coarse sea salt Firstly using a pestle and mortar (or food processor) pound together the birds eye chilli, garlic and ginger to make a paste; a little coarse sea salt can be added to the mortar to act as an abrasive and help combine the ingredients. Heat a large wok to a high heat and place around 150-200ml of vegetable oil in it. When the oil is sizzling hot, crack an egg into a bowl and add to the pan by gently pouring it into the hot oil - be careful of splattering oil as it hits the wok. As soon as the egg touches the oil it will begin to cook very quickly; leave for around ten seconds and then gently unstick from the wok using a wok spoon, being careful not to split the egg yolk. The egg will take around 20/30 seconds to cook. When the egg white is cooked and the yolk is still runny, remove the egg using a slotted wok spoon and place on the draining plate. Repeat this process with the second egg. Remove most of the oil from the pan then add the ginger, garlic and chilli paste and move constantly until golden brown. In the afterheat of the eggs being fried this will not take long so be careful not to burn the mix. Add the minced pork belly and continue to fry until the pork is crispy, next add the caster sugar and cook for a further minute until the mixture darkens and caramelises. Then add the coriander, mint, basil, Thai shallots, tomatoes and fish sauce and squeeze one lime into it then toss together. Immediately serve the pork stir-fry on a plate with the egg on top and a wedge of lime on the side to squeeze over the dish yourself for freshness. The best way to set yourself up for cooking this dish is to separate all the prepared ingredients into bowls and place them within arms length of the stove top for easy access whilst cooking. The eggs will be cooked first so make sure to crack them into separate bowls for convenience and have a plate with some kitchen roll handy to put them on. Try the dishes from the collection at Farang, Street Feast, Hawkerhouse on the 14th and 15th October. Recipes courtesy of www.eggrecipes.co.uk For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Google is a global superpower. Not only is Google the most-visited website in the world it also makes Google Android, the most popular operating system in the world. And on the back of Google's incredibly profitable advertising business, its parent company Alphabet is worth $543.3 billion. But it wasn't always that way. Here's a look at the history of Google, from its roots in a pair of Stanford dorm rooms, to Larry Page and Sergey Brin's attempt to sell the company, all the way through the explosive announcement that Google was becoming Alphabet. Google got its start in 1996, when two Stanford PhD students named Sergey Brin and Larry Page had the idea for "BackRub," a revolutionary search engine that used a technology called "PageRank" that would rank web pages based on how many other web pages linked back to them. Page and Brin's first office was actually their two Stanford dorm rooms. The "BackRub" name didn't last long, as they decided that a "googol," or the number one with a hundred zeroes after it, better reflected the amount of data they were trying to sift through. The slightly friendlier name "Google" was chosen for the fledgling company. (Google (Google) The first-ever Google server was built in a custom case made out of Legos and housed on the Stanford campus. At first, it was just at google.stanford.edu, but the Google.com domain name was registered on September 15th, 1997. (Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) Eventually, Google drained too much of Stanford's bandwidth, and the IT department kicked them out. Page and Brin relocated the fledgling company in the garage of future Google employee and YouTube head Susan Wojcicki. Around the same time they moved into the garage, Brin and Page got a crucial $100,000 seed investment from Sun Microsystems founder Andy Bechtolsheim. With funding in hand, Google officially incorporated in their garage headquarters on September 4th, 1998. (Wikimedia Commons (Wikimedia Commons) Google's first homepage was not much of a looker. Neither Page nor Brin had much expertise with the website programming language HTML, choosing to focus their efforts on the algorithms that made it run. (Google (Google) At one point in 1999, Google was almost acquired by Excite, a leading search engine at the time. Excite would have acquired Google for $750,000 in cash, Excite's then CEO George Bell has said. But the the deal fell through for reasons that are still debated, and Google continued on its own. (OneWire (OneWire) Page and Brin decided to make it a business, after all. In March of 1999, Google moved into its first-ever office at 165 University Avenue in Palo Alto the same office building that housed companies like PayPal and Logitech. (Google (Google) Not long after, Google raised its first round of venture capital funding in the form of a $25 million investment from Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Sequoia Capital. That probably bought its developers a lot more beer. (Google (Google) Google debuted its AdWords product in late 2000, enabling businesses to buy ads related to search terms. By this point, Google was already rising in popularity as a search engine, so it had a steady revenue stream that kept it going through the dot-com burst that claimed so many startups. (Google (Google) Google's star was definitely on the rise, and Brin and Page were becoming rock stars in the tech community for succeeding where everybody else failed. Google executive chairman Erich Schmidt, back, with founders Sergey Brin, left, and Larry Page (AP) Around the time it started making money in 2000, Google adopted its famous, but unofficial, corporate philosophy: "Dont be evil. We believe strongly that in the long term, we will be better served as shareholders and in all other ways by a company that does good things for the world even if we forgo some short term gains." (Tangi Bertin/Flickr (Tangi Bertin/Flickr) At investor Sequoia's urging, Brin and Page brought on Eric Schmidt as the company's first CEO in 2001, leaving the founders free to focus on Google's technology. Eric Schmidt: 'You've got the right role within the Continent' (Getty Images) By this point, the Google team was growing out of its Palo Alto offices. So in 2003, Google leased its now-famous Googleplex campus from ailing, old-school tech giant Silicon Graphics International. By 2006, Google was able to buy the Googleplex outright. (Google (Google) The Googleplex became a symbol of Silicon Valley success. Google worked hard to make it a little more whimsical than your average campus. The original main campus building is well-known for having a slide that connects the first two floors. (Reddit/SpaceCaseSixtyTen (Reddit/SpaceCaseSixtyTen) Plus, Google was the first big tech company to offer free meals to its employees. The Google cafeteria became the stuff of Silicon Valley legend. (Flickr/Dmitry Alekseenko (Flickr/Dmitry Alekseenko) It also has a famous dinosaur statue often covered in flamingos. Google employee rumor holds that it's a reminder to its employees to not go extinct. (OpenBuildings (OpenBuildings) On August 19th, 2004, Google had its initial public offering on the stock market, priced at $85 per share. Today, a share in Google parent company Alphabet costs over $800. On April 1st, 2004, Google announced a private beta for Gmail, an e-mail service. Because it was on April Fool's Day, the media and users all thought it was a prank at first. (Biz Stone (Biz Stone) In fact, after the IPO, Google set its sights on expanding past the search engine. Google started gobbling up startups to launch new products like Google Docs and Google Maps, which are still around today. (Flickr / Sancho McCann (Flickr / Sancho McCann) In 2005, Google bought a tiny startup that was making an operating system for digital cameras. It was called Android and was led by Andy Rubin. (GETTY IMAGES (GETTY IMAGES) 2006 also saw Google buy up YouTube, a brand-new video-sharing site that was founded by a bunch of ex-PayPal employees. Google paid $1.65 billion in stock for YouTube. (YouTube (YouTube) Google was getting bigger and bigger. In 2006, Google opened up its first wholly-owned and designed data center in The Dalles, Oregon, on the banks of the Columbia river. (Google (Google) Google has a history of squeezing out incredibly high levels of efficiency from its data centers with inventive new designs a history that started at that first Oregon site. (Google (Google) Google was so popular by this point that "Googling" had become an acceptable word for "searching the Internet." In June of 2006, the verb "google" was added to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary. In 2008, the HTC Dream hit the market. It was the first-ever Android smartphone that consumers could buy. Today, Google Android is the most popular operating system on the planet. (Wikimedia (Wikimedia) The year 2008 also saw Google introduce Google Chrome, a web browser that integrated tightly with Google's growing roster of web services. Google wanted to make sure that on every device, you keep using Google and looking at Google ads. In 2011, Schmidt stepped down as Google CEO, though he kept his title as executive chairman, and stuck around to advise Page and Brin. Larry Page became the new CEO of Google. Larry Page Michigan-born Page went to Stanford, where he met Google co-founder Sergey Brin in 1995, and the two began working on the search engine for PhD projects. The 39-year-old took over from Eric Schmidt as CEO last year and is worth an estimated $18.7bn. Page married Lucinda Southworth at Sir Richard Branson's Caribbean retreat, Necker Island, in 2007 (EPA) With its dominance in search all but locked down, the last few years have seen Page's Google focus on some crazy, next-generation ideas. In 2010, Google announced that it was working on driverless cars that didn't require a human to operate. (Google (Google) In 2012, Google announced Google Glass, a wearable computer that would present information in your field of vision. It didn't catch on the way people hoped, but it made an impact on the world. The consumer product most closely associated with augmented reality, Google Glass, proved difficult to love (Getty Images) In fact, Google operates secret labs that are working on all kinds of nifty projects. This contact lens can measure the glucose level in the blood of diabetics. Much more recently, Google shocked the world by completely shaking up its corporate structure. Brin, Page, and Schmidt turned Google into a wholly-owned subsidiary of Alphabet, a new parent company. Larry Page became the CEO of Alphabet. Google co-founder and CEO Larry Page (Getty) This leaves former Google Chrome head Sundar Pichai in charge of the whole company, guiding the future of the newly-formed Alphabet's most important and profitable businesses. Under Pichai, Google has made big moves into artificial intelligence. And the rest, as they say, is history. Sundar Pichai has become Googles new chief executive (AP) Read more: This chart is easy to interpret: It says we're screwed How Uber became the world's most valuable startup These 4 things could trigger the next crisis in Europe Read the original article on Business Insider UK. 2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter. Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Stay ahead of the trend in fashion and beyond with our free weekly Lifestyle Edit newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Lifestyle Edit email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Workplaces need a transformation in how mental health issues are tackled as stress reaches record levels, according to research. The TUC said stress is now the top health and safety concern, especially among public sector workers. A survey of 1,000 union health and safety reps across the UK found seven out of 10 said stress is a problem, particularly for employees affected by Government spending cuts. The problem has increased most in Northern Ireland, the North, Scotland and the South West, said the union organisation. TUC general secretary Frances O'Grady said: The message from the shop floor is clear, stress is becoming a bigger and bigger problem. Pressures of long working hours and low job security are being felt in workplaces across the UK. It's in no-one's interests to have overstretched workforces. People who experience high anxiety are less productive and are more likely to take time off. Stress is preventable if staff have reasonable workloads, supportive managers and a workplace free from violence, bullying and harassment. Meanwhile, a report to mark World Mental Health Day today said the Government should take action to bring parity to mental and physical first aid in the workplace. Mental Health First Aid England, Mind and MP Norman Lamb issued a report saying there is mounting evidence of a dearth of mental health provision in the workplace. Employers are urged to invest in first aid training in mental health. Poppy Jaman, chief executive of Mental Health First Aid, said: Our workplaces need to undergo a transformation. People are working increasing hours, with less resources, and under more pressure. Millions of employees feel unsupported and employers must act now to retain top talent and boost productivity. Better access to support is critical to improve outcomes for those living with a mental health issue. Support in the workplace plays a vital role for employees and the economy. Mental health issues, stress, depression or anxiety account for almost 70 million days off sick per year, the most of any health condition. We will only make headway when employers value mental health as they do physical health. PA Are you worried about stress? Visit our article on what stress is and how it can affect you. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Goldman Sachs is drawing up plans to potentially transfer around 2,000 employees to a rival European city should the UK lose its passporting rights, according to a report. UK banks fear that a so-called hard Brexit will result in the UK leaving Europe's single market and therefore the loss of crucial passporting rights, which allow them to sell their services freely across the rest of the EU and give firms based in Europe unfettered access to Britain. Goldman Sachs is looking at moving a third of its 6,000 UK workforce to the EU in the event of a so-called hard Brexit, the Sunday Times reported citing City sources. Goldman Sachs has confirmed that it will continue to work through all implications of the Brexit vote. However, the investment bank added that it has not taken any firm decision on the matter yet. "There remain numerous uncertainties as to what the Brexit negotiations will yield in terms of an operating framework for the banking industry. As a result we have not taken any decisions as to what our eventual response will be, despite media speculation to the contrary," Goldman Sachs added. Richard Gnodde, the co-head of the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs said, that every outcome is possible when asked if the bank plans would involve moving some of its employees to Eurozone cities in the wake of the EU referendum. If passporting was totally removed, we would have to adjust our footprint and where people were located, Gnodde said at a conference in London in June. Lloyd Blankfein, chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs said the bank, which was a big donor to the defeated Remain campaign, has a long history of adapting to change, and will be working with relevant authorities as the terms of the exit become clear. Our primary focus, as always, remains serving our clients needs, Blankfein said. The future of the passporting arrangements is one of the biggest unknown factors as the UK negotiates its exit from the EU. The loss of these rights could be devastating to the City of London as nearly 5,500 firms registered in the UK use passporting rights to operate in other countries. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty Last month, Lloyds chairman John Nelson, said operations may start leaving London before Brexit negotiations are concluded unless the Government can provide clarity about the UKs future relationship with the EU. The chief executive of Hermes Investment Management, Saker Nusseibeh, previously said that in order to maintain passporting rights, London will have to be prepared to obey Brussels regulations without the UK having an input into deciding them. UBS, considered to be the worlds largest manager of private wealth, previously warned that London is likely to see an exodus of finance jobs in the wake of the Brexit vote. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Oliver Hart, Britains Nobel prize-winning economist, has warned that UKs vote to leave the EU, will hurt Britains investment and growth. His comments over the damaging effect of a Brexit vote came in the run-up to Britains historic referendum on whether to leave the EU. Recommended Read more Sterling struggles to recoveras investors brace for further falls Hart, a British American Professor of Economics at Harvard University, said: The EU is Britains most important trade partner. Trade barriers with the EU would rise and this will hurt Britains investment and growth. In a separate interview with the Chicago Tribune in August, he said: Post-Brexit agreement between the UK and the EU is likely to involve trade barriers." "This will reduce gains from trade. The UK will suffer," he added. Business groups have since accused the Government of imperilling the economy with statements suggesting the UK is heading for a hard divorce from the European Union. Prime Minister Theresa May has given the clearest signal yet that she is veering towards a hard Brexit as she told the Conservative party conference last week that those wanting to compromise on immigration controls are looking at things the wrong way. Carolyn Fairbairn, who took over the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) last year, the government's stated emphasis on controlling immigration sent out "signs that the door is being closed, to an extent, on the open economy, that has helped fuel investment." Fairbairn also warned it was crucial for ministers to state that Britain would not be reduced to the basic tariff arrangements set down by the World Trade Organisation (WTO) when it is expected to exit the EU in 2019, and that the passporting system allowing easy access for service industries would stay in place. Brexit Concerns Show all 26 1 /26 Brexit Concerns Brexit Concerns Brexit will put British patients at 'back of the queue' for new drugs Brexit will put British patients at the back of the queue for vital new drugs, the Government has been warned forcing them to wait up to two years longer A medicines regulator has raised the alarm over a likely decision to pull out of the European Medicines Agency (EMA), as well as the EU itself. ealth Secretary Jeremy Hunt dropped the bombshell , when he said he expected the UK would quit the EMA because it is subject to rulings by the European Court of Justice. Getty Images Brexit Concerns London to lose status as 'gateway to Europe' for banks One of Germanys top banking regulators has warned that London could lose its status as gateway to Europe for the banking sector after Britain quits the European trading bloc. Andreas Dombret, who is an executive board member for the BundesbankGermanys central banktold a private meeting of German businesses and banks earlier this week in Frankfurt that even if banking rules were equivalent between the UK and the rest of the EU, that was still miles away from [Britain having] access to the single market, the BBC reports. Jason Hawkes Brexit Concerns Exodus The number of financial sector professionals in Britain and continental Europe looking for jobs in Ireland rocketed in the months after the UK voted to leave the European Union Shutterstock Brexit Concerns Brexit is making FTSE 100 executives richer Pay packages of many FTSE 100 chief executive officers are partly tied to how well share prices are doing rather than the CEOs performance -- and some stocks are soaring. ritish equities got a boost since the June vote because the likes of Rio Tinto, Smiths Group and WPP generate most sales abroad and earn a fortune when they convert these revenues back into the weakened pound. Sterlings fall also made UK stocks more affordable for overseas investors. Rex Brexit Concerns Theresa May: UK to leave single market Theresa May has said the UK "cannot possibly" remain within the European single market, as staying in it would mean "not leaving the EU at all". Getty Brexit Concerns Lead campaigner Gina Miller and her team outside the High Court Getty Brexit Concerns Raymond McCord holds up his newly issued Irish passport alongside his British passport outside the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns SDLP leader Colum Eastwood leaving the High Court in Belfast following a judges dismissal of the UK's first legal challenges to Brexit PA wire Brexit Concerns Migrants with luggage walk past a graffiti on a wall as they leave the 'Jungle' migrant camp, as part of a major three-day operation planned to clear the camp in Calais Getty Brexit Concerns Migrants leave messages on their tents in the Jungle migrant camp Getty Brexit Concerns The Adventist Development and Relief Agency (Adra) which distributes approximately 700 meals daily in the northern Paris camp states that it is noticing a spike in new migrant arrivals this week, potentially linked the the Calais 'jungle' camp closure - with around 1000 meals distributed today EPA Brexit Concerns Migrant workers pick apples at Stocks Farm in Suckley, Britain Reuters Brexit Concerns Many farmers across the country are voicing concerns that Brexit could be a dangerous step into the unknown for the farming industry Getty Brexit Concerns Bank of England governor Mark Carney who said the long-term outlook for the UK economy is positive, but growth was slowing in the wake of the Brexit vote PA Brexit Concerns The Dow Jones industrial average closed down over 600 points on the news with markets around the globe pluninging Getty Brexit Concerns Immigration officers deal with each member of the public seeking entry into the United Kingdom but on average, 10 a day are refused entry at this London airport and between 2008 and 2009, 33,100 people were detained at the airport for mainly passport irregularities Getty Brexit Concerns A number of global investment giants have threatened to move their European operations out of London if Brexit proves to have a negative impact on their businesses Getty Brexit Concerns Following the possibility of a Brexit the UK would be released from its renewable energy targets under the EU Renewable Energy Directive and from EU state aid restrictions, potentially giving the government more freedom both in the design and phasing out of renewable energy support regimes Getty Brexit Concerns A woman looking at a chart showing the drop in the pound (Sterling) against the US Dollar in London after Britain voted to leave the EU Getty Brexit Concerns Young protesters outside the Houses of Parliament in Westminster, to protest against the United Kingdom's decision to leave the EU following the referendum Getty Brexit Concerns Applications from Northern Ireland citizens for Irish Passports has soared to a record high after the UK Voted in favour of Leaving the EU Getty Brexit Concerns NFU Vice President Minette Batters with Secretary of State, Andrea Leadsome at the National Farmers Union (NFU) took machinery, produce, farmers and staff to Westminster to encourage Members of Parliament to back British farming, post Brexit Getty Brexit Concerns The latest reports released by the UK Cabinet Office warn that expats would lose a range of specific rights to live, to work and to access pensions, healthcare and public services. The same reports added that UK citizens abroad would not be able to assume that these rights will be guaranteed in the future Getty Brexit Concerns A British resident living in Spain asks questions during an informative Brexit talk by the "Brexpats in Spain" group, about Spanish legal issues to become Spanish citizens, at the town hall in Benalmadena, Spain Reuters Brexit Concerns The collapse of Great Britain appears to have been greatly exaggerated given the late summer crowds visiting city museums, hotels, and other important tourist attractions Getty Brexit Concerns The U.K. should maintain European Union regulations covering everything from working hours to chemicals until after the government sets out its plans for Brexit, said British manufacturers anxious to avoid a policy vacuum and safeguard access to their biggest export market Getty Her comments were followed by a warning from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). The BRC said that without reaching the right agreement with the EU by 2019, the UK could be forced to use World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules. Under WTO rules, tariffs on food and clothing could rise sharply, with meat increasing by 27 per cent and clothing and footwear up to 16 per cent. Richard Baker, chairman of the BRC urged the Government to avoid a disproportionately severe impact on retailers and their customers. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Teachers in England work longer hours than almost anywhere else in the world, according to new analysis. The study found secondary school teachers work an average of 48.2 hours per week, with one in five working 60 hours or more 12 hours above legal limits set by the European Union. It means teachers in England work an average 19 per cent longer than those in other countries. They do an extra 2.7 hours per week compared to teachers in the USA, 11 hours more than colleagues in Korea and a full 19.8 hours per week more work than educators in Italy. Of the 36 countries and jurisdictions surveyed, only Japan and Alberta in Canada had teachers working longer hours than England. Recommended Read more Secondary school bans homework to give teachers time to plan lessons The extra hours are mostly spent on marking, lesson preparation and form-filling rather than additional teaching, according to the report by the Education Policy Institute. The heavy workload means teachers are missing out on training and development. Englands teachers spend just four days per year on courses, observational visits and on-the-job training compared with an international average of 10.5 days. Teachers in Shanghai spend 40 days per year on training and development ten times more than in England. The combination of long hours and poor professional development could explain why Englands teachers are younger and more inexperienced than those in other countries, with almost one in four teachers in England being under the age of 30. This compares to an international average of just over one in ten. And England ranks second lowest for the number of experienced teachers in schools only Singapore is lower. Teachers unions blamed the heavy workload on bureaucratic government regulations and requirements. Kevin Courtney, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, said: The report confirms what the NUT has been saying that excessive accountability measures, which have little to do with improving education, are the driving force behind this long-hours culture. On top of low starting pay and little or no time for professional development, it is hardly surprising that teachers are voting with their feet and leaving the profession in such large numbers. There is no excuse for this desperate situation. All of the issues facing teachers and education in England can be resolved by Government if they only listened to the profession. For the sake of children and young peoples education it is time they not only listened to but acted upon the advice given to them. A Department for Education spokesperson said: We want every child to have access to great teachers that arent bogged down with unnecessary workload so they have the time and freedom to do what they do best inspire the next generation. We recognise teachers concerns and are continuing to work with the sector to find constructive solutions to this issue. Teaching remains an attractive career and we have more teachers entering our classrooms than those choosing to leave or retire. Teacher retention has been broadly stable for 20 years and the annual average salaries for teachers in the UK are also greater than the OECD average, and higher than many of Europes high-performing education systems like Finland, Norway or Sweden. The EPI study compared data from the OECDs Teaching and Learning International Survey between 2012 and 2014. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Actor Scott Baio has defended lewd and sexist remarks made by Donald Trump by telling women the comments heard in a leaked recording were just a sample of what men talk about behind closed doors. On Friday evening, the 2005 recording of Mr Trump talking to the Access Hollywood host Billy Bush was leaked. In the recording, the Republican candidate made a series of lewd comments about women including boasting that he was such a star he can grab women by the p***y. Mr Trump has since issued somewhat of an apology for the remarks, while also dismissing them as locker room banter something he did several times during Sunday nights debate against the Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton. Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Show all 12 1 /12 Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger Schwarzenegger said he will not vote for Trump Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Mr McConnell condemned the remarks, but has not unendorsed him Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks House Speaker Paul Ryan Mr Ryan disinvited Mr Trump from a Wisconsin campaign event following the remarks Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former Sec of State Condoleezza Rice Ms Rice called for Trump to withdraw his candidacy Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Nebraska Sen Deb Fischer Ms Fischer called on Trump to step aside and give nomination to Mike Pence Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Texas Sen Ted Cruz Mr Cruz denounced the remarks, but still endorses Trump Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former Republican candidate Carly Fiorina Ms Fiorina wants Mike Pence to take the nomination Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Hewitt called for Trump to step down Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Utah Representative Mia Love Ms Love said she cannot vote for Trump after hearing his remarks Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former New York Gov George Pataki Mr Pataki said Mr Trump should step down Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks New Hampshire Sen Kelly Ayotte Ms Ayotte will write in Mike Pence when she votes Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Arizona Sen John McCain Mr McCain will choose Mike Pence on Election Day Getty Now, one of his few celebrity supporters has defended him, saying women say equally worse things and that the comments were not a big thing. I like Trump because Trump is not a politician, he talks like a guy, former Happy Days actor Baio told Fox News on Sunday. And ladies out there, this is what guys talk about when youre not around. So if youre offended by it, grow up, ok? And, by the way, this is what you guys talk about over white wine when you have your brunches. So take it easy with the phoney outrage, this is the way the world works. Its not a big thing. Several men on Twitter responded to the 56-year-olds comments by highlighting that such comments are not exemplary of their normal conversations. Another actor and Trump supporter, Jon Voight, also defended the 70-year-old over the weekend, saying he did not know of too many men who havent expressed some sort of similar sexual terms towards women, especially in their younger years. Baio and Voight were relatively soliatary in their defence of Mr Trump after several high-profile Republicans denounced their candidate in the aftermath of the leaked recording. Arnold Schwarzenegger, John McCain and Mitt Romney have all said they would not be voting for Mr Trump in light of the controversy. Several athletes have also blasted Mr Trump for his defence of locker room talk, stressing that they say nothing of the kind when they are actually in locker rooms on a day-to-day basis. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump said during Sundays debate that his proposal to ban Muslims from entering the country has morphed into a plan for extreme vetting of refugees. Trump said he was worried that refugees from country like Syria could be a Trojan horse. Democrat Hillary Clinton denounced Trump and defended bringing refugees to the United States. We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How do we do what [Trump] has advocated without causing great distress within our country? she said. Are we going to have religious tests when people fly into our country? Asked about the issue of Islamophobia, Trump said that while it is an issue, he said Muslims who come into the country must "report when they see something going on". The FBI says Muslims already do report what they see. This summer, the FBIs director said some of our most productive relationships are with people who see things and tell us things who happen to be Muslim, according to Reuters. In response to Trumps suggestion that Muslims report whats going on, several Muslims began to follow his suggestion. First, the following tweet went viral: Other Muslims were concerned that the candidates only spoke about Muslims in relation to Isis or other terrorists. Republican voters are more likely to suggest that the values of Islam are at odds with an American way of life. According to a recent Public Religion Research Institute poll, 79 percent of Republicans say this, compared with 42 percent of Democrats, or 57 percent of Americans. Many Americans (59 percent) believe American Muslims face a lot of discrimination, with 74 percent of Democrats compared with 42 percent of Republicans, according to the Pew Research Center. Here is what Trump said when he suggested that Muslims have to report something going on, according to a transcript of the debate. QUESTION: "Hi. There are 3.3 million Muslims in the United States, and Im one of them. Youve mentioned working with Muslim nations, but with Islamophobia on the rise, how will you help people like me deal with the consequences of being labeled as a threat to the country after the election is over?" RADDATZ: "Mr. Trump, youre first." TRUMP: "Well, youre right about Islamophobia, and thats a shame. But one thing we have to do is we have to make sure that because there is a problem. I mean, whether we like it or not, and we could be very politically correct, but whether we like it or not, there is a problem. And we have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on. When they see hatred going on, they have to report it. "As an example, in San Bernardino, many people saw the bombs all over the apartment of the two people that killed 14 and wounded many, many people. Horribly wounded. Theyll never be the same. Muslims have to report the problems when they see them. "And, you know, theres always a reason for everything. If they dont do that, its a very difficult situation for our country, because you look at Orlando and you look at San Bernardino and you look at the World Trade Center. Go outside. Look at Paris. Look at that horrible these are radical Islamic terrorists. "And she wont even mention the word and nor will President Obama. He wont use the term radical Islamic terrorism. Now, to solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name. She wont say the name and President Obama wont say the name. But the name is there. Its radical Islamic terror." Copyright: Washington Post For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Shailene Woodley was arrested on Monday while peacefully protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline. The 24-year-old actress and activist live-streamed the protest on Facebook from the Standing Rock Reservation in North Dakota. When Woodley was arrested, she gave the camera to her mother and said, Record this. Don't stop. Activists claim that a spill or leak from the 1,170 mile pipeline will threaten the nearby American Indian reservation and the local drinking water of millions. Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Show all 15 1 /15 Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Actress Shailene Woodley speaks at Democratic presidential candidate Senator Bernie Sanders' GOTV concert and campaign rally at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on June 4, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. AFP / JONATHAN ALCORN (Photo credit should read JONATHAN ALCORN/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Getty Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos WASHINGTON, DC - AUGUST 24: Actress Shailene Woodley speaks during a rally on Dakota Access Pipeline August 24, 2016 outside U.S. District Court in Washington, DC. Activists held a rally in support of a lawsuit against the Army Corps of Engineers "to protect water and land from the Dakota Access Pipeline," and to call for "a full halt to all construction activities and repeal of all pipeline permits until formal tribal consultation and environmental review are conducted." (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos ZURICH, SWITZERLAND - SEPTEMBER 24: Actress Shailene Woodley attends the 'Snowden' Press Conference during the 12th Zurich Film Festival on September 24, 2016 in Zurich, Switzerland. The Zurich Film Festival 2016 will take place from September 22 until October 2. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Getty Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos US actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt (R) and US actress Shailene Woodley (L) pose during a red carpet photo call in Munich, southern Germany, on September 19, 2016, ahead of the Europe premiere of the new cinema movie "Snowden". / AFP / CHRISTOF STACHE (Photo credit should read CHRISTOF STACHE/AFP/Getty Images) AFP/Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos NEW YORK, NEW YORK - MARCH 14: Actors Shailene Woodley (L) and Theo James attend the New York premiere of "Allegiant" at the AMC Lincoln Square Theater on March 14, 2016 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images) Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos NEW YORK, NY - JUNE 02: Actress Shailene Woodley attends "The Fault In Our Stars" premiere at Ziegfeld Theater on June 2, 2014 in New York City. (Photo by Stephen Lovekin/Getty Images) Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Getty Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos NASHVILLE, TN - MAY 08: John Green, Nat Wolff, Shailene Woodley, and Ansel Elgort attend "The Fault In Our Stars" Nashville red carpet and fan event with Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff and John Green at Nashville War Memorial Auditorium on May 8, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Allied) Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos NASHVILLE, TN - MAY 08: Shailene Woodley attends "The Fault In Our Stars" Nashville red carpet and fan event with Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort, Nat Wolff and John Green at Nashville War Memorial Auditorium on May 8, 2014 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Rick Diamond/Getty Images for Allied) Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos Getty Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos CENTURY CITY, CA - NOVEMBER 20: Actors Ansel Elgort (L) and Shailene Woodley attends the Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment's "The Fault In Our Stars" Reunion And Bench Dedication Ceremony at Fox Studio Lot on November 20, 2014 in Century City, California. (Photo by Valerie Macon/Getty Images) Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Actress Shailene Woodley accepts the Hollywood Breakout Performance Actress Award for 'The Fault in Our Stars' onstage during the 18th Annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Palladium on November 14, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images) Getty Images Protests to red carpets: Shailene Woodley in photos HOLLYWOOD, CA - NOVEMBER 14: Actress Shailene Woodley poses in the press room during the 18th Annual Hollywood Film Awards at The Palladium on November 14, 2014 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jason Merritt/Getty Images) Getty Images Woodley was charged with criminal trespassing along with 26 other activists where the construction of the pipeline is taking place, a spokesperson Morton County Sheriff's Department told The Los Angeles Times. She claims that she was only arrested because her platform will draw major attention to the $3.8 billion oil pipeline. Theres no special treatment because of who she is," Rob Keller, the department spokesman told The New York Daily News. Woodley recently explained what motivates her environmental activism. "I'm a 24-year-old woman who cares about not only the generation that's alive right now but the generations to come," she told Fusion. We're here to protect clean water. We're here to protect the land. We're here to reconnect humanity to its roots, which is the Earth. Watch the two-hour video below, the arrest takes place in the final 10 minutes of the stream. Sign up for a full digest of all the best opinions of the week in our Voices Dispatches email Sign up to our free weekly Voices newsletter Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Voices Dispatches email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} HENRY COWELL REDWOODS STATE PARK, Calif. The redwood appears like a phantom: as if from thin air. What looked like a trick of the light a moment ago materializes into a trunk, branches, needles a tree, roughly the height of a man, with delicate leaves the color of bone. It is an albino redwood, the ghost of Californias coastal forests. I like that metaphor a lot, biologist Zane Moore said, as he grasps a branch of the unusual conifer and holds it up to the light. Brilliant October sunshine filters through the high forest canopy, where the silver-green needles of healthy trees soak up rays and turn them into fuel. But the albino tree lacks chlorophyll, the green pigment that allows plants to make food from light via photosynthesis. It is incapable of the one thing that all trees must do to live. It shouldn't be here. It should be dead, but it's not, Moore said. Just like a ghost. The mystery of the albino redwood has stumped researchers for more than a century. The trees are so improbable that those who haven't seen them up close sometimes question whether they can exist at all. But Moore is convinced that this ghost story has a scientific solution one that should change how we view not just the albino trees, but also the entire forest. Moore is a doctoral student at the University of California in Davis with a professorial manner and an easy smile. He's been visiting Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park, an old-growth redwood grove near Santa Cruz, since he was a small child, and spotted his first albino redwood here at 16. For the trees' own protection, staff at the park typically don't tell visitors how to find them. Trees can be loved to death, docent Dave Kuty said. They're not like animals. They can't run away. Kuty is the unofficial caretaker of Henry Cowell's 11 albinos; he alone knows where each one hides. Some look like haphazardly spray-painted bushes, while others resemble the artificial white trees sold around Christmas. Still others are little more than single, luminous branches high up in the canopy, barely discernible in the shifting morning sun. As a teenager in 2010, Moore heard Kuty give an interview to a local radio station about the redwoods, and he set out to track one down for himself. That quest won Moore membership into the loose group of botanists, park rangers and enthusiasts devoted to understanding the enigmatic trees. Now he is among the foremost experts on the albino redwoods of the Santa Cruz mountains. And he's only 22. It helps that hardly anyone else has studied them. Albinos are exceedingly rare there are only 406 in existence, by Moore's latest count. And redwoods as a species are notoriously complex. The trees' genomes have 32 billion base pairs to humans' 3.2 billion, and they carry six copies of each chromosome instead of two. No one has successfully sequenced the redwood genome, making it impossible to pinpoint the mutation that causes their albinism. Redwoods can also clone themselves, further complicating scientists' understanding of them. Vast rings of related plants communicate via their roots, and during the hard months of winter and early spring, they'll distribute nutrients evenly among themselves. Scientists have spilled dye onto trees at one end of a grove and traced it through the root network all the way to the other side. Most people, when they come to the redwood, they look up at the canopy, Kuty says. But down is where the action is. This collaboration lasts only until summer comes. Then every tree, sprout and branch must fend for itself. Those that can't photosynthesize enough sugar are cut off from the shared root system and discarded during what's known as the autumn needle drop. That shedding process is taking place now at Henry Cowell. Bits of branches drift hundreds of feet down from the canopy, buffeted by a soft breeze. The air carries the scent of wood smoke and the spicy aroma of crushed leaves. The redwoods' great age and immense height coast redwoods, Sequoia sempervirens, are the tallest organisms on the planet and live as long as 2,500 years give the forest a cathedral-like quality. But Moore looks down as he explains how albino redwoods take advantage of their shared root system by siphoning off sugars produced by their healthy neighbors. A lot of people thought they were parasites, he said. They even called them 'vampire trees.' " That interpretation never made sense to Moore. If redwoods are so ruthless about sloughing off unproductive branches, it seems unlikely that they would tolerate a parasite year after year. Redwood trees are smarter than that, he said. He looks around at the towering green trees that surround and presumably, sustain the small albino. Why, why, why? Moore and a colleague, arborist Tom Stapleton, set out to document the locations of every known albino redwood. Their map revealed that white trees tended grow where the conditions become less favorable a hint that environmental pressure might allow the mutants to thrive. Next, Moore sought help from his fellow redwood fans up and down the California coast, soliciting clippings from both albino trees and their healthy hosts. He found that the albino needles were saturated with what should have been a deadly cocktail of cadmium, copper and nickel. On average, white needles contained twice as many parts per million of these noxious heavy metals as their green counterparts; some had enough metals to kill them ten times over. Moore thinks faulty stomata the pores through which plants exhale water are responsible: plants that lose liquid faster must also drink more, meaning that the albino trees have twice as much metal-laden water running through their systems. It seems like the albino trees are just sucking these heavy metals up out of the soil, Moore said. They're basically poisoning themselves. Zane Moore studies the most-poisoned albino tree he has found; it has more than 10 times the healthy levels of nickel in its leaves. (Zane Moore) Moore's theory which he presented at a redwood conference last month and hopes to publish next year is that albino redwoods are in a symbiotic relationship with their healthy brethren. They may act as a reservoir for poison in exchange for the sugar they need to survive. Its really interesting work, and Im so glad hes doing it, said Jarmila Pittermann, a plant ecophysiologist at the University of California in Santa Cruz who studies redwood water transport systems. She agreed that poor stomata control is probably responsible for the build up of heavy metals in the albino plants. As far as conferring advantage to the healthy trees, she added, I think that more work needs to be done. Moore acknowledged that he needs to study the phenomenon further. His next experiment will involve dousing lab-grown green and white redwoods with nickel to see whether the plants with an albino partner stay healthier. He also wants to test whether the heavy metals in albino trees stay bound up in the plants or eventually leak back into the soil. If his theory does turn out to be valid, Moore can envision a day when albino redwoods are planted in polluted areas to help make the soil safer for other trees. But first the albinos themselves must be kept safe. Moore runs through the rare trees' lengthy list of threats: Overzealous visitors may trample the roots and damage their ability to pump water. Some profiteer might see an opportunity to sell naturally white Christmas trees. Years of unrelenting drought have already taken their toll on California's redwood forests. And even if each albino could be guarded and preserved, what about the green trees they depend on? When you're looking at redwoods, you need to take into account more than just one tree, he says. It's the interactions of the community as a whole that makes the forest. That interconnection from root to root to root. As his younger colleague talks, Kuty glances toward the trail, where two women have been listening to Moore's every word. Can we help you find something? We're looking at the phantom redwood, one of them replies. She introduces herself as Hisun Rim, and her friend is Gerry Fabella. They drove 90 minutes from Oakland to search for the albino. Are you Zane? Rim asks. She'd just heard a radio story about Moore's research that's what prompted her visit. He nods, and her face lights up. We feel so special that were here, that we bumped into you, Rim gushes. Its like its meant to be. Moore looks bashful; Kuty, proud. Moore hands Rim a business card and points to the address of an albino redwood website that he and Stapleton set up. They're always looking for help finding more trees, he explains, and preserving the ones that are already known. It's like a Redwood League, Rim said later a chain of tree-lovers working up and down the California coast, collaborative in much the same way as the forest network they aim to protect. In a fit of unabashed enthusiasm, Rim asks Moore for a hug, and he obliges. Then he and Kuty walk back toward the trail to give Rim and Fabella a moment by themselves with the tree. From a short distance, the two women are still visible through the foliage. They gaze upward and chat in hushed, awed tones. But it's impossible to discern the albino right in front of them. Like a ghost, it has already vanished. Copyright: Washington Post For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A student who stabbed a lecturer to death during a psychotic rage has been handed an indefinite hospital order. Femi Nandap, a 23-year-old Nigerian student, repeatedly stabbed Dr Jeroen Ensink in the chest as he left his flat in Islington, north London in December last year. The 41-year-old victim had gone out to post cards announcing the birth of his daughter, Fleur, just 10 days before. When the academic failed to return home, his wife, Nadja Ensink-Teich, went outside to find police had cordoned off the street and the cards her husband had been carrying strewn over the pavement. Nandap, resident of Woolwich, south London and who had been studying at the London School of Economics,admitted manslaughter by diminished responsibility and was handed a hospital order without a time limit. Femi Nandap (PA) The prosecution admitted during the hearing at the Old Bailey that a decision to drop charges of possessing a knife and assaulting a police officer six days before the fatal stabbing due to insufficient evidence was an error. While on conditional bail, it is understood Nandap travelled to Nigeria where he received mental health care, however stopped taking anti-psychotic drugs before he returned to the UK in October, the Telegraph reports. In August, Nandap's sister has given a letter to police saying he was not fit to travel to the UK because he was suffering from "depression and psychosis". The court heard Nandap's mental illness began after he began to use cannabis heavily while living in the United States. Dr Ensinks wife demanded an inquiry into why the charges had been dropped against Nandap. Reading her victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing, which she attended with her baby, she called for an independent investigation into failings by both the mental health service and the legal system. Ms Ensink-Teich told the court: "Not only was the love of my life taken from me, but with him also all of our hopes and dreams," the Mail Online reports. She added: "If a person with a history of mental health problems is found wandering about with a knife, and attacks a police officer, then that person must be referred to a secure unit for proper assessment and treatment and not given bail so easily. "This represents a failure of the health and judicial system that should protect the public and care for those with severe mental illness." Judge Nicholas Hilliard QC described the victim as a truly remarkable man whose death is a loss to a large portion of the worlds poor. I express the hope that those in a position to do so will investigate all aspects of this case and the appropriate lessons will be learned," he said. Additional reporting by Press Association Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A German man has been found halfway across the English Channel on a paddleboard, claiming he was trying to get from France to the UK. A boatload of divers discovered the man eight miles from the Dover coast in the morning and informed the coastguard, who came to take him to the English coast. The man reportedly said he had departed from the French coast seven and a half hours before and travelled 14 miles during the night in a bid to reach Kent - claims that have been met with scepticism. Chris Webb, owner of Dover-based diving group Mutiny Diving who was part of the crew that discovered the man, said: We were in the channel heading towards the shipping lane, when we noticed there was a very large container ship slowing down in front of us, which is quite a rare event. Eventually one of the crewmen on board noticed there was something in the water. So we allowed the other ship to go past and then approached this object in the water and as we got closer we could clearly see it was a person on a paddleboard. We approached him to make sure he was okay and not in any imminent danger. And he clearly wasnt. The gentleman on board was a European guy aged 27 30. He looked to be in good health and not any particular danger. I informed the local coastguard, who liased with the order patrol force. We were then asked to stay on station in the vicinity of this guy for a period time. The man was clearly safe and well. We stayed there for about 20 minutes just chatting to him making sure he was fine. Then the border patrol boat turned up and intercepted the guy and then either took him into custody or took him back to the UK and processed him from there. Its not illegal to row across the channel, but its very bizarre to be on a paddle board with a piece of luggage in the middle of the shipping lanes. He seemed perfectly coherent and seemed in good health. He said he had departed from the French coast at 12am that night and we spotted him around about 7:40am. His claim was that hed left at midnight and had managed to paddle something like 14 odd miles in seven hours. Its a bit odd. Mr Webb said he was sceptical about the mans claims he had paddled such a large distance on a paddleboard during the night. He added: In my opinion, this guy had certainly not paddled 14 miles during the night across the shipping lanes. You could almost smell the freshness of the Lynx aftershave hed put on. Hed not been there for seven and a half hours. Whether hed been dropped off by another boat remains to be seen. UK news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 UK news in pictures UK news in pictures 30 October 2022 People dressed in Halloween costumes paddle board along the river Avon in Christchurch, Dorset PA UK news in pictures 29 October 2022 Members of the public take pictures as police officers remove activists from a road during a Just Stop Oil protest, in London Reuters 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 It is not the first time such an incident has occurred. It has happened before, not recently. It happened a year or so ago and a similar sort of thing but further ashore. A person was on a lilo that got about 20 miles across the channel," said Mr Webb. The man didnt seem in any sort of distress. But however he was in the middle of the shipping lanes, which begs a question. Border Officials reportedly investigated the incident but said that, due to the man's nationality, no immigration offences had been committed. Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the world Sign up to our free Morning Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Morning Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Around a quarter of the UK population will seek help for a mental health issue every year. While this was once a taboo issue, the number of people seeking help for mental health problems has increased, indicating that attitudes are changing. What are the most common problems people have? In the UK, 17 per cent of people have a common mental disorder (CMD) like anxiety or depression, according to the latest Adult Psychiatric Morbidity Survey. Women are more likely to experience a common mental health disorder and in a more severe way than men, the survey found. Over a quarter of women aged 18 24 had anxiety, depression, panic disorder, phobia or obsessive compulsive disorder. Also in this demographic, 12.6 per cent of women were diagnosed with PTSD. Of men the same age, 9.1 per cent experienced anxiety, depression or other common mental disorders. Just 3.6 per cent were diagnosed with PTSD. Does everyone get treated? One in three adults surveyed (37 per cent) with a CMD were getting help in 2014. While an improvement on previous years, it still means the majority of CMDs are being left untreated. People who are white British, female or aged between 35 - 54 were more likely to receive treatment. Black people were less likely to be treated and poorer people were more likely to have requested but not received a specific mental health treatment Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Show all 10 1 /10 Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 30 per cent of people deal with anxiety by talking to a friend or relative, or by going for a walk. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Almost one in five people feel anxious all or a lot of the time. PA Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 22 per cent of women feel anxious a lot or all of the time, compared to 15 per cent of men. Roman Levin/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 45 per cent of people who feel anxious in everyday life cite financial issues as their biggest cause of worry. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report And 26 per cent of people who feel anxious say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with worry. And 26 per cent of people say fearing for the welfare of their children and loved ones leaves them burdened with anxiety. Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report 27 per cent of people who suffer from anxiety say work issues, such as long hours, are the source of the problem. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report But 16 per cent use alcohol to cope, while 10 per cent turn to cigarettes in the face of anxiety. Unemployed people are more likely to resort to these harmful strategies: 27 per cent use alcohol and 23 per cent use cigarettes. AFP/Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report Only seven per cent of people who say they suffer from anxiety seek help from their GP. Getty Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report People are thought to be more anxious than they were five years ago. Alessandra/Flickr Creative Commons Mental Health Awareness: Facts and figures Mental Health Foundation: Living With Anxiety report The stresses of modern life are thought to have created "The Age of Anxiety". Getty How should you react if you think someone might be experiencing a mental health issue? Many people experiencing mental health issues often speak with friends or family before going to a health professional. Remember it will be a scary time for them and they are likely to be feeling vulnerable. Try to stay calm, even if what the person is saying is worrying or upsets you. What action can you take? Listen to the person, let them know you are there for them and offer reassurance. Make sure you are patient and try not to be judgemental or make assumptions about the persons situation. Trying to maintain social contact with them is also important so they dont feel less isolated. You could also help them with any practical tasks they might need assistance with, especially those which might cause them to be stressed. This might include arranging childcare, taking care of chores or helping with transportation. What if they reject your attempts to help? While you cant force someone to get help - unless they are a danger to themselves or others you can offer emotional support and let the person know you are there for them when they are ready. What if there is an emergency? In a life threatening situation or if someone is seriously hurt, always call 999. Mental health crises are be stressful and can demand a complex reaction. For more information on getting a help in this situation, visit Minds page on it here. This is a lot to take on board. Make sure your own mental health is not being adversely affected by the situation. It can be highly stressful and emotionally charged to look after a loved one with a mental health issue. Take a break if necessary, talk about it with other people, and realise there are limits to what you can do. Mind can be contacted on 0300 123 3393 and Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. More information can be found on Mind's website, here. Sign up to our free Brexit and beyond email for the latest headlines on what Brexit is meaning for the UK Sign up to our Brexit email for the latest insight Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Brexit and beyond email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Conservative MPs on both sides of the Brexit divide stepped up pressure on Theresa May today not to shut Parliament out of Britains EU withdrawal. Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the powerful Treasury select committee, said the public would expect the Prime Minister to allow MPs to debate her negotiating position before she triggers Article 50. And former attorney general Dominic Grieve went further, warning the Government could be brought down if it tried to force through a new deal with the EU without MPs' approval. Meanwhile, one pro-Leave Tory backbencher, Stephen Phillips, attacked the tyranny of denying MPs a vote on the Government's stance when the two-year Article 50 process starts, before the end of March next year. The pressure came as David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, delivered a Commons statement, updating MPs on Ms Mays timetable for Brexit and plans for a Great Repeal Bill. Mr Phillips was granted permission by Speaker John Bercow to seek MPs' support for an urgent debate this week on the Brexit negotiations and will make his case on the Commons floor later today. The Sleaford and North Hykeham MP said that bypassing Parliament was simply not an acceptable way for the executive to proceed, In a letter to Mr Bercow, he wrote: I and many others did not exercise our vote in the referendum so as to restore the sovereignty of this Parliament only to see what we regarded as the tyranny of the European Union replaced by that of a Government that apparently wishes to ignore the views of the House on the most important issue facing the nation. Mr Grieve told BBC Radio 4's World at One: There's a very well-established constitutional convention that any signing of a new treaty or alteration of an existing treaty of importance needs to be put to the House of Commons for its affirmative approval. "My view is that this is a matter where the approval of the House of Commons needs to be sought before the Article 50 process is triggered. Mr Grieve warned against the Government striking a Brexit deal which can't command parliamentary approval, adding: It's perfectly obvious in those circumstances such a Government wouldn't survive. I would have thought there would have to be an election. Meanwhile, Mr Tyrie told the same programme: British interests will be best served by an early and full and detailed explanation from the government of what its negotiating position is before it embarks on those discussions. What has never been discussed in any depth is what we arrive at. I think theres a majority in parliament for doing that. And I think the public would expect us to do that. However, Downing Street stuck to its insistence that Parliament while able to debate and scrutinise Brexit must not be seen to be blocking the will of the people so clearly expressed in the referendum in June. A spokesman said: Having a second vote, or a vote to second-guess the will of the British people, is not an acceptable way forward. Meanwhile, the Prime Minister said she hoped for a smooth and orderly Brexit, speaking in Copenhagen after a meeting with the Danish prime minister Lars-Lokke Rasmussen. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Downing Street has slapped down the housing minister after he suggested grandparents should give inheritance straight to their grandchildren to help ease the housing crisis. After Mr Barwell said the move could help alleviate a profound intergenerational unfairness, a No 10 spokesman dismissed the idea. The spokesman said: These were personal comments made by Gavin Barwell at a fringe meeting at the conference, its certainly not a policy announcement. Whats important here in terms of Government policy is that we build the right number of homes in this country to meet the rise in need. He added: What people do with their estates, is an issue for them. Its not for the Government to dictate people how to complete their wills. At the Conservative conference, ministers pledged 5bn of public money to increase housebuilding after Theresa May called for an end to the UKs homes deficit. Ministers will set aside 2bn of new public borrowing to fund an Accelerated Construction Scheme to make public land with planning permission available to builders. Meanwhile a 3bn homebuilding fund using previously announced cash will provide loans to stimulate new building projects where finances are tight. But at a fringe meeting Mr Barwell revealed his mother would be leaving her estate and home to his sons. Asked if others should think about transferring wealth this way, he said: Yes, absolutely. Generally in life we all like to think that our children are going to be better off than us. In terms of life expectancy and new technology, they are going to be. But at the moment as things stand they are less likely to own their own home and we need to do something about that. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The most vulnerable people in the country have lost the chance to pursue justice because of swinging legal aid cuts, a damning study warns today. Amnesty International has laid bare the full devastating impact of the withdrawal of funding for all but a narrow list of civil court cases, warning it has been far worse than anticipated. Its 48-page report highlights how the scrapping of early specialist legal advice has left people unable to get the help they need until they reach crisis point, Recommended Read more Government cuts to victims of domestic violence are legally flawed Worse, the cuts have made large areas across the South West, the Midlands and the North, in particular advice deserts, because free legal advice is disappearing altogether. And children are among the hardest hit by the changes, with official figures estimating there are a staggering 2,500 fewer immigration legal aid cases each year where children are claimants. Amnesty said its report made it essential that Theresa May announces an immediate review of the cuts, introduced three years ago a review promised by April 2018. As a starting point, all under-18s a clear vulnerable group, unable to represent themselves in court must be given legal aid, regardless of individual circumstances. Alice Wyss, Amnesty Internationals UK researcher, said: Cuts to legal aid imposed by this Government have decimated access to justice and left thousands of the most vulnerable without essential legal advice and support. We are in danger of creating a two-tier civil justice system, open to those who can afford it, but increasingly closed to the poorest and most in need of its protection. From parents fighting for access to their children, to those trying to stay in the country they have grown up in, to people with mental health problems at risk of homelessness, these cuts have hit the most vulnerable the most. Amnesty interviewed 30 people who lost eligibility because of the Legal Aid, Sentencing and Punishment of Offenders Act (LASPO), as well as lawyers, law centres and organisations offering advice. It concluded they felt intimidated, that they found it difficult to explain their case and that they struggled to understand the process and what the judge was telling them. Sarah told the researchers: I feel alone, like Ive been left in the dark without anywhere to get help - Im scared about what that will mean for my kids. And Alfred, in another private family law case, said: I dont know the law, I dont know what to say to make sure Im heard. I just dont know how to do it on my own. Legal aid was removed in most cases involving debt, education, employment, housing, immigration and private family law (other than some involving domestic violence or child abuse). LASPO triggered an immediate 46 per cent plunge in the number of cases in which legal aid was granted, from 925,000 in 201213 to just 497,000 cases in the following year. In some areas the fall was even greater including social welfare law (down 99 per cent), housing (50 per cent) and private family cases (down 60 per cent). And the number of parents forced to represent themselves before the family courts jumped by 20,000 in 201314, despite Government claims that more parents would solve their disputes through mediation rather than in court. In fact, for the first time, more than half of parents - 58 per cent - went into court without a lawyer fighting their case. Many were mothers from poor backgrounds. Meanwhile, the Government also introduced a 150 criminal courts charge encouraging defendants to plead guilty to crimes they had not committed which it was forced to scrap after a campaign by The Independent. Ms Wyss added: If Theresa May is really determined to deliver a country that works for all then there needs to be a justice system for everyone, not just those who can afford it. The Government must start by protecting the most vulnerable and launching a review of this failing system immediately. A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: We have a generous legal aid system last year spending more than 1.5bn on legal aid. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Dozens of children living in the Calais 'Jungle' camp will be brought to the UK within days, the Home Secretary has announced, amid criticisms that the government should be doing more to help those displaced when the camp is destroyed in the coming weeks. Amber Rudd said a list of unaccompanied children with family links to the UK is expected to be supplied to the Government by French officials this week. The Government will then act "with all urgency", Ms Rudd said in a statement to the House of Commons. Recommended Read more British bureaucracy is forcing children to stay in the Calais Jungle "We have been pressing for a list," she said. "The French, we believe, will now give that to us this week, and be in no doubt we will move with all urgency - a matter of days, a week at the most, in order to deliver on that commitment when we get it." Earlier she said it would be a really good result if Britain takes only 300 lone child refugees from the camp. The demolition of the jungle is expected to begin next week, with campaigners fighting for the future of 387 children with families living in the UK, who they say have a legal right to settle here. Ms Rudd met French interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve to discuss dismantling the camp. Before the meeting she told the Daily Mail: We have about 100 in train who we hope to bring over in the next few weeks but on top of that Ive made it clear that we will take children from the Dubs agreement. Official estimates put the number unaccompanied children in the Calais between 600 and 900. Demolition could start as early as 17 October. The camps 10,000 population will be dispersed within weeks. We cannot imagine the UK, with its traditions of human rights, will refuse to admit unaccompanied minors into the UK. The main objective is to ensure that these minors have a better life in the UK where they have family or friends living in the country, said a member of Cazeneuves staff. At present, the time it is taking for the British authorities to process these children is far too long. It needs to be cut to a matter of days. We need an agreement on this very urgently. Sign up to the Inside Politics email for your free daily briefing on the biggest stories in UK politics Get our free Inside Politics email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Politics email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Arms exports to Saudi Arabia from Britain must end now campaigners have demanded in the wake of one of the deadliest massacres of Yemens ongoing civil war. The attack on Saturday, which is strongly believed to have been carried out by the Saudi-led coalition air force, killed at least 140 people and injured as many as 600 more at a funeral. Mohammed Abdul-Salam, the Yemeni rebel governments spokesman in Sanaa said the airstrike was an act of genocide by the Saudi-led alliance, which is fighting the rebels. Recommended Read more UK and US pile new pressure on Saudi Arabia over Yemen funeral bombing Campaign against Arms Trade (CAAT), which has condemned the bombing, has called for an end to all arms exports to the oil-rich kingdom, and the revoking of all current licences. Andrew Smith of CAAT added: The humanitarian situation in Yemen is dire and getting even worse. Innocent people are dying every day. The UK Governments response has been to continue supporting the Saudi forces that are dropping the bombs, and to sell them even more weapons. Theresa May has previously defended selling arms to Saudi Arabia despite the country facing accusations of war crimes, insisting close ties keep people on the streets of Britain safe. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, however, has called on the Prime Minister to halt the sales because of the humanitarian devastation caused by the coalition waging war against rebels in Yemen. Video footage shows moment air strike hits funeral in Yemen Mr Smith added: There can be no more excuses. There are major steps that the UK can take right now that could alleviate the suffering and reduce the chance of further atrocities. If Theresa May and Boris Johnson are serious about peace, then they must stop the arms sales and use their influence to call for an end to the bombardment. On Monday video footage emerged reportedly showing the moment an air strike hit a funeral hall in Sanaa, Yemen, killing 140 and injuring at least 525 others. A Saudi Arabia-led coalition has been fighting rebel Houthi forces in Yemen and Houthi officials blamed the alliance for the attack. The Saudi-led force has promised to investigate the incident but has not acknowledged any responsibility. Scores dead in blasts at funeral in Yemeni capital Foreign Office minister Tobias Ellwood phoned the Saudi ambassador to London on Sunday afternoon, raising concerns over the bombing and calling for an investigation to take place as a matter of urgency. I am deeply concerned by reports of an air strike hitting a funeral hall in the Yemeni capital Sanaa yesterday, he said in a statement. The scenes from the site are shocking. There can be no military solution to this conflict. We urge all sides to recommit to political talks and to implement a cessation of hostilities, he added. Last week BAE systems disclosed it is in talks to secure a multi-billion pound arms contract with the kingdom, despite alleged war crimes by the Middle Eastern kingdom using British-made weapons in war-torn Yemen. Discussions between BAE Systems, the UK Government and Saudi Arabia are progressing, the London-headquartered defence company said in a trading update on Thursday. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Canadian man accused of rape has claimed he must be innocent because his stomach is too large and his penis way, way too small. Jacques Rouschops lawyer told an Ottawa court her client could not be guilty of charges that he raped and choked two sex workers - because he has a hernia that makes it too painful to have sex from behind, his stomach is too large and his penis is way, way too small. She called as a defence witness a registered nurse who confirmed she had taken Rouschops measurements. The nurse testified that he has a 66-inch waist, 31-inch thighs and a one-inch penis that measures approximately two inches when erect. His weight could not be confirmed because the scales at the jail where he is being held do not go high enough, the Ottawa Citizen reports. The jury were shown naked pictures of Rouschop, who sat still in the dock as his measurements were read out in court. The alleged victims testified that Rouschop had brutally attacked and choked him until they passed out in the backseat of his pick-up truck while parked in an industrial park in 2013. One of the women told the court she felt hopeless and scared during the alleged attack, adding: I couldnt breathe. I was trying to get free but I couldntI thought I was going to die. The defendant has a long criminal record and was described as a "career thief". His lawyer, Natasha Calvinho, told the jury: He is not a perfect man. He has made mistakes. He has committed crimes. He has spent time in jail and has a significant criminal record. But she argued it was physically impossible that he had committed the brutal crimes. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Ms Calvinho added: Due to his weight - around 400 pounds at the time - and his appearance, he will be the first to tell you that he has had a lot of trouble attracting members of the opposite sex, and that getting a womans attention, let alone having sex, was not something that happened very often for him." Despite his lack of physical attractiveness, he still had needs sexual needs. And he turned to the services of sex trade workers. The lawyer suggested her client cared about one of the sex workers he is alleged to have attacked. She said: He cared for her. He brought her to his home for sleepovers and dinners with his mum. The trial continues. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Christian homeless shelter in California was forced to relocate after Christian neighbours across the street made complaints. The Merced County Rescue Mission stopped serving meals for more than a week this month, leaving hundreds of homeless people to look elsewhere. Executive director Bruce Metcalf said the temporary closure was an attempt to be a "good neighbour" after receiving complaints from members of the Central Presbyterian Church, which is opposite the shelter. "I dont think complaints are different than theyve ever been," he told The Independent. "I think people simply got tired to having it close by them and were anxious for us to find a new location." "Its true that anywhere, in any city, people arent interested in having homeless services next to them." For 10 days, hundreds of homeless people were left to look elsewhere for a meal. The service had provided meals three times a day since 1998. The original Canal Street location continued to provide shelter, showers and treatment programs as usual, although the meal service had stopped. The new service will start Monday evening at Calvary Temple in Merced. "The location where were going to serve is much better as we have twice the space so we can serve more people easily," he said. "Its good news and were just very grateful." Mr Metcalf said he is also searching for a larger building for the long term which can home all of the their services, seven days a week and 24 hours per day. The mission also provides over 26,000 nights of safe shelter, according to its website. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} After throwing pointed barbs about each other for 90 minutes - about anti-Muslim rhetoric, sexual assault, supreme court justices and Syrian refugees - the presidential candidates were asked to say something positive about each other. Hillary Clinton laughed and made the first reply without hesitation. "I respect his children, they are incredibly honourable and devoted," she said. Recommended Read more Hilary Clinton says leaked tape proves Donald Trump disrespects women "I don't agree with everything he says but as a mother and grandmother that is very important to me," she added. Mr Trump retorted that he was "incredibly proud" of his children - his eldest daughter, Ivanka, and his two eldest sons, Donald Jr and Eric, were in the audience - but he said he was not sure whether Ms Clinton meant the remark as a compliment. "She doesn't quit. She goesn't give up. I respect that," he said about his rival. "I'm a straight shooter. I say it like it is." "I disagree with much of what she is fighting for," he added. "But I consider that to be a very good trait." The positive note at the end of the second presidential debate in St Louis might have been a relief for the candidates after an hour and a half of questions from the audience. Mr Trump had accused Ms Clinton's husband, former president Bill Clinton, of sexually assaulting several women. He also attacked her about the misuse of her personal email server, about her failure to abolish carried interest tax and Benghazi. Ms Clinton said "so much of what he said [was] not right". The Democrat focused on her opponent's anti-immigrant rhetoric, his negative attitude towards women and his taking advantage of tax loopholes. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has said he is not in favour of using US forces to strike Syrian military targets, setting him against his running mate Mike Pence. Last week, Mr Pence said the US should be prepared to bomb Syrian military targets to protect civilians in the besieged city of Aleppo. When asked about Mr Pence's position during the second presidential debate, Mr Trump said: "He and I haven't spoken, and I disagree. "I believe we have to get Isis," the Republican presidential nominee continued. "We have to worry about Isis, before we can get too much more involved" in Syria. In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Show all 19 1 /19 In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrian boys cry following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian defense ministry spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov speaks to the media in Moscow, Russia. Konashenkov strongly warned the United States against striking Syrian government forces and issued a thinly-veiled threat to use Russian air defense assets to protect them AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Syrians wait to receive treatment at a hospital following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Alepp Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov speaks at a briefing in the Defense Ministry in Moscow, Russia. Antonov said the Russian air strikes in Syria have killed about 35,000 militants, including about 2,700 residents of Russia AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Jameel Mustafa Habboush, receives oxygen from civil defence volunteers, known as the white helmets, as they rescue him from under the rubble of a building following Russian air strikes on the rebel-held Fardous neighbourhood of the northern embattled Syrian city of Aleppo Getty In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civil defence members rest amidst rubble in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A girl carrying a baby inspects damage in a site hit by what activists said were airstrikes carried out by the Russian air force in the town of Douma, eastern Ghouta in Damascus, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members look for survivors at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Civilians and civil defence members carry an injured woman on a stretcher at a site damaged after Russian air strikes on the Syrian rebel-held city of Idlib, Syria Reuters In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Volunteers from Syria Civil Defence, also known as the White Helmets, help civilians after Russia carried out its first airstrikes in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria The aftermath of Russian airstrike in Talbiseh, Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Smoke billows from buildings in Talbiseh, in Homs province, western Syria, after airstrikes by Russian warplanes AP In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russian Air Forces carry out an air strike in the ISIS controlled Al-Raqqah Governorate. Russia's KAB-500s bombs completely destroy the Liwa al-Haqq command unit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia claimed it hit eight Isis targets, including a "terrorist HQ and co-ordination centre" that was completely destroyed In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A video grab taken from the footage made available on the Russian Defence Ministry's official website, purporting to show an airstrike in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria A release from the Russian defence ministry purportedly showing targets in Syria being hit In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Russia launched air strikes in war-torn Syria, its first military engagement outside the former Soviet Union since the occupation of Afghanistan in 1979. Russian warplanes carried out strikes in three Syrian provinces along with regime aircraft as Putin seeks to steal US President Barack Obama's thunder by pushing a rival plan to defeat Isis militants in Syria In pictures: Russian air strikes in Syria Caspian Flotilla of the Russian Navy firing Kalibr cruise missiles against remote Isis targets in Syria, a thousand kilometres away. The targets include ammunition factories, ammunition and fuel depots, command centres, and training camps A TASS/ITAR-TASS Photo/Corbis He went on to say: "I don't like Assad at all. But Assad is killing Isis, Russia is killing Isis, and Iran is killing Isis." While Mr Trump didn't explicitly give his support to the Syrian regime, his comments suggest he supports the status quo. Activists from Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently (RBSS) published a series of tweets fact checking Mr Trump's statements and accusing him of being a liar. Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government has mostly focused on combating Syrian opposition groups, some of which are supported by the US. Similarly, while Russia asserts it is fighting Isis extremists in Syria, the majority of its air strikes have targeted opposition groups threatening the Syrian regime. John Kerry says Russia and Syria should be probed for war crimes The fight against Isis is predominantly being waged by a US-led coalition, with help from Turkey, by training, advising and equipping Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters. The Assad regime has been accused of killing more civilians than Isis and has been severely criticised for indiscriminately using barrel bombs on civilian areas. The UN has also accused the regime of committing the crime against humanity of "extermination" by killing so many detainees. Investigators found the Syrian government responsible for "massive and systematised violence" and said the crimes against humanity committed by the regime far outnumber committed by Isis and other jihadist groups. When asked what he thinks would happen if Aleppo falls, Mr Trump said the besieged city "basically has fallen". Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has admitted he has taken advantage of tax loopholes to avoid paying federal income tax. The Republican did not specify at the second presidential debate for how may years he had used the loophole. I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from, he said. He added that he understood the US tax system better than anyone else. Mr Trump was recently exposed in the New York Times for making a loss of almost $1 billion in 1995 and using that loss to avoid paying income tax for almost two decades. He was called a "genius" and "brilliant" for his tax management by former mayor of New York City, Rudy Giuliani, and his running mate, Mike Pence. Hillary Clinton questioned why he has not released his tax returns yet - unlike every other presidential candidate, including Mike Pence - and he replied he will release them once they are no longer under audit. When asked how he would make everybody pay their fair share of tax, Mr Trump said he would get rid of carried interest, and Ms Clinton said she was also not in favour of that tax. Mr Trump kept demanding: Why didn't you do it? Because I was a Democratic senator with a Republican president, Ms Clinton said. If you were an effective senator you would have done it, insisted Mr Trump. The Republican nominee promised voters he would cut taxes, but his opponent said the cut would only benefit people like him. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Haiti has been forced to bury victims of Hurricane Matthew in mass graves after the death toll in the country rose to more than 1,000. Cholera has spread rapidly in the country's devastated south-west region after the storm the fiercest to hit the Caribbean in almost ten years tore through the region last week. Winds of up to 145 miles per hour slammed into the island and torrential rains have left 1.4 million people in need of humanitarian help. Estimates from local officials suggest 1,000 people were killed by the storm in Haiti, which is the poorest country in the Americas. Recommended Read more Haitians are urging people not to give money to American Red Cross Authorities are struggling to cope with the number of victims and those who survived but are without access to food and water. Kedner Frenel, a senior government official in the GrandAnse region of western Haiti, said workers were having to bury the dead in mass graves because the bodies were starting to decompose. 522 people were killed in GrandAnse alone, he added. The UN has established a $5 million emergency fund to help relief efforts in Haiti. The British government has also pledged 5 million in aid to the country. We expect that homes, schools and cholera treatment facilities have been destroyed and that water systems, roads and bridges have been severely damaged. This is a major blow to Haitis reconstruction effort and the fight against cholera, said UN Emergency Relief Coordinator Stephen O'Brien. Enzo di Taranto, Head of Office for the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Haiti told UN Radio: There is a lot of suffering, a lot of hardship; some of the communities have been almost totally destroyed by the strength of the wind. Therefore the shelters, public infrastructure including the schools [and] hospitals have been affected. The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew Show all 14 1 /14 The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 A woman illuminates her family with a candle as they sleep on the floor in a partially destroyed school used as a shelter after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Mist rises off the water as a flooded building is pictured after Hurricane Matthew passes in Lumberton, North Carolina, US Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Children sleep over metal sheets in a partially destroyed school used as a shelter after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 People carry the coffin of a woman who died during Hurricane Matthew in Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Destroyed houses are seen after Hurricane Matthew passes Grande Cayemite, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Clothes hang in an area destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Anglais, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 A woman with cholera symptoms receives medical atention at the health center of Les Anglais, in Les Cayes in the southwest of Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Residents line up for food after Hurricane Matthew in Anse D'Hainault, Haiti. Nearly a week after the storm smashed into southwestern Haiti, some communities have yet to receive any assistance, leaving residents who have lost their homes and virtually all of their belongings struggling to find shelter and water AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 People sick with cholera receive medical assistance at Saint Antoine hospital in Jeremi, Haiti. According to the UN after hurricane Matthew the disease has spread EPA The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A woman and a child sit on a buckets amid the ruins of their home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, Haiti AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 UN blue helmets load aid which arrived in US helicopters onto a truck for people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A UN helicopter lands next to aid sent by the United States for the people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A boat passes a church in Nichols, South Carolina. Nearly 1 million homes and businesses still did not have power Monday morning in the Carolinas after Hurricane Matthew AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 9 October 2016 Boats sit washed up on shore amongst the twisted docks at Palmetto Bay Marina damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Hilton Head, South Carolina AP Authorities are concerned about the spread of cholera after the storm destroyed water supplies and sewage systems. The illness, which is spread by dirty water, is easily curable but can prove fatal within hours if left untreated. Overflowing rivers, stagnant waters, and animal and human corpses are perfect breeding grounds for waterborne diseases, said Marc Vincent, UNICEF Representative in Haiti. Every day that goes by increases the threat of cholera. We are in a race against time to get to these children before diseases do. Haiti, which has a population of 10 million, has suffered several natural disasters in recent years. In addition to several hurriances, a huge earthquake in 2010 devastated the island and killed up to 316,000 people. Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter from The Independent's Race Correspondent Nadine White Sign up to our free fortnightly newsletter The Race Report Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the The Race Report email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Hillary Clinton has called Donald Trump's words about Muslims "dangerous" and "demagogic", warning that terrorist groups are using his anti-Muslim language to recruit fighters. At the second presidential debate, Ms Clinton railed against the Republican's proposition to force Muslims to carry out "religious tests" to determine whether they adopt "American values". "It is important for us not to say, as Donald Trump has said, that we are going to ban people based on religion," she said. "How do you do that? "We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How are we going to do that without casuing great distress in our country?" She added that his words were "extremely unwise". Mr Trump replied that Ms Clinton was going to allow in 65,000 regfugees from Syria - a 550 per cent increase over president Obama - and that Americans "know nothing about their values or their love for our country". He refused to directly answer whether he would still insist upon banning Muslims from entering the US. "It's called extreme vetting," he said. "We are going to areas like Syria where they are coming in by the tens of thousnands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton want to allow a 550 per cent increase over Obama. "We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Mr Trump called for a complete and temproary ban against Muslims in December 2015, shortly after the terrorist attacks in Paris. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} After months of calls upon Hillary Clinton to release her Wall Street speeches, they are now more available and accessible than ever before, with WikiLeaks publishing them in Kindle format. If a word document or a PDF does not suit the reader, all they need to do is download to file to their Kindle and read the extracts on the move. WikiLeaks dumped the excerpts online last Friday, claiming they showed excerpts of paid, closed-door speeches to Wall Street executives, out of a batch of more than 2,000 emails belonging to Clinton campaign chair John Podesta. Donald Trump and former rival Bernie Sanders repeatedly accused Ms Clinton of not revealing the transcript of the speeches, for which she was paid $675,000 from Goldman Sachs alone. In total she reportedly earned around $3 million from speeches after she left the state department. The email excerpts in question were flagged on 25 January. Ms Clinton reportedly suggested that Wall Street insiders were the "smartest people" and the best qualified to regulate the banking industry. The revelations did little to reassure Mr Sanders' supporters that they should switch their allegiance to Ms Clinton. The news was mostly buried under revelations about Donald Trump, who was seen to be bragging about sexual assault in a 2005 video with former Access Hollywood presenter Billy Bush. WikiLeaks said it would continue to release emails from a batch of more than 50,000 discovered via a hack of the Democratic National Committee. The data dump followed the US government officially accusing Russia's intelligence agencies of hacking the DNC to influence the 2016 election. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Since Hurricane Matthew tore through Haiti, at least 1,000 people have died and 1.4 million are in need of humanitarian assistance. Many towns in the south-western part of the country have been almost totally destroyed. The poorest country in the western hemisphere, Haiti was still rebuilding following a devastating 2010 earthquake. Recommended Read more In Haiti 877 are dead but the US media does not seem to care Now, the immediate danger of the storm has passed, but longer-term threats are emerging. In particular, the prospect of a spread of disease has relief workers concerned more than a dozen people have died of cholera since the storm. The following organisations are working on the ground to alleviate the crisis and are appealing for donations: Oxfam Three tonnes of water purification equipment urgently needed to halt the spread of cholera and other diseases are being delivered by Oxfam, along with construction materials. The charity is also worried about the damage to agriculture caused by the hurricane in many affected areas, the vast majority of people relied on self-sufficiency farming. "Our greatest fear is that loss of crops and possible spread of cholera and other diseases will cause more deaths than the actual hurricane over the next days and weeks, said Damien Berrendorf, Director of Oxfam in Haiti. The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew Show all 14 1 /14 The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 A woman illuminates her family with a candle as they sleep on the floor in a partially destroyed school used as a shelter after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Mist rises off the water as a flooded building is pictured after Hurricane Matthew passes in Lumberton, North Carolina, US Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Children sleep over metal sheets in a partially destroyed school used as a shelter after Hurricane Matthew hit Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 People carry the coffin of a woman who died during Hurricane Matthew in Jeremie, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Destroyed houses are seen after Hurricane Matthew passes Grande Cayemite, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Clothes hang in an area destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in Les Anglais, Haiti Reuters The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 A woman with cholera symptoms receives medical atention at the health center of Les Anglais, in Les Cayes in the southwest of Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 11 October 2016 Residents line up for food after Hurricane Matthew in Anse D'Hainault, Haiti. Nearly a week after the storm smashed into southwestern Haiti, some communities have yet to receive any assistance, leaving residents who have lost their homes and virtually all of their belongings struggling to find shelter and water AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 People sick with cholera receive medical assistance at Saint Antoine hospital in Jeremi, Haiti. According to the UN after hurricane Matthew the disease has spread EPA The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A woman and a child sit on a buckets amid the ruins of their home destroyed by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, Haiti AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 UN blue helmets load aid which arrived in US helicopters onto a truck for people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A UN helicopter lands next to aid sent by the United States for the people affected by Hurricane Matthew, in Jeremie, southwest of Port-au-Prince, Haiti Getty The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 10 October 2016 A boat passes a church in Nichols, South Carolina. Nearly 1 million homes and businesses still did not have power Monday morning in the Carolinas after Hurricane Matthew AP The Aftermath of Hurricane Matthew 9 October 2016 Boats sit washed up on shore amongst the twisted docks at Palmetto Bay Marina damaged by Hurricane Matthew in Hilton Head, South Carolina AP "We are talking about extremely vulnerable people who have lost absolutely everything. They will not recover their livelihoods or reach minimum survival conditions without significantly more support." You can donate here. Unicef The UNs Childrens Fund hasestimated that half a million children live in the areas worst affected by the hurricane. Unicef teams on the ground are hoping to raise at least 4 million to help address the needs of children caught up in the disaster. In particular, they want to provide safe water and restore health services, including taking precautions against malnutrition. In addition, Unicef - which is entirely reliant on donors - plans to set up temporary classrooms and implement measures to help protect children from exploitation and abuse. You can donate here. Video shows Hurricane Matthew devastation in Haiti Save the Children As well as responders helping families affected by Hurricane Matthew, Save The Children are distributing hygiene kits, mosquito nets and care packs for babies.The charity will also set up safe spaces for children to rest and recover. You can donate here. Action Aid Action Aid has been present in Haiti since 1996 and, like other charities, has contacts and programmes within local communities. Food, water and cholera kits containing hygiene and water purification equipment are being distributed by the charity. Homes and crops have been totally destroyed, supplies of food and water are fast running out and disease is beginning to spread, said Yolette Etienne, who is leading the charitys response on the ground. The next few days are a race against time to save lives. You can donate here. Sign up to our Evening Headlines email for your daily guide to the latest news Sign up to our free US Evening Headlines email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Evening Headlines email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump reportedly once ridiculed women who accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse, saying the former president was a victim of unattractive women rather than an abuser. The Republican politician has attempted to deflect criticism from his recent comments on groping by bringing women who have accused the former president of rape and sexual harassment as his guests to the second presidential debate. He also held a press conference prior to the event, in which one woman told press: Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. However, despite his now public stance that he is committed to supporting the women and ensuring their allegations against Ms Clinton's husband are heard, Mr Trump does not always appear to have been as supportive of the women. In 1998, Mr Trump appeared on Fox News and said in response to allegations against Mr Clinton, according to the Daily Beast: The whole thing is just so unattractive. Linda Tripp may be one of the most unattractive human beings Ive ever seen- not women, human beings. Shes just an unattractive person. This [Lucianne] Goldberg person, her agent or whoever she is, is just a terrible woman. You look at Paula Jones, I mean the whole cast of characters. Its like its from Hell. Its a terrible group of people. The whole group, its truly unattractive cast of characters- Linda Tripp, Lucianne Goldberg- I mean, this woman- I watch her on television, just vomiting, he reportedly added. She is so bad. The whole group- Paula Jones, Lewinsky- its just a really unattractive group. And Im not just talking about physical, but Im also talking about physical. Mr Trump then reportedly expressed sympathy with Mr Clinton, saying: His victims are terrible. He is really a victim himself. But he put himself in that position. Mr Trump held a press conference hours before the live TV debate, which he streamed online on social media. In the footage, he can be seen sitting beside the women. In turn, they each cite their support for Mr Trump's candidacy and criticise the Clintons. Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state employee who settled a harassment case against Mr Clinton in 1999, says: I'm here to support Mr Trump because he's here to make America great again, and I think everyone else should vote for him, look at the fact that he is a good person, not what other people have said. Kathy Shelton, who was allegedly raped aged 12 and her alleged attacker was defended in court by Hillary Clinton when she was a lawyer, says: I'm also here to support Donald Trump. At 12 years old, Hillary Clinton put me through something you should never put a 12-year-old through. and she says she is for women and children. Juanita Broaddrick, who has publicly accused Mr Clinton of rape, says: I'm Juanita Broaddrick and I'm here to support Donald Trump. I tweeted recently and Mr Trump retweeted recently that I was raped by Bill Clinton. Actions speak louder than words, Mr Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Show all 12 1 /12 Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former governor of California Arnold Schwarzenegger Schwarzenegger said he will not vote for Trump Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Mr McConnell condemned the remarks, but has not unendorsed him Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks House Speaker Paul Ryan Mr Ryan disinvited Mr Trump from a Wisconsin campaign event following the remarks Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former Sec of State Condoleezza Rice Ms Rice called for Trump to withdraw his candidacy Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Nebraska Sen Deb Fischer Ms Fischer called on Trump to step aside and give nomination to Mike Pence Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Texas Sen Ted Cruz Mr Cruz denounced the remarks, but still endorses Trump Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former Republican candidate Carly Fiorina Ms Fiorina wants Mike Pence to take the nomination Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt Hewitt called for Trump to step down Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Utah Representative Mia Love Ms Love said she cannot vote for Trump after hearing his remarks Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Former New York Gov George Pataki Mr Pataki said Mr Trump should step down Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks New Hampshire Sen Kelly Ayotte Ms Ayotte will write in Mike Pence when she votes Getty Republican leaders backing away from Donald Trump after lewd remarks Arizona Sen John McCain Mr McCain will choose Mike Pence on Election Day Getty Mr Trumps focus on allegations regarding Ms Clintons husband appear to be a new strategy of his campaign following allegations against Mr Trump which emerged this weekend. In footage released online, Mr Trump appears to use offensive language to describe women. He has since been urged to stand aside as Republican candidate by some critics. Ive gotta use some Tic-Tacs, just in case I start kissing her, Mr Trump says in one video. You know Im automatically attracted to beautiful I just start kissing them. Its like a magnet. Just kiss. I dont even wait. And when youre a star they let you do it, he adds. You can do anything Grab em by the p****. During the debate Mr Trump refused to accept that this comments could be perceived as sexual assault, saying his comments were "locker room talk". He said: "I have great respect for women. Noboday has more respect for women than I do.... I was embarassed by it. But I have tremendous respect for women." Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A New Zealand TV station has discovered archive footage in which Donald Trump himself said his views on women meant he should never "run for political office". The Republican presidential candidate has been defending himself in the past few days after audio tapes were released in which he could be heard making sexually aggressive comments about groping women. In a live TV debate against Hillary Clinton on Sunday night, Mr Trump dismissed the 2005 comments as "just words" and "locker room talk", suggesting they did not impact on the real issues of running for president. But that stance is very different to the one he took back in 1993, when he was asked on New Zealand's TV3 network about his reputation as "a high-rolling tycoon associated with glamorous women". Asked by interviewer Owen Poland if that was "the sort of image you enjoy of yourself", Mr Trump replied: "No, I don't enjoy that image. I guess I have that image. I think women are beautiful I think certain women are more beautiful than others, to be perfectly honest and it's fortunate I don't have to run for political office." Mr Trump made the comment during a visit to New Zealand in 1993 as part of a consortium bidding for a casino operator's licence. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty The tape was uncovered by TV3 - now Newshub - and the network's political editor Patrick Gower said Mr Trump now "should listen to his own prophetic words". In an interview with The Associated Press, Poland, now a freelance journalist and media trainer, said he recalls Trump being open about his personal life during his visit. "It's funny how 23 years later a one-liner like that, which is what it is really, kind of comes back and bites you ... ," Poland said. New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key weighed in, describing Trump's 2005 comments as "indefensible." Asked about the New Zealand video, Key said he hadn't seen it but had heard about it, and added: "It's all on a bit of consistent theme, really, isn't it?" Additional reporting by agencies Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump mischaracterised the record on Hillary Clinton's defence of her husband and her own treatment of women when he brought up Bill Clinton's sexual history and other episodes of the past. Clinton didn't give a square account of the fallout from her email practices. A look at some of the claims in the second presidential debate: TRUMP, asked whether the predatory behavior with women that he described in a 2005 video amounted to sexual assault: "No, I didn't say that at all." THE FACTS: He certainly didn't own up to sexual assault in his boastful remarks in 2005. But he clearly described groping and kissing women without their permission, using his celebrity to impose himself on them. "I don't even wait," he bragged in the video. "And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything." He went on: "Grab them by the p--. You can do anything." He described a specific sexual advance toward a married woman. "I moved on her like a bitch. But I couldn't get there." No court has considered whether that's sexual assault. Some of the Republicans who abandoned support for his candidacy, as well as Democrats and activists, say that sounds like sexual assault to them. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty ------ TRUMP on Hillary Clinton's behavior when, as a young public defender, she was assigned to represent an accused child rapist: "She's seen on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped. Kathy Shelton, that young woman, is here with us tonight." THE FACTS: At no point was Clinton seen laughing at the victim. In 1975, at the age of 12, Shelton was sexually assaulted in Northwest Arkansas. Clinton was asked by a judge overseeing the case to represent her alleged attacker. After the prosecution lost key evidence, Clinton's client entered a plea to a lesser charge. In an interview a decade later, Clinton expressed horror at the crime, but was recorded on tape laughing about procedural details of the case. The audio has been seized on by conservative groups looking to attack Clinton's presidential candidacy but does not convey mirth at the girl's fate. ------ TRUMP on women linked to Bill Clinton sexually: "Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously." THE FACTS: There is no clear, independent evidence that Hillary Clinton "viciously" attacked women who alleged or confirmed sexual contact with her husband. To be sure, in the 1992 Democratic primaries, she was deeply involved in the Clinton campaign's effort to discredit one accuser, actress Gennifer Flowers, who alleged she had a long-running affair with Bill Clinton. Both Clintons acknowledged past troubles in their marriage but sought to undermine Flowers' claims. Bill Clinton later acknowledged in a 1998 court deposition that he had a sexual encounter with Flowers. Hillary Clinton was also quoted over the years making disparaging comments about other women linked with her husband. What is lacking is proof that she engineered efforts to smear their reputation. Diane Blair, a political science professor and long-time Hillary Clinton friend who died in 2000, left behind an account of private interviews with Hillary Clinton in which she told her during the Monica Lewinsky affair that she considered the former White House intern a "narcissistic loony toon." ------ CLINTON: "After a yearlong investigation, there is no evidence that anyone hacked the server I was using, and there is no evidence that anyone can point to, at all ... that any classified material ended up in the wrong hands." THE FACTS: Maybe, maybe not. While there's indeed no direct, explicit evidence that classified information was leaked or that her server was breached, it was nevertheless connected to the internet in ways that made it more vulnerable to hackers -- and the public may never know who saw them. The Associated Press previously discovered that her private server, which has been a major campaign issue for Clinton and the focus of U.S. investigations, appeared to allow users to connect to it openly over the internet and control it remotely. That practice, experts said, wasn't intended to be used without additional protective measures, and was the subject of U.S. government warnings at the time over attacks from even amateur hackers. Since the AP in early 2013 traced her server to her home in Chappaqua, New York, Clinton hasn't fully explained who administered her server, if it received software updates to plug security holes or if it was monitored for unauthorized access. It's also unclear what, if any, encryption software Clinton's server may have used to communicate with official U.S. government email accounts. FBI Director James Comey has said Clinton and her staff "were extremely careless in their handling of very sensitive, highly classified information." But he said the FBI won't recommend criminal charges against Clinton for use of the server while she was secretary of state and closed the investigation. ------ TRUMP on Bill Clinton: "He lost his license. He had to pay an $850,000 fine." THE FACTS: Trump's facts are, at best, jumbled. In 1998, lawyers for Bill Clinton settled with former Arkansas state employee Paul Jones for $850,000 in her four-year lawsuit alleging sexual harassment. It was not a fine, and there was no finding or admission of wrongdoing. Trump erred in describing the legal consequences of that case. In a related case before the Arkansas State Supreme Court, Clinton was fined $25,000 and his Arkansas law license was suspended for five years. Clinton also faced disbarment before the U.S. Supreme Court but he opted to resign from the court's practice instead of facing any penalties. ------ TRUMP: "She (Clinton) wants to go to a single-payer plan, which would be a disaster...she wants to go to single-payer, which means the government basically rules everything." THE FACTS: It's Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders -- not Clinton -- who supports a Canada-style government-run health care system. While Clinton's health care proposals would expand the government's role in the health care system, she's not talking about dismantling the current system, which is a hybrid of employer-sponsored coverage, government programs like Medicare and Medicaid, and individually purchased insurance. As president, Clinton would push for a government-sponsored insurance plan in the health care markets created by President Barack Obama's health care law, as an alternative to private insurance. But those markets currently cover about 11 million people, while about 155 million have job-based coverage. ------ TRUMP: "I would not have had our troops in Iraq." THE FACTS: Trump actually offered lukewarm support for invading Iraq before the war began. He's repeatedly and erroneously claimed to have come out against the war before it started, telling Howard Stern in September 2002: "Yeah I guess so," when asked if he would back an invasion. This time, his claim was slightly different -- that if he had been president at the time, he would not have invaded. It's conceivable, at least, that he would have taken a position in office at odds with his stance as a private citizen. A few months before the March 2003 invasion, he did tell Fox News that the economy and threats from North Korea posed greater problems than Iraq. ------ TRUMP: "I don't like Assad at all. But Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS." THE FACTS: Not true. Syria's President Bashar Assad considers the Islamic State group to be among numerous "terrorist" groups that threaten his government, but his military is not fighting them. It is focused on combating Syrian opposition groups, some of which are supported by the United States. The fight against the Islamic State militants is being waged by a U.S.-led coalition, with help from Turkey, by training, advising and equipping Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters. While Moscow asserts that it is fighting the Islamic State extremists in Syria, the vast majority of its airstrikes has targeted opposition groups threatening the Assad government. ------ TRUMP, asked whether he had ever sexually assaulted a woman: "No, I have not." THE FACTS: He's been accused of it but a case has not been proved. Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump, accused him of rape in a deposition in the early 1990s. She later said she didn't mean it literally, but rather that she felt violated. Trump was also sued for sexual harassment in 1997 by Jill Harth, a woman who, along with her romantic partner, was pitching Trump to get involved in a pin-up competition in the early 1990s. In a recent interview with The New York Times, Harth said Trump ran his hands up her skirt during dinner in 1992, and on another occasion, she said Trump tried to force himself on her in his daughter Ivanka's bedroom. "Next thing I know he's pushing me against a wall and has his hands all over me," Harth told the newspaper. Harth dropped her harassment lawsuit against Trump after he settled a separate breach of contract lawsuit. Trump has denied Harth's allegations. ------ TRUMP: "She is raising your taxes and I am lowering your taxes. ...She's raising everybody's taxes massively." CLINTON: "He would end up raising taxes on middle-class families" THE FACTS: Clinton is not raising taxes on "everybody." Nearly all of Hillary Clinton's proposed tax increases would affect the wealthiest 5 percent of Americans, according to the nonpartisan Tax Policy Center. Trump is proposing massive tax cuts for both individuals and businesses. Yet it's not clear that all Americans would benefit. The conservative Tax Foundation estimates that the bottom 80 percent of taxpayers would see their after-tax income rise from 0.8 percent to 1.9 percent. The wealthiest 1 percent would see their after-tax incomes rise at least 10.2 percent to 16 percent. Yet Clinton may be right that Trump's proposals would increase taxes on many middle- and lower-income families. Trump's plan eliminates the personal exemption, which currently allows households to reduce their taxable income by $4,050 for each member of the household, including children. He would replace that with higher deductions, but for many single parents and families with three or more children, the standard deduction wouldn't be large enough to offset the loss of personal exemptions. ------ CLINTON: "If we repeal (Obama's health care law) as Donald has proposed, all of those benefits I have mentioned are lost to everybody...and then we will have to start all over again." THE FACTS: Clinton is essentially correct. Congressional Republicans have promised their replacement plan for Obama's health care law would provide coverage for the uninsured, but they have not provided enough detail to allow a rigorous comparison. A complete repeal of the health care law would wipe the slate clean and lawmakers would have to start over. Republicans have expressed support for some goals of the health care law, such as assuring that people with health problems can get coverage, but whether a GOP replacement plan would work as well remains to be seen. Trump's own plan was recently evaluated by the Commonwealth Fund and the RAND Corporation, and the analysis found would increase the number of uninsured people by about 20 million. ------ DONALD TRUMP, asked whether his early morning tweets directing people to check out a sex tape showed discipline, said: "It wasn't 'check out a sex tape."' THE FACTS: Wrong. Trump told his 12.2 million Twitter followers to check out a sex tape as he criticized a former Miss Universe. In the early morning hours of Sept. 30, Trump tweeted, "Did Crooked Hillary help disgusting (check out sex tape and past) Alicia M become a U.S. citizen so she could use her in the debate?" Trump's tweet was an attack on former 1996 Miss Universe Alicia Machado, a woman who Clinton brought up in the last presidential debate as an example of Trump's derogatory comments about women. The video Trump appeared to be referencing was from a Spanish reality show. In 2005, Machado, who was a contestant on the show, was filmed in bed, under the covers with a male contestant and speaking sexually about his body parts. The grainy footage doesn't show any nudity, though Machado has said that she was having sex in the footage. Machado, a Venezuela-born woman who is now a U.S. citizen, has publicly supported Clinton and criticized Trump for body-shaming her, including calling her "Miss Piggy" and threatening to take away her crown for gaining weight. Trump has stood by his criticisms of Machado's weight, saying in a recent interview with Fox News: "She gained a massive amount of weight, and it was a real problem." AP Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A new poll taken as Donald Trump was reeling after the publication of a lewd sex tape, suggests Hillary Clinton has established a 14-point lead over her Republican rival. An average of nationwide polls collated by Real Clear Politics suggested Ms Clinton led Mr Trump by fewer than five points. But a new survey carried for NBC News/Wall Street Journal found Ms Clinton on 46 points and Mr Trump on 35 points. Libertarian Gary Johnsons support stood at nine per cent, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein had just two per cent. However, the survey found that in a head-to-head matchup, Ms Clintons lead over Mr Trump grew to 14 points with the Democrat on 52 per cent and Mr Trump on 38 per cent. Democrat Hillary Clinton (R) and Republican Donald Trump (L) during the second Presidential Debate in St Louis, Missouri, USA (EPA) What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty The survey was conducted as Mr Trump sought to divert attention from controversy sparked by the emergence of video footage recorded in 2005, in which he bragged about sexually assaulting women. The emergence of the video, which he had filmed for Access Hollywood, saw Mr Trump being condemned by senior members of his own party, with some urging him to drop out of the race. Mr Trumps bruising, aggressive performance on Sunday nights debate an event where be brought up Bill Clintons history of sexual controversies and accused Ms Clinton of aiding and abetting her husband was enough to change the immediate media narrative. On Monday morning, his vice-presidential running mate Mike Pence told CNN he was proud of Mr Trumps performance and that he was standing by him. Mr Trump's running mate Mike Pence has stood by him (AP) You know Ill always keep my conversations with Donald Trump and my family private, said Mr Pence, who later campaigned for Mr Trump in North Carolina. But its absolutely false to suggest that at any point in time we considered dropping off this ticket. The new poll also found that Democrats overall now have a seven-point advantage on the question of which party voters want to see in control of Congress. Forty-nine percent of voters said they would like to see Democrats in power on Capitol Hill, compared to 42 percent who chose the Republicans. That represents an increase from the three-point advantage for Democrats last month. It is also the largest advantage for Democrats since the October 2009 government shutdown. Crowd laugh as Trump calls himself a 'gentleman' Although voters overall are split over the impact of the 2005 tape, in which Mr Trump described kissing and touching womens bodies without their consent, less than a quarter of Republicans said the revelations should be grounds for other GOP Senate and House candidates to drop their backing of Mr Trump, or call for him to drop out of the race. A total of 52 per cent of respondents said that the tape should be an issue in the campaign, while 42 percent say it shouldn't. While 31 per cent of voters said Mr Trumps comments about women were inappropriate, but typical of how some men talk in private with other men, a total of 41 per cent said the remarks were completely unacceptable. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Indiana Gov Mike Pence put to rest fears of Republicans and rejected speculation that he would drop off the ticket amid the Trump campaigns tumultuous weekend, calling his candidacy the "greatest honour" of his life. During the second televised debate with Hillary Clinton, Republican candidate Donald Trump sparked concern when he openly disagreed with his running mate about Russias involvement with the Assad regime in Syria. He and I havent spoken, Mr Trump told Martha Raddatz as he disagreed with Mr Pences approach to dealing with Russia. The candidates remark only worsened speculation that Mr Pence had left the ticket. Second Presidential Debate in 90 Seconds After condemning the New York businessmans 2005 remarks about sexually assaulting women, Mr Pence cancelled campaign appearances in Wisconsin and New Jersey. But Mr Pence denied ever having considered leaving the ticket and, in fact, solidified his continued support for his controversial running mate. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty You know I'll always keep my conversations with Donald Trump and my family private, Mr Pence told CNN. But it's absolutely false to suggest that at any point in time we considered dropping off this ticket. Mr Pence had been noticeably quiet since releasing his statement in the wake of the Trump Tapes, but he appeared to be back in Mr Trumps corner deflecting criticism of sexual predation to President Bill Clinton. [Trump] said last night very clearly that that was talk, not actions, he said. And I believe him and I think the contrast between that and what the Clintons were involved in 20 years ago the four women that were present last night was pretty dramatic. On Saturday, however, Mr Pence said that he would not defend Mr Trumps 2005 words. As a husband and father, I was offended by the words and actions described by Donald Trump, he said. I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. Amid the furore that ensued over the weekend, many Republican leaders called for Mr Trump to drop out of the race. New Hampshire Sen Kelly Ayotte, who was a top Trump supporter, said she would write-in Mr Pence as her choice for president on Election Day. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Open warfare has broken out between Donald Trump and the senior leadership of the Republicans after the partys most senior elected official said he would not campaign for the presidential nominee. Reports said he implied it was all but certain that the Democrats were poised to win the White House. In a development that left political historians struggling to find a precedent, House Speaker Paul Ryan said that he would focus on helping members of the Congress get reelected rather than putting his efforts into helping the presidential candidate. He did, however, stop short of formally withdrawing his support for Mr Trump. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty Mr Ryan made his comments during an emergency meeting of Republican politicians in Washington, where he said he would neither defend him or campaign with him. Mr Ryan told his members that you all need to do whats best for you in your district, according to a report by Politico. Mr Trump was quick to hit back on Twitter. Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee, he said. Mr Ryan's comments have sparked a furious backlash among Mr Trump's hardline supporters. The Republicans Dana Rohrabacher of California said party members distancing themselves from Mr Trump were cowards. Meanwhile the Representative for Arizona, Trent Franks, said the move would clear the way for Hillary Clinton to enter the White House, and referencing her stance on abortion, said it would end with foetuses being torn limb from limb. The relationship between Mr Trump and Mr Ryan and other senior Republicans has never been anything but cold. The Republican establishment was desperate to nominate any candidate other than Mr Trump, who tore up Republican orthodoxies, vowed to shake up Washington and was not afraid to criticise Republican officials. After Mr Trump became the de facto Republican candidate when all other candidate dropped out, Mr Ryan said he was still not ready to endorse the new York tycoon. He eventually did so by means of an op-ed article in his local paper. Crowd laugh as Trump calls himself a 'gentleman' Mr Trump has similarly not hidden his disdain for Mr Ryan and other senior elected Republicans. At various times during his campaign, he has asked that they be quiet if they are not prepared to help him. Mr Ryan was one of many senior officials who denounced comments by Mr Trump that were published last week and in which boasted about sexually assaulting women. The comments were recorded in 2005 while filming a segment for Access Hollywood. Mr Trump has grudgingly apologised for the comments. But he has also said they pale in comparison to the real sexual history of Bill Clinton, who over the years had been accused of sexual assault by a series of women. He said Ms Clinton was guilty of attacking many of those women who had claimed they had been assaulted. Reuters said that in his conversation with fellow Republicans on Monday, Mr Ryan said that he would spend the remainder of the election campaign making sure that if Ms Clinton wins in November, she does not get a blank check in the form of Democrat-controlled Congress. Republicans currently control both the House and Senate. Republican members of Congress are worried that Mr Trumps campaign could ruin their chances of holding their majorities in the elections and inflict long-term damage on the party. Nearly half of all 332 incumbent Republican senators, congress members and governors have condemned Mr Trump's remarks, and roughly 1 in 10 have called on him to drop out of the race, according to a Reuters review of official statements and local news coverage. But any attempt to replace Trump on the ballot this close to Election Day would face huge legal and logistical hurdles. A defiant Mr Trump went on the offensive in a vicious presidential debate on Sunday, saying Ms Clinton would go to jail if he were president and attacking her husband, Mr Clinton, for his treatment of women. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} One of the many issues on which Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton clashed in the second presidential debate was the decision to invade Iraq. Mr Trump insisted he was opposed to the war, despite contemporary quotes suggesting otherwise. He also criticised his rival for voting as a senator to authorise the war and said that a US Army captain, Humayun Khan, killed in Iraq in 2004 would still be alive if he had been president at the time. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty Captain Khan is an American hero and he would be alive today if I had been president, he said. The comments of Mr Trump - who famously clashed with the parents of Mr Khan after they publicly spoke out against him at the Democratic National Convention - were too much for one of Ms Clintons advisors. hey, @realDonaldTrump regarding your claim that Captain Khan would be alive if you were president, wrote Jesse Lehrich, Ms Clintons foreign policy spokesman. Go f*** yourself. #debate Second Presidential Debate in 90 Seconds He later apologised for using such language. I want to apologise for the clearly inappropriate nature and language of this personal tweet. Sorry all he said. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Donald Trump has blamed Hillary Clinton for what was called the red line in Syria, and condemned the Obama administration for what he said was a failed policy. Asked for a solution to the situation in Syria, a crisis that has led to the deaths of up to 500,000 people and displaced up to 10m people, Mr Trump said he was not a fan of Russian president Vladimir Putin or President Bashar Assad. But he said that the two leaders were fighting Isis, as was Iran. Ms Clinton said the president had made the comment about lines in the sand, and not her, as she had left the administration. But you were in contact, excuse me. Sadly, perhaps President Obama was still listening to you, said Mr Trump. Mr Trump's vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, said last week the US should use military force if Russia keeps attacking civilians in Syria. Mr Trump said he disagreed with Mr Pence. Ms Clinton says she would try to rein in Russia. She claimed that Russia was trying to get Mr Trump elected president. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It may go down as the most toxic and ill-tempered presidential debate in history. On Sunday night, a defiant Donald Trump sought to deflect criticism of the now notorious sex tape, threatened to send Hillary Clinton to jail he if was elected and told millions of viewers that his rival had tremendous hate in her heart. He also directly raised the sexual history of Bill Clinton and said Ms Clinton had attacked those women who had accused her husband of sexual assault. For her part, Ms Clinton said the tape published last week in which the New York tycoon was seen boasting of assaulting women, was proof of the way he viewed women. He has said the video doesnt represent who he is but I think its clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is, she said. Mr Trump's position was in contrast to that that of his vice presidential running mate (AP) In the immediate aftermath of the debate, two opinion polls gave a clear margin of victory to the Democrat candidate. A CNN poll found 57 per cent of people feel Ms Clinton won the debate, compared to 34 per cent of voters who felt Mr Trump came out on top. A YouGov poll also found in favour of Ms Clinton, though by a tighter margin of 47-42. The tense second encounter between the White House rivals came as Mr Trump had spent the previous 48 hours trying to divert attention from the fall-out caused by the emergence of video footage in which he bragged about sexually assaulting women. He said he was able to get away with such actions because of his celebrity. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty With senior Republican leaders lining up to denounce him, and with some calling on him to stand down as the partys nominee, Mr Trump was determined to change the narrative. Indeed, two hours before the debate got underway in St Louis, he held a press conference with three women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton. In such circumstances, it was perhaps not surprising that the candidates did not shake hands when they took to the stage. And within minutes, Mr Trump was asked about the tape. It was locker room banter. Im not proud of it, said Mr Trump, then saying that there were more serious issues confronting the country, including Isis beheading people. You hear these things Ive said and I was embarrassed by it, Mr Trump added. But I have tremendous respect for women. They have tremendous respect for me. Mr Trump tried to turn the discussion to Mr Clintons history with women. If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse, Mr Trump said. Donald Trump holds pre-debate press conference with Bill Clinton sexual abuse accusers Ms Clinton was asked about her use of a private email server, and her deleting of more than 30,000 emails. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, he said. Ms Clinton said that the FBI had fully investigated the issue of her emails and decided not to bring any criminal charges. She said she took the issue of classified material very seriously. She said: You know its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in this country. Mr Trump quickly shot back: Because youd be in jail.You said it was fine to delete 33,000 emails. I don't think so. A flood of Republicans have withdrawn their support for Mr Trump over the video, which was filmed in 2005 when recording scenes for Access Hollywood. The controversy has pitched Mr Trump into the biggest crisis of his 16-month-old campaign and deepened fissures between him and establishment Republicans. Yet most political pundits his performance on Sunday night was probably sufficient to at least staunch the bleeding being endured by his campaign. It was not remarkable, but Mr Trump had lowered expectations so much, that by remaining focussed on attacking Ms Clinton on several key issues, he will likely have rallied his base and changed the headlines. The final question faced by the Ms Clinton, 68, and Mr Trump, 70, related to what they respected about the other. Ms Clinton said she respected Mr Trumps children, a comment her rival called a very nice compliment. He in turn said she was a fighter. He said: She does fight hard and doesnt give up and I consider that a very good trait. With the debate then concluded, the pair finally shook hands. Sign up for the daily Inside Washington email for exclusive US coverage and analysis sent to your inbox Get our free Inside Washington email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Inside Washington email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} It was the moment from the second US presidential debate that many people had been expecting: When faced with accusations over his own historic comments about groping women, Donald Trump turned the conversation back into an attack on Bill Clinton's past sexual improprieties. The former president was there to listen as Mr Trump launched his blistering critique. Also in the audience was a group of women who allege that Mr Clinton sexually assaulted them in the past. Mr Clinton has had some practice at dealing with similar historic allegations of rape, with a speech he give on Saturday interrupted by a Trump-supporting heckler yelling: "Bill Clinton is a rapist". Recommended Read more Hilary Clinton says leaked tape proves Donald Trump disrespects women Throughout Sunday, Trump supporters worked to get images of Mr Clinton ranking on Google for a search of the word "rapist" - apparently successfully. And in the couple of hours before Sunday night's debate, Mr Trump held a surprise news conference with four women, two of whom accuse Mr Clinton of committing sexual violence, while a third accuses Ms Clinton of condoning it. So Mr Clinton was likely braced for Mr Trump's response to the first questions of the TV debate, in which he was asked about the 2005 Access Hollywood recordings released on Friday showing him making sexually aggressive comments about women. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty Answering for his words for the first time, Trump denied he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely "locker room talk" and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton's abuse of women. "He lost his licence. He had to pay an $850,000 fine. "There's never been anybody in the history of politics that has been so abusive to women," he said. Fact check: Trump was wrong about Bill Clinton Criminal charges have never been brought against former president Clinton for any accusations of sexual assault, and he has repeatedly denied the claims through his lawyer. On the debate stage, Ms Clinton did not respond directly to Mr Trump's accusations about her husband or her own role, but was blistering in her condemnation of his predatory comments about women in the tape released Friday. "I think it's clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is," she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the "fitness to serve" as commander in chief. Mr Trump did not quite let her have the last word on the matter, however, after stating that if he won the election he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into allegations of wrongdoing against his opponent over her use of a private email server. "Everything he just said is absolutely false but I'm not surprised," she responded. "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country." "Because you'd be in jail," he quipped back, to the biggest reaction of the night from the live studio audience. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The Indian government has petitioned the country's Supreme Court for a ban on polygamy, the practice of of having more than one wife. It has also called the practice of triple talaq "misplaced in a secular country". It allows Muslim men to divorce their wives by repeating the word "talaq," meaning "I divorce you," three times. Currently, India's constitution allows Muslims - the biggest minority religion in the country - to regulate their own laws governing matters such as marriage, divorce and inheritance. However the government of Narendra Modi has filed an affidavit to the court arguing that polygamy and triple talaq impacts a woman's status and her right to live with confidence and dignity, The Indian Express reports. The countries with anti-women laws Show all 5 1 /5 The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws The countries with anti-women laws It is submitted that the issue of validity of triple talaq, nikah halala and polygamy needs to be considered in the light of principles of gender justice and the overriding principle of non-discrimination, dignity and equality, the affidavit filed by the government says. The fundamental question for determination by this court is whether, in a secular democracy, religion can be a reason to deny equal status and dignity available to women under the Constitution of India." It also said the practices are not protected under Article 25 of the constitution, which guarantees immunity to practices essential or integral religion. Even theocratic states have undergone reform in this area of law and, therefore, in a secular republic like India, there is no reason to deny the rights available under the Constitution," the affidavit adds. "The fact that Muslim countries where Islam is the State Religion have undergone extensive reforms goes to establish that the practices in question cannot be regarded as integral to practices of Islam." The practice of talaq has been banned in more than 20 countries, including Pakistan and Bangladesh. Earlier this year, Muslim women in India petitioned the Supreme Court to ban triple talaq, arguing it is unconstitutional, discriminatory and contrary to Islamic law. Case studies carried out across India by Bharatiya Muslim Mahila Aandolan, an organisation fighting for the rights of Muslim women in the country, found some men had exercised the practice via relatives, over the phone or even by email or text message. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The president of the Philippines has promised to dismantle the nations 65-year military alliance with the United States, warning Washington not to treat the nation like a doormat. Rodrigo Duterte has ordered 28 annual military exercises with US forces to be halted and an ongoing US-Philippines amphibious beach landing exercise to be the last in his six-year presidency. This year would be the last, said Mr Duterte, referring to military exercises involving the US in a speech on Friday in southern Davao city. US military forces prepare for the annual Philippines-US live fire amphibious landing exercise north of Manila, Philippines (Reuters) Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte reassesses US ties For as long as I am there, do not treat us like a doormat because youll be sorry for it. I will not speak with you. I can always go to China. In an attempt to draw back from what Mr Duterte views as too much dependence on the US, 107 American troops involved in operating surveillance drones against Islamic militants will be asked to leave the country once the Philippines acquires its own intelligence-gathering capabilities, Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said. The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Show all 9 1 /9 The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On killing drug addicts These sons of whores are destroying our children. I warn you, dont go into that, even if youre a policeman, because I will really kill you. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Message to China I will go there on my own with a Jet Ski, bringing along with me a [Phillipino] flag and a pole, and once I disembark, I will plant the flag on the runway and tell the Chinese authorities, Kill me AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Christmas message to law-breakers If you do not want to stop, and just continue committing crimes, then this would be your last Merry Christmas AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On sex life I was separated from my wife. Im not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On the drugs trade None of my children are into illegal drugs. But my order is, even if it is a member of my family, kill him'" AP The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting the Pope We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the pope. I wanted to call him: Pope, son of a wh**e, go home. Do not visit us again AFP/Getty Images The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Joke about rape I saw her face and I thought, 'What a pity... they raped her, they all lined up. I was mad she was raped but she was so beautiful. I thought, the mayor should have been first AFP/Getty The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte Insulting Barack Obama "Mr Obama should be respectful and refrain from throwing questions at me about the killings, or son of a bitch, I will swear at you in that forum" REUTERS The most controversial quotes from Rodrigo Duterte On Abu Sayyaf Islamic militants "If I have to face them, you know I can eat humans. I will really open up your body. Just give me vinegar and salt, and I will eat you. If you annoy me to the fullest... I will eat you alive. Raw" EPA Mr Lorenzana said he would ask the Philippines Congress for $50m (40.3m) to $100m (80.7) a year to compensate for US military aid, The Times reports. We have been allies since 1951, he said. All we got are hand-me-downs, no new equipment. The Americans failed to beef up our capabilities to be at par with what is happening in the region. The divide in military relations with the countrys former colonial master comes as Mr Duterte lashed out against US criticism of his national crackdown on drug crime, which has left more than 3,600 suspects dead in just three months. In September, Mr Duterte launched a scathing attack on US President Barack Obama, telling him to go to hell and calling him a son of a bitch when it was suggested he would be questioned over the killings. Mr Lorenzana said affairs could recover if criticism of the drugs war subsided. Relationships sometimes go to this stage but over time it will be patched up, he said. Mr Dutertes strained relations with Washington do not appear to have spread to US allies such as Japan, which has committed to deliver patrol ships for the Philippine coast guard and signed a deal to lease five small surveillance planes to reinforce its territorial defence. Philippines: President Rodrigo Dutertes 100 days in office Mr Duterte has also reached out to China and Russia. Mr Lorenzana said he would travel to Beijing and Moscow to discuss acquiring defence equipment from them. Commenting on the possibility that joint manoeuvres will be the last under Mr Dutertes presidency, US military spokesman for the drills, Major Roger Hollenbek, said: If its the last, so be it. I have nothing to do with that and we are going to continue to work together, we've got a great relationship. Mr Duterte was elected in May on the promise of preventing the Philippines from becoming a narco-state and vowed to kill those involved in importing or selling illegal drugs. The scale of his crackdown has been unprecedented. A rough estimate puts the death toll around 3,600, including 1,300 suspects killed in gun battles with police an average of 36 killings a day since he took office on 30 June, which has drawn criticism from the US, the EU, the UN and human rights watchdogs. Additional reporting by Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A man who kept sexts sent by his teenage step-daughter to her boyfriend has been convicted under child pornography laws and placed on the sex offenders register. Ashan Ortell, 57, of Victoria, Australia, pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and has been given a 12-month good behaviour bond. He has been ordered to be placed on the sex offenders register following the conviction, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. Ortell caught his step-daughter sexting her boyfriend and confiscated her phone in 2013, when she was reportedly aged 15. He then made copies of the messages and showed them to the girls school and to authorities. He copied 18 images onto his computer and a USB stick, claiming that he wanted police to investigate the messages further, despite warnings from police that storing the pictures was an offence, the Herald Sun reported. His computers were later seized by police. Judge Jane Patrick sentenced Ortell to a 12-month good behaviour bond at the County Court in Victoria and ordered him to be placed on the sex offenders register, following his guilty plea. He will be on the register for eight years and will need to report to authorities regularly, including when he wants to go away for longer than two days. The maximum sentence Ortell could have faced is five years in prison under child pornography laws. Judge Patrick called the case unusual, stating that Ortell had not kept the images for sexual motivation, but added that the law states people cannot keep images of a sexual nature of children. You kept the images, I am satisfied, because you were very concerned about what had been going on and foolishly decided this was the way to deal with it, she said. There is no suggestion of any exploitation of them by anybody. You made no attempt to conceal the images, Judge Patrick said, adding, In fact, you were so concerned that you contacted authorities about the images. Speaking after his sentencing, Ortell told the Herald Sun: I didnt create this stuff, I didnt distribute it. By law its mandatory that they put you on this register. But I could tell that the judge didnt really want to do it. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} China and Iran are responsible for the highest number of executions in the world, according statistics from Amnesty International. Although official data is unavailable, Amnesty International estimates there to have been thousands of executions in China. Iran follows China with 977 executions in 2015. Pakistan comes third, having executed 326 people in 2015, followed by Saudi Arabia, which executed 158 people in the same year. The US is fifth, having executed 25 people last year. This chart by Statista shows the top 10 countries for executions in 2015. A separate map shows the countries which still have the death penalty. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called the death penalty a cruel and inhumane practice in his message for this year's World Day against the Death Penalty, observed on Monday. It has no place in the 21st century, Mr Ban stressed in his message. UN statistics say 65 countries retain the death penalty for terrorism-related offences. "To be legitimate and effective, counter-terror measures, like all security operations, must be anchored in respect for human rights and the rule of law," Mr Ban added. Let us be clear: participation in peaceful protests and criticism of a government whether in private, on the Internet, or in the media are neither crimes nor terrorist acts. The threat or use of the death penalty in such cases is an egregious violation of human rights." In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Show all 7 1 /7 In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world over Saudi executions Iranian and Turkish demonstrators hold pictures of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as they protest outside the Saudi Embassy in Ankara, Turkey, In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world over Saudi executions Kashmiri Shiite Muslims, carrying a placard with the portrait of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, shout slogans during a protest in Srinagar, Indian controlled Kashmir, In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world at Saudi executions Indian police used tear smoke and rubber bullets to disperse Shiite Muslims who were protesting after Saudi Arabia announced the execution of Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr on Saturday along with 46 others, including three other Shiite dissidents and a number of al-Qaida militants. In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world over Saudi executions Shane Enright, Global Trade Union Advisor for Amnesty International, addresses demonstrators as they protest outside the Saudi Embassy in London, following Saudi Arabia's execution of 47 prisoners in one day, including a top Shiite cleric In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world over Saudi executions Iranian protestor burn pictures of a member of the Saudi royal family in front of the Saudi Arabia embassy in Tehran, Iran, 02 January 2016. Protesters have stormed the Saudi embassy building in the Iranian capital of Tehran early Sunday amid backlash over the execution of a prominent Shiite cleric. Flammable substance was seen thrown at the building as protests gained steam over the execution of Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr. Reports states, protesters taking down a Saudi flag and burned the building. In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world over Saudi executions Shiite Muslims hold placards with pictures of Saudi Shiite cleric Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr, whose execution in Saudi Arabia was announced Saturday, during a demonstration to condemn his execution, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016 in Peshawar, Pakistan In pictures: Protests around the world over Saudi executions Protests around the world over Saudi executions A Kashmir Shiite Muslim shouts slogan from Indian police vehicle after he was detained during a protest in Srinagar, the summer capital of Indian Kashmir, The Philippines president Rodrigo Duterte recently called for the death penalty to be reinstated in his country, claiming the growth of atheism and agnosticism means people have a lack of fear and respect for the law. Following the military coup d'etat in Turkey, President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he was preparing to bring back capital punishment, saying: "My nation wants the death penalty." Since the uprising, tens of thousand of people have been detained or arrested. James Lynch, Deputy Director of the Global Issues Programme at Amnesty International, said: The increase we are seeing in the use of the death penalty as a flawed response to terrorism-related crimes betrays a fundamental mistake on the part of authorities there is no evidence that the death penalty deters violent crime more effectively than other punishments. It is borne out of weakness and expediency rather than strength." He added: Violent attacks against the general population cause horrendous suffering to victims and their families and can never be justified. Governments must investigate and bring those responsible to justice. But state-sanctioned killing does not tackle the root causes of violent attacks. Instead, it simply compounds injustice and suffering and drives the cycle of violence, without delivering justice to the victims. The death penalty is always a violation of human rights. More than two thirds of the worlds states have chosen to abolish it in law or practice. All governments should follow suit. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} German Chancellor Angela Merkel has thanked a Syrian man for helping catch a dangerous terror suspect believed to be planning a bomb attack. The unnamed man and a friend overpowered and tied up their compatriot, who was on the run from police after 1.5 kilograms of explosives were found at his flat in the city of Chemnitz. The pair informed police of his whereabouts and the suspect was arrested in Leipzig in the early hours, ending a two-day manhunt. Ms Merkels official spokesperson, Ulrike Demmer, said. Our thanks and our recognition go out to the man from Syria who informed the police about the suspect's whereabouts, The suspect, 22-year-old Jaber Albakr, went on the run on Saturday after police raided his apartment and found explosives they said were more dangerous than TNT. Police believe he was planning an attack similar to those carried out in France and Belgium in late 2015 and March 2016. According to what we know, the preparations in Chemnitz are similar to the preparations for the attacks in Paris and Brussels, said German Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere. He suggested the behaviour of the suspect makes it likely he has links to the so-called Islamic State. Reports suggest Albakr had built a a virtual bomb-making lab in his flat and manufactured explosives that could have caused enormous damage. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty According to German broadcaster ARB, the two Syrian men invited Albakr to their apartment after he approached them asking for help at Leipzig train station. However, they realised their guest was being sought by police after detectives broadcast a witness appeal in Arabic. They then tied the fugitive to a sofa and called police, who stormed the apartment. They found one of the men kneeling on Albakr to stop him escaping. Police announced on Twitter: Tired but overjoyed: we captured the terror suspect last night in Leipzig. It comes after tensions in Germany at the number of Syrian refugees the country has granted asylum to. Ms Merkel has won praise from many for her humanitarian response to the refugee crisis, but opponents claim Germany cannot cope with any more refugees. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} A Syrian national has aided German police in catching a suspect believed to be planning an attack on Chemnitz airport. Authorities found Jaber al-Bakr, a Syrian refugee, tied up in an apartment in Leipzig after his fellow countryman invited him in. Al-Bakr apparently met the Syrian, who had heard police were searching for him, at Leipzig Central Station. The police had been looking for al-Bakr, who had been on the run for three days, after raiding a flat in Chemnitz and finding several hundred grams of highly volatile explosives, The Guardian reported. Three others, who are thought to be linked to the potential bomb plot, have also been arrested. The explosives were destroyed by bomb squad experts in a controlled detonation. More than one million asylum seekers arrived in Germany in 2015 when Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the countrys border to help those feeling Syrias civil war. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The policy has received criticism from right-wing and anti-immigration groups. These organisations have gained increasing popularity in Germany amid concerns over terrorism and mass sexual assaults in the country. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} German police have detained a 22-year-old Syrian man suspected of preparing a bomb attack following a nationwide hunt. Police in the eastern state of Saxony tweeted on Monday that Jaber Albakr was detained overnight in Leipzig. Albakr, from the Damascus area of Syria, escaped the authorities on Saturday during a raid of his apartment in nearby Chemnitz. Investigators said they found "several hundred grams" of a volatile explosive hidden there. The raid came after Saxony police were given a tip from Germany's domestic intelligence service that Albakr may be planning an attack. German media has reported that Albakr is believed to be connected to Islamic extremist groups. Security remains high in the country after two terror attacks by Isis supporters earlier this year, with a Syrian refugee blowing himself up in Ansbach and an Afghan teenager attacking train passengers with an axe in Wurzburg. More than a million asylum seekers arrived in Germany last year, when Chancellor Angela Merkel opened the borders to Syrians fleeing the country's brutal civil war. The decision has been heavily criticised by right-wing and anti-immigration groups gaining increasing popularity amid concern over terrorism and the mass sexual assaults in Cologne. Europol estimates that up to 5,000 European jihadis may have undergone training at terror camps, with an unknown number exploiting refugee routes to return the continent as it faces its biggest terror threat in more than a decade. Earlier this year, police said they were investigating more than 400 tip-offs over migrants alleged to have extremist links in Germany. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The German government has announced it will compensate more than 50,000 men were jailed for being gay. The plan will see 30m set aside to compensate the men who were imprisoned for their sexuality under the terms of Paragraph 175 which formally remained a part of Germanys criminal code until 1994. In total, more than 140,000 were convicted under the law in both West and East Germany until it fell into disuse by the end of the 1960s. Homosexual acts were first criminalised in 1871 when Germany was formed but the law was strengthened during the Nazi era when the regime used it to convict thousands of gay men and send them to concentration camps. After the war men were still prosecuted and often faced losing their homes and jobs when their sexual orientation was discovered. The convictions of those sentenced during the Nazi era where expunged in 2002 but until now there had been no pardon for those prosecuted after the war. The draft law will be formally announced this month after the initial announcement was made earlier this year, Pink News reported. Germanys justice minister, Heiko Maas, said each case for compensation would be decided individually and sentence duration will be taken into consideration. He said he expected more than 5,000 men to make claims. The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 Show all 6 1 /6 The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 Justice Anthony Kennedy and the other Supreme Court Justices who legalised same sex marriage in the US The US Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage is all 50 states of America in June, splitting 5-4 in favour. Writing the majority opinion, Justice Kennedy said gay people hope not to be condemned to live in loneliness, excluded from one of civilizations oldest institutions. The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 Caitlyn Jenner After she revealed her new self in an interview and cover with Vanity Fair magazine in June, the former olympian quickly became the most famous trans person in the world. AFP/Getty The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 Cara Delevigne The former model said she identified as bisexual in an interview with Vogue in July. AFP/Getty The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 Ellen Page The openly gay actress confronted Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz at a campaign rally in Iowa in August over laws that discriminate against the LGBT community. AFP/Getty The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 iO Tillett Wright The artist and Instagram star began the Self Evident Truths project in 2015 to photograph everyone who doesnt identify as 100% straight. Famously it featured Johnny Depps teenage daughter Lily Rose who said she fell somewhere on the vast spectrum and singer Selena Gomez who addressed rumours she was dating Cara Delevigne. AFP/Getty The pioneers of LGBT rights in 2015 Ruby Rose Australian born Rose was one of the very first celebrities to come out as genderfluid. She was hailed for giving it a public platform a the MTV Europe Music Awards in October when she welcomed ladies and gentlemen, and everyone in-between in her introduction. We will never be able to remove these outrages committed by this country but we want to rehabilitate the victims. The convicted homosexual men should no longer have to live with the black mark of a criminal conviction, he added. It comes just weeks after The Independent revealed that Prime Minister Theresa May announced she was committed to introducing an Alan Turing law pardoning gay men for previous convictions for gross indecency. The law is named after the pioneering mathematician who helped the British break the Germans Enigma code during the Second World War but was persecuted for his homosexuality afterwards. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Germanys federal council, the Bundesrat, has passed a resolution calling for a ban on combustion engine cars by 2030. If the ban were to go through, German citizens would only be permitted to purchase electric or hydrogen-fuelled cars. The resolution, which has received cross-party support but has no legislative effect, calls on the European Commission to implement the ban across the European Union. It also urges the European Commission to review the current practices of taxation and dues with regard to a stimulation of emission-free mobility. Greens party lawmaker Oliver Krischer said the ban is needed to reach the requirements put forward in the Paris agreement. If the Paris agreement to curb climate-warming emissions is to be taken seriously, no new combustion engine cars should be allowed on roads after 2030, Mr Krischer told Spiegel. Paris climate talks in pictures Show all 12 1 /12 Paris climate talks in pictures Paris climate talks in pictures A man is covered with a multi-coloured banner with the message, "Climate" as environmentalists attend a demonstration near the Eiffel Tower in Paris, France, during the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) that meets in Le Bourget, December 12, 2015 Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures French President Francois Hollande (C) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) applaud after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures US Secretary of State John Kerry (C) speaks with China's Special Representative on Climate Change Xie Zhenhua (R) and officials at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Delegates and members of NGO's read and work on copies of 'The adoption of the Paris agreement' is pictured after the announcement of the final draft by French Foreign Affairs minister Laurent Fabius at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures UN climate chief Christiana Figueres (C) speaks with French President Francois Hollande (L), United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon (2ndL) and French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius (R) after a statement at the COP21 Climate Conference in Le Bourget, north of Paris, on December 12, 2015. The years-long quest for a universal pact to avert catastrophic climate change neared the finish line today with conference host France announcing that the final draft had been completed in the early hours of the morning Getty Paris climate talks in pictures A Swiss Dominican priest poses with activists dressed as polar bears as activists gather for a demonstration to form a giant red line at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Activists hold up a giant banner reading 'Climate justice' by association 'ourpowercampaign' during a demonstration near the Arc de Triomphe at the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris. Getty Paris climate talks in pictures Representatives of indigenous peoples demonstrate in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Environmentalists demonstrate near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, France, as the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) continues at Le Bourget, December 12, 2015. Reuters Paris climate talks in pictures Activists form a giant red line during a demonstration on the Avenue de la Grande armee boulevard in Paris on December 12, 2015, as a proposed 195-nation accord to curb emissions of the heat-trapping gases that threaten to wreak havoc on Earth's climate system is to be presented at the United Nations conference on climate change COP21 in Le Bourget, on the outskirts of Paris ALAIN JOCARD/AFP/Getty Images Paris climate talks in pictures The slogan "No Plan B" is projected on the Eiffel Tower as part of the World Climate Change Conference 2015 (COP21) in Paris, France, December 11, 2015. Reuters A switch to zero-emission cars is likely to put thousands of German auto industry jobs at risk as electric cars only require 10 per cent of the work force to assemble. Greenpeace UK's air pollution campaigner Areeba Hamid told The Independent the plans could be a huge moment in the battle against air pollution. "The German car industry is one of the most powerful in the world. If this bill is passed into law, it could be a pivotal moment in the shift towards a cleaner transport system and the battle against air pollution, Ms Hamid told The Independent. If the German government can stand up to an influential car lobby, why can't the UK government do the same? Widespread concerns about air pollution and climate change combined with technological innovation are making the electric car revolution almost inevitable. The question now is whether ministers want to drag their feet until the very last minute or whether they're ready to embrace a transport system fit for the 21st-century and reap the public health and economic rewards that come with it." For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Sometimes people with the worst pasts create the best futures, reads the slogan, emblazoned on an image of a masked fighter wielding a Kalashnikov, walking into blinding light. The poster was shared on Facebook by Rayat al-Tawheed, a group of British Isis fighters from London calling themselves the Banner of God. Their target is young men looking for redemption from crime, drugs or gangs, willing to save their souls by waging jihad for the so-called Islamic State. A poster shared on social media by Rayat al-Tawheed, a group of British Isis fighters from London For all of its professed piousness, new research shows that the majority of the terrorist groups recruits have criminal histories an unprecedented figure for former Islamist movements emphasising purity and scholarly knowledge. A report by the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation (ICSR) shows that criminal and terrorist networks across Europe are merging to create a dangerous brand of jihadi for whom violence is not just a holy pursuit, but a way of life. Professor Peter Neumann, director of the ICSR at Kings College London, said the new crime-terror nexus was making radicalisation harder to spot for European security services. A lot of analysts continue saying terrorists are middle or upper-class, Osama bin Laden was the son of a millionaire and the 9/11 attackers were students for instance, he told The Independent. But I dont think that doesnt reflect the reality we have with Isis we need to rethink our strategy. Mr Neumann said many security services still expect radicalised young men to change their behaviour and act religiously, perhaps by growing a beard or changing their clothing. For some the pattern is still seen, but in many cases it is not, with several European fighters in the ICSRs database continuing to smoke, drink and even take drugs up until their departure for the so-called Islamic State. Cherif and Said Kouachi killed an injured police officer as they fled Charlie Hebdos offices (Reuters) Similarly, criminality does not always stop with a commitment to jihad. Said Kouachi may have used funds from selling counterfeit trainers to buy the weapons he and his brother used to carry out the Charlie Hebdo massacre, while the Paris and Brussels supercell used their connections in the criminal underworld to manufacture the fake documents that would let them evade security services. Mr Neumann said that of the jihadis examined for the study, two thirds had not just a criminal history but a violent history. In European countries where the figure is known, more than half of Isis fighters were previously known to the police. It gives criminals a moral justification for doing what they have always been doing only now they will go to heaven, Mr Neumann added. Sadiq Khan: Donald Trump's negative rhetoric about Muslims is helping Isis Isis ideology puts less emphasis on theological knowledge and more on absolute obedience to its own interpretation, with the majority of recruits listed in leaked registration forms tellingly describing their Sharia knowledge as basic. Where al-Qaeda practically published a book to justify each of its terror attacks, Isis issues a few paragraphs at most, preferring to reach its audience through glossy magazines and slick videos. There is now a perfect fit between these young men and a group that has shed any attempt at serious theological discourse, Mr Neumann said. Its almost thriving on the rejection of mainstream and even Salafi scholars. It basically says you can come in if you sign up to the mission, we dont care if you know true Islam we are true Islam. 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 The terror group also aims to portray membership as a route to action, adventure, power and the sense of brotherhood desired by frequently vulnerable recruits searching for purpose and belonging. Alain Grignard, a senior member of Belgiums counter-terror agency, said Isis can be seen as an extension of inner-city crime for many European members. Young Muslim men with a history of social and criminal delinquency are joining up with the Islamic State as part of a sort of super-gang, he told the Combating Terrorism Centre. Previously we were mostly dealing with radical Islamists individuals radicalised toward violence by an extremist interpretation of Islam but now were increasingly dealing with what are best described as Islamised radicals. The link is being reinforced by what has been dubbed the gameification of jihad, with Isis styling its gory propaganda videos like first-person-shooter console games, complete with graphics, crosshair views and even chilling recreations of maze challenges. The method of recruitment is seeing radicalisation speed up, with the process commonly happening in weeks or months for the vast majority of Isis militants, compared to months of years for groups like al-Qaeda and the Taliban. In many cases in the past, someone might become a student activist and start supporting the jihadi ideology but then it would be a huge hurdle to convince that person to vary out a violent attack and kill somebody, Mr Neumann said. But with these criminals they are already used to violence, so for the jump from being an extremist to being a violent extremist is much smaller. Tributes are laid in front of the synagogue in Krystalgade to the victims of attacks in Copenhagen, which left two people dead (Reuters) One example is Copenhagen gunman Omar el-Hussein, who killed two victims in a shooting spree after pledging allegiance to Isis in February 2015. He had joined a gang as a teenager and was involved in burglaries, petty crime and drugs, before being jailed for a stabbing in 2013. During his prison sentence, he became extremely religious and started expressing a wish to fight in Syria, but three radicalisation alerts to authorities went unanswered. Upon release, el-Hussein found himself homeless and jobless, carrying out his terror attack two weeks after being freed. Isis also attracts troubled young men through what analysts describe as a redemption narrative, with the commitment to martyrdom portrayed as a whitewash for all past sins. Often there is a traumatic experience that acts as a wake-up call - sometimes a prison sentence, sometimes a friend being killed, in one case a brothers diagnosis with cancer, Mr Neumann said. They think: 'What am I doing? How do I redeem myself?' At that point they may already have a tenuous connection with jihadis. Its a very common narrative. The case for jihad is often made in prisons across Europe, where a well-documented phenomenon has seen inmates radicalised and even form terror cells on the inside. Harry Sarfo, a German Isis militant who grew up in the UK, told The Independent how he learned the ideology of Tawheed and jihad while imprisoned for involvement in a supermarket robbery. Harry Sarfo described how he learned 'jihad' while in prison for robbery He found himself in a Bremen jail with Rene Marc Sepac, an al-Qaeda-linked radical jailed for spreading jihadist propaganda, who changed his whole understanding of Islam. Sarfo travelled to Syria to fight for Isis last year but defected from the group after three months and returned to Germany, where he remains in prison. Mr Neumann said the ICSRs report had documented several cases where prison authorities had been unaware of radicalisation, or had their alerts ignored by counter-terror agencies. One of the most prominent examples is the network that carried out both the Paris and Brussels attacks. Co-ordinator Abdelhamid Abaaoud, bomber Ibrahim Abdeslam and his brother Salah, were all involved in crime in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek with Abdelhamid and Salah jailed together in 2010. Amedy Coulibaly, who would go on to kill four people at a kosher supermarket in Paris, served time for receiving stolen goods, drug trafficking, and robbery. While inside the Fleury-Merogis Prison, which is infamous for fostering jihadis, he told Le Monde: Prison is the best f***ing school of crime. In the same walk, you can meet Corsicans, Basques, Muslims, robbers, small-time drug dealers, big traffickers, murderersyou learn from years of experience. Amedy Coulibaly attacked the Hypercacher kosher supermarket in eastern Paris on 9 January 2015, killing four people (AP) The ICSR is calling for reform in jails across Europe to ensure that staff are trained to spot the early signs of radicalisation, while being able to effectively share warnings with security services, and make it more difficult for extremist networks to form. Another key step to crush the crime-terror nexus is ensuring that mainstream imams are available for Muslim prisoners, rather than allowing radicals to volunteer to lead prayers. The UK is trying but there still needs to be improvement, Mr Neumann said. Some prisons in France and Belgium have simply lost control. Other steps recommended in the ICSRs report include increased information sharing between security services, including police, customs and intelligence services, with acknowledgement of the link between criminal proceeds and terror plots. A spokesperson for the British Government said police, security and intelligence agencies in the UK collaborate extensively to prevent terror attacks through sharing information and joint operations. We have a wide range of powers at our disposal to disrupt travel to conflict zones and manage the risk posed by returnees, including powers to temporarily seize passports and to make Schedule 7 stops at ports or airports as well as arrest and prosecution, she added. Everyone who returns from Syria or Iraq can expect to be subject to investigation to determine if they pose a threat and they should be in no doubt we will take the strongest possible action to protect our national security. In August, the Ministry of Justice announced plans to hold extremist prisoners in specialist units, with work on the proposals still underway. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Turkish authorities have banned large-scale commemorations marking the one-year anniversary of the twin suicide bombings that targeted peace activists in Ankara, killing 103 people. Police cited security concerns and have used tear gas and water cannon to push back activists who are trying to reach the main station to pay respects. Roads have been blocked and police reportedly chased people down a main street to prevent them joining a demonstration. Turkish police use tear gas spray to disperse the crowd during the commemoration of the 1st anniversary of Ankara bombings of 2015 (Getty) Families of the victims and some representatives of civil society groups have, however, been permitted to lay flowers at the spot of the attack. Roses have been placed on the floor to mark the first anniversary of the worst attack in Turkey's modern history (Getty) One year ago 103 people were killed and another 500 injured in the bombing at a peace rally. The demonstration had been organised by a trade union to denounce increased violence between Kurdish rebels and Turkish security forces. The paucity of media coverage compared with that of terror attacks in Belgium and France received plenty of criticism at the time. Some argued greater levels of shock were placed on the atrocities that occurred in Europe with many citing race as the reason. Riot police clash with demonstrators to prevent them from holding a protest to mark the first anniversary of the worst attack in Turkey's modern history (Getty) World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty Since June 2015 there have been 16 major attacks across Turkey and at least 350 people have died in terrorist-related incidents in the country. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} At least 14 people have been killed after a car bomb exploded in Afghanistans Helmand province, police have said. The suicide attack happened on Monday in the city of Lashkar Gah, police official Haji Marjan said. The explosion happened at around 11:30 am in the Mukhtar area of Lashkar Gahs police district 2, killing four civilians and 10 police officers, including Marjans brother, he said. Recommended Read more Taliban launch fresh assault on Afghan city of Kunduz The death toll from the attack is expected to rise as it remains unclear how many people have been accounted following the explosion. A doctor at the international emergency hospital in the city, said 14 bodies had been brought in, with an additional 15 people brought in wounded, one of whom had suffered from gunshot wounds. The doctor spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorised to speak to media. The attack comes as Taliban militants entered the city earlier on Monday, launching a large-scale attack on the provinces capital while targeting security checkpoints. Taliban militants have been on the outskirts of the city for months but managed to enter it after breeching the defence security belt, an official on the Helmand province council said. Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Show all 16 1 /16 Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2001 Afghans at the Killi Faizo refugee camp desperately reach for bags of rice being handed out to the thousands who escaped the bombardment in southern Afghanistan during Operation Enduring Freedom. (Chaman, Pakistan, December 4, 2001) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2002 Mahbooba stands against a bullet-ridden wall, waiting to be seen at a medical clinic. The seven-year-old girl suffers from leishmaniasis, a parasitical infection. (Kabul, March 1, 2002) All photos Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2003 A mother and her two children look out from their cave dwelling. Many families who, fleeing the Taliban, took refuge inside caves adjacent to Bamiyans destroyed ancient Buddha statues now have nowhere else to live. (Bamiyan, November 19, 2003) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Students recite prayers in a makeshift outdoor classroom in the Wakhan Corridor, a mountainous region in northeastern Afghanistan that extends to China and separates Tajikistan from India and Pakistan. (Northeastern Afghanistan, September 2, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2007 Bodybuilders in the 55-60 kg category square off during a regional bodybuilding competition. Many Afghan men, like others around the world, feel that a macho image of physical strength is important. (Kabul, August 6, 2007) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2008 A woman in a white burqa enjoys an afternoon with her family feeding the white pigeons at the Blue Mosque. (Mazar-e-Sharif, March 8, 2008) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Addicts inject heroin while trying to keep warm inside the abandoned Russian Cultural Center, which the capital citys addicts use as a common gathering point. Heroin is readily available, costing about one dollar a hit. (Kabul, February 9, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 An elderly man holds his granddaughter in their tent at a refugee camp after they were forced to flee their village, which US and NATO forces had bombed because, they claimed, it was a Taliban hideout. (Surobi, Nangarhar Province, February 7, 2009) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2009 Seven-year-old Attiullah, a patient at Mirwais Hospital, stands alongside an X ray showing the bullet that entered his back, nearly killing him. Attiullah was shot by US forces when he was caught in a crossfire as he was herding sheep. (Kandahar, October 13, 2009). Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 US Army Sargeant Jay Kenney (right), with Task Force Destiny, helps wounded Afghan National Army soldiers exit a Blackhawk helicopter after they have been rescued in an air mission. (Kandahar, December 12, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2010 An Afghan National Army battalion marches back to barracks at the Kabul Military Training Center. (Kabul, October 4, 2010) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Eid Muhammad, seventy, lives in a house with a view overlooking the hills of Kabul. He and millions of other Afghans occupy land and housing without possessing formal deeds to them. (Kabul, November 21, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Razima holds her two-year-old son, Malik, while waiting for medical attention at the Boost Hospital emergency room. (Lashkar Gah, Helmand Province, June 23, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Young women cheer as they attend a rally for the Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani. (Kabul, April 1, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2014 Burqa-clad women wait to vote after a polling station runs out of ballots. (Kabul, April 5, 2014) Paula Bronstein Afghanistan: Between Hope and Fear 2015 Relatives, friends, and womens rights activists grieve at the home of Farkhunda Malikzada, who was killed by a mob in the center of Kabul. Farkhunda was violently beaten and set on fire after a local cleric accused her of burning a Quran. (Kabul, March 22, 2015) Paula Bronstein Sediq Sediqqi, Afghanistans interior ministry spokesperson, said Afghan security forces will soon push them back. A spokesperson for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, has said the militants are advancing through the city. The Taliban has been marching through the strategically important Helmand province for some time, gaining control of around 85 per cent of the area according to provincial officials. The Helmand province is where the majority of Afghanistans opium output comes from and is understood to be worth around $4 billion (3.22 billion), which is partly used to fund the war. Additional reporting by Associated Press For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Muslims have begun celebrating the religious festival of Ashura, with some Shia men flagellating themselves to commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed. The day falls each year on the 10th of Muharram, the first month of the Islamic lunar calendar. This year, it corresponds with Tuesday 11 October, though the festival begins for observant Muslims at sunset on Monday, and in some countries the day before is also a public holiday. Ashura is marked by all Muslims, and commemorations can include a voluntary fast. But the day is a major part of the religious calendar for Shia Muslims, for whom it is a solemn occasion to mourn the death of Hussein in 680 AD at Karbala in modern-day Iraq. In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Show all 18 1 /18 In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Iraqi Shiite boys take part in a self-flagellation procession during the reenactment of the Battle of Karbala, as part of a parade in preparation for the peak of the mourning period of Ashura Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation The religious festival of Ashura, which includes a ten-day mourning period, commemorates the seventh century slaying of Prophet Mohammed's grandson Imam Hussein in Karbala in Iraq Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation A Pakistani Shiite Muslim boy is silhouetted against the sky as he flagellates himself with chains and blades in commemoration of Ashura, in Peshawar, Pakistan EPA In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Police officers watch as boys participate in self flagellation during the Shi'ite Muharram procession in Peshawar, Pakistan Reuters In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation A group of men participate in self flagellation during the Shi'ite Muharram procession in Islamabad, Pakistan Reuters In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Afghan Shiite Muslims use chains and blades during ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation An Afghan Shiite Muslim bleeds after using chains and blades during ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul. Ashura mourns the death of Imam Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Mohammed, who was killed by armies of the Yazid near Karbala in 680 AD Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Iraqi Shiite Muslim men flagellate themselves in commemorations on the tenth day of the mourning period of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation A man's back is stitched up by medics after self flagellation during the Shi'ite Muharram procession in Islamabad, Pakistan Reuters In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Afghan Shiite Muslims watch as others use chains and blades during ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Iraqi Shiite Muslim men are seen after flagellating themselves on the tenth day of the mourning period of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura, in the holy city of Najaf Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Iraqi Shiites take part in commemorations on the tenth day of the mourning period of Muharram, which marks the day of Ashura, in the holy city of Najaf Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Knives are displayed for sale during commemorations for Ashura in Kerbala, Iraq Reuters In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Iraqi Shiite boys take part in a self-flagellation procession during the reenactment of the Battle of Karbala, as part of a parade in preparation for the peak of the mourning period of Ashura Getty In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation A Pakistani Shiite Muslim flagellates himself with chains and blades a day ahead of the commemoration of Ashura, in Islamabad, Pakistan EPA In pictures: Muslims around world mark Ashura with self-flagellation Pakistani Shiite Muslims flagellate themselves during the Ashura procession in Peshawar. The Islamic month of Muharram marks the seven-century martyrdom of Prophet Mohammad's grandson Imam Hussein who was killed in battle in Karbala in Iraq in 680 AD Getty Though the self-flagellation aspect of events marking the day has become best-known, observing Muslims also conduct reenactments of the martyrdom of Hussein and take part in parades and displays of fire-spinning. Afghan Shiite Muslims use chains and blades during ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul on October 9, 2016 (Getty Images) Afghan Shiite Muslims use chains and blades during ritual self-flagellation as part of Ashura commemorations at a mosque in Kabul on October 9, 2016 (Getty Images) Iraqi Shiites uses torches during a parade as part of Ashura commemorations on October 9, 2016 in the holy city of Najaf (Getty Images) Iraqi Shiite children and a man perform during the reenactment of the Battle of Karbala, as part of a parade in preparation for the peak of the mourning period of Ashura on October 7, 2016 in Baghdad's northern district of Kadhimiya (Getty Images) Iraqi Shiite men beat themselves with chains during a parade in preparation for the peak of the mourning period of Ashura on October 9, 2016 in the southern city of Basra (Getty Images) Inevitably, the self-flagellation has been a cause for some controversy. Some religious leaders say the graphic scenes that result tend to paint Shia Muslims in a backward or negative light. And there has been an effort in recent years to channel the annual blood-letting into a more constructive and progressive practice. Some leaders have suggested marking the day by donating blood. The killing of Hussein was the event that led to the schism in Islam between Sunni and Shia Muslims, and as such the day also raises heightened security concerns for violence. On Saturday, an Egyptian national driving a garbage truck loaded with explosives and Islamic State papers rammed into a truck carrying five US soldiers in Kuwait, injuring only himself after his bombs apparently failed to detonate. The Kuwaiti authorities had previously warned that they would be increasing security measures in the lead up to Ashura. None of the soldiers were injured in the attack, while the alleged assailant is being treated in hospital. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} The UKs ambassador to the UN has delivered a damning speech to the Security Council condemning Russias actions in the war on Syria, saying the countrys pretensions to peace in the country are a sham. On Saturday Russian representative Vitaly Churkin vetoed a draft resolution written by Spain and France to revive a ceasefire and end air strikes except those against Isis and al-Qaeda affiliated rebels in Syria. It marked the fifth time in as many years that Russia has used its position as a permanent member of the Security Council to block UN action in the almost six-year-long civil war. Speaking directly to his counterpart, British representative Matthew Rycroft said that Russias recent actions in besieged east Aleppo in particular, which is currently suffering from unprecedented Russian-backed shelling by the Syrian regime, exposed just how hollow Russias commitment to the political process is, calling Russian commitment to diplomacy a sham. Instead of investing energy in peace and diplomacy, you have instead supported, facilitated and cooperated with the Syrian regime to retake and destroy any areas standing against [Syrian President Bashar] Assad, Mr Rycroft told the Security Council. Killing off, literally, those who want a moderate, peaceful and pluralistic future. Mr Rycroft went on to say that the Russian veto was a cynical abuse of power, which denigrated the credibility and respect of the Security Council in the eyes of the world. Mr Churkin put forward a Russian resolution for a ceasefire which did not mention air strikes, which was rejected by several members of the council. Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them Show all 13 1 /13 Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Syrian children hold Pokemon Go pictures in the hope people will find them and save them RFS Media Office Around 250,000 civilians remain trapped in rebel-held east Aleppo. The UK, US and French delegations to the UN have previously condemned shelling of the area for allegedly deliberately targeting civilian buildings such as hospitals and Syrian civil defence service rescue centres. More than 300 people have died because of strikes in recent weeks, the World Health Organisation and several monitors say. French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the Security Council that he will ask the International Court of Justice to investigate whether Russia is guilty of war crimes for its use of particularly brutal cluster munitions, ground-penetrating bombs and white phosphorus on built-up areas in east Aleppo. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} All day and all night, the big white trucks roar along the muddy road inside the black, volcanic walls of Diyarbakir. They enter the old city empty and leave piled high with rubble. When I walk down the same narrow road after dusk, two massive bright searchlights switch themselves on. Despite the glare, I can see a crumpled house, a smashed roof. And then a policeman in a flak jacket holding an AK-47 steps into the light. You can go no further, he says to me in Turkish, bored, tired. Hes given this order a thousand times to the Kurds. In the narrow laneways behind me, where a tiny 16th century palace tea-house and an ancient Islamic madrasa school have survived, there are hundreds of houses peppered with bullet holes, their glass broken, scorch marks above the windows. When I walk into the broken entrance of one, I find the internal lower walls have been smashed through as fighters sought to move between buildings to avoid government snipers. There are the remains of tunnels through which the same men climbed to avoid capture. Sound familiar? But no. This is not Aleppo. Nor Homs. Nor the crushed suburbs of Damascus. This is the Kurdish capital of south-eastern Turkey today, the dark mirror to the tragedy of Syria; a largely unreported catastrophe which has joined all the other forgotten suffering of this region occupied Palestine comes to mind now that Washington and Moscow are fighting over the right to decide the future of the Middle East. Only today, of course, it is the Kurdish PKK workers party more gruesomely-obedient party than workers, Ive always thought which is fighting the Turkish governments soldiers and policemen. The damaged columns of a 16th-century minaret in the Sur district of Diyarbakir (Reuters) Walking around both the brashly, almost repulsively new, and staggeringly old versions of Diyarbakir, you cannot fail to understand its uniqueness. No Islamist fighters would ever join this battle. Indeed, they might choose to take the side of the Erdogan government, which effectively restarted this old war when it abandoned a genuinely optimistic peace process with the Kurds and whose AKP and heres the rub for lovers of independence wars has more adherents in Kurdistan than any Kurdish party. Until the truce fell apart amid Erdogans arrogant assumption that nationalism was more important than peace, many Kurdish people in this land believed there might be rapprochement at last with their Turkish neighbours. But amid the daily attacks in the city and in the countryside on PKK fighters, police stations, army patrols all that was gained when Kurds briefly entered the national parliament is now being squandered. Kurdish newspapers have been closed, along with their television stations. Even the Tigris University is still constrained to call its Kurdish department the Department of Living Dialogue, although at least it still exists. Take the battles that consumed this city towards the end of last November and then in the first months of this year. Not only did they destroy part of the centre of Diyarbakir, a small- scale version of the soukh-destruction of Aleppo, but they turned war once more into something normal. After a recent gun battle amid the orchards alongside the miserable sewer that still passes for the Tigris river, the authorities were only just prevented from cutting down this citys biological lung as American troops often did in Iraq and Israeli troops do in the occupied West Bank and Syrian soldiers do north of Lattakia by the threat of mass protests. Thus the pageant of trees remains, courtesy of potential demonstrations, as both cover for the PKK and ambush points for the army. Truce saves arboretum. Everyone can recall the most recent drama Kurds and Turks tell remarkably similar stories which was the culmination of street battles between the PKK and the army. On 28 November last year, the head of the local Bar Association, Tahir Elci, was holding a press conference in front of the minaret of the four legs a sobriquet earned by the rather Big Ben-style minaret which is supported by four stone piles in the very centre of Diyarbakir. He wished to protest about the continuation of the fighting. Two PKK fighters apparently set out to assassinate him. Both were apparently being trailed by the cops. A battle broke out and the two PKK members hijacked a taxi which as in every movie happened to be driven by an off-duty police officer. He managed to contact his headquarters whose uniformed police then stopped the taxi. The gunmen then killed both the police and the off-duty driver and fled towards the scene of Elcis press conference. More police then opened fire on the PKK and the two men shot back and Elci was hit by a bullet in the head right between the eyes, as one witness told me, as if to emphasise the deliberateness of the act. A stray round? And if so, who fired it? Thus began, even before Elcis funeral, the inevitable question: was the man assassinated by the police or by the PKK? In the aftermath, the battles resumed in the city centre, and the authorities managed to destroy so much of the place in their scramble to destroy the PKK fighters there the PKK, of course, being the terrorist force infinitely more important to Erdogans anti-terror war than Isis that national shame has taken the place of victory. The police have draped a huge curtain of heavy plastic across the street where Elci died beside the minaret so that you can no longer see the destruction of the ancient buildings behind. The plastic sheet has taken the place of words. The covered columns of the minaret (Nelofer Pazira) I walked up to the wretched thing and tried to look through holes in the curtain. But there were other curtains behind it. You cannot look any further, a plain-clothes policeman shouted at us. Then through the curtain came a woman carrying a baby, the wife and child of a policeman behind the screen; family visits, it seems, are essential to keep up the morale of the policemen patrolling amid the rubble. This was more than surreal. Outside on the main street, the ancient khan buildings of the Kahvaltici Kadri serve the best breakfasts in Diyarbakir the courtyard is packed with families drinking tea, selling ground Kurdish coffee beans in packets, or carpets bearing the faces of leading Kurds; there is Mustafa Barzani, and Riza Sayed Talabani, and a Kurdish commander who committed suicide in prison in the 1990s, and Deniz Gezmis from Erzurum, hanged by the government in 1972 after the Turkish coup of 1970. Theres even a portrait of Imam Ali who was definitely not a Kurd and whose presence among the carpets even the seller could not explain to me. Just outside the gate lurked two big police armoured vehicles painted white and blue with POLIS on the side and a store of childrens toys which included plastic AK-47s and, yes, a perfect set of miniature police armoured vehicles painted white and blue with POLIS on the side. Young men in shades and flak jackets real ones, with rifles in their hands watched the crowds with something approaching insouciance. This war, I suppose, has gone on so long that the drama of change has somehow been sucked out of it. Down another of the smashed alleyways, a middle-aged woman and her family beckon to us from a coffee shop. She is a school teacher. Sooner or later the police will leave, she says with bleak eloquence, smiling all the while. But this is our place, and when the police go, we will still be here. I was left to reflect upon this self-evident truth when I passed a street placard, advertising a local Kurdish performance of a Shakespeare play, on all week. To Be or Not To Be it was called you know the real name so I guess that the Prince of Denmark must now be Diyarbakirs hero. He killed the king, of course. But he ended up dead. And the best line is: Words, words, words. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Five radio journalists operating in the Palestinian city of Hebron have been arrested for inciting violence against Israelis, amid growing concerns that the offence is being used to crack down on Palestinian freedom of the press and freedom of expression online. Five of start-up Sanabel Radios founders were arrested in a dawn raid last month during what an Israeli army spokesperson said was an ongoing effort against incitement, as the station had repeatedly broadcasted inciting content, encouraging, celebrating and promoting violence and terrorism against Israelis. Most of the stations equipment was confiscated and the doors to the premises welded shut, the Palestinian Centre for Development and Media Freedoms (Mada) said, under an order to cease operations for three months. The journalists in question deny allegations that their work promotes violence. The Israeli Defence Force (IDF) has shut down six Palestinian TV and radio outlets since a new wave of violence erupted last October which has killed 222 Palestinians, 36 Israelis, two Americans, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national to date, according to a count by AFP. Also last month, seven prominent Palestinian journalists from Shehab News Agency and Quds News Network, both in the West Bank, temporarily had their Facebook accounts suspended in what Facebook later said was an error. While both outlets have been accused of having extremist links, the individual journalists involved again denied that their work had anything to do with inciting terrorism. One journalist and translator for Quds said she believed the accounts had been blocked because of a new initiative between Facebook and Israeli government ministers to tackle incitement on the platform. Israel has drafted legislation to compel the company to delete inflammatory content which it says has fuelled a spate of high-profile Palestinian attacks on Israeli civilians in the past year, which prompted a delegation from Facebook to meet with Interior Minister Gilad Erdan for what were described as successful talks last month. No further details were given. Freedom for Palestine's sons comes at a price Show all 1 1 /1 Freedom for Palestine's sons comes at a price Freedom for Palestine's sons comes at a price 657547.bin Quique Kierszenbaum At least 150 Palestinians have been arrested in recent months for incitement through social media, but often civilians, activists and journalists are targeted for posts criticising Israeli actions rather than inciting violence, according to the Palestine Information Centre. 26 journalists are also currently being held in prison without any charges formally brought against them, Mada says, causing growing concern among rights groups that Palestinian freedom of expression is being stifled. We noted an increase of the Israeli arrests of journalists and activists since October last year, a spokeperson for Mada said. The dangerous issue is the Israeli pressure on Facebook and Twitter, which resulted in the blocking of more than 20 personal and some media outlets sites last month by Facebooks administrators. Facebook did not immediately respond to The Independent's request for comment. Israels Shimon Peres laid to rest There is currently no legal precedent in Israel for charging people with an offence related to online posts, a West Bank-based legal organisation, Addameer, told The Independent earlier this year. Khalid al-Araj, a manager from the Palestinian Prisoners Society, said that the 26 journalists currently behind bars were under administrative detention, and had not been charged or tried with any offence. The tactic is used because [Israeli authorities] want to silence the journalists, but they don't have any real charges to levy against them, he told Al Jazeera. For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Breaking News email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Rebel forces in Yemen are thought to be to blame after a missile was fired on a US Navy warship in the Red Sea. The USS Mason, a guided missile destroyer, was shot at with rockets but was undamaged. The vessel was on a routine patrol in international waters, according to officials. Video footage shows moment air strike hits funeral in Yemen USS Mason detected two inbound missiles over a 60-minute period while in the Red Sea off the coast of Yemen. Both missiles impacted the water before reaching the ship, Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis said. There were no injuries to our sailors and no damage to the ship. The Pentagon did not specify how close the missiles came to the USS Mason. However, a US defence official told Reuters the first missile forced the USS Mason to take defensive measures. World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty The attack follows a similar incident involving a UAE naval vessel in early October in the Bab al-Mandeb strait, which lies between Yemen and Djibouti. While UAE state media reported it as an accident, Houthi fighters said they attacked it with rockets. Since 2014, the Houthi movement allied with former Yemeni president Ali Abdullah Saleh have been fighting a bitter civil war against President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi, who is allied with Saudi Arabia. Saudi-led coalition airstrikes against Yemen have killed thousands of civilians, resulting in international condemnation. On Saturday, more than 140 people were killed after an airstrike on a funeral in the capital Sanaa, blamed on the coalition. Witnesses said the bombs caused a lake of blood inside the hall where the funeral was being held. The slaughter was so bad it prompted the US to launch an immediate review of its support for the coalition and the British government to stress that its arms sales to Saudi Arabia are under careful and continual review. The key test ... for our continued licensing of arms exports to Saudi Arabia is whether there is a clear risk that those exports might be used in the commission of a serious violation of international humanitarian law, a government spokesperson said. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Pity the passenger inbound to Heathrow or Gatwick, and the residents living some thousands of feet below the circling aircraft. The worlds busiest two-runway and single-runway airports are, in a sense, the most efficient aviation assets in the world. They set out to handle implausible amounts of traffic, and most of the time just about get away with it with travellers and householders growing accustomed to the time-devouring, noise-intensifying delays to landing and take off. Whod choose to use such overstretched resources? Well, millions of passengers every week. London has become the world capital of aviation, on target to handle 150 million arriving and departing travellers this year, despite itself. Stansted, Luton and plucky Southend are soaking up some of the excess demand that Heathrow and Gatwick cant accommodate, with London City carving out a niche for time-sensitive business travellers. Yet a decade from now, London and the rest of the nation may have something approaching sensible infrastructure. We wait 70 years for another full-length runway in south-east England to get the go-ahead, and then two come along at once or at least they might if the Government gives the green light to Heathrow. The prevarication that has characterised airport planning for decades may finally end this week or next. As The Independent revealed on Sunday, Gatwick bosses believe the airports growth trajectory demands another runway regardless of the Transport Secretarys announcement, which is expected as early as Tuesday. For the past 15 months, Heathrow has been hoping that the Davies Commission recommendation for a third runway will be rubber-stamped. Assuming the vote goes against Gatwick, the Sussex airport has now indicated it will flout the referees decision and hire the bulldozers anyway. Gatwicks rebellious attitude may prove to be yet another distraction to a process that has dragged on as long as Womans Hour on BBC Radio 4. Or it could mean that the UK, for the first time in aviation history, becomes future-proofed with Stansted waiting in the wings in Essex for the next round of expansion. Patrons of the Five Bells in Harmondsworth and the Gatwick Manor Inn may feel aggrieved that their historic drinking dens are under threat from expansion at either airport. But many of the rest of us will feel relieved: householders whose property has been blighted for decades, young people whose employment prospects are uncertain, and passengers who feel theyve been going around in circles forever, just like the great airport debate. Sign up to Simon Calders free travel email for weekly expert advice and money-saving discounts Get Simon Calders Travel email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the Simon Calders Travel email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Just when you thought it strange enough that Tarragona, a pretty port city in Catalonia, recently opened its first North Korea-themed cafe, you then realise its owner is a Kim Jong-un supporter and president of the Korean Friendship Association. When we first heard about Pyongyang Cafe, which opened this summer, we assumed it was a joke theme a huge North Korean flag hanging behind the bar, propaganda posters from Pyongyang plastering the walls, and Asian beers in the fridge. But then we realised the owner, Alejandro Cao de Benos, is an avid fan of North Korea, who claims the country is a victim of a smear campaign by the West. Not only that, but he apparently hopes to turn Pyongyang Cafe into a cultural centre celebrating all things North Korean, with film screenings, in-depth talks and traditional dishes all on the menu. Recommended Read more The countries that are worse to visit than North Korea Suddenly a trip to Pyongyang Cafe sounds less fun. There are, however, still plenty of other bonkers themed bars around the world where you can snap your selfie, enjoy a few stiff drinks and yet not be lectured in the wisdom of Kim Jong-un. Here are a few to add to your list. Tokyo: Golden Gai If youre interested in exploring Tokyos nightlife scene, be assured that Shinjukus Golden Gai area is an absolute highlight. Its a mini maze of six narrow alleys stuffed with teeny bars all piled one on top of the other (almost 300 of them), each with their own theme and space for just a handful of guests. While many bars have a strict locals-only policy, some are foreigner-friendly you just have to be brave and ask. And its worth the steady stream of rejection until someone takes pity, as each bar is a truly unique character like Tachibana shinryoushitsu, a surgery-themed spot with worrying-sounding cocktails such as the enema served in surgical beakers, a collection of decorative anatomical models and a barwoman dressed as a nurse. the-goldengai.com Tokyo's Golden Gai district (Stephen Kelly/Flickr/CC BY 2.0) Limpopo Province: Baobab Tree Bar An oldie but a goodie, the Baobab Tree Bar situated inside a 6,000-year-old baobab tree in South Africa first opened in the late Eighties. It might be inside a tree, but that doesnt stop it from being kitted out with all the bar essentials, including a dart board and a flat screen TV. The tree is large enough to comfortably seat 15 customers inside its hollow trunk, and is set on a scenic mango farm where visitors can also hire quad bikes or go hiking. bigbaobab.co.za A bar inside a hollow tree trunk in South Africa (bigbaobab.co.za) Berlin: Madame Claude The fact Madame Claude bar is a former brothel in Berlins too-cool district of Kreuzberg isnt the most interesting thing about it not by far. No, no, the oddest thing about Madame Claude is that its an upside down bar, which means everything youd expect to be on the floor is actually glued to the ceiling. With tables, chairs and rugs hanging above you, its all a bit confusing but we have it on good authority that this is not necessarily the strangest thing you'll see on a night out in Berlin. madameclaude.de Prepared to be confused in Berlin's Madame Claude bar (madameclaude.de) Recommended Read more 48 Hours In New York Manhattan: Genuine Liquorette As with any cocktail bar in NYC deemed worthy of the prefix cool, Genuine Liquorette is hidden within a fast food joint this time its Genuine Superette, essentially a burgers and fried chicken spot, nattily positioned as a take on the classic California roadside stand. But more interesting is the basement bar dressed up like a neon-lit California liquor store, where cocktails are mixed with the help of a Cha-Chunker a hole-punching contraption that upends a mini bottle of liquor into a canned soft drink. Sounds daft, but it looks great. eatgenuine.com The California liquor store interior of Genuine Liquorette (Genuine Roadside/Facebook) Cocktails at Genuine Liquorette, made using the "Cha-Chunker" (Genuine Roadside/Facebook) Antarctica: Faraday Bar Vernadsky Research Base, which sits lonesome on the Antarctic Peninsula, has one warming comfort to offer its scientists a British boozer. The pub was constructed from timber meant for a pier when the Brits occupied what was then called Faraday station good to know they had their priorities in order. The base was bought by Ukraine for a symbolic 1 in 1996, but they kept the pub, with its pool table, dart board and bras hanging behind the bar. Order the homemade vodka and understand why the Ukrainians here remain cheerful despite their isolation. Youll need to join an expedition to Antarctica to drink here. quarkexpeditions.com Sign up for the View from Westminster email for expert analysis straight to your inbox Get our free View from Westminster email Please enter a valid email address Please enter a valid email address SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy notice Thanks for signing up to the View from Westminster email {{ #verifyErrors }}{{ message }}{{ /verifyErrors }}{{ ^verifyErrors }}Something went wrong. Please try again later{{ /verifyErrors }} Perhaps Im not the only woman who bears a grudging respect for women like Hillary Clinton who stick by their man post-infidelity. Any of us can scream, shout, throw paint, then call the lawyers. Perhaps Hilary did all this in the Nineties when first faced with the stories of Monica Lewinsky, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick. But I find the stage after the initial shouting most interesting because most of us, when faced with broken trust, will react by breaking, smashing, nulling and voiding everything nice and good in its peripheries. Families will be split, houses sold, furniture fought over, retirement funds obliterated, future Christmases ruined, children put in therapy and perhaps most damaging, decades of harmonious personal history rewritten as a big fat waste of time. Hillary Clinton, for better or worse, is one of those women who could look past the straying dick and see the bigger picture. Weathering a Bill Clinton in ones life for 44 years requires a level of fortitude that the average mere mortal cannot reckon. They find it weird. Furthermore, many feminists will take a dim view of women who choose to stay. This is what makes Trumps pre-debate stunt last night so bleakly damning. Hillary Clinton, like all women, cannot win in the face of male infidelity. If the wife stays shes a doormat, or a schemer, or a Lady Macbeth egging on his wicked behaviour. Yet if she leaves and files for divorce shes a gold-digger, wrecking a good family over her shallow pride and trying to ruin a good man via the courts. Lets be honest: whichever way Hillary Clinton had jumped in the Nineties, she would still be seen now through the prism of a mans penis, White House or no. Ironically, in contrast to Hillarys staying power as a wife, three-times-married Donald Trump believes women reach their check-out time around the age of 35. Poor decrepit Melania. Trump also believes its hard to score a 10 as a woman in his eyes with small boobs, as well as that when youre a star, shoving an unsolicited rummaging hand into a womens labia is a job perk. But oddly, it was not the fact that Trumps attitude to women is that of the most odious bar-fly in a village pub which came under scrutiny last night. Instead, at the pre-debate press call, Trump positioned himself as a defender of women and as a granter of a platform to the unheard. Donald Trump says 'sexual assault' critics should focus on 'more important things like Isis' Jones, Willey and Broaddrick all claim to have had non-consensual sexual contact with Bill Clinton. The details of these cases are, as sexual assault accusations tend to be, immensely complex, nuanced and highly difficult to prove. Broaddrick, for example, claims to have been raped by Bill Clinton in 1978, with the story first surfacing in 1992. Broaddrick then denied this allegation in a sworn affidavit, but then some years later recanted her denial. In the Nineties, Bill Clinton vehemently denied Broaddricks allegations through his lawyer, David A Kendall. Last year Hillary Clinton was asked what she would say to Broaddrick, Willey and Jones and replied, Well, I would say that everyone should be believed at first until they are disbelieved based on evidence. Hillary Clinton has no doubt lived with the minute details of these womens allegations for decades and is highly aware that any public reaction she has will be deemed wrong. She cannot be defensive, flippant, heartless, non-sisterly, angry, wounded, sympathetic or sorry on her husbands behalf as this would hint at culpability. She can neither talk coherently on the matter nor bat it away. Trump produced those women last night safe in the knowledge that Clinton could not say anything at all. What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? Show all 8 1 /8 What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On the leaked tape from 2005 where he talks about sexually assaulting women I'm very embarrassed by it, I hate it, but it's locker room talk. It's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of Isis Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Hillary Clinton I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. There has never been so many lies, so much deception. You ought to be ashamed of yourself. Rex What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On Bill Clinton What he's done to women, there's never been anybody in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. AP What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On whether his alleged opposition to Iraq War had been disproven "Its not debunked. Its not debunked." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On exploiting tax loopholes "I absolutely used it, and so did Warren Buffett, and so did George Soros and so did many people who Hillary is getting money from." Getty What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On claims he's sexist I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On what he respects about Hillary Clinton I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. Reuters What did Donald Trump say during the second presidential debate? On his controversial immigration policies "Its called extreme vetting. Were going to areas like Syria, where they are coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton wanting to allow a 550 per cent increase [of refugees] over Obama. People are coming into this country. We have no idea who they are, where they are from and what their feelings are about this country." Getty But if Hillary Clintons thoughts on the matter are opaque, Trumps insincerity as womens rights campaigner is very clear. Trump did not invite those women to make an erudite point on rape culture. Trump merely hoped to wrong-foot a woman much smarter and accomplished than himself by parading a load of women who claim to have been shagged by her husband around an hour before the most crucial point in Hillary Clintons entire political career. But it did not severely hamper her. This is what scares men like Trump about bloody difficult women who arent a 10 and just wont check out. Theyre made of much, much stronger stuff. Immigrant Council of Ireland reveals number of sham marriages and treatment of women, many from the Baltic states Justice chiefs are running a seriously flawed system for identifying victims of human trafficking, rights campaigners have warned. The Immigrant Council of Ireland issued the warning as it revealed hundreds of young women from Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania, often poor and not well educated, were brought by gangs to Ireland from 2009 to wed mainly Asian men in sham marriages. It said it was particularly concerned about the numbers who were raped after being brought here, and the numbers who were highly vulnerable, with some having mental health difficulties. Brian Killoran, chief executive of the Immigrant Council of Ireland, hit out at lawmakers for not defining the women as victims of human trafficking. He said there were strong indicators that the prospective paid-for brides had been trafficked, including "a highly organised system of targeting, recruiting and exploiting vulnerable young women". "There is also evidence of deception and control; movement across borders; appalling experiences of physical and psychological abuse; and incidents of rape, sexual abuse and enforced domestic servitude," he said. In 2014 gardai began Operation Vantage, which found a clear pattern of men from the Indian sub-continent marrying in Ireland to women from Eastern Europe - mainly Latvia, Romania, Hungary and Estonia, and also Portugal. The Immigrant Council of Ireland described the problem as pervasive. Marriage data revealed more than 1,600 marriages were registered in Ireland between Latvians and third country nationals since 2004. Since 2006 about 2000 people not from Ireland or Latvia applied for a residence permit as a family member of an EU national, based on a marriage with a Latvian citizen. Estonia records about 45 to 50 of its citizens getting married in Ireland each year to people from a third country, often Asians. The Immigrant Council of Ireland report found diplomatic staff in the Baltic states raised concerns about sham marriages with justice chiefs in Ireland to "little effect" and found themselves faced with "negative and unhelpful responses". It said the Latvian embassy reported 233 potential human trafficking victims in Ireland from 2011 to 2014 but Irish authorities did not identify any victims of trafficking within the context of a sham marriage at that time. Mr Killoran said: "At the centre of this phenomenon are international criminal gangs, with sophisticated networks to transport people across borders in a very systematic way. "Addressing this issue will require bilateral, police and NGO cooperation between origin states and Ireland, and effective law-enforcement responses and measures to prevent exploitation." The Immigrant Council of Ireland said the system for identifying human trafficking victims in Ireland is seriously flawed. It said NGOs have been at the forefront of responding to the needs of all victims of trafficking, "and the case of women subjected to exploitative sham marriage is no different". "The failure of the authorities to formally identify these women, as well as other EU citizens and asylum seekers, as victims of trafficking crimes, and to provide appropriate safe accommodation, especially for victims of sexual violations, continues to frustrate their efforts to deliver best practice responses," the report said. The Department of Justice said the report was "somewhat outdated" as it dealt with the legal position up to the end of 2015. It said there have been " significant measures" to address this issue, including new powers from August last year for officials in the civil registration service to refuse a licence if a couple is suspected of attempting a sham marriage. It said 63 people have been arrested under Operation Vantage and they have been either charged, prosecuted or removed from Ireland and that gardai estimate sham marriages have been reduced by 75%. Britain is hoping to move frontline immigration controls to Irish ports and airports to avoid enforcing a 'hard border' between the North and the Republic. Northern Ireland Secretary, James Brokenshire, has said London and Dublin will work to strengthen Ireland's borders to prevent illegal migration into the UK. The move would come into effect once the UK leaves the European Union. Speaking to The Guardian, Mr Brokenshire said there was now a "high level of collaboration on a joint programme of work" between Ireland and Britain. "We have put in place a range of measures to further combat illegal migration working closely with the Irish Government," he said. "Our focus is to strengthen the external border of the common travel area, building on the strong collaboration with our Irish partners." Expand Close Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire. Photo: Gareth Chaney Collins He also stressed that Brexit would not destabilise Northern Ireland's power-sharing institutions, and would not provide dissidents with a propaganda boost. "There is no reason to think that the outcome of the referendum will do anything to undermine the rock-solid commitment of the UK government and the people of Northern Ireland to the settlement set out in the Belfast Agreement and its successors," he added. Questions over the North-South Border have been rampant since the UK voted to leave the European Union, with fears that border controls would have to be put in place to control immigration. Such measures could be seen as a violation of the Good Friday Agreement. But shifting the focus of immigration controls to Dublin Airport and Rosslare Europort could help to avoid such a violation. The proposed measures would be mainly aimed at non-Europeans wishing to enter the common travel area between Ireland and Britain. Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said he welcomed Mr Brokenshire's commitment to an invisible border between North and South. "In terms of the threat of illegal immigration through the Border, the sharing of information is vital, as is the sharing of systems and the use of digital technology," he said. "These are means by which we can ensure that any adverse impact is minimised. The object of our engagement is to maintain the common travel area." But he added that upgrading immigration controls between the two countries would have to be negotiated along with Ireland's EU partners. "I have been impressing on my fellow 26 EU foreign ministerial colleagues the importance of maintaining what is now an invisible border," he said. He said his EU counterparts had a "deep understanding" of the impact a fortified border could have on the peace process. For the first time in years this week, car parks in towns such as Derry and Newry are filling up with shoppers from south of the Border, seeking to make large savings on a range of goods. From cars to computers and coats to cots, the rise of the euro against Sterling is already sending shockwaves through businesses and their employees in the Republic. For everyone from hard-pressed families looking for an early Christmas bargain to couples on weekend shopping breaks, it's been six years since they've had it so good. And our survey of UK-owned retail stores with branches on both sides of the Border shows just how much can be saved. With some analysts predicting parity between the two currencies over the next few months, the shocks caused by Brexit are starting to hit communities in the Republic. Even in a retailer like Halfords, with a solid reputation for almost price-matching items either side of the frontier, the sterling slide is starting to show. Expand Close The rise of the euro against Sterling is sending shockwaves through businesses in the Republic. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The rise of the euro against Sterling is sending shockwaves through businesses in the Republic. Photo: Brian Lawless/PA Wire A Boardman MX Comp bike in its RoI stores sells for 711 while it's 676.88 in the North, a saving of 34.12. There are similar savings across all bikes in that range, however a more expensive Boardman Hybrid Team bike can be bought for 75 cheaper - a saving of 10pc. Other items in Halfords are now significantly cheaper, with a 54.13 saving on a Karcher pressure washer. A Halfords spokesperson said: "We work hard to offer our Irish customers fair and transparent pricing. Many factors impact the price of our products in the Republic of Ireland including transportation, VAT and excise, commercial rents and energy charges. We constantly monitor currency fluctuations to ensure our prices are consistent and fair throughout the year." A range of toys are also cheaper in Northern branches of Smyths - thanks mainly to the exchange rate. Read more: 'Brexit will destroy the economy in this region' - Protests held in border areas The popular Xbox One S 1TB with FIFA bundle, which sells in its southern shops for 379.99 is the equivalent of 338.99 in the North, a saving of 41. However, the PlayStation 4 Slim with FIFA bundle is just four euro cheaper in the North. Other items which will be popular on Santa lists this year were also cheaper. A 13-ft trampoline with enclosure is 46.60 cheaper, there is a 13.50 saving on the Barbie Malibu Mall with dolls, and a 9.80 saving on a popular Nikko remote control car. You can save 24 on a Kettler go-kart and the same saving on a Star Wars Lego set. A customer buying all these goods priced by us at Smyths would save 162.90 in the North. Meanwhile, a selection of clothes at Topshop were all considerably cheaper in their Northern stores - particularly the shop's designer range. A Mixed Print Funnel Dress by Boutique cost 180 in the south but 146.90 in the North. And its Ultimate Biker Jacket in the same designer range will set you back 360 south of the border but 276.85 in the North, a saving of 83.15. Many Marks & Spencer's items were also much cheaper in the North, although the company did ditch its 1 to 1.50 pricing base several years ago. A tailored men's suit in its Belfast store will cost you 203.40 - the same suit in Dublin will cost you 270. A pair of leather brogues are also more than 20 cheaper in the North; making a suit-and-shoes purchase on these items 88.23 cheaper in the North. Costs An M&S spokeswoman said: "We work hard to ensure we offer our customers in Ireland great quality products that are competitively priced. Like any business, we have to take into consideration a number of factors specific to the Irish market when setting our prices, such as higher employment, rental and operational costs." Department store Debenhams also charges much less across a range of goods including its Phase Eight Abigail Dress (71.43 cheaper); Butterfly by Matthew Williamson Nude Imani embellished evening dress (28.86 cheaper) and John Rocha Vintage Brooke jeans (14.80). A spokeswoman said: "Debenhams operates a number of individual websites which are tailored to local markets and include local sizing and local currency payment. Prices of products sold in markets outside of the UK are not a direct currency conversion and reflective of the operational costs and overheads, such as VAT involved in trading in additional regions." Furniture retail giant DFS is known for its sales and its bargains, but with the slide of sterling, prices in the North are even more competitive. Customers from Donegal visiting its store in Derry's Waterside are even offered free delivery. Buying a Loch Leven traditional sofa can give you a saving of 566.13 over buying the same sofa in Dublin. A DFS spokeswoman said: "Our prices are set well in advance and so it isn't feasible for us to change our prices with every exchange rate fluctuation. "It should also be noted that our shipping and transportation costs to Ireland are higher and our in-country overheads haven't changed - we pay salaries, rents and local transport costs in euro. "However, we do review prices on a regular basis and at the moment we are waiting to see how the exchange rate settles post Brexit." Currys PC World also operates on either side of the border and has, in recent years, kept prices as close as possible. Read more: Brokenshire vows to fight for North in Brexit talks But that is changing now too. An 9.7" iPad Pro 32GB is 78.63 cheaper in its Derry shop. We did find an American-style fridge 17 more expensive in the North but when it came to luxury TVs, they are still much cheaper in the south. Meanwhile, Argos catalogues issued are almost identical - except for the higher prices in its southern version. Argos said it strives to be the best value general merchandise retailer and is committed to offering choice, value and convenience to all our customers. A spokeswoman said: "We constantly review and adjust our prices throughout the life of a catalogue to ensure we continue to offer competitive pricing and promotions throughout the year. "However, unlike many of our competitors we have to publish prices in the catalogue which will last for the full six months lifespan of the catalogue." The number of Britain-based candidates looking at Irish job vacancies has continued to increase following a spike in the immediate wake of the Brexit vote on June 23. Analysis by a job search website reveals millions of job searches made by UK-based jobseekers. It shows that searches for jobs in Ireland were 20pc higher on average in the 100 days after the referendum than before it - the highest increase for any market. A further spike is now expected in the wake of an increasingly tough stance being adopted by the British government for a so-called 'hard Brexit' and stark rhetoric from UK Home Secretary Amber Rudd, who said she would "flush out" companies employing foreigners in jobs that could be filled locally. Research by the recruitment website, Indeed, showed a 250pc spike in searches in the 24 hours after the Brexit vote. The data now shows that on a four-week moving average, the increase has been sustained. Read more: We'll make soft Border work after Brexit, says top aide Read more: Irish exporters report 140bn in turnover ahead of Brexit "We now see the increase in people looking at jobs outside the UK post-Brexit is both sustained and increasing. As the only English-speaking EU member, with the fastest growth rate and flexible labour markets, Ireland is well placed to attract these labour flows and potentially additional foreign direct investment," said Mariano Mamertino, EMEA economist at Indeed. "British Prime Minister Theresa May's confirmation of the date to trigger Article 50 by the end of March 2017 now makes a 'hard Brexit' look more likely, and some of the commentary on immigrant labour from UK cabinet members could unnerve foreign workers and make them consider other options, thereby driving a further spike in October." Mr Mamertino said the UK economy had proved resilient in the first few months since the poll, but cautioned that a deterioration in the hiring appetite of employers coupled with increasing talk of a 'hard Brexit', and returning uncertainty over what that might mean, was now prompting many of those who had been thinking of working overseas to job hunt in earnest. Shortage The data shows a spike in Britons looking for jobs in Australia (13pc), Canada (10pc), Germany (9pc) and the EU as a whole. Despite a big push by the French government to capitalise on Brexit by seeking to attract London-based financiers, searches by Britons for jobs in France actually fell by 6pc in the same period. Dublin, along with cities such as Paris and Frankfurt, have been tipped as financial services centres that could benefit from Brexit, but there have been doubts at home about the extent to which Dublin can benefit because of a shortage of housing and the high personal tax rates. The ACCA (Association for Chartered Certified Accountants) Ireland is calling on the Government to take urgent steps in tomorrow's Budget to ensure Dublin is prepared to benefit from Brexit. ACCA Head of Mainland Europe and Ireland Liz Hughes says the country faces a "golden six months" to ready Dublin for competition with other European capitals if London loses crucial access to bank 'passporting' rights in Europe. "The big financial services firms in London are already measuring up Dublin against Frankfurt and Madrid and other potential EU relocation options," said Ms Hughes. "Teams are on the ground making the assessments now. Dublin needs a whole Government plan addressing office accommodation, residential housing, taxation, local government planning, transport, education and training, all coordinated through the Industrial Development Authority." A 200m black hole could emerge in next year's Budget if water charges are abolished. Tomorrow's Budget will make no allowance for the possibility that water charges might not be reintroduced once the current suspension period ends in May. The Dail agreed to suspend bills for nine months while an expert commission reviews the charges introduced by the last government. It is due to report back to the Dail by the end of November at which time an Oireachtas committee will study its findings before the question of water charges it put to TDs again. However, with Fianna Fail now saying it favours using general taxation to fund water infrastructure it seems certain that domestic water bills will not return. Despite this, the Irish Independent understands that Budget 2017 makes no provision for taxation being diverted to Irish Water to make-up the subsequent shortfall. This is likely to create a headache for Housing Minister Simon Coveney's department as he is now responsible for Irish Water. A Department of Finance White Paper published on Saturday showed that the Government has planned to invest 270m in infrastructure next year. A source said: "That figure was always earmarked for capital expenditure. "It would be given to Irish Water regardless of the situation with charges. If charges don't return, the gap will have to be filled somehow." Fianna Fail has also indicated that it would like to give a refund to households who have paid their bill, at an estimated cost of 50m. This is unlikely to happen in 2017 either as the money would have to be taken from other services. Fianna Fail says that it has legal advice showing charges can be abolished without breaching a European Union water framework directive. However, last week the EU Environment Commissioner, Karmenu Vella, in his first comment on the workings of the Expert Commission, said he expected "a robust water-funding" regime, which respects rules set down by the EU. A Dublin restaurant owner hopes to see a cut in excise duty on alcohol, which says makes her businesses uncompetitive. Angela Rutledge co-owns three of the capitals best-known cafes and restaurants. Together with her sister Michelle Moloughney and her brother-in-law Liam Moloughney, she runs Woodstock in Phibsborough, Moloughneys in Clontarf and Olives Room cafe in St Annes Park. The group hired an extra 20 people this year. But she admits that 2016 hasnt been easy, with rising excise duty and staff costs. Angela would also like the Government to address ever-rising rents in the capital, which she feels are forcing her qualified staff to leave. But she hopes to see the States 9pc VAT rate stay, which she believes is critical to employment and industry. Ever-increasing taxes on alcohol is putting severe pressure on one Dublin off-licence. Garret Connolly, owner of Baggot Street Wines, says a reduction in excise duty is the top change hed like to see in this years budget. He also wants to see the Government address commercial rents in Dublin, which he says are now out of control. However, Garret added that he wants to see the States 9pc VAT rate remain. Baggot Street Wines was originally part of the Oddbins chain, a UK-based off licence franchise. When Oddbins went bust in 2011, the staff at the Dublin store decided to continue as an independent shop. The wine and beer specialists have now developed a large, loyal customer base and have also opened a wine bar called Cavern in their basement. At home, the Budget will dominate the week ahead, while abroad investors will likely continue to keep a close eye on any comments related to the Brexit vote and its impact on sterling. Finance Minister Michael Noonan and Public Expenditure and Reform Minister Paschal Donohoe will deliver the new Government's first Budget tomorrow, with around 1bn of tax cuts and spending hikes expected. Elsewhere, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney and his five deputies speak at a series of public events aimed at examining how the Central Bank can better serve society. The governors will hold talks with business leaders, teachers, students and the wider public in Birmingham, Derby, Dudley, Leicester and Nottingham. Expect further comments on the UK economy in the wake of the referendum. Also, European Central Bank Executive Board member Yves Mersch gives a speech at Harvard University about monetary policy on both sides of the Atlantic. (Additional reporting Bloomberg) Ulster Bank has sold its 2.5bn Project Oyster book of problem loans to Cerberus the buyer of Nama's controversial Northern Ireland portfolio and Ptsb's UK commercial mortgages. The loans sold by Ulster Bank include more than 900 family home loans. In all the sale of is made up of distressed business loans (65 per cenct), buy-to-let mortgages (23 per cent) and owner-occupier mortgages (12pc). Its thought they sold for a steep discount, but the sale was aimed at substantially clearing out all of Ulster Banks remaining toxic property linked loans on both sides of the border. Ulster Bank has confirmed the sale, but not the price. "Ulster Bank has confirmed the completion of a sale of a significantly impaired loan portfolio enabling the bank to strengthen its balance sheet for the benefit of its customers and provide much needed competition in the Irish banking market. "The loans involved are all in Ulster Banks Problem Debt Management unit and have been in arrears or under specialist management for a significant period of time." The bank said it will now begin contacting customers whose loans have been sold. The bank said all of the loans involved in the sale are in steep arrears. All of the home loans affected are involved in legal processes to have the home repossessed, the bank said. Just three months on from the suspension of water charges Irish Water is now looking to hire a debt collection company. The State agency has put out a tender for a firm to start collecting debts owed to it by businesses across the country. The tender also details the possibility of extending its responsibilities to include the collection of domestic debt, however this is unlikely to occur until the end of the suspension on the charges next year. Read More A description of the opportunity on the eTenders website reads as follows: "Provision of legal debt collection services to Irish Water including : debt collection proceedings in the District, Circuit and High Court for the recovery of overdue non-domestic customer debt for water and waste water charges including ancillary services debt collection legal services option to extend services to include debt collection proceedings in the District, Circuit and High Court for the recovery of overdue domestic water and waste water charges." Irish Water will close the application process for the tender, which is separated into three lots, on November 9. The tender is broken up based on location with each lot representing a region. Lot one covers the Connaught and Ulster region, Lot two covers the 'Southern' region, while lot three covers the Eastern and Midlands region. Read More Irish Water issued the following response on the tender: "An independent expert commission has been set up to make recommendations on a sustainable long-term funding model for the delivery of household water and wastewater services by Irish Water. "The commissions recommendations will then be reviewed by an Oireachtas committee before a vote in the Dail takes place. Until that time Irish Water will not issue any bills or reminders to domestic customers during the suspension period. Domestic customers remain liable for balances due on any bills issued to date and Irish Water continues to accept payment and to deal with any billing queries. ""As part of the migration of non-Domestic water accounts from Local Authorities, Irish Water will also take over responsibility for the management of credit and collections. While procuring for non-domestic debt recovery, Irish Water has taken the precautionary measure of including the recovery of domestic debt in the tender to avoid the possibility of having to make an additional procurement pending decisions by the government." The news comes after the water regulator was ordered to reduce its costs by 20pc because they are significantly more expensive than comparable utilities. Water charges has been a long running dispute amongst Irish taxpayers and political parties. Its introduction led to major protest across cities and towns and has caused arguments between Government. In September, Taoiseach Enda Kenny rounded on Fianna Fail for calling on an outright ban on water charges. KBC Ireland has been fined 1.4m and reprimanded for breaching rules on lending to a person connected to bank. The Central Bank of Ireland said it has fined KBC Bank Ireland Plc and reprimanded it for breaches of the Code of Practice on Lending to Related Parties 2010, and the Code of Practice on Lending to Related Parties 2013. The breaches have been admitted by KBC, the Central bank said. Its the first time a bank has been fined under the code, which was introduced to protect against abuses in lending by banks to people with a connection to the institution. Under the code a bank must obtain prior approval from its board or a board subcommittee before making a loan to a related party such as a director, senior manager, significant shareholders or the spouse or partner of any of those categories. A Galway company has been convicted of blagging personal information from the Department of Social Protection to help banks pursue private investigations. Glen Collection Investments and its director, Michael Ryan, pleaded guilty to offences under the Data Protection Acts for unauthorised access to personal data held by the Department of Social Protection. That information was then given to solicitor firms in Dublin representing AIB and Bank Of Ireland. Both the company and Michael Ryan have been fined, with Mr Ryan fined 5,000. The investigation that led to the prosecution was conducted by the Irish DPC. The DPC is also looking into reports that the internet company Yahoo helped US authorities spy on email accounts. Any form of mass surveillance infringing on the fundamental privacy rights of EU citizens would be viewed as a matter of considerable concern by this Office, said a spokeswoman for the office. It's usually the weather. Now there's a new excuse that US retailers and restaurants are floating to explain their lacklustre results. It's the election, stupid. To hear retail executives tell it, the battle for the presidency between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton is causing Americans to put off buying everything from romance novels at Barnes & Noble and jeans from the Gap to burritos at Yum! Brand's Taco Bell. They might even be delaying wedding engagements, not good news for companies like Signet Jewellers Ltd. "The preoccupation with this election is keeping them at home, glued to their TVs and at their desktops," said Len Riggio, the founder and chief executive officer of Barnes & Noble. This election is "unprecedented in terms of the fear, anger and frustration being experienced by the public." Retailers and restaurants have used a handful of well-worn excuses over the years with varying levels of legitimacy. There's the usual culprit, the weather, and shifts in the calendar, such as Easter coming early. Now they've added presidential politics. That explanation had some validity four years ago because the backdrop of the campaign was the so-called fiscal cliff that was due to usher in large tax increases and government spending cuts, says Ken Perkins, president of researcher Retail Metrics. Presidential campaigns have often created uncertainty in corporate boardrooms. Business executives worry about what will happen to fiscal policy, trade and government spending. But it's dubious to assume that such concern is filtering down to the middle class, even if this is a "wacky" campaign, according to Perkins. Meanwhile, some measures of US consumer confidence are the highest in nine years. "They are reaching," Perkins said. "I don't think it's affecting moms as they go out and do their weekly shopping. If it's something you do on a regular basis, you're going to stop doing it because you're worried about which candidate is going to win? It doesn't seem to be affecting Amazon's sales." Even with rising consumer confidence and job gains, many large retailers are posting disappointing results. In the most recent quarter, only 49pc of US chains increased same-store sales, the lowest mark since the recession in 2009, according to Retail Metrics. McDonald's, the world's biggest restaurant chain, cited the election in July, when the Democratic and Republican conventions dominated the news. "There's just a broader level of uncertainty in consumers' minds at the moment, both trying to gauge their financial security going forward, whether through elections, or through global events, people are slightly mindful of an unsettled world," ceo Steve Easterbrook said. "And when people are uncertain, when families are uncertain, caution starts to prevail and they start to hold back on spending." His counterpart at Wendy's, Todd Penegor, said that "there is a lot of uncertainty in the consumer' s mind as we work through the election". Richard Ausick, president of retail for Caleres, which operates Famous Footwear and Dr Scholl's felt that the election "has an impact on the customer, particularly what we're talking about - it being as intense and negatively toned as it has been. "It's probably only going to get worse. That just leaves people concerned about what's going on." Yum ceo Greg Creed echoed those sentiments, saying: "It goes without saying that people are sort of trying to decide who to choose, and what the impact will be on the economy. People may be hunkering down a little bit." (Bloomberg) Prone as humankind is to gossip and speculation, nothing seems to knock us off our tracks more than when something turns out to be other than that which our initial labels say. Celebrities come out and the internet breaks. Bodies are found under patios and interviewees gasp about what a lovely neighbour the killer always was. This tendency will be activated in those who delve into this biography of an extraordinary life lived under the weight of a huge secret. Born in Cork in 1789, Dr James Barry studied medicine in Edinburgh before rising up to become one of the most highly-regarded physicians in the British Empire. His standing saw him command authority in outposts such as Cape Town, Mauritius and Jamaica where he was known as a genteel "lady killer" but with a tempestuous side that once ended in a pistol duel at dawn. A stickler for hygiene and humanitarianism, his efforts as Inspector General of Hospitals brought comfort to medical institutions across the empire, improving conditions for aristocrats, soldiers and slaves alike. He is credited with performing the first ever caesarean in Africa to save both mother and infant. What nobody, or very few at least, knew about Dr Barry before his death at the age of 76 is that he was a woman. The story of this lifelong ruse has been the subject of a decade of exhaustive research by retired Cape Town doctor Michael du Preez. You only have to see the lengthy appendices or wealth of materials to see this has been a labour of love. It has also been a way to not only tell a story that makes George Moore's Albert Nobbs seem a narrow comic farce but also give Dr Barry - or Margaret Ann Bulkley, to use her real name - the treatment she truly deserves. Adding the top notes is UK novelist Jeremy Dronfield, who ensures that an expansive biography has pace, drama and tangible atmospherics. And how could it not. From her early years in Cork as the smarter sibling of a respectable but down-on-its-luck family, the burden of earning fell to her rather than her ne'er-do-well brother. As a teen she was raped by an uncle resulting in a daughter who was raised as her sister. The death of her wealthy painter uncle James Barry in London brought with it modest funding and a support network who decided to help disguise her so that a woman, and a Catholic one at that, could pursue a career in Georgian medicine (a grisly, almost gothic, world of laudanum, amputations and bloodlettings). As far as anyone was concerned, she was just a callow youth approaching manhood. All through the story, hiccups remind you that while the doctor was performing great feats in a world of Napoleonic wars, abolition movements, famine and antiquated social norms, the doctor was hiding an existential hoax. With age, the disguise became harder to conceal and the murmurs of this "singular" man with the "awkward gait" whose "small white hands were the envy of many a lady" intensified. The unveiling of her death brought disgrace. Du Preez and Dronfield speculate with sensitivity about Bulkley's charade and the close calls. By the end of this large volume there's a feeling of the record being set straight on the noble, if muddled, spirit that burned behind the facade. It has to be seen to be believed. The Ray D'Arcy Show took inspiration from Jimmy Fallon's The Tonight Show in the US and treated viewers to a celebrity lip-sync battle. As part of the Marie Keating Foundation's 'Fake Some Noise' campaign, the show invited RTE's Eoghan McDermott and the current Rose of Tralee, Maggie McEldowney, to battle it out with the mic. Eoghan donned a wig to mine along to Beyone's Single Ladies and Watch Me Whip, complete with a cornucopia of Bey-style dance moves, while Maggie battled it out with B*Witched's C'Est La Vie. Sadly there was no denim but she did kick off her shoes to do a spot of Irish dancing. A "RESPECTED and trusted" assistant bank manager who stole over 127,000 from vulnerable customers and friends has been given a two and half year suspended sentence. Owen Travers (61) with an address at Glen Easton Square, Leixlip, Co Kildare pleaded guilty to 15 counts of theft from seven customers over a number of years. Travers said he wanted to convey his deepest apologies to all those affected by his actions at his sentence hearing last May at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court. The shame I've brought on myself and my family is unbearable and something I will have to live with for the rest of my life, he said in a statement read out in court. The court heard Travers, who was an assistant manager at AIB in Clondalkin between 2006 and 2012, stole money ranging in amounts from 200 to 25,000. All of the victims were customers with whom he had a personal relationship and some of them had lent money to him in the past, prosecution barrister Pieter Le Vert, BL, said. Judge Sinead Ni Chulachain accepted that all the money has been repaid to the bank and Travers has sought help for both his gambling addiction and alcoholism. When the house of cards came tumbling down around, you admitted yourself into John of Gods, the judge said before adding that Travers appeared to have gained insight into his behaviour during his psychiatric care. She accepted that his early admissions saved the State a paper heavy and complex prosecution and the Probation Service deem him at a low risk of re-offending if he stays away from alcohol and gambling. It was also noted that he has engaged with the restorative justice programme and was considered suitable for community service. Judge Ni Chulachain said however, that Travers' crime represented a serious breach of trust. You picked victims who were extremely vulnerable. It was calculated so that the chances of you getting caught were reduced, she said. Judge Ni Chulachain suspended the two and half year sentence on strict conditions including that Travers keep the peace and be of good behaviour for five years. The court heard at the sentence hearing in May that Travers' actions came to light in February 2012 after one of his victims noticed a significant amount of money missing from her elderly mother's account. Nearly 25,000 had been taken in unauthorised transactions between July 2010 and January 2012. The woman then noticed that 10,000 was missing from her own company's account. She tried to contact Travers a number of times before taking the matter up with the bank. She later received a call from Travers who told her: It was me. I took the money. I'm sorry I took the money from your mother's account. The court heard Travers made similar admissions to his boss and told him he was checking into St John of God's treatment centre for alcoholism and depression. Travers later told gardai he had gambling issues and a number of debts, including two struggling investment properties in Dublin and Portugal. He told gardai he was suicidal at the time and driving around hoping for a pole to crash into, the court heard. Mr Le Vert said Travers, who had worked at AIB since the age of 18, was well-liked, respected and trusted. In victim impact statements handed into court, many of his victims said they cared more about Travers' breach of trust and the fact that they had lost a friend rather than the money he took from them. Although he took over 127,400, the total monetary loss to his victims was just under 90,000, as he moved money between accounts, the court heard. Ronan Kennedy BL defending, said Travers, who had about 15 supporters in court, was a man who was held in high esteem by his employers, customers and the wider community. This has been a very significant fall from grace, he said, adding Travers had lost his career and his status in the community. Travers is now the primary homemaker for his wife and two children and will never work in the financial sector again, the court heard. Mr Kennedy said he has no previous convictions and had a bank order in court to pay back the remainder of the money he had taken. A TEACHER sent a 17-year-old girl a series of "vile and abusive" letters and texts over the course of 16 months. The messages from the north Dublin music teacher were described as "full of foul language" and left the young girl fearing the teacher was coming to get her. A court heard that one letter warned her not to study for her Leaving Cert as "you won't be around for it". On another occasion he followed her from a train and stared at her while she waited to be collected by her mother. The 39-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted buying phones for the purpose of sending abusive text messages to the teenager. He admitted it was "despicable behaviour" and apologised profusely to the teenager for sending the correspondence and texts on special occasions such as Christmas and Easter. The man pleaded guilty to harassing and stalking the teenager on various dates between February 27, 2014 and June 17 last year, and has offered to pay 15,000 compensation. The girl began to receive the letters by post and text messages on her mobile phone in February 2014 after finishing lessons with him the previous year. She continued to receive the letters and text messages, which were "vile and abusive, full of foul language" on occasions in April and December of the same year and the following January. Gda Des Martin told Swords District Court that the defendant was also on the same train carriage as the teenager on another occasion. He followed her from the station and "stared forcefully" at her while she waited for her mother to collect her. Gda Martin said the teenager had received another letter early last year which she did not open but handed to gardai. The letter partially read: "Don't bother studying for your Leaving Cert. You won't be around for it. It's a waste of time. Welcome to your nightmare." In a victim impact statement that the girl read out in court, she said she was horrified and very distressed by the letters and texts. vulnerable "I felt very vulnerable and I was terrified to leave my house. Nothing was made easy by him. The messages were threatening in nature. He was saying he was coming to get me," she said. "He intimidated and frighted me. I am still afraid. I hope he will leave me alone as I am still afraid and panic if I see someone who looks like him. It was an absolutely horrific ordeal for me." The defendant, who has no previous convictions, said he "felt relief" when he was arrested. He said it was "despicable behaviour" and apologised profusely to the teenager. "I am embarrassed by it all and I think about what I did with such shame," he said. "I wish I could do something to apologise and make it better. I feel so ashamed. I felt so bad at the time that I wanted her to feel the same way I felt. I just hate myself for it." Defence solicitor Fiona D'Arcy said the defendant was "profoundly sorry". "It is tragic that she had to go through something so horr- ific and scary. He takes 100pc responsibility and his shame is deep-seated. He hasn't stopped worrying about her," she said. "The difficulty is if he receives a criminal conviction it will be the end of his career." Ms D'Arcy said the teacher has saved up 15,000 to offer as compensation or to donate to a charity of the victim's choice. She said he is also receiving counselling with a psychotherapist. The teacher gave the court an undertaking that he would not communicate with the injured party or her family and would not approach her home and to stay away from her forever. Judge Grainne O'Neill adjourned the case for finalisation for the victim to decide whether to accept the money. "I don't want to give him false hope. It is unlikely he will avoid a conviction but I haven't made any decision yet," she said. A 48-year-old father of three bled to death after receiving a knife wound to a varicose vein in his leg on Christmas Eve, the Central Criminal Court has heard. The evidence was given at the sentence hearing of his ex-wifes partner, who had pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. David Shanley (47) of Courtown Harbour, Gorey, Co Wexford pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty to the manslaughter of John Lawlor on December 24 or 25, 2014 at Ballinatray Lower, Courtown Harbour. The State accepted the plea and Shanley was before the court for sentence. Detective Inspector Murt Whelan testified that the victims brother, Tony Lawlor, dialled 999 shortly before midnight that Christmas Eve to say his brother had been stabbed at his home. Gardai found Shanley lying on the ground outside Mr Lawlors front door and the deceased slumped on the couch inside. He had a stab wound below his right knee and wasnt breathing. A post-mortem exam found that he died of hemorrhage and shock due to an incise wound to a varicose vein of his leg. It was a shallow wound, but was to the major vein of the lower leg, which was varicose and close to the surface. Had it not been a varicose vein, the wound would not have been so serious, said State Pathologist Professor Marie Cassidy in her report. She said that the site of the wound was unusual and could have been caused during a struggle. She added that there was bruising of Mr Lawlors right hand, indicative of an offensive injury. The inspector explained that Shanley was in a relationship with Mr Lawlors ex-wife, Melissa Lawlor, and that he had been drinking with her on Christmas Eve. She contacted her ex-husband to organise the logistics of gathering presents and a dispute arose as to Mr Lawlors availability. Shanley sent a number of text messages to the deceased that afternoon, one of which read: Me and Mel are getting engaged. Hope you have a nice Christmas. Mr Lawlor didnt reply to any of his messages or answer any of the calls he made to him. The accused told gardai that he had decided to go and have a word with Mr Lawlor to sort things out. He said that Mr Lawlor had answered the door and attacked him, knocking him unconscious. He asserted that his victim must have committed suicide as he hadnt touched him and informed them of his previous suicide attempts. He denied being in a temper when he called to the house. It was put to him that a knife missing from his own set had been used in the killing. He suggested that Mr Lawlor might have had the same set. We obviously had a struggle and there was obviously a knife because I have defensive wounds, he said. He denied that the text message about his engagement was sent to wind up the deceased. He later told gardai in a voluntary statement that he had decided to call to Mr Lawlor that night to have a mature, adult conversation with him. He said he put a knife in his pocket for his own protection and hadnt intended to harm him. He said that the knife fell out of his pocket when Mr Lawlor began punching him at his front door, that the deceased tried to stab him, but he knocked it out of his hand with his right hand. The inspector confirmed that he had a wound to his hand during interview. Shanley said he threw the knife away and that Mr Lawlor had then knocked him unconscious. He said the paramedics were there and Mr Lawlor was dead when he came around. Inspector Whelan confirmed to Patrick Gageby SC, defending Shanley, that his client was still in a relationship with and cares for Mrs Lawlor, who attends hospital regularly for dialysis. He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in June and had been on bail. He agreed that both men were from respectable and decent families. Justice Paul Butler remanded him in custody and will hand down sentence in two weeks. Mr Lawlors two sisters and two of his daughters delivered separate victim impact statements to the court. His third daughter is still a child. Arlene Lawlor said her father was a man like no other, and had loved her unconditionally. He was my light in my darkest hour, she said, adding that he has a fantastic dad and grandad. She said that seeing the accused on a regular basis was intimidating, cruel and very difficult. She said she was diagnosed with post traumatic stress and put on medication. Her father would usually be there for her in such circumstances. (But) I dont hear his voice as I scream with all my might: Dad, I need you, she said. Casey Lawlor broke down in the witness box as she described nightmares she has, in which she sees her fathers face as he lies in the coffin. Hell never see me marry or walk me up the aisle or see his latest grandchild, she said. Maureen Geoghegan said the family had been unable to tell their mother, who was in her 80s, that her son was dead for some time. They eventually told her about his death, but she died without knowing the cause. She said that Shanley had shown no remorse and had continued to live his life as normal. She said that her life was far from normal and that, sadly, the heartache was forever. Helen Kenny said the family would never celebrate Christmas again without reliving the horror of that night. She said it was too early to lose a precious brother, father, son and grandad. We love and miss you, John, and will never forget you, she concluded. THE secretary of a Limerick GAA club, where a young camogie player was airlifted to hospital yesterday, has hailed the defibrillator installed at the club as life-saving. Frank Reidy told Independent.ie that were it not for the assistance of the two nurses and the presence of a defibrillator, it could have been a different story. Feohanagh-Castlemahon GAA club, where the incident occurred yesterday, previously suffered the tragic loss of one of its players when Gary Buicke (17) died of a heart attack while training back in 2001. Since then, the club have always ensured that there is a defibrillator on the grounds. We are very conscious of having a defibrillator because we lost a player a few years ago who died of a heart attack and there wasnt a defibrillator here at the time, so that is very much in our minds. Some people maintain that CPR is more important but the defibrillator is a serious piece of equipment that should be in all GAA grounds and communities. I cant speak highly enough of it. Its also important that they are maintained properly once installed, he said. The junior camogie final between Newcastle West and Tournafulla, which was played on Feohanagh-Castlemahons pitch in Coolyroe, was abandoned yesterday when a player went unconscious five minutes into the second half. She was immediately tended to by her fellow players, along with two nurses and a doctor - the defibrillator on hand was also used. She was then airlifted to University Hospital Limerick where she is said to be recovering well. In a statement on Facebook, Newcastle Wests Camogie Club said: Our player is recovering well in hospital - To our precious player & family sending much love xxxx What a fantastic bunch of people that both Tournafulla Camogie & Newcastle West Camogie are blessed to have. Kieran 'Rashers' Ryan on left and Edward 'Eds' McCarthy celebrating the murder of Kieran Keane in 2003 A criminal who gardai suspect is one of the countrys biggest drug dealers has fled to the UK. Edward Eds McCarthy left his Limerick city base in Moyross and has moved with his family to Birmingham. The 36-year-old criminal has had numerous run-ins with gardai, the Criminal Assets Bureau and the courts system. Gardai believe McCarthy is one of the main suppliers of drugs to the Mid-West region and has also established himself on the international stage. He has become an international drugs figure since the fall of the McCarthy-Dundons. He has completely taken over the drugs business of his brother Fat John McCarthy after he was jailed a few years ago, a source said. Last month, Moyross parish priest Fr Tony ORiordan revealed how local families are living under constant threats, intimidation, and extortion from evil drugs gangs who were flourishing in the area. In 2013, the Criminal Assets Bureau and gardai struck a major blow against Eds McCarthy when they seized assets including an Audi Q7 car, over 26,000 in cash and a gold Rolex watch valued at 7,850. The High Court gave the go-ahead for the confiscation of the assets following a lengthy operation, codenamed Portland, on a number of suspects living in the Moyross area. McCarthy is well accustomed to the judicial system and is no stranger to appearing before judges he has 29 previous convictions. His uncle, Eddie Ryan a convicted killer was the first person murdered in Limericks feud in 2000 when he was shot dead in the Moose Bar by crime boss Kieran Keane. His brother, Fat John McCarthy and nephew, David McCarthy narrowly survived an AK-47 attack at their home in 2002. The same year, Eds McCarthy made a threat to kill former gang enforcer Willie Moran and was later convicted. In 2003, following the murder of rival crime boss Kieran Keane in a vicious double cross by the McCarthy-Dundon and Ryan gangs, Eds McCarthy was photographed celebrating outside the home of his cousins, Kieran Rashers Ryan and Edward Ryan, with one of the five murderers, James McCarthy. Another uncle, John Ryan brother of murdered Eddie was shot dead in reprisal for Keanes death months later. In 2004, Eds McCarthy was convicted of committing violent disorder and was jailed for three years in 2005 for assault causing harm. He was convicted in 2009 for unlawful possession of drugs and engaging in threatening and abusive behaviour. His brother, Fat John McCarthy, is serving a fourteen-year jail sentence, imposed by Limerick Circuit Court, for the possession of heroin with intent for sale and supply. Eds McCarthy stormed out of Limerick courthouse when his brother was found guilty by the jury. An international report shows that more than two in three (69pc) girls in Ireland worry that they will get poor grades in maths, compared with just over half (55pc) of boys. (Stock image) Irish teenage girls worry too much about maths, affecting their performance in the subject. The level of anxiety they experience is much higher than boys in Ireland and girls of the same age in other countries. An international report shows that more than two in three (69pc) girls in Ireland worry that they will get poor grades in maths, compared with just over half (55pc) of boys. It also shows that 76pc of girls in Ireland often worry about maths classes being difficult, compared with 64pc of Irish boys and 65pc of girls internationally. A lack of confidence in their mathematical ability means that even the highest-achieving female students in Ireland may shy away from tasks because they think they are too difficult. The annual gender breakdown of the Leaving and Junior Cert results show that girls compare well, often doing better than boys overall, although boys tend to get more A grades. But away from the familiarity and perhaps more comfortable confines of the State exams for which they can study, Irish girls are under-achieving on the international stage. The disparity shows up in the results of the three-yearly international assessment, known as PISA, which compares the performances of 15-16-year-olds across more than 60 countries. It is a source of concern that Irish teens rate only average in the PISA assessments, but a deeper look at the findings reveals particular worries about girls. Generally, boys in Ireland outperform girls in PISA, but that gap is wider in Ireland than the international average. The 'PISA in Classrooms' report, by Rachel Perkins and Gerry Shiel of the Educational Research Centre in Drumcondra, Dublin, states that on average, students in Ireland who had higher levels of maths anxiety tended to have lower achievement in the subject. It looks in detail at the outcomes for Ireland in the 2012 PISA assessment and points teachers to ways to seek to improve performance, including encouraging girls to take more risks with maths. A worrying consequence of anxiety around the subject is that students avoid maths and the career paths that require mastery of those skills. The authors say that it is possible that girls in Ireland are less likely to engage with more complex task such as those that appear in PISA for a variety of reasons, including anxiety and a lack of belief in their ability. There is a greater focus in PISA on more complex questions, where students must use maths in real-life situations. There are hopes that the new Project Maths syllabus will improve the scores of Irish students, but the statistics pre-date its full roll-out in schools. Colourful cube helps girls engage more with maths It looks like a giant Rubik's Cube and it could help teachers solve the puzzle of tacking gender imbalance in STEM subjects. The findings of a joint research project focusing on Izak9, which was created by former Derry teacher Franz Schlindwein to inject fun into maths learning, showed girls engaged more when using the system. The product consists of 27 cubes - with different combinations of colour, number and shape. It is designed to stimulate mathematical thinking and interaction among primary and secondary-level pupils with the help of animated on-screen characters, which are aptly named Helix and Abacus. The main focus of the research was on improving' first-year girls' relationships with maths. Researchers from Trinity College Dublin and Queen's University Belfast were involved. "The results of this small-scale cross-national evaluation confirm that use of the Izak9 resource appears to improve girls' interest in and enjoyment of mathematics," said TCD's Dr Mark Prendergast. The children sent Oliver this 'thank you' picture. A Tipperary man who set up a fundraising page for an orphanage in the Syrian city of Aleppo has raised over 6,000 in just over a week. Oliver Skehan (37) has been overwhelmed by the support his fundraiser A Little for Aleppo has received. We called it A Little for Aleppo because we thought the most people would give is 5, but we have received some big donations. Ive looked on like everyone else has for the last five years at whats happening in Syria and I decided I couldnt sit back and watch any more, I had to do something, Oliver told Independent.ie. Read More Moumayazoun orphanage is the only orphanage in Aleppo and the kids there have been sending Oliver pictures of them holding thank you signs. Expand Close Oliver sent the children back this message. / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Oliver sent the children back this message. He decided to help the orphanage after reading an article about it on The Guardian. Everyday I am in contact with the people in the orphanage on Whatsapp, but Im so afraid that Im going to one day get a message saying that its been destroyed. I have a 2-year-old boy of my own and I couldnt look at pictures of children being pulled out of the rubble any more without doing something, he said. Oliver initially set a target of 5,000, but after receiving 3,500 in the first three days of beginning his fundraiser, he has now set his sights on donating 10,000 to the kids of Moumayazoun orphanage. If we can do something to make the futures of 100 children more hopeful, then thats my job done. Along with making online donations, Oliver said he and a few friends are organising a couple of table quizzes and coffee mornings at the end of October. A couple of my friends are teachers. People have been contacting me saying they would like to get students in their schools to hold fundraisers so they can help kids who are far worse off, he said. All money raised will go directly to the orphanage in a bid to provide the orphans with a safe haven, as well as food and education. There are currently 50 orphans living there, with room for 100 more. Were not planning on going away any time soon. We are thrilled with the money that has been raised but now we really want to get to that 10k mark. Initially, I asked for a little and I got a lot. We know we're not going to save the world but we want to make some sort of difference. Sgt Antoinette Cunningham of the AGSI at the Garda College in Templemore. Photo: Liam Burke Picture Press 22 The warning signs had been there for the past six months. But the Government either failed to notice them or else chose to ignore them. Now Antoinette Cunningham, in her first year at the helm of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, could find herself leading her members onto the streets for the first time. The representative association for mid-ranking supervisors in the force will decide next week in Athlone if they should embark on a campaign of industrial action. A number of branches are expected in the coming days to table motions advocating taking a hard line. Although only in the post since April, Ms Cunningham has a lot of experience as a representative and has built up a band of admirers in the senior ranks of the force, including, it is believed, Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan, for her ability to clearly articulate and explain her members' views. She acknowledges that her colleagues are a conservative bunch. "We are moderates. We are not extremists", she points out. It's a statement that could not be challenged by anybody on the other side of the negotiating table - if the gardai were allowed to sit at that table. And that's the crux of the problem. For years, the garda representative groups have argued for the right to negotiate their own pay directly, rather than sitting in an adjoining room while public sector trade unions put the case for better wages and conditions. The AGSI took its case to Europe and appeared to have achieved a breakthrough in 2014 when the European Committee of Social Rights ruled that gardai should have the right to strike. The Government responded that giving gardai that right would raise serious issues in respect of the capacity of the State to ensure the maintenance of law and order. But it did promise that other issues, such as the right to participate in collective bargaining and in employee group representation, would be included in an ongoing review of the force. The ruling was later upheld by the Council of Europe. The review was due to be completed by June 2014 but is still ongoing and the latest estimate is for an end-of-year deadline. The AGSI members feel they have been betrayed. Ms Cunningham said: "We wanted also to gain access to the Labour Court and the Workplace Relations Commission, but in the meantime we remained outside the door during the talks on the Haddington Road and Croke Park agreements and eventually signed up to a deal that had been negotiated by others. Disadvantage "That left us at a huge disadvantage as only gardai can properly and fully negotiates issues that affect them. "We played our part and accepted an extra 30 hours' work a year, reductions in our overtime and cuts in our pay. In return, we were to get an independent review of our pay. "What happened was an absolute farce and this is what has led to us being in this position now." Little progress was made with the review last winter and this led to the first public inklings that AGSI was growing increasingly unhappy. The review suffered another setback during the summer when conciliation expert Ray McGee, who had been in charge of the review and worked alone without any back-up staff and no office, resigned from the post. "I have never seen the frustration among our members at such a high level," says Ms Cunningham. "There has been a fundamental breach of our agreement. We had a meeting two weeks ago with the Department of Public Expenditure and it was clear there that we are not going to be part of a public sector pay commission. "All we are left with are broken promises." Ms Cunningham has strong views on the unique status of the gardai. "You cannot say we are equal to every other group of workers. We do not have the right to strike, to negotiate directly on our own pay and conditions or access to the forums available to others and we face disciplinary action if we go out on strike. "The gardai are different from other public servants and the Government should come out now and acknowledge that. "It is regrettable that we are at this stage but the mood among our people right now is that they are not prepared to wait another few years. "I would be disappointed if we lost public support. We are the central spine of the garda organisation but we don't want to affect the lives of the public. "We all live in the community too. Everywhere I go, I find the public are highly supportive of us and they feel we should be treated the same as other public servants. "We welcome any opportunity to engage in discussions. Its good to talk. "But there has to be an outcome and its time to sort out our problems." A woman had to carry her 16-year-old son down the stairs off a plane when Ryanairs special assistance did not arrive, her sister has claimed. Gabriela Nadolska explained that her nephew Michael, who has drug-resistant epilepsy, needs assistance to board and disembark since he cannot use the stairs. My sister was coming from Warsaw to Dublin with her son, and when they boarded the plane in Warsaw he had special assistance. But when they were approaching Dublin, nobody came up to give her a hand, Gabriela told Liveline this afternoon. My sister speaks no English so one of the air hostesses who was from Slovakia spoke to my sister and said there is no assistance coming. The pilot asked the air hostess to ask my sister if she could take her son on her back to leave the aircraft. "My sister was shocked but she grabbed her son Michael on her back. A man at the bottom of the stairs got scared thinking my sister might fall, so he went up the stairs and walked in front of her but she was still carrying her 16-year-old disabled son on her back. I went over to the assistance desk to check what happened and the gentleman there said that it was booked he was in shock himself. He gave me an email for OCS to make a complaint so I did. I emailed OCS and they said I need to go directly to Ryanair, she continued. It has been nearly a month since Gabrielas initial complaint and so far, she has received no concrete response from Ryanair or OCS. This happened on the 14th of September, I sent an email on the 15th its a month later. I got an email on Monday saying that theyre investigating. Joe Duffy didnt miss the chance to take a jab at Ryanair, telling Gabriela, Youve got to understand, Michael OLeary is very busy doing his stand-up act for well-padded politicians at high-end breakfasts. Ryanair told Independent.ie: While we regret any inconvenience caused, the customer in question failed to book the correct special assistance required prior to their flight. "All customers who require special assistance are asked to contact Ryanair prior to their flight using our dedicated special assistance phone line and web chat facility. The scene of the crash at Carrigeenlea, Tramore, Co. Waterford today. PIC Colin O'Riordan The scene of the crash at Carrigeenlea, Tramore, Co. Waterford . PIC Colin O'Riordan The scene of the crash at Carrigeenlea, Tramore, Co. Waterford today. PIC Colin O'Riordan The scene of the crash at Carrigeenlea, Tramore, Co. Waterford today. PIC Colin O Riordan A car is removed from the scene of the crash in which Katie Murphy died. Photo: Colin O'Riordan The life of an incredible teenager was outlined by Irish Army Chaplain Fr Paul Murphy who described his "cheerful, considerate, energetic and enthusiastic" niece at her funeral Mass in Waterford city. Katie Murphy (16) was killed in a single vehicle crash on Wednesday evening near the entrance to the Carrigeenlea estate on the Cliff Road in Tramore. The male driver of the car (17) escaped with minor injuries, while two others, a boy and a girl also aged 17, were seriously injured when the car collided side-on with a wall. Hundreds turned out to fill the large church of Sacred Heart at The Folly to celebrate the life of popular Katie, of Castlewoods estate at Ballinamona between Waterford city and Tramore. Expand Close Katie Murphy, who was killed in a traffic accident / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Katie Murphy, who was killed in a traffic accident Bishop of Waterford Alphonsus Phonsie Cullinan was joined by Fr Murphy, her granduncle Fr Ailbhe Murphy, Fr Tom Rogers PP, Fr Gerry Chestnut PP, Father Liam Power PP and nine other clerics at the Mass yesterday afternoon. Fr Paul Murphy said: "Those 16-and-a-half years were, literally, the time of her life. And in those [years], she had the time of her life. "She was animal-loving, bright, cheerful, considerate, energetic, enthusiastic, funny, musical, talented, school-loving and studious..okay, maybe that's pushing it a bit. She was beautiful; just like her mam. "She was the kind of person you would need to make an appointment with, as Leon said. [It was] because so many wanted to share her time and her company. "Today, we come her to thank God for the gift that Katie was to us; for the brightness that she brought to our lives and her bright smile that made all of us smile too." The teenager is survived by her father Hilary, mother Vivienne and brothers, Leon, Stephen and Scott. Expand Close Katie Murphy / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Katie Murphy There was a large turnout from St Angela's School, where Katie was a Fifth Year student. Stephen thanked "everybody that worked so tirelessly on Wednesday night to save my sister". He said: "From the day that Katie was born, she had personality. She shook up our home from the minute she came into it... she made it clear there was only ever going to be one boss. "It wasn't just Katie that came into our World; it was hamsters, gerbils, kittens, rabbits, puppies, birds. "Babysitting Katie was an experience in itself, with her mad antics and non-stop energy. She had a natural way with animals and her mam and dad fostered and nurtured that passion from the beginning." Vivienne read from a poignant letter she had written to her daughter during a tough family time. "I'm sitting here, the proudest mum in the World. You were so protective of me - I felt like your child...the way you would wrap me in your arms. I could never tie you down; one of life's Free Spirits. "No matter how long we may live, we will hold you up as a beacon of light and show everyone your beautiful heart." Leon also spoke with love of a great sister, while Eoin Mahony tell of his "best friend". The driver of the car, Eddie O'Shea (17) escaped from the crash with minor injuries, while Jessie Flynn's injuries were described as "serious". Meanwhile, fellow passenger Joe Walsh was said to be "critical but stable". Fr Murphy added: "As we gather around Katie's lifeless body, we think of our friends who were in the car with her... that they will make a full recovery." Hilary, Vivienne and Scott brought up a picture of Katie, a smoothie and apple, along with an iced cupcake "because there was always that tension between good and bad", Fr Murphy said with love and humour. At the Bicentenary celebrations of St Angelas at the church on Friday, Principal Edel Connolly said: We acknowledge the thousands of young women who have passed through the gates full of hope an confidencefull of an ability to face the World. And today, in the marking of our 200 years of achievement, we are also marking a beautiful life cut short. Crowds of funeral-goers sympathised with the Murphy family at the church centre following the Mass, while Katie is to be cremated in a private ceremony. Patients and staff were evacuated from Blackrock Clinic in Dublin this evening after a fire on the fifth floor of the building. Four units of the Dublin Fire Brigade were called to the scene at approximately 7:35pm and the fire was under control within twenty minutes. After which, patients and staff were able to return to the building. According to a spokesperson from the Dublin Fire Brigade, it was an electrical fire. Its exact cause is being investigated. There were no injuries. RTE News chief Kevin Bakhurst has hit back after Ryanair chief Michael O'Leary branded the station a "rat-infested North Korean union shop" at a Fine Gael fundraiser. He said comments made by Mr O'Leary that referenced journalist Ingrid Miley were "extremely disappointing". Details of the tirade by the millionaire businessman, in which he derided public service workers, emerged in the 'Sunday Independent'. Mr O'Leary allegedly revealed he believed "immoral" striking gardai should be sacked and private companies should be allowed to operate bus routes during strikes. "I can't turn on the bloody '9 o'clock news' without having to see Ingrid Miley's face giving me the latest spew from Trotskyites." But Mr Bakhurst said: "I find attacking individual journalists in this way extremely disappointing. "RTE's coverage of business leaders, unions and workers is wholly fair and even-handed," he added. Dermot O'Leary, of bus union the NBRU, said a planned meeting involving Fianna Fail and Mr O'Leary should be cancelled. In a letter he asked party leader Micheal Martin to "disassociate Fianna Fail from such distasteful and frankly appalling attacks". But the Fianna Fail TD who has organised that meeting has now distanced the party from the event. "This is not a Fianna Fail event, not a fundraiser," Westmeath TD Robert Troy said, adding it was simply a "bringing together" of people to hear Mr O'Leary. The CEO of Special Olympics International, Mary Davis, has been honoured with the Albert Schweitzer Leadership for Life Award. Ms Davis received the honour from the Ireland Chamber of Commerce at the 28th Annual American Celtic Ball at the Plaza Hotel over the weekend. Her husband Julian accompanied her to the awards ceremony in New York. Ms Davis was appointed CEO of Special Olympics International earlier this year, becoming the first non-American to hold the title. Ms Davis was previously CEO of Special Olympics Ireland and managing director of the Europe Eurasia branch of the organisation. She was well known for her work in bringing the Special Olympics to Ireland in 2003, an event that was viewed as a resounding success. Ms Davis was awarded Irish Person of the Year in 2003 for her work on the world games and in honour of her dedicated years of service to Special Olympics Ireland. Ms Davis also ran for the Presidency in 2011. Previous winners of the prestigious award include JP McManus (2011) and Christina Noble (2014). Last year's recipient was Joe Kennedy, chairman of Knock Airport. Jamie Dornan has been nominated for an IFTA for his role in the film 'The Siege of Jadotville' and the TV series The Fall 'Fate may bring you to the Congo while I am here. In that case we will have a party and eat some Belgians." So wrote Conor Cruise O'Brien to a colleague shortly after his June 1961 arrival in Congo's secessionist Katanga province as Special Representative of UN Secretary-General Dag Hammarskjold. Expand Close Members of the Irish A-Company at Jadotville. Photo: Noel Carey / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Members of the Irish A-Company at Jadotville. Photo: Noel Carey Much comment has been made about the portrayal of O'Brien in Richie Smith's new Netflix film 'The Siege of Jadotville'. To Eoghan Harris it is "a hatchet job". O'Brien's grandson Alexander Kearney suggests reading O'Brien's 'To Katanga and Back' to really meet the man. Yet declassified 1961 documents in UN archives in New York reveal O'Brien becoming increasingly strained by his immersion in Katanga's internecine struggles. Arriving in the province with the best anti-colonial intentions, hoping to reunite it with Congo, O'Brien's despatches show him moving out of his depth as relations between the UN and the Katangese government of Moise Tshombe worsened. By September 1961, when UN peacekeepers went to war against Katanga, he was frustrated and taking risks. I based much of my 2014 book 'Ireland, the United Nations and the Congo', written with Defence Forces Congo veteran Comdt (ret.) Art Magennis, on these UN records. As far as I know, I am the only Irish historian to have made extensive use of the UN's Congo archives. Expand Close The late Conor Cruise OBrien. Picture by Eamonn keogh / macmonagle, killarney / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp The late Conor Cruise OBrien. Picture by Eamonn keogh / macmonagle, killarney Director Richie Smith and scriptwriter Kevin Brodbin drew from my account when forming O'Brien's character in 'The Siege of Jadotville'. O'Brien's UN despatches also call into question points in 'To Katanga and Back'. In 1961, O'Brien was a skilled diplomat. He excelled on Ireland's UN team. Yet he lacked on-the-ground experience of Africa. He saw Katanga from the perspective of an Irish nationalist with strong anti-partitionist and anti-colonial views. In his first months in Katanga, O'Brien relished being the UN's man on the ground. His witty correspondence betrays a curiously colonial-sounding air. Inviting UCD friend Professor Patrick Lynch to Katanga, O'Brien promised "an entirely new perspective on world politics and plenty of Power's gin I can offer you a room, food, drink and approximately 3 million acres of rough shooting." Though wary of the UN's mission, O'Brien energetically entered the fray. He was determined to use UN resolutions to end Katanga's secession. By August 1961, O'Brien was being influenced by India's Brigadier-General KAS Raja, commander of UN forces in Katanga. Raja was determined to end Katanga's secession by force. O'Brien now felt Katanga's government would "do nothing without being squeezed and to some extent frightened". Raja and O'Brien saw eye to eye. In late August, Operation Rumpunch scored a short-term UN success, temporarily removing the foreign mercenaries commanding Katanga's Gendarmerie. Just over two weeks later came Operation Morthor, a short, sharp UN military assault to end Katanga's secession. This objective the UN would never admit. Here the limitations of 'To Katanga and Back' become evident. Written following Morthor's failure and O'Brien's resignation, it sought to justify his position in the face of international criticism. Like all histories, it is selective. When deconstructed alongside material from UN archives, it is evident how its stylish polemic reconfigured key events between Rumpunch and Morthor. Critically, O'Brien removed himself from planning Morthor. He left out of his book a key September 4 meeting where he convinced senior UN officials to undertake the operation. Hammarskjold too was convinced, telexing senior UN officials in Congo "we are beyond the point of no return you are therefore authorised to pursue [Operation Morthor]". This vindicates O'Brien's point, for which he was vilified by Hammarskjold's supporters, that he acted with the Secretary General's authority. Raja and O'Brien expected that with Morthor's show of force Katanga would crumble. Events proved otherwise: the Katangese fought back fiercely. O'Brien was under immense strain throughout Morthor. During the fighting he told Katangese officials the UN would execute Katangese prisoners if two Irish UN soldiers held hostage were not released. Responding to questions on the conduct of Indian UN troops and responsibility for the Radio Katanga massacre, he smoothly replied: "any troops in the world are likely to get touchy under these circumstances". When top-level UN commanders, including Congo Force Commander Ireland's Lieutenant-General Sean MacEoin, over-ruled a decision by Raja to remove Commandant Pat Quinlan's A-Company from Jadotville before fighting broke out O'Brien was privately critical, but did not oppose. Katanga was not Conor Cruise O'Brien's finest hour. Sucked into the province's lethal score-settling politics, his gritty street-level correspondence, rather than the sculpted 'To Katanga and Back', show him consumed by Katanga. The pressure, intrinsic tension and anxiety of his raw reports inspired his characterisation in 'The Siege of Jadotville'. Dr Michael Kennedy (@DIFP_RIA), executive editor of the Royal Irish Academy's Documents on Irish Foreign Policy series, is co-author of 'Ireland, the United Nations and the Congo' (Four Courts Press). Tributes have been paid to two Irish men who died when their car crashed into a creek in Canada. Mechanic Raymond McCann, (42), and Cathal Murphy, (33), died when their car left the road just outside the town of Melita in the Canadian province of Manitoba during a national weekend Thanksgiving holiday. Both men were from Co Cork Mr McCann from Kanturk and Mr Murphy was from Bandon. The car in which they were travelling was found overturned at the side of a road west of Melita on Saturday morning. Tonight the family of Mr. McCann issued a short statement. The family of Raymond McCann are devastated at the death of a much loved father and brother in a road traffic accident in Canada on Saturday 8 October. Expand Close Cathal Murphy (33) from Bandon, Co Cork / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Cathal Murphy (33) from Bandon, Co Cork We are very thankful for all the support shown to us at this difficult time. We would ask, however, that the media would now respect our privacy as we try to come to terms with our loss. We will not be making any further public comment," they said. Cathal, a former member of the fire service, was one of four brothers. The eldest, James, has flown to Canada to bring Cathal home to Bandon. He played soccer for Bandon, Cork City and was capped for Ireland at youth level. He was just a great lad with a great personality who just loved to travel, said Cllr Rachel McCarthy. We are the same age so Ive known Cathal for years. When he was home he would always pop over for a chat about life, about politics and about Bandon and Cork. He kept in touch wherever he was. He was a superb soccer player, and known for that. We had a great sporting occasion at the weekend when Bandon won the intermediate county hurling title and then there was this loss of Cathal hanging over the town. Cathal was just a great lad, bubbly, bright, full of life and his death has devastated his family and the community here. She said he will be "sorely missed". It is just absolutely tragic. The worst news that any family could get. "Our thoughts are with them, especially his mother and father, Christina and Paddy, and his three brothers, James, Patrick and Raymond. He was a great guy. A great personality. A very happy person and he will be sorely missed. Paul Bowdren, currently U-17 manager for Cork City, coached Cathal when he played U-18. "He was a bit of a character, always chirpy," he told Independent.ie. "He would come into training and be very happy-go-lucky, but he was also serious about his soccer. "He would travel up from Bandon to Cork City two or three times a week to train and play. "He was quite good, played as a defender and at the time his teammate would have been Damien Delaney who now plays at Crystal Palace. He was part of a very good team." Family friend and local poet Brian O'Driscoll wrote a poem in tribute to him entitled 'The Impression Maker'. In it, he wrote: "Just settle say when we can be heroes like you. "Goodbye our fantastical friend. "For you reminded us all for one last time that you meant more than most people could have ever fully fathomed. "And now we can only get to go where we go to best reinvest - by these trusted reimaginings of you - the forever wanderer. "A man's true worth has to solely lie with just how incredibly much he will be unforgettably missed. "God bless and good speed." The community in Kanturk has also been left devastated by the double deaths. Mr McCann had only travelled to Canada for work a month ago. Cllr Bernard Moynihan, chair of the municipal district, said: People are numb at the death of Ray and the whole community is thinking of his family at the moment. Obviously arrangements are underway to bring Ray home to Kanturk. It is just a very very sad incident and devastating for his family and all who knew him. There were dozens of tributes on social media last night to Mr McCann. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police are investigating the cause of the crash which came as the country celebrated an extended weekend holiday. Yesterday was Thanksgiving in Canada. Local people say the road where the crash happened is dangerous a bridge over a creek was washed away in floods and it was likely the Irish men didnt know about a diversion. Riddell Morrison, who runs a car repair business in the town, said it appeared the men crashed their car on Friday night but werent found until Saturday. This happened about a mile and a half out of town, he said. Theres a part of the road where a bridge was washed away three or four years ago and a temporary dirt road with metal culverts now by-passes the creek and where the bridge used to be. The speed limit on that road is 90km/hr but just before this diversion it slows to 30km/hr and its possible they just went straight into the creek where the bridge used to be, straight into a gulley. It looks like that happened on Friday and the two gentlemen werent found until Saturday. Its very very sad. While road traffic collisions are not unusual, fatal crashes in the area are quite rare. Roy Thorne who runs a motel in the town said: Everyone is so sorry to hear what happened to the two Irish men and its difficult to know what happened but there are wild deer and perhaps they swerved to avoid them, that has happened before on that road. The Department of Foreign Affairs says it has offered assistance to the families of the dead men. The incident happened on the N52 at Hiskinstown. Picture: Google Maps A WOMAN remains in a serious condition in hospital following a three-vehicle collision, involving a truck and two cars, over the weekend. Amy Sheridan (25) from Ballinagh, Co Cavan, died at Mullingar Hospital shortly after the collision which happened at Hiskinstown, Delvin, Co Westmeath, at 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon. Laura Ann Finucane (38), originally from Greystones, Co Wicklow, was pronounced dead at the scene. She was a passenger in the same vehicle as Ms Sheridan. The female driver of a second car, who was its only occupant, was airlifted to Tallaght Hospital. It us understood she remains in a serious condition. The male truck driver was uninjured in the incident. Funeral arrangements have been made for Ms Finucane, who is survived by her mother Pauline, sister Emma, her brother-in-law Rory, niece Erica and nephew Jake. Expand Close Amy Sheridan (25) was killed in a car crash on Saturday / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Amy Sheridan (25) was killed in a car crash on Saturday Her Mass has been scheduled to take place at 10.00am on Wednesday in the Church of the Holy Rosary, in Greystones. Separately, Ms Sheridan has been described as a "beloved camogie player, friend and sister. Originally from Co Cavan, her local camogie club, Lacken Camogie, said it was with "great heartbreak" that they learned of her passing. Her funeral Mass has been organised for St Michael's Church, Potahee, on Wednesday. She has been survived by her parents Jim and Marie, brothers Garry and Shane, aunty Aiden and boyfriend Wes. A 47-year-old tourist was also killed on the Shelbourne Road, in Dublin 4, on Sunday. He was struck by a car at around 12.25am. He was treated by emergency services personnel but was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later. The driver of the car was uninjured. Gardai have not yet specified the nationality of the man. A child can end up exceeding their recommended daily intake of sugar by consuming just one fizzy drink. (Stock Image) (GETTY) A child can end up exceeding their recommended daily intake of sugar by consuming just one fizzy drink, new research claims. The warning is highlighted in a report that reveals that one in three people aged 15-24 are consuming sugar-laden drinks either daily or most days of the week. The stark findings will be presented in a report by the Institute of Public Health in Ireland (IPH) at its annual conference in Belfast tomorrow, World Obesity Day. It comes as the Government signals its intention to announce a sugar tax on fizzy drinks - but not to introduce it until 2018. The report, 'A Spoonful of Sugar', shows more than half of those aged 15 and over have sugary drinks and one-fifth of these have them daily in many cases here. Dr Joanne Purdy and Noelle Cotter said the evidence is that half of all 13-year-olds who were interviewed had at least one fizzy drink in the previous 24 hours. "Consuming one 330 millilitre can of these drinks could take a child over their recommended daily sugar intake." We downed 411.3 million litres of sugary drinks over a year, increasing our sugar intake, which should be no more than six teaspoons a day. Commenting on the risks of this consumption, Dr Francis Finucane, endocrinologist and obesity expert in Galway said: "There is irrefutable evidence now that sugar-sweetened drinks are bad for children and adults. "I would go so far as to say that scientists who deny this association are behaving unethically and may be contributing to inertia from policymakers on tackling the issue. "The introduction of a sugar tax, though admittedly arbitrary and controversial, would send a message about the health concerns about them to consumers and might start to change the culture around obesity in Ireland. It would be like going after cigarettes rather than smokers and alcohol rather than drinkers." However, Kevin McPartland of the Irish Beverage Council said that fizzy drinks account for only 3pc of our calorie intake. A sugar tax could cost the drinks industry around 60m a year and make it more difficult to invest in expensive reformulation of products to reduce sugar content. They love fashion and beauty, but on a deeper level, Syrian sisters Diana and Loujin Shakrdi have had very different experiences to their fellow teenagers both in their home country and in Ireland. They grew up in Aleppo, a city currently ravaged by war. The beautiful, mannerly girls live here now, where their Irish friends are concerned with normal teenage issues. "My friend in Syria worries that her brother will survive because he was shot, and my friend here worries about whether her boyfriend will call her," says Diana. "Irish teenagers don't really understand how important family is. Most want to finish school and leave Ireland, but they don't understand the significance of being able to live where you're born." Growing up in a then peaceful Aleppo, Diana, 18, and Loujin, 17, lived very happily in a house in the city with their younger sister Auiia, 14, brother Abdul, 13, and parents Loai and Rawia, both of whom were doctors. They went to Egypt when the Syrian civil war began in 2011 for what was meant to be a couple of weeks, but as the situation became increasingly dangerous, they were unable to return home. "We brought hardly any clothes, and our house is still back there with all of our stuff," says Loujin. "We were only given a day's notice that we were leaving, so we never really got to say our goodbyes. We thought the war would be over in a matter of weeks and we could go back to Syria." The family remained in Egypt for two years, and moved to Ireland two-and-a-half years ago. Their dad is a researcher at UCD and their mum is now doing exams to convert her qualifications. "I didn't like the idea of moving again but our parents told us about the advantages we would have with education and our future in Ireland," says Loujin. "I hope to study medicine because I want to help people who develop diseases in the war or become injured. Whenever there's a bombing in Aleppo, we text everyone to see if they are okay so we are constantly worrying about everyone. I'm glad that we left before we saw the destruction, as I would be heartbroken to see my beautiful Syria destroyed." The Shakrdi family have settled in Maynooth, and the girls joined Maynooth Post-Primary School in fifth year. They speak Arabic at home so studying through English was a huge change for them. Diana got 560 points in the Leaving Cert, and is in first year of biomedical science at NUI, Maynooth, She really wants to do medicine next year and had the points for it this year, but didn't get in when it was combined with her HPAT-Ireland score. Loujin is repeating her Leaving Cert and is also hoping to get into medicine. She achieved an excellent 450 points, which is amazing when you consider the upheaval both girls have experienced and the fact that English is not their first language. "We always got on well, but when we left Syria, we became best friends because all we had was each other," says Loujin. "Diana is a really hard worker, and she is always there for me. She helps me with study and also emotionally." Diana and Loujin would love to go back to visit Aleppo - they haven't seen their grandparents in five years - but could only go if it was safe to do so. They also feel very sorry for the friends that are left behind, because life is very unstable for them. "They have limited access to education," says Diana. "They don't have the same opportunities we have, and it's really hard for them as they can miss classes as it's too dangerous to go to school or university. Our friends look at our lives and they would love to be here too." The girls' situation ties in with international children's charity, Plan International Ireland's, Girl Takeover Day on Tuesday, the UN International Day of the Girl. In Ireland, the aim is to show that girls here are standing in solidarity with their counterparts who don't have the same opportunities. Girl Takeover will see young girls from across the world step into the shoes of political, social and economic leaders in a symbolic "takeover" in more than 50 countries, including Ireland, where various takeover events are planned. Loujin says that they don't even know the true extent of what their friends in Syria are experiencing. "You don't know it until you live it," she says. "It's very frightening for them over there, and most of the girls are dropping out of school to work as they are unable to afford the basics like food, clothes and medicine. I have dreams and I want them to come true, but you can't make those dreams come true in Syria. The war doesn't only kill people, it kills dreams, futures, opportunities and everything else." Diana says that Loujin is very funny and less shy than she is, so they balance each other out. They fight over clothes occasionally but love to dance, go to the movies and go shopping. "Our parents always told us that because we have lost everything, education is all we have," they say. "They made us understand that it's the only thing that will stay with you forever, so that is why we keep working hard." Plan International's Girl Takeover Day takes place on Tuesday, Join in with the events on #GirlTakeover @PlanIreland Caoimhe Mulcahy is an actress who grew up in Spancil Hill, in County Clare. Her theatre and performance studies began in Galway, where she received her honours degree from NUIG. Caoimhe, below, moved to Dublin to train full-time as an actor at the Gaiety School of Acting, and she completed in 2015. A comfortable German speaker and an accomplished musician playing concertina, fiddle and piano, Caoimhe's love lies in the stage, with her most recent role being the fiery Kate in The Spinning Heart at Smock Alley. She is currently in rehearsals for Dusk by Eamon Carr with Red Iron Productions, starring Garrett Lombard and Denis Conway. This runs in the New Theatre from October 11 to 15, following its special performance at the GPO last Thursday. Art: Sunflowers by Van Gogh Expand Close Sunflowers / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Sunflowers My mother always taught me to appreciate the greats, such as Monet and Renoir, but it was Van Gogh's Sunflowers, above, that always captivated me. It made sense to paint something so happy and bright. Art is what you make of it and we all take something different away. Van Gogh's Sunflowers makes me happy. It and Tweety Bird are to blame for my unhealthy obsession with the colour yellow. Play: Silent, Underneath, Forgotten Expand Close Pat Kinevan / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Pat Kinevan It is an incredible skill to be able to stand on stage and tell a story and hold an audience captivated for an hour or two. Pat Kinevane, above, does this with ease. He has the audience on the edge of their seat, holding on to every word that comes out of his mouth. He genuinely made me laugh and cry at the beauty and cruelty of this world we live in. The theatre makes me feel alive; even when something makes me feel uncomfortable and horrible and I go away from it, hating the world, that is a good and worthwhile theatre experience. Sometimes I forget to question why things are the way they are, and theatre reminds me to. Design: Chat Noir Expand Close Chat Noir / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Chat Noir If I saw this poster, above, I would have gone along to the cabaret it was advertising. It's intriguing, eye catching, very cool and typically French. That cat looks like he is up to no good and I want to find out what that is. The colours, the text, everything about this catches my eye. Everything that is said about Paris is in this poster. For me this poster, designed by artist Theophile Steinlen captures the excitement that can be found within its streets today. Film: Up This is not a kids' movie. Up , right, is an incredibly touching story and anybody who says they didn't cry watching it is a liar. If I hadn't studied theatre I would have gone to art school and I am so impressed by what Pixar have achieved. Their colourful cartoons capture the fragility and hilarity of human experience and connect with us on an incredibly visceral level. This is a beautiful film. Book: The Book of Lost Things A good book is the closest thing we have to magic. If you're going to read, why not go into a world full of mythical creatures and actual magic. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland always captivated me as a child and as a grown up The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly has a similar effect. thenewtheatre.com You might hate Monday, but you'll love our selection of the week's best travel offers... 9.99: Ryanair flights Ryanair has lots of routes from Dublin to the UK on sale from 9.99 each way in October... a price available for Brussels (CRL) too. To bag the cheap fares, go to 'Fare Finder' on Ryanair.com, and enter a budget of less than 10. 118pp: Cologne's Christmas Markets HolidayGuru.ie has flights from Dublin plus two nights in the Centro Hotel Central am Dom from just 118pp, based on a December 12 departure. The deal comes from expedia.ie, and is based on four adults sharing. 349pp: Hit the slopes in Andorra Ski booking season is underway, and among the early deals, DirectSki.com has a seven-night, self-catering package Pas de la Casa from 349pp. The price is based on eight sharing, departing December 20. 1890 201205; directski.com. 389pp: January in Lanzarote Winter sun, anyone? Falcon Holidays has up to 250 off early bookings, with a weeklong package in Lanzarote from 389pp, based on 3-star accommodation from January 15. 1850 94 61 64; falconholidays.ie. 599pp: Day trips to Lapland Lapland trips can be hugely expensive, but a day trip offers all the magic without the overnight expenses (though obviously, it's a tiring expedition!). ITAA member J Barter Travel has the deal in December. 021 485-1700; travelnet.ie; itaa.ie/offers. NB: All travel deals subject to availability/change. Premium Billy Keane Opinion Even a dash to the Croke Park toilet wasnt enough to get rid of space invader who gave me Covid I did the time, but there was no crime. Banged up I was, under house arrest after two red bars showed up on the Covid test. Im not too bad, thanks for asking. I have it down on a man who was nearly close enough to kiss me at the All-Ireland football final between Kerry and Galway. This is the first Budget I haven't been directly involved in for five years. This year, there won't be anyone visiting the bookies tomorrow to put down a fiver on what colour tie I'll wear to unveil the Budget. Over each of the last five years, I spent the equivalent of a weekend putting in late hours in the office, finalising documents, and concluding the haggling with different ministers. It's an odd feature of the Budget process in Ireland that even though we're talking about a Budget package of more than 50bn, the fighting always comes down to the last 10m or so. Last year, it was Kathleen Lynch who caused the last sleepless night before the Budget. As we had done each of the previous years, we had ring-fenced the funding to develop mental health services in Ireland. But Leo Varadkar had decided to take this funding and spend it elsewhere in the health budget. To be fair to Kathleen, she put her foot down, and made clear that she wouldn't appear to launch the health budget unless the mental health budget was restored. She got her way in the end. When I read about Paschal Donohoe looking sleep-deprived but determined, it brings me back to last year and the years before. I have a lot of sympathy for Paschal, and I admire his determination to get the job done. I hope he gets a little sleep before launching the Budget tomorrow. But that doesn't mean I agree with Fine Gael's overall approach. Because of my experience over recent years, I decided Labour needed to do more than produce a pre-Budget submission. The type of document launched by Fianna Fail last Friday is designed to appeal to swathes of different interest groups, without any costing or realistic ambition to achieve any meaningful change. Labour's approach was different - we published a complete alternative Budget. We did this for two reasons. Firstly, we wanted to show that a progressive and realistic Budget was possible within the available so-called fiscal space. And secondly, this Coalition is so chaotic, that we believed it was important to have a genuine alternative Budget available if the need arises. With a small number of tax measures and an increased focus on capital spending, we were able to make the amount of money available for investment a little bigger. Having done so, Joan Burton and Sean Sherlock spent the last few weeks looking at how we could make best use of this funding. It became clear the more we looked at it that spending a third of the available funding on a tax cut that would barely amount to the price of a cup of coffee each week was not good use of what is available. We're not opposed to reducing the burden of taxation on low and middle income families. But we think any tax cut needs to deliver a real and tangible benefit to people. And so this year, we were honest - we said there isn't enough money available to do anything significant, and so it's not worth doing. In future years, we will propose tax reforms that will make a real difference to people. But this year we have proposed a step change in investment in public services - by making these investments, we can deliver something much more real to families across Ireland. For example, we have proposed a universal, high-quality childcare scheme for all families with children under 12. We think staff working in early years care and education should be paid a living wage so that they can have sustainable careers and become the experts our children deserve. And costs for parents could be capped at 4.25 an hour, with that price falling by at least 50c a year over the next few years. Ireland spends about 0.1pc of GDP on early years care and education, compared with 0.8pc as the international average. That's an area where more investment is clearly needed, and where the right investment could deliver massive savings to families. Under Labour's alternative Budget, taxpayers would get free access to the dentist again: giving people the opportunity to get their teeth cleaned twice a year, to get fillings or other repairs done. We all know how expensive it can be to get an NCT on our teeth - it certainly costs more than a cup of coffee. So we allocated the funding to deliver a real and tangible saving to families. This year, I'd put my money on Paschal wearing a blue or purple tie. But I won't be betting on Fine Gael delivering a fair, progressive or sensible Budget. Brendan Howlin is leader of the Labour Party The BBC is "falling short" on its obligations towards older women and minority communities, the head of the media watchdog has said. Sharon White, Ofcom's chief executive, said the corporation is "not doing as good a job as it should be" in relation to certain groups in society. Drawing on Ofcom research into diversity in public service broadcasting (PSB), Ms White told the Financial Times: "We have done an awful lot of research, talking to people in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and they do not feel the stories being told sufficiently reflect their stories. "On minority communities, older women, it is not doing as good a job as it should be. "There is a gap there and it is a gap I would like to see closed over time." She added: "All the research we have done broadly shows that people think the BBC is doing a good job. But it is falling short on those stories that reflect all of the nation and its communities." Earlier this year, the BBC pledged that women would make up half of its workforce on screen, on air and in leadership roles by 2020 . A BBC spokesman said: " Ofcom are clear that the research they are referring to is for all PSBs not just the BBC, but despite that we're always happy to debate what we do on screen and we don't think any broadcaster does better in representing older women than the BBC. "We're proud of the fact that the BBC of today has a huge range of women presenters across TV and radio including Mary Berry, Carol Klein, Anne Robinson, Felicity Kendal, Joan Bakewell, Jenni Murray, Mary Beard, Gloria Hunniford, Angela Rippon, Julia Somerville and Kirsty Wark." The BBC will be regulated by Ofcom from next year, the first time an independent organisation has governed the corporation, replacing the internal BBC Trust. Video of the Day Ofcom already monitors the rest of British television, radio and video on-demand platforms, as well as telecoms, the radio spectrum and postal services, and is accountable to Parliament. Television programmes regulated by Ofcom must comply with the rules and principles of the Ofcom Broadcasting Code, which includes directives on taste and decency standards, fairness and privacy. Decisions about breaches of that code are made by a board. The BBC is currently regulated by the trust, its executive board and Ofcom. The sister of murdered Meredith Kercher said her family will never watch the new documentary about the killing - and have questioned why the two former prime suspects continue to talk about it. Stephanie Kercher was speaking following the release of Amanda Knox, the Netflix film named after the American student who was convicted and imprisoned with then-boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito for the 2007 murder of Miss Kercher's sibling, a 21-year-old student from Surrey. Miss Knox and Mr Sollecito were acquitted last year by Italy's highest court following appeals and retrials. The documentary features interviews with Miss Knox - along with Mr Sollecito and Italian prosecutor Giuliano Mignini - in which she describes what it feels like to be wrongly convicted. Rudy Guede, a drug dealer, is serving a 16-year sentence over the death. But the film has been criticised by Miss Kercher's sister. She told the Daily Mail website: " Everyone seemed to say they wanted to try to rebuild their lives, including Knox and Sollecito, and yet we constantly see programmes and interviews. I don't understand why they want to keep reliving this nightmare. "I guess it might seem contradictory me giving an interview criticising them and Netflix but if they so desperately want to find a way to move on with their lives as much as we are trying to, as hard as it is for all involved, I struggle to see why they participate? Surely they want to separate themselves from this tragic experience? "I don't really understand what is the rationale behind the making of this documentary, I don't really know what the purpose of it is if it can't bring anything new to light." She said details of the documentary have been passed on to the family by friends and supporters, including that it features particularly graphic crime scene footage. Miss Kercher said: " That was pretty upsetting to hear because I don't see how that serves any purpose. So none of us watched it and I doubt any of us will." It looks like one thing in Ryan Lochte's life is going his way. The Olympic swimmer (32), who lost a number of lucrative contracts after it was revealed he "overexaggerated" about being the victim of an armed robbery at the Rio Olympics, is engaged to his girlfriend of nine months. Lochte popped the question to the former Playboy Playmate Kayla Rae Reid (35) after a nine month romance and the pair eagerly shared photos of their special moment on Instagram. He shared a picture kissing his new fiancee with the caption, "Memories forever!!! #thelochtes #LA." Expand Close Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid are engaged. Picture: Instagram / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid are engaged. Picture: Instagram Kayla echoed his loved-up sentiment with her own picture, captioning it: "Speechless. Absolutely beautiful. So in love with YOU." The pair first met in January at a Los Angeles nightclub and have been inseparable since. "From the very first time I met her, everything has like clicked,'' Ryan previously gushed. "That's why I know I can propose to her because everything that's happened and she's been keeping me so positive. She doesn't care about my fame. She doesn't care about anything. All she cares about is me being happy." Expand Close Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Ryan Lochte and Kayla Rae Reid Thandie Newton was concerned she was not making a 'contribution to the world' Thandie Newton has revealed she considered retiring from acting before she landed her role on the new drama Westworld. The Bafta-winning star said she was concerned she was not making a "contribution to the world" but struggled to find another career which would cover the cost of her family's lifestyle. Newton, 43, said her role as brothel madam Maeve Millay on Westworld had now allowed her to challenge the "objectification of women". She told an audience at New York Comic Con: " I almost got to the point where I kind of wanted to retire - no really - and do something else but it's hard to find something else like this that's going to give you money for the rent and for the school fees. It's tough. It's an amazing job. "In terms of satisfying a good contribution to the world, it's difficult. Until Westworld. "Westworld, every day, I'm contributing not only to making the world better but also healing bits of me that have been affected as a woman, as a woman of colour. "Here I was taking centre stage. Here I was naked on set almost every day. Here I was able to actually challenge and deal with the objectification of women." Newton, who has three children with her husband, writer Ol Parker, was joined at New York Comic Con by writer Jonathan Nolan, who confirmed plans for a second series of Westworld were being discussed. The sci-fi thriller - based on Michael Crichton's 1973 film of the same name - depicts human guests entering an adult Western-themed park in which they can kill and rape robots known as "hosts". The show has faced criticism for its depiction of sexual violence, with executive producer JJ Abrams admitting the series may be "too intense" for some viewers. Video of the Day The first episode aired on Sky Atlantic last Tuesday, while the show was HBO's most-watched series premiere in the US for almost three years, attracting 3.3 million viewers. French shoe designer Christian Louboutin poses for a picture at a preview of an exhibition by showcasing 20 years of the famous red-soled shoes at the Design Museum in London US model Dita von Teese poses with French shoe designer Christian Louboutin prior to the Amfar dinner on the sidelines of the Paris fashion week French creator Christian Louboutin arrives for the 41st edition of the Cesar Ceremony at the Theatre du Chatelet in Paris Christian Louboutin is reportedly the father of fraternal twin girls. The French fashion designer, famous for his footwear with red-lacquered soles, doesnt typically shine the spotlight on his private life. However, in a new profile in the Wall Street Journal about the 52-year-olds home in Portugal, it is revealed that he has become a parent in recent years. (At) his compound of low-slung whitewashed bungalows is set off a dirt road outside of Melides, a beach village just south of the resort town of Comporta, which Louboutin used to frequent before it became a popular destination, the article reads. Expand Close US model Dita von Teese poses with French shoe designer Christian Louboutin prior to the Amfar dinner on the sidelines of the Paris fashion week / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp US model Dita von Teese poses with French shoe designer Christian Louboutin prior to the Amfar dinner on the sidelines of the Paris fashion week Louboutins curly-haired daughters, fraternal twins, now nearly two years old, toddle around happily. No other detail about the children is given. But the feature does describe how a large desk in an atelier inside Louboutins home is flanked by baby furniture. Furthermore, the article goes on to reveal that Louboutin is currently single, having split from his long-time partner, landscape designer Louis Benech. The pair had been in a relationship since 1997. But Louboutin is comfortable speaking about the continuing expansion of his business globally, which has grown to include beauty and perfume lines. Expand Close French shoe designer Christian Louboutin poses for a picture at a preview of an exhibition by showcasing 20 years of the famous red-soled shoes at the Design Museum in London / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp French shoe designer Christian Louboutin poses for a picture at a preview of an exhibition by showcasing 20 years of the famous red-soled shoes at the Design Museum in London At present, the designer has about 400 points of sale worldwide, as well as 131 stand-alone Christian Louboutin boutiques, with plans to add a further 12 next year (17). And while many companies have come to him proposing licences over the years for products including eyewear and fashion, he refused them all. Legitimacy is a big thing for me, he explained. And I want to work on the product. My goal is to do something Im proud of. As long as you drive something to the end and do it your way, youll always be proud. If its successful, even better. Video of the Day Both out just to enjoy the night, neither Marianna from Moldova, or Stephen from Dublin expected to meet the love of their life in the local nightclub. The pair met through mutual friends on a fateful night in 2011 and haven't separated since. And their first date brought them closer than ever when Stephen invited Marianna to his brother's gig, where she also met another brother of his, his sister and, rather unexpectedly for her, his mother. Having been together three years, Stephen popped the question in truly romantic fashion, taking Marianna out to a restaurant on Valentine's Day where, at the end of the meal, a waiter appeared with a heart-shaped cake with the big question iced on top. Expand Close Marianna and Stephen's wedding - Couple Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Marianna and Stephen's wedding - Couple Photography Marianna and Stephen held their church ceremony in St Patrick's Church in Kilquade, Co Wicklow, incorporating Moldovan and Greek Orthodox traditions in the ceremony, before moving on to their wedding reception at Druids Glen, Co Wicklow. "From the first day we stepped in to Druids Glen, we felt like we were at home. The atmosphere was relaxed and the staff were amazing," says Marianna. The bride wanted a unique dress that made her feel special, and after having no luck in Ireland, she decided to travel to Moldova to find the perfect gown, eventually settling on a dress by an English designer. Stephen and Marianna jetted off on honeymoon to Cancun, Mexico, to soak up the sun after their big day. Expand Close Marianna and Stephen's wedding - Couple Photography / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Marianna and Stephen's wedding - Couple Photography * Words by Dee Finnerty. Photography by Couple Photography, visit couple.ie If you would like your wedding featured here, email weddings@independent.ie Video of the Day There has since been an alarming spate of attacks around Ballina and nearby Byron Bay - a region now known as the "shark attack capital of Australia". One morning at a popular beach on Australia's east coast, two teenagers were surfing on body-boards when one noticed a commotion in the water followed by a glimpse of a "big, grey shadow". As 16-year-old Brock Curtis later recalled, he saw the water turn red as he rushed towards his friend Peter Edmonds, who appeared on his back and then silently turned face down. "I thought he was only joking, so I went over to him, and as I flipped him over I saw his leg," Brock said. He dragged his friend ashore but Peter soon died of blood loss. When the fatal incident occurred in 2008 at Lighthouse Beach in Ballina, 500 miles north of Sydney, it was the first of its type in the area for 35 years. But there has since been an alarming spate of attacks around Ballina and nearby Byron Bay - a region now known as the "shark attack capital of Australia". The New South Wales state government has been pressed to adopt lethal preventive measures such as poison baits or hired shooters. Surfers are increasingly backing a cull. Lisa and Neil Edmonds, the parents of Peter - "a charming, gentle giant" - said the mauling of Cooper Allen (17) last month "opened old wounds" and they now believe nets and traps should be placed offshore. "You just think 'here we go again'," said Mrs Edmonds. Local attacks in recent years have included the fatal mauling of British expat Paul Wilcox in 2014 and of Japanese surfer Tadashi Nakahara in 2015. Former prime minister Tony Abbott, an avid surfer, also backed culls and shark nets off beaches in northern New South Wales. "Frankly, if it's a choice between people and animals, I'm on the side of the people every time,'' he said. Josh Frydenberg, the federal environment minister, also urged local authorities to allow culls and "put human safety first". Critics argue that culls are ineffective and cause the death of non-threatening sharks and other marine life. Nathan Bartlett, a surfer in Ballina, said he used to believe attacks were like car accidents and "there's a really minor chance of it happening". But, after the most recent incident, he said he had no doubt that there will be another attack. "It's just a matter of time," he told ABC Radio. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Donald Trump has claimed Hillary Clinton should be in jail and accused former US president Bill Clinton of being "abusive to women" in a tense second presidential debate. The Republican candidate met women who have accused Mr Clinton of rape and other unwanted sexual advances shortly before the debate and claimed Mrs Clinton should be "ashamed" for attacking her husband's accusers. He also defended a 2005 video recording in which he was heard making lewd comments about women, describing his remarks as "locker room talk". "I have great respect for women," Mr Trump said. "Nobody has more respect for women than I do. "I'm very embarrassed by it. I hate it. It's locker room talk." He denied he had ever assaulted women in the ways described in the 2005 recording, in which he talks about grabbing women "by the p***y". "Mine were words, his was action," Mr Trump said of Mr Clinton. "What he's done to women, there's never been any body in the history of politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women." Mrs Clinton said the comments made by her Republican rival in the recording represented "exactly who he is". She added: "We've seen him insult women, we've seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to 10, we've seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter." Mr Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the sexual misconduct allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. On the debate stage, Mrs Clinton did not respond directly to Mr Trump's accusations but repeated comments made by First Lady Michelle Obama - "When they go low, you go high". Mr Trump said Mrs Clinton would be in jail if he was president after she deleted more than 30,000 emails from a private server she used while she was US secretary of state. He said: "I hate to say it but if I win I'm going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation. "There has never been so many lies, so much deception. "You ought to be ashamed of yourself." In response, Mrs Clinton said: "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in this country." Mr Trump replied: "Because you'd be in jail." The billionaire tycoon admitted he used a 916 million-dollar loss he claimed in 1995 to avoid paying federal income tax, and claimed many of Mrs Clinton's donors had also taken "massive tax write-offs". He added: "I lot of my write off was depreciation and other things that Hillary as a senator allowed." Mr Trump also claimed Mrs Clinton had "tremendous hate in her heart" after she called half of his supporters "deplorables". The final question of the town-hall style debate saw an audience member ask the candidates what they respected about each other. Mrs Clinton said: "I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and I think that says a lot about Donald." Mr Trump said: "I will say this about Hillary - she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter." The candidates shook hands at the end of the debate after failing to do so when they entered the stage at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri. The third debate will take place in Las Vegas on October 19 ahead of the November 8 election. Cholera victim Cenelson Lundi, aged just 13 months, receives treatment at the state hospital in Jeremie, Haiti (AP) The Dutch government is sending a navy ship to Haiti to deliver aid including food, water and temporary shelters in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew. Haiti's ravaged ports and waterways will also be checked by the vessel to ensure other aid ships can safely dock. The Dutch defence ministry said the ship is on its way from the Caribbean island of Curacao to Haiti while another ship is being loaded with more supplies. Matthew's brutal assault on the impoverished nation killed hundreds of people, destroyed tens of thousands of homes, left at least 350,000 people in need of assistance and raised concerns over a surge in cholera cases. Overseas aid minister Lilianne Ploumen said: "By getting there quickly we can work to prevent a further deterioration in the situation." Food and medicine is being flown to the devastated south-western region of Haiti by helicopter. Power is still out, water and food are scarce, and officials say that young men in villages along the road between the hard-hit cities of Les Cayes and Jeremie are putting up blockades of rocks and felled trees to halt convoys of vehicles bringing relief supplies. "They are seeing these convoys coming through with supplies and they aren't stopping. They are hungry and thirsty and some are getting angry," said Dony St Germain, an official with El Shaddai Ministries International. A convoy carrying food, water and medications was attacked by gunmen in a remote valley where there had been a mudslide, said Frednel Kedler, the coordinator for the Civil Protection Agency in Grand-Anse. He said authorities are trying to reach marooned and desperate communities west of Jeremie. Throughout Haiti's south-western peninsula, people were digging themselves out from the wreckage of the storm. Guillaume Silvera, a senior official with the Civil Protection Agency in storm-blasted Grand-Anse, which includes Jeremie, said at least 522 deaths were confirmed there alone - not including people in several remote communities still marooned by collapsed roads and bridges. The National Civil Protection headquarters in Port-au-Prince, meanwhile, said its official death toll for the whole country was 336, which included 191 deaths in Grand-Anse. People in Port Salut and Les Cayes said little to no aid had reached them by Sunday. Besides food and water, they need clothing and shoes. The first three of five cargo planes of humanitarian aid from the United States have arrived at Port-au-Prince's airport. They were carrying 480 metric tonnes of relief supplies, including 20,000 hygiene kits, 18,000 sets of kitchen utensils for cooking, 40,000 blankets and 500 rolls of plastic sheeting. The airstrip in Jeremie is unable to accommodate large cargo planes, so relief is being ferried to the devastated city by helicopter. Three of nine US helicopters had arrived in Jeremie by Sunday, bringing rice and cooking oil, among other things. Concern is growing over an increase in cholera cases. An ongoing outbreak has already killed roughly 10,000 people and left more than 800,000 ill since 2010. AP A 16-year-old covers his face in a court after being accused of murder following the death a 41-year-old woman in an apparent exorcism ritual (AP) Five South Koreans are on trial in Germany over the alleged murder of a relative during an exorcism ritual. The defendants at Frankfurt state court are aged between 16 and 44, and include the son of the 41-year-old woman who died. Police discovered the woman's body in a Frankfurt hotel room last December after the suspects called a priest when it became apparent she had died. Prosecutors claim the defendants wanted to expel a "demon" they believed had possessed the woman, and that she died of asphyxiation as a result of "massive chest compression and violence to her neck". The trial is scheduled to last until mid-January. The defendants did not immediately make any statements as the trial opened. In Germany, defendants do not enter formal pleas in trials. The five accused are believed to practice a form of Christianity with shamanist influences. They arrived in Frankfurt about six weeks before the killing and planned to set up an import-export business, according to reports. AP UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court for investigation of possible war crimes. Mr Ban said he was "deeply disappointed" at the lack of unity on Syria in the council, demonstrated by Russia's veto on Saturday of a Western-backed resolution demanding an immediate bombing halt. Mr Ban said the council must stop debating and disagreeing and "work to protect human lives, to bring this matter to a political solution". For this to happen, he again urged a ceasefire "to build trust and confidence among the parties" and an immediate bombing halt in Aleppo and elsewhere. Mr Ban's comments followed a call from France's foreign minister for the ICC to investigate Russia for possible war crimes in Syria. Jean-Marc Ayrault said: "France intends to get in touch with the prosecutor to find out how the probe can be launched." Mr Ayrault said France disagrees with Russia's "bombarding" of Aleppo and "is committed as never before to saving the population". He said the investigation would hinge on Moscow's role in the aerial offensive in the rebel-held eastern part of the city. Meanwhile, Doctors Without Borders have pleaded for access to treat the wounded in the rebel-held part of Aleppo, as Syrian government forces pressed ahead with an offensive that has killed hundreds of people in recent weeks. The international charity, also known by its French acronym MSF, said medical workers in Aleppo are exhausted and the overstretched facilities face an impending fuel shortage. MSF, which supports eight hospitals in Aleppo's besieged eastern quarters, said just 35 doctors remain in the area, serving a population of 275,000. Eastern Aleppo's Health Directorate said the wounded were sleeping outside overcrowded hospitals, waiting for care. The UN has warned that the Aleppo bombardment by Syrian and Russian war planes could leave thousands more dead by the end of the year. "Russia and Syria must stop the indiscriminate bombing now and abide by the rules of war to avoid the extreme suffering of the unprotected civilian population," said Pablo Marco, MSF's operations manager for the Middle East. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict through local contacts, reported heavy fighting along the east-west Aleppo front lines. Another activist-run group, the Local Coordination Committees, said rebels were fighting to repel government forces from the city's largest water facility, which serves more than a million people. In another besieged area near the capital, Damascus, doctors reported up to two dozen cases of kidney failure that they said resulted from malnutrition. Muhammad Darwish, a local physician, said doctors confirmed renal failure in 12 people in the town of Madaya and were investigating another 12 cases. Government forces have laid siege to Madaya, home to some 40,000 people, since late last year. Last winter, MSF reported at least 16 deaths there resulting from malnutrition and lack of medical care. "We are only eating carbohydrates. We aren't receiving any vitamins or protein," said Mr Darwish. The government has prohibited the UN from delivering seeds or dialysis kits to the town, in what the opposition says is a strategy aimed at forcing the town to surrender. AP Police officers patrol the Central Station in the eastern city of Chemnitz, Germany (AP) A terror suspect has been arrested in Germany after three Syrians recognised him from a wanted poster and tied him up before calling the police. Jaber Albakr, 22, a Syrian man who was granted asylum in Germany, is suspected of preparing a bomb attack in the country. He is motivated by Islamic extremism and is likely linked to Islamic State (IS), police and prosecutors said. Albakr, who is from Damascus, was arrested shortly after midnight in the eastern city of Leipzig. Leipzig is around 50 miles from Chemnitz, the city where he had allegedly evaded authorities on Saturday after they found several hundred grams of a volatile explosive at an apartment. Officers said the suspect approached his fellow countrymen at the Leipzig main train station and asked them if they could accommodate him, and they agreed. Saxony criminal police chief Joerg Michaelis said the three Syrians recognised Albakr from police wanted posters which had been distributed online. He said two of the Syrians bound and held Albakr at their apartment while the other brought a mobile phone photo of Albakr to a local police station, leading to the suspect's arrest. The wanted posters were put out in German, English and Arabic and made use of a recent surveillance photo taken by Germany's domestic intelligence agency. Albakr had been on the radar of the security services since last month. Mr Michaelis said that, at this stage of the investigation, "the behaviour and actions of the suspect currently speak for an IS context". Ulrike Demmer, a spokeswoman for German chancellor Angela Merkel, thanked the authorities and the Syrians who helped in Albakr's arrest. Federal prosecutors said they currently have no indications that Albakr had already chosen a target for an attack. The explosives were destroyed on Saturday in a controlled explosion. In July, two attacks carried out by asylum-seekers and claimed by IS in which multiple people were injured put Germany on edge. Two other attacks were unrelated to Islamic extremism. AP Medics carry the body of a victim of a Saudi-led coalition airstrike in Sanaa, Yemen Thousands of Yemenis marched in the capital Sanaa yesterday to protest a Saudi-led coalition airstrike a day earlier that hit a funeral hall packed with hundreds of mourners, killing over 140 people. The casualty toll, given by a UN official, also mentioned over 525 wounded in what was one of the deadliest single attacks of the country's civil war. Hundreds of body parts were found strewn in and outside the hall after the attack. Some of the demonstrators who marched outside the UN building in southern Sanaa blamed the organisation for not ending the conflict. Protesters brandished automatic weapons and called on people from the region to attack Saudi Arabia. The Saudi military announced early yesterday that it would launch an investigation into "reports about the regrettable and painful bombing" without acknowledging that it is the only force with air power in the conflict. It is the latest in a string of bombings by the coalition that have struck hospitals, markets and other places where civilians congregate. "The place has been turned into a lake of blood," said one rescuer, Murad Tawfiq. Yemeni officials said the dead and wounded included military and security officials from the ranks of the Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies, loyalists of former President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The rebel alliance is battling the internationally-recognised government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. Residents at a shelter in the school Liliane Mars Dumarsais Estime fight for food during a delivery after Hurricane Matthew in Les Cayes, Haiti. A small airstrip at the edge of town hums with activity. Aid convoys are arriving from the capital, now some roads washed out by Hurricane Matthew have been cleared. A barge carrying food and water is moored offshore. An international response is finally getting underway as Haitian authorities try to gauge the full extent of the staggering blow delivered by Hurricane Matthew, including hundreds dead and tens of thousands of homes obliterated. The precise death toll remained uncertain yesterday. Guillaume Silvera, a senior official with the Civil Protection Agency in the storm-blasted Grand-Anse Department, which includes Jeremie, said at least 522 deaths were confirmed there alone - not including people in several remote communities still cut off by collapsed roads and bridges. Haiti began three days of formal national mourning yesterday under a decree issued by President Jocelerme Privert, even as aid began to move toward flattened communities. "It's beginning to pick up now," said Stephane Rolland, a regional coordinator for the International Federation of the Red Cross, as workers unloaded blankets, soap, bleach and other critical items in Jeremie on Saturday. There are clearly limits, though, including the fact that the airstrip in Jeremie is unable to accommodate large cargo planes, and only operates in the daytime. Many of the villages in the southwestern peninsula are difficult to reach. And people are growing increasingly desperate after losing everything when the storm ripped through the area on Tuesday. Expand Close People gather at the shore after Hurricane Matthew passes in Jeremie, Haiti / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp People gather at the shore after Hurricane Matthew passes in Jeremie, Haiti One woman stared with outstretched arms as a UN convoy drove through town. "I am hungry. I hope they can help," said Fabienne Charles, explaining that she would normally be working as a market vendor but lost her supplies in the storm. Government officials estimate that at least 350,000 people need assistance, and concern was growing over an increase in cholera cases following widespread flooding unleashed by Matthew. An ongoing cholera outbreak has already killed roughly 10,000 people and sickened more than 800,000 since 2010, when the infectious disease was introduced into the country's biggest river from a UN base where Nepalese peacekeepers were deployed. Maria Sofia Sanon, a health worker overseeing the open-air cholera treatment centre in a corner of Jeremie's main hospital, said they were ill-equipped to deal with patients. The area was strewn with broken tree branches, and a group of young mothers sat outside holding up the arms of their glassy-eyed children being rehydrated via IVs. "They're not supposed to be in the sun, but we have no more beds," Sanon said. The World Food Program says there has been massive destruction of crops. Hospitals and clinics have been damaged or destroyed as they struggle to deal with an increase in patients with injuries sustained during the storm as well as an apparent increase in cholera. UNICEF said that in Grand Anse alone there were 66,000 houses destroyed and 20,000 heavily damaged. "Information gathered from various sources in the field suggests that the human toll (dead and injured) will be heavier than the current official figures," the agency said in a report. Jocelyne Saint was part of the crowd that lined up in an orderly fashion to get food as aid began to arrive, including shipments of food and other emergency supplies from the US Agency for International Development carried by waves of military transport helicopters. The mother of three children whose home was destroyed said officials were handing out wheat, beans, oil and salt. "Yes, they brought food, but it's not sufficient," she said. "There's no water. There's no charcoal." As aid trickled into Jeremie, Jislene Jean-Baptiste surveyed what remained of the one-room house that the grandmother shares with her three daughters and their children. There wasn't much left. Storm surge flowed across the road and drenched her belongings in waist-deep salt water, washing away the stores of rice and sugar she regularly sold at the market to support her family. Then the wind tore off her roof. "That storm was the most terrifying thing that ever happened here," she said. People unload food and water boated in from the Mission of Hope charity after Hurricane Matthew swept through Jeremie (AP) Residents pray at a church that was destroyed by hurricane Matthew in Jeremie, Haiti (AP) Residents of the southeastern United States ravaged by Hurricane Matthew turned their focus on Monday toward recovery and clean-up, but officials in several states warned that deadly flooding could continue as swollen rivers crest in the coming days. Matthew, the most powerful Atlantic storm since 2007, was downgraded to a post-tropical cyclone on Sunday after its rampage through the Caribbean killed 1,000 people in Haiti. In the United States, the death toll rose to at least 19 people. While power was being restored in some areas, 1.6 million people were without power in Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and Virginia, down from Sunday's peak of 2.2 million. Officials were working to clear streets of fallen trees and abandoned vehicles. With five people reported missing and rivers rising, North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory said he expected the death toll to rise. Eight people in the state were known to have died so far. McCrory said several swelling rivers were expected to hit record levels and would not crest for days. Expand Close A boat is partially submerged in the Halifax River in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Phelan Ebenhack / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A boat is partially submerged in the Halifax River in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew in Daytona Beach, Florida, U.S. October 9, 2016. REUTERS/Phelan Ebenhack "Hurricane Matthew is off the map, but it is still with us and it is still deadly," he said. Read More The National Weather Service said "life-threatening flooding" would continue on Monday over eastern portions of the state. Many coastal and inland communities remained under water, either from coastal storm surge or overrun rivers and creeks. All 2,000 residents of Princeville, were told on Sunday to evacuate due to flash flood risks. The town lies on the Tar River about 25 miles (40 km) north of Greenville. Several dams have breached in the area around Cumberland County, south of Raleigh, Michael Martin, fire marshal for the city of Fayetteville, said by phone. Swiftwater rescue teams are still on alert and there have been 255 water rescue calls and 701 people rescued. Expand Close A man takes photos of a road damaged by floodwaters caused by rain from Hurricane Matthew in Fayetteville, North Carolina (AP) / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp A man takes photos of a road damaged by floodwaters caused by rain from Hurricane Matthew in Fayetteville, North Carolina (AP) In neighboring South Carolina, a vehicle trying to cross a flooded roadway in Florence County was swept away by flood waters, killing one person, Governor Nikki Haley said. Jake Williams, a resident of Florence, said on early Monday that his power had been out since Saturday morning. Read More "Trees are down in every neighborhood on almost every road," he said, adding "I am no weather man, but would guess that the gusts of wind were near 100 mph (160 km), and with soggy ground a lot trees couldn't stand up to it." In Virginia Beach, the city said it had received over 13 inches (33 cm) of rain and 55,000 people remained without power on Sunday night. The city said that some 200 vehicles were abandoned and many roads remained impassable. Expand Close DEVASTATION: A man walks through the ruins of homes destroyed by Hurricane Matthew looking for personal belongings to salvage, in Baracoa, Cuba. Matthew hit Cubas eastern tip last Tuesday, damaging hundreds of homes but there were no reports of deaths. Nearly 380,000 people were evacuated. Photo: AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp DEVASTATION: A man walks through the ruins of homes destroyed by Hurricane Matthew looking for personal belongings to salvage, in Baracoa, Cuba. Matthew hit Cubas eastern tip last Tuesday, damaging hundreds of homes but there were no reports of deaths. Nearly 380,000 people were evacuated. Photo: AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa Norfolk, which declared a state of emergency, said efforts were under way to clear streets of debris and abandoned vehicles with city offices, libraries and recreational centers set to re-open Monday. ROOFTOP RESCUE The storm center was about 200 miles (320 km) off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, and heading away from land, according to the National Hurricane Center's Sunday 5 p.m. (2100 GMT) report. It discontinued all tropical storm warnings. The storm still packed hurricane force winds as far as 90 miles (150 km) from the center and tropical-storm-force winds 240 miles (390 km) away. U.S. President Barack Obama declared a state of emergency in Georgia and Florida, freeing up federal money to help the states repair damaged infrastructure and remove debris. McCrory said 334 rescue workers risked their lives carrying out 877 rescues overnight. Read More In one of the dramatic rescues in North Carolina, out-of-state firefighters helped save three people from the roof of an SUV in inland Cumberland County, where more than 500 rescues took place. Flash flooding turned a creek into a "roaring, raging river" that swept the vehicle off the roadway on Saturday night, said Battalion Chief Joe Downey of the Fire Department of New York. He was part of a team from three states that carried out 64 rescues on Saturday night and Sunday morning. "Water was almost up to the roof of the SUV," Downey said in a telephone interview. "It was bad. They had nowhere to go." Expand Close Homeowner Joe Lovece stands on what had been the back patio of his oceanfront home after the eye of Hurricane Matthew passed Ormond Beach, Florida. Photo: Reuters / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Homeowner Joe Lovece stands on what had been the back patio of his oceanfront home after the eye of Hurricane Matthew passed Ormond Beach, Florida. Photo: Reuters Though Hurricane Matthew has moved out to sea, the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs until Nov. 30, remains active. The National Hurricane Center said on Monday morning that tropical storm Nicole was expected to strengthen into Tuesday. The storm is around 500 miles (800 km) south of Bermuda and moving northward towards the island. Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton arrives at the airport in St Louis, Missouri, for the second presidential debate last night. Photo: Reuters Supporters of former Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders have expressed fury over leaked comments made by Hillary Clinton that appeared to confirm their fears about her tendency to cosy up to Wall Street. Clinton, who needs Sanders' coalition of young and left-leaning voters to propel her to the presidency, pushes for open trade and open borders in one of the speeches, and takes a conciliatory approach to Wall Street, both positions she later backed away from in an effort to capture the popular appeal of Sanders' attacks on trade deals and powerful banks. The excerpts of remarks by the former secretary of state, made in 2013 and 2014 in closed-door meetings where audiences paid to attend, were published online by WikiLeaks, which sourced them to the email account of John Podesta, Clinton's campaign chairman. "This is a very clear illustration of why there is a fundamental lack of trust from progressives for Hillary Clinton," said Tobita Chow, chair of the People's Lobby in Chicago, which endorsed Sanders in the primaries. Clinton has struggled to win support from young 'millennials' who were crucial to Bernie Sanders' success, and some Democrats expressed concern that the leaks would discourage those supporters from showing up to vote. Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shake hands at the conclusion. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson So you didnt get up at 2am to watch the great debate. The truth is you missed out. It was fiery, intense, dramatic and at times unbelievable. But dont worry Independent.ie Political Editor Kevin Doyle has compiled 10 talking points that will allow you sound informed at the water cooler this morning. 1. If Trump becomes President hell jail Hillary Clinton Donald Trump was expected to go on the attack about Hillary Clintons emails and the idea that she put US security at risk by using a private server while Secretary of State. He got quite worked up, saying that if he becomes President hell have her investigated and jailed. Clinton said: There is no evidence that any classified material ended up in the wrong hands. 2. He called her the devil right to her face Trump made the point that Bernie Sanders was one of Clintons biggest critics before she won the Democratic presidential nominee. He noted that Sanders has accused her of making really bad judgements, but signed off with the cut: So sorry to see him sign on with the devil. Towards the end of the debate, he added that she has tremendous hate in her heart. 3. Trump managed to use Isis chopping off heads in his apology of those tapes The show started like an extended episode of Jerry Springer with an audience member asking if each candidate felt they were a good role model. It quickly degenerated into a debate over the 2005 tapes of Trump talking about grabbing women by the p***y. Trump repeatedly said it was locker room talk before using the existence as Isis as a reason to move on. He said we living in a world where Isis are chopping off heads and said the carnage was like medieval times. Ultimately Trump is embarrassed and sorry, adding: Nobody respects women more than me. 4. Clinton refuses to acknowledge accusations about Bills past with women A stony faced Bill Clinton sat just a few seats from Trumps family when as Trump listed the names of women he allegedly assaulted. Trump said he was being criticised for words but Bill Clinton had carried out actions. Hillary Clintons responded by quoting Michelle Obama: When they go low, we go high. She did argue that the 2005 video represents exactly who he is, adding that he insults women, immigrants, African Americans, Muslims and Latinos. 5. Trump says he has no loans with Russia Hillary Clinton diverted away from questions about her emails by saying she is being targeted by Russian hackers who want Trump to be president. On a number of occasions she questioned Trumps links to Vladimir Putin Trump said he doesnt know Putin. I know nothing about Russia, he said at one stage, adding that he has no business interests or loans there. . 6. Trump didnt pay federal taxes for 20 years Trump admitted that he hasnt paid personal federal taxes for years but made apologies for it. He said many of Clintons top donors have enjoyed the same tax breaks. The former Apprentice boss said he knows the tax code better than anybody else who has ever run for president. 7. Trump disagrees with his running mate on Syria A heavy debate on the situation in Syria saw the candidates outline different approaches to Isis, Russia and Assad. It was put to Trump that his number two Mike Pence has said the US should be ready to strike on Assad regimes military targets if they continue bombings. Trump made the revelation that he hasnt talked to Pence about the issue and said he disagrees with him. 8. Trump did not like Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz The town hall format allowed for more open questioning of the candidates than the first debate and the two moderators, Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz, did more fact-checking. Trump repeatedly complained that Clinton was given more time and leeway than he was. At one point, after being cut off in order to allow the next question in, Trump said: Nice, three on one. 9. The Muslim ban is now extreme vetting Trumps all out ban on Muslims entering the country has been downgraded to what he now calls extreme vetting. He doesnt want hundreds of thousand of people arriving in the US from Syria because it would be the greatest Trojan horse of all time. Clinton said America had a duty to take its fair share of Syrian refugees. Separately Trump addressed the issue of Muslim Captain Humayun Khan whose family he criticised after they spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Captain Kham was killed in the War on Terror in the mid-2000s. Captain Khan is an American hero--and if I were president at that time, he would be alive today, because unlike her, who voted for the war...I would not have had our people in Iraq, Trump said. 10. The lurking is going to be a talking point Hillary Clinton didnt interrupt her opponent once. She sat quietly, often grinning to herself while Trump spoke. On the hand, Trump repeatedly paced the floor while she was speaking, leaning on his chair and at times appears to be towering over her. Theres little doubt that one Clinton came off as the more measured and more presidential. The many faces of Kenneth Bone Credit: Twitter It was a tense, bad-tempered debate, kicking off without the candidates shaking hands. Social media, however, found one glimmer of light to cling on to: Kenneth Bone, an affable-looking man in glasses and a red jumper, who posed a concise and intelligent question to the candidates about energy policy. "What steps," he asked, "will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers?" For some reason - possibly related to his appearance and his manner - Mr Bone struck a chord with the viewing public. Moments later, he was a bona fide viral phenomenon: Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Mike Pence has long described himself as a "Christian, a conservative and a Republican in that order". Now, the GOP vice-presidential nominee and his priorities are facing a critical test as Donald Trump staggers from controversy to controversy. Pence's advocacy for Trump came to a screeching, perhaps temporary, halt in the hours after Trump released a video apologising for 2005 remarks in which he describes his aggressive conduct toward women. Pence said in a statement about Trump that he won't "condone his remarks and cannot defend them". "We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation," the Indiana governor said. It's more evidence of the trials facing the GOP's No. 2 that could serve Pence well if he runs for the top spot in 2020. Pence dare not speak about that possibility. To do so would assume Clinton prevails on November 8. But plenty of people are engaging in presidential talk about Pence, including Republican members of Congress, governors, a former presidential candidate and more. Senators Mike Lee of Utah and Mike Crapo of Idaho are calling on Trump to quit the campaign so Pence can lead the ticket. Senator Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire says she'll write in Pence's name on the ballot - not Trump's. Pence cancelled his appearance at a Wisconsin rally on Saturday with House Speaker Paul Ryan. Pence would have been expected to advocate for Trump. "I'm sure he's horrified," said Mike Murphy, an Indiana public relations strategist who has known Pence for more than two decades. "We impeached Bill Clinton and we cannot impeach Trump off the ballot. But I wish there was a mechanism to do so." Pence raised his political stock last Monday during the debate against Democrat Tim Kaine. During the 90-minute event, Pence managed to not defend Trump's indefensible behaviour, yet still sound supportive and show off his expertise on foreign policy. The performance highlighted the gulf in political sophistication between Trump and his running mate. Pence addressed the awkwardness with a savvy statement acknowledging his own performance and preserving his alliance with Trump. "People are saying that I won the debate," he said last Wednesday in Harrisonburg, Virginia. "From where I sat, Donald Trump's vision to make America great won the debate." An influential Indiana conservative, Jim Bopp, who helped draft this year's Republican Party platform, said Pence "should stay the course". Trump's words are "ill-considered and crude," Bopp said, and also "statements Mike Pence would never make". The election is bigger than that, said Bopp, a lawyer from Terre Haute, Indiana. "In the grand scheme of things, this is trivia vs. real life-and-death problems that we face in our foreign policy and the serious challenges that everyday Americans face because of the Obama-Clinton economy." Shamed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump attacked the leaders of his own party as "self-righteous hypocrites" yesterday after it was plunged into crisis by the video in which he made lewd statements about groping women. At least 33 senior Republicans, including John McCain, the Arizona senator and 2008 nominee, withdrew support for Mr Trump ahead of last night's presidential debate, with some demanding he quit the race. Expand Close Reporter Nancy ODell, who was the subject of Trumps lewd comments on the 2005 tape. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Reporter Nancy ODell, who was the subject of Trumps lewd comments on the 2005 tape. Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, File Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state, said: "Enough. Donald Trump should not be president. I hope to support someone who has the dignity and stature to run." New Hampshire senator Kelly Ayotte said: "I thought about years from now when my daughter Kate is old enough to know what is in those tapes and to understand what he is talking about. I want her to know where I stood." The video showed Mr Trump joking about sexual assault and boasting of attempts to seduce a married woman. Read more: Sex boasts dash hopes of winning female vote in US Read more: 'I WILL NEVER DROP OUT' - Donald Trump vows to stay in race after lewd remarks surface Mr Trump continued to defy calls to step aside, tweeting: "So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers - and elections - go down!" In an email to supporters, he vowed to defeat Hillary Clinton without party support. "They are more concerned with their political future than they are about the future of the country," it read. "Mr Trump won the primary without the help of the insiders and he'll win the general [election] without them too." The Republican Party is seeking to defend majorities in both houses of Congress and officials fear Mr Trump could be a lead weight. Katie Packer, a Republican strategist, said: "There were people who were just starting to feel like this ship was going down, and now this gives people a good excuse to jump off." Mr Trump lashed out as he battled the biggest crisis of his 16-month campaign, following the release of a video from 2005 in which he was heard graphically describing groping women. His running mate, Mike Pence, was said yesterday to be "absolutely apoplectic and inconsolable". Mr Trump hunkered down in his Trump Tower house over the weekend, with close advisers including former New York mayor Rudi Giuliani and New Jersey governor Chris Christie. Mr Giuliani was the nominee's sole defender on yesterday's television talk shows. "When he was confronted with it, he was pretty darn shocked that he had said such terrible things, and he feels terrible about it," he said. "He is very, very embarrassed and contrite about it." Asked whether Mr Trump had been talking about acts of sexual assault on the tape, Mr Giuliani said: "That's what he was talking about. Whether it happened or not, I don't know. There is a tendency on the part of some men to exaggerate things like this." Mr Giuliani said Mr Trump would spend the final month of the campaign talking about "the women that Bill Clinton raped, sexually abused and attacked", and would accuse Ms Clinton of trying to discredit those women. He said: "Both sides have sinned." Republicans have attacked Ms Clinton (68) over what they say is her role in trying to discredit women who accused her husband of sexual misconduct decades ago. Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta, interviewed on 'Fox News Sunday', called the Trump remarks captured on video "disgusting", adding: "This is who this guy is." Trump is facing the biggest crisis of his 16-month-old campaign. Before the video surfaced, a Reuters/Ipsos poll had Clinton leading by five points last Friday. Now, the question is whether Trump's quest for the presidency has been dealt a lethal blow. Trump has survived a string of setbacks during this gruelling campaign and is hoping that he can again recover. A new public opinion poll by Politico/Morning Consult, taken just after news of the video broke, found that 39pc of voters thought Trump should withdraw from the race; 45pc said he should stay. But his support among Republicans was largely holding, according to the poll, which found that of those who said Trump should leave, only 12pc identified themselves as Republicans. The 2016 elections are about more than the race for the presidency. The video renewed Republican worries that Trump's problems could hurt party efforts to retain majority control of the US Senate and House of Representatives. "There is full-on panic" about the Senate elections, said a senior Senate Republican aide, who asked not to be identified. The Democratic Coalition Against Trump, the nation's largest grassroots anti-Trump organisation, released a new attack ad that centred on the 2005 video. Scott Dworkin, the group's senior adviser, said: "We aim to target this ad in competitive House and Senate districts of elected Trump supporters." The possibility of Trump abandoning his quest for the White House, however remote, raised questions about ballots already cast, such as those from soldiers overseas, the elderly and college students living away from home. ( Daily Telegraph, London) Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022] Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton shake hands at the first US presidential debate in New York. Photo: David Goldman/AP Hillary Clinton has won the second presidential debate according to voters, the first opinion poll has found. The CNN poll found 57 per cent of people feel Ms Clinton won the debate, compared to 34 per cent of voters who felt Donald Trump performed best. A further poll by YouGov found 47 per cent of people polled favoured Ms Clinton while 42 per cent backed Mr Trump. Among people who had previously been undecided about who they would be casting their vote for, Clinton also won narrowly by 44 per cent to 41 per cent. The debate on Sunday night may go down as the most toxic and ill-tempered presidential debate in history. Read More A defiant Donald Trump sought to deflect criticism of the now notorious sex tape, threatened to send Hillary Clinton to jail he if was elected and told millions of viewers that his rival had tremendous hate in her heart. He also directly raised the sexual history of Bill Clinton and said Ms Clinton had attacked those women who had accused her husband of sexual assault. Expand Close Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shake hands at the conclusion. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson / Facebook Twitter Email Whatsapp Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton shake hands at the conclusion. REUTERS/Lucy Nicholson For her part, Ms Clinton said the tape published last week in which the New York tycoon was seen boasting of assaulting women, was proof of the way he viewed women. He has said the video doesnt represent who he is but I think its clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is, she said. The tense second encounter between the White House rivals came as Mr Trump had spent the previous 48 hours trying to divert attention from the fall-out caused by the emergence of video footage in which he bragged about sexually assaulting women. He said he was able to get away with such actions because of his celebrity. With senior Republican leaders lining up to denounce him, and with some calling on him to stand down as the partys nominee, Mr Trump was determined to change the narrative. Indeed, two hours before the debate got underway in St Louis, he held a press conference with three women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton. In such circumstances, it was perhaps not surprising that the candidates did not shake hands when they took to the stage. And within minutes, Mr Trump was asked about the tape. It was locker room banter. Im not proud of it, said Mr Trump, then saying that there were more serious issues confronting the country, including Isis beheading people. You hear these things Ive said and I was embarrassed by it, Mr Trump added. But I have tremendous respect for women. They have tremendous respect for me. Mr Trump tried to turn the discussion to Mr Clintons history with women. If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse, Mr Trump said. Ms Clinton was asked about her use of a private email server, and her deleting of more than 30,000 emails. You ought to be ashamed of yourself, he said. Ms Clinton said that the FBI had fully investigated the issue of her emails and decided not to bring any criminal charges. She said she took the issue of classified material very seriously. She said: You know its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in this country. Mr Trump quickly shot back: Because youd be in jail.You said it was fine to delete 33,000 emails. I don't think so. A flood of Republicans have withdrawn their support for Mr Trump over the video, which was filmed in 2005 when recording scenes for Access Hollywood. The controversy has pitched Mr Trump into the biggest crisis of his 16-month-old campaign and deepened fissures between him and establishment Republicans. Yet most political pundits his performance on Sunday night was probably sufficient to at least staunch the bleeding being endured by his campaign. It was not remarkable, but Mr Trump had lowered expectations so much, that by remaining focused on attacking Ms Clinton on several key issues, he will likely have rallied his base and changed the headlines. The final question faced by the Ms Clinton (68) and Mr Trump (70) related to what they respected about the other. Ms Clinton said she respected Mr Trumps children, a comment her rival called a very nice compliment. He in turn said she was a fighter. He said: She does fight hard and doesnt give up and I consider that a very good trait. With the debate then concluded, the pair finally shook hands Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Russian president Vladimir Putin shake hands following the group photo at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul (AP) The leaders of Turkey and Russia have overseen the signing of a deal to build a gas pipeline - a project that was suspended amid tensions between the two countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan watched as their countries' energy ministers sealed the Turkish Stream project that would bring gas from Russia to Turkey. It would then be distributed to European Union nations. The agreement came on the sidelines of the World Energy Congress being held in Istanbul. In other steps aimed at restoring ties, Mr Putin announced that Russia had agreed to cut natural gas export prices to Turkey and resume importing fruit, vegetables and other agricultural goods from the country. Russia is building Turkey's first nuclear power plant, and Mr Erdogan said the sides had agreed to accelerate the project. "I am convinced that the process of normalisation of our ties will continue rapidly," Mr Erdogan told reporters during a joint news conference. Mr Putin had first suggested the Turkish Stream project to carry gas beneath the Black Sea into Turkey in 2014, when a pipeline project to Bulgaria fell through amid EU countries' opposition. It was Mr Erdogan and Mr Putin's third meeting since June, when the Turkish leader apologised to Russia for shooting down a Russian plane at the Syrian border. The incident had seriously damaged ties, with Russia responding by deploying long-range air defence missiles at its air base in Syria, and imposing an array of economic sanctions on Turkey. Serious differences remain on Syria. While Moscow has backed Syrian President Bashar Assad throughout the nation's civil war and further bolstered that support by launching an air campaign last September, Turkey has pushed for Mr Assad's removal and helped his foes. Mr Putin said Turkey and Russia were in agreement over the need to deliver aid to Aleppo in Syria but were at odds over the "security" of the delivery routes. Mr Erdogan said he and the Russian leader had discussed Turkish-backed Syrian opposition forces' efforts to recapture areas near the Turkish border from the Islamic State group, and said they had assessed possible cooperation with Russia. "On Aleppo, we discussed what kind of a strategy can be applied on humanitarian aid so that the people there can quickly attain peace and calm," Mr Erdogan said. Earlier, in his speech to the congress, Mr Putin voiced support to Mr Erdogan over the country's July 15 failed coup, saying he was happy that the country had "retained control" after the attempt. "We are very glad that Turkey is recovering and wish it success," Mr Putin said. AP Samsung has temporarily halted production of Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, it is reported. Citing an unnamed official at a Samsung supplier on Monday, South Korea's Yonhap news agency said the tech giant took the unprecedented measure for consumer safety. The move comes after reports that Samsung's replacement devices had caught fire. The Note 7 recall and Samsung's handling of incidents have left the company facing its biggest crisis in years. Samsung seemed to have the trouble under control but consumers started to report that the new Note 7, which replaced the recalled hazardous Note 7, also began to catch fire. Last week, authorities had to evacuate a Southwest Airlines flight when a replacement phone began emitting smoke. Samsung Electronics did not respond to a request seeking confirmation. The premium phone was hailed by critics as one of the best Android models when it made its debut in August. But two months later, some consumers called the expensive device "Death Note" after reports that dozens of the smartphones overheated or caught fire, in some cases damaging property or causing injuries. Samsung seemed to have the trouble under control when it swiftly announced a global recall two weeks after the phone's launch and promised consumers to replace its existing phone with a new Note 7 with a green battery icon that shows it is safe to use. But consumers started to report that even the new Note 7 with the green battery icon were catching fire. Before the report of Samsung's production suspension emerged, AT&T, one of the largest phone retailers in the US, stopped giving consumers replacement Note 7s and encouraged customers with Note 7 phones to exchange them for other devices. Orphaned refugee children walking amongst the shelters at the Jungle camp at Calais in France The French interior minister said the UK has a "moral duty" to take in all children with family links to Britain who are living in a border refugee camp in Calais. Bernard Cazeneuve made the comments on RTL radio ahead of a meeting in London with his UK counterpart, Amber Rudd. Mr Cazeneuve said he is "solemnly asking the UK to fulfil its moral duty" to take in "several hundred isolated minors with family in Britain". The meeting will address the closure of the slum-like camp in Calais, known as the "Jungle", which has become a flashpoint in Europe's migrant crisis. Thousands of migrants fleeing war and hardship from countries such as Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan have reached the port town in the hope of making it to the UK. Charities and religious leaders have urged the UK government to take in hundreds of children before the camp is closed. Greg Swift, a spokesman for Prime Minister Theresa May, said Britain and France were working together "to identify children who are vulnerable that we can help and we can bring into this country". He added: "It's important that that work is done speedily, but it's also important that it's done in the best interests of the children who are involved. "We are working very closely with French counterparts to speed up the process and we're hoping to make progress in the weeks ahead." AP CONCORD- A lawsuit against the Cabarrus County Board of Education and the principal of Northwest Middle School has been dismissed. The claim was originally filed in November 2015 by a candidate running for Cabarrus County School Board. Keisha Villatoro, who is running for a spot on the Cabarrus County Board of Education, filed a civil rights lawsuit with North Carolina Middle District Court in the federal system against Cabarrus County Schools, Superintendent Dr. Chris Lowder, Northwest Middle Principal Keena Eyster-Terrill and Deputy Superintendent Jason Van Heukelum on Wednesday, Nov. 18. Since that time, Van Heukelum has left the school system to become superintendent in Winchester, Virginia. According to court documents, the case was dismissed by a United States Magistrate Judge on February 5, 2016. In her claim, Villatoro said the school system and specified personnel violated the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the First Amendment right of free speech, the Fifth Amendment right of due process and the Fourteenth Amendment right of equal protection in addition to four U.S. laws relating to civil rights. The suit stemmed from an incident in November 2012 when Cabarrus County School allegedly sent Villatoro a letter saying she would have to submit to a background check to come to her childrens school. Villatoro claimed that no policy existed requiring such a process and no other parents had to undergo checks. Villatoro claimed a principal had to escort her around the school. She also claimed the school system allegedly set up a communication plan for her in October 2015, which she called a violation of her rights. Court documents says she alleged the plan deprived her of communicating like other parents and denied her the right to fully participate in her sons education. She said her son was traumatized by the treatment he received at Northwest Middle School and he had to get therapy due to the hostile environment. Villatoro also alleged her son failed three of his four core classes because he wasnt treated fairly or equally. Plaintiff alleges that she attempted to get help with several offices but got no cooperation, the order said. The magistrate filed a recommendation to dismiss the suit on December 4, 2015 on an alleged failure to make a claim, meaning her complaints didntaccording to the magistrate validate a lawsuit based on the cited laws or rights. On December 17 Villatoro filed a motion for an extension to gather proper documentation needed to back up her complaints. The courts granted her request on December 22, allowing her until January to send in her objection. According to the Order And Judgment document after receiving extensions of time to object, Villatoro filed a paper entitled Notice on February 2 which the court treated as an objection. The document says that after review the judge recommended the case be dismissed without prejudice for failing to state a cognizable claim pursuant. The recommendation goes on to say the court notes that Villatoro may not assert claims on behalf of her son because she is not an attorney, thus she cannot represent her minor son in this action. Also, the order claims that Villatoros complaints dont qualify under the Civil Rights Act of 1964 because she didnt make a case for discrimination based on race, color or national origin. Other aspects of the claim, the magistrate said, arent valid because a private citizen cant claim relief based on criminal statutes and Villatoro didnt prove any intentional or class-based discrimination. She also didnt show a lack of notice for the change in procedure, the order said, or qualify what type of speech was limited. A day that was all green Indian equity markets ended the day strongly in green today. Nifty 50 ended the day, up by 225.4 points. Sensex ended the day, up by 786.74 points. Top Gainers today were Ultratech Cement, Eich... October 31, 2022 | 4:12 pm Daesung Eltec and Minda corporation tie up for Advanced Driver Assistance Systems technology On Monday, the manufacturer of automotive components Minda Corporation announced a partnership with the South Korean company Daesung Eltec to provide India's next-generation solutions for advan... October 31, 2022 | 3:20 pm Ramkrishna Forgings stock jumps 3% on winning Rs113 crore worth export order Ramkrishna Forgings Limited, one of the leading suppliers of rolled, forged and machined products announced that a major Tier 1 manufacturer of Rear & Front axles has awarded a 4-year contr... October 31, 2022 | 3:01 pm Markets in a super rally with Nifty above 17,950; Sensex climbs 600 pts Domestic benchmark indices in a super rally today led by IT and Auto stocks outperforming. Both the Sensex and Nifty benchmarks were higher 1% each amid positive global cues gleaming all over t... October 31, 2022 | 2:00 pm Vedanta shares tanks ~4% on subdued numbers in Q2FY23 Vedanta Limited shares fell as much as 4% to Rs274 in intraday trade on Monday after the company reported a 60.8% yoy drop in consolidated net profit at Rs1,808 crore for the quarter ended... October 31, 2022 | 1:54 pm Navajo Nation casino employees took part in the Northern Navajo Fair on October 1, 2016. Photo from Flowing Water Navajo Casino The Navajo Nation is celebrating the sixth anniversary of one of its gaming facilities. The Flowing Water Navajo Casino in Shiprock, New Mexico, opened on October 13, 2010. It was only the tribe's second gaming facility at the time. The tribe's gaming enterprise has since grown to include three facilities in New Mexico and one in Arizona, with more in the works. President Russell Begaye said the casinos have put 1,500 people -- most of them Navajo citizens -- to work. Its good for our Navajo people to get a paycheck, go shopping and buy cars. It gives them a tremendous sense of pride that they can raise their families, Begaye said last November Read More on the Story: Flowing Water casino marks sixth anniversary (The Farmington Daily-Times 10/7) Join the Conversation Chairman Dave Archambault II of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe addresses the media outside of the federal courthouse in Washington, D.C., on October 5, 2016. Photo by Indianz.Com / Available for use under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Order from federal appeals court notes the lack of easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe. Order does not affect the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's ability to continue pursuing the appeal in the #NoDAPL lawsuit.Construction on the controversial and costly Dakota Access Pipeline can resume after a federal appeals court turned away the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe for now. In a short order issued on Sunday evening, the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals lifted an administrative injunction that had put a halt to construction in a key area of North Dakota. The decision means the company can continue work in areas where the tribe has documented the presence of sacred sites and burial grounds But the court noted that Dakota Access has yet to secure approval for an extremely crucial portion of the project. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers still hasn't issued an easement for the pipeline to build on federal land at Lake Oahe. Without that easement, no oil can flow under the Missouri River. "A necessary easement still awaits government approval a decision Corps counsel predicts is likely weeks away," the two-page order stated. The order was posted on the court's online system right at 7pm Eastern on Sunday night, just ahead of the Columbus Day federal holiday. It marks yet another unusual event in the course of the closely-watched dispute and it comes just four days after a panel of three judges heard arguments on the tribe's request for a more permanent hold on construction. Despite the setback on that request, the tribe isn't giving up. Chairman Dave Archambault has called the pipeline, which comes within a half-mile of the reservation, a threat to his people's sovereignty and their future generations The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe is not backing down from this fight, Archambault said in a statement . We are guided by prayer, and we will continue to fight for our people. We will not rest until our lands, people, waters and sacred places are permanently protected from this destructive pipeline. Archambault attended the October 5 hearing, which went more than three times as long as scheduled, in Washington, D.C. The lack of the easement was among several major issues considered by the court, with one judge questioning why Dakota Access started building the $3.8 billion project without it. PLEASE SHARE? #WaterIsLife To date, more than 300 tribes and first nations officially stand with Standing Rock by way... Posted by Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Friday, September 30, 2016 Standing Rock Sioux Tribe on Facebook: Official Fund [Crowdrise] "Why not wait until you see whether you're going to get the easement?" asked Judge Thomas B. Griffith asked. "To a neutral outside observer, it looks like you're forcing their hand." "So it's a gamble," Griffith said. "You're gambling you're going to win." "We were sent all the paperwork and [told] that it was merely on the desk of the final person for the signature," Estrada said during the hearing. "It's not a formality now, is it," Griffith responded. Powerful Prayers - Peaceful Gathering - and Nonviolent Actions are going to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline! From ND to... Posted by Rob Wilson Photography on Sunday, October 9, 2016 Rob Wilson continues to document the #NoDAPL Movement | Facebook | GoFundMe The Army Corps first brought up the lack of an easement during an August 24 hearing , when the case was in a lower court. At the time, a different attorney for Dakota Access expressed surprise at the disclosure and reconfirmed his shock at a follow-up status conference on September 16 The pipeline partnership's confidence helps explain why it didn't take the #NoDAPL movement seriously even as thousands flocked to North Dakota to show solidarity with the tribe. Even after the Obama administration issued an extraordinary joint statement regarding the easement, Energy Transfer Partners , the parent company of Dakota Access, remained silent for four days before announcing a vague effort to lobby "officials in Washington" about the project. The Army Corps has not signaled how it will rule on the easement. During the hearing last week, James A. Maysonett of the Department of Justice said the review process will take "weeks" as opposed to "months." He also said the agency is considering environmental, treaty law and other issues raised by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe and the Yankton Sioux Tribe . Cheyenne River has joined Standing Rock in the lawsuit while Yankton Sioux has filed its own Indianz.Com on YouTube: Chairman Dave Archambault II of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe With that process ongoing, the D.C. Circuit appeared to offer some guidance to the Army Corps. The order noted that Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act requires the agency to consult with tribes about impact on their cultural resources, such as sacred sites and burial grounds. "Its consultative process designed to be inclusive and facilitate consensus ensures competing interests are appropriately considered and adequately addressed, the order stated. "We can only hope the spirit of Section 106 may yet prevail," it concluded. The D.C. Circuit's order came only in response to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's request for an emergency injunction pending appeal and was not a ruling on the merits of the underlying lawsuit. The tribe will still be able to pursue the case before the court, meaning additional briefs and possibly another hearing are on the horizon before a full decision is reached. The lawsuit also continues in the lower court, where it is being heard by Judge James Boasberg . He had denied the tribe's request for an injunction on September 9, which prompted the appeal to the D.C. Circuit. The appeals process is not known for moving quickly. The D.C. Circuit's order to halt construction, even temporarily and hear arguments on the tribe's request is unprecedented in an Indian law case. D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals #NoDAPL Documents: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Emergency Motion for Injunction Pending Appeal (September 12, 2016) Dakota Access LLC Opposition (September 14, 2016) U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Opposition (September 14, 2016) Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's Reply (September 15, 2016) Injunction Blocking Construction of Dakota Access Pipeline (September 16, 2016) Order Setting October 5 Hearing (September 21, 2016) Order Allocating Oral Argument Time (September 21, 2016) Join the Conversation Related Stories After several actors voiced their opinion on Uri attacks and debates around the ban of Pakistani artists, actor Manoj Bajpayee is the latest star to join the debate. In one of the media interactions earlier, he had said that he would prefer not commenting on the issue since it could further create unnecessary controversy. In a recent interview with HT, Bajpayee chose to express his views. Making a valid point on why the focus of the debate rather looks misplaced, he said, An interaction with symbiosis students pune india. A photo posted by manoj bajpayee (@manoj.bajpayee) on Feb 11, 2016 at 6:13am PST My heart bleeds to see that everyone is worried about films and whether Pakistani artists should be banned or not. I dont understand why we are even talking about this. Isnt it the time to think and talk about those army men who lost their lives? And its not just 18 soldiers who got killed in Uri, its about hundred others who get killed but we never talk about them. Expressing his highest regard for the soldiers, he further added, At a charity function in Houston. A photo posted by manoj bajpayee (@manoj.bajpayee) on Jan 21, 2016 at 1:43am PST Most of them (soldiers who died) were sole breadwinners in their families and our government should do everything possible to support their kids, wives and parents. According to Bajpayee, opinion of an artist doesn't hold much weight. He added, India is a big attraction for the people in the West. So much so, that it lures many Hollywood actors and musicians to come and explore its beauty and diverse culture. Every now and then, international bands and DJs fly down to our country for their concerts. Arent we all looking forward to Coldplays first ever concert in Mumbai in November? Oops! Not those who couldnt get the tickets. dfordelhi.in Recently, international DJ Marshmello made the people of Hyderabad dance to his tunes at the Sunburn festival. While the crowd was pumping with those killer EDM tracks, he gave them a pleasant surprise that sent the crowd into a frenzy. edm.com Well, he played the classic AR Rahman song Chaiyya Chaiyya and won the hearts of all those attending the live concert. Seriously, good one, Marshmello! The crowd not only danced their hearts out but also took to social media to applaud his move. In fact, he took to his personal Facebook account to post a video from the concert along with the reason as to why he played this song: "Culture is such a beautiful thing. It's a blessing to be able to travel the world and meet people from such beautiful countries and backgrounds. Even better is when you surprise them with some Bollywood bangers! Thank you India, see you all in Mumbai tonight." Now, isnt this a sweet thing to do? Many might not know that he is not the first artist to have pulled off this amazing trick. Several DJs in the past have pulled off this trick, much to the elation of the crowd attending their events. Check it out: Deadmau5 played Daler Mehendis Tunak Tunak Tun For Delhi Sunburn 2014, Deadmau5 collaborated with Mehendi and gave his popular number an EDM twist. KSHMR played Kajra Re At Goa Sunburn 2015, KSHMR dropped Bunty Aur Bablis item song Kajra Re and sent the crowd into a mad frenzy! Mark Ronson of Uptown Funk fame played Kaaliyon Ka Chaman & Mundiya Tu Bach Ke Rahi Okay first things first, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars song Uptown Funk took the world by storm. So much so, that it topped many music charts for months. During his set at the NH7 Weekender in 2015, he mesmerised the crowd when he played Kaaliyon ka Chaman and Mundiya Tu Bach ke Rahi. How many of us know that the motifs and designs used in making the Bengali alpana today have their parallel in motifs seen on pots and vases of Mohenjodaro and Harappa? Drawn in freehand style and depicting the hopes and wishes of one and all, the beautiful tradition of alpana has educated and bonded communities for at least 40,000 years now. Rabi Biswas Taking its message beyond the boundaries of Bengal is Rabi Biswas (31). For about a decade now, this man from Bengals Nadia district is conducting workshops across the country in order to revive its fading glory and make it popular. Having learnt a lot about this art from his grandmother Sumitra Mondal (72), he explains that each alpana is connected to moral stories and broto a ritual carried out at a specific time of the year to pray for fulfillment of a desire. For example, hyachra broto alpana drawn by married women in the family and seeks deliverance from skin diseases. This ritual and alpana is done in the Bengali month of Falgun (February-March in Gregorian calendar) when time is ripe for ailments like pox and measles in Bengal. Thus, all the motifs drawn in the alpana have medicinal properties bitter gourd and pumpkin flowers, banana trees, herbs, etc, and show how these are connected to sun, earth and the moon, explains Biswas soon after concluding one of his workshops at Indian Museum, Kolkata, on September 25. Interestingly, alongside students, many women also attend these workshops to get some easy designing tips and tricks. Rabi Biswas Done primarily in white, alpana is drawn using the ring finger of the right hand and has a specific set of motifs to be drawn. However, there are no rules about their shape, size, measurements or placement, leaving ample scope for creativity. While learning how to draw at the workshops, the women find other things the ancient tradition has to offer. Coupled with its ritual, the hyachra broto alpana informs one of how to tackle skin diseases naturally. Praying the deity for problem-free life is a symbol of having faith. It keeps the society together. Science cannot answer all questions always, says Biswas, who is pursuing Masters in History of Art at Kala Bhawan, Visva-Bharati University, Shantiniketan. Each design and motif used in drawing a traditional alpana has a meaning, a purpose to serve. Biswas decodes some of these alpanas for us: 1. Purnipukur broto alpana: Done in the month of Baishakh (April-May), this alpana is drawn by unmarried girls invoking the goddess to keep the lakes and ponds in the community filled with water and keep their soil fertile. It uses supari (betel nuts), paan (betel leaf), etc. Rabi Biswas 2. Dosh-putul broto: Or, broto of ten children, this alpana depicts 10 dolls holding hands while standing in a circle and reinforces the feeling of harmonious living of a family. 3. Shejuti broto alpana: This alpana involves drawing of 52 motifs that include everyday items such as household utensils and tools used in various professions in a community. Also included are birds, animals and plants among other things. Even a 5-year-old child draws this alpana. It then becomes an educational tool for the child to know what is what. Otherwise, this alpana represents all the things needed to live a comfortable happy life, says Biswas of the alpana which is popular in Neranjan Nagar near Mayapur, West Bengal. 4. Lokkhi broto alpana: Drawn to invite the deity of wealth and prosperity, this alpana is perhaps among the most popular ones being practiced today. It uses motifs such as the owl, lotuses, paddy bins, footprints of the deity and climbers. The alpana invokes the goddess to bless the home with wealth and prosperity. 5. Prithibi broto alpana: This alpana worships nature and makes use of motifs like lotus and conch shells. Unmarried girls do this ritual and alpana, praying for peace on the planet and a good partner for life, says Biswas. Rabi Biswas 6. Nabanno broto alpana: Drawn in Ogrohaeon (November-December) this alpana is made near paddy bins to pray for a good harvest and wealth. Conch shells are primarily used in drawing this alpana. 7. Aranyo shashti broto alpana: Also called the Jamai Shashti alpana, this alpana has the motif of a cat and invokes the forest goddess and is drawn in the month of Jaishto (May-June). The mother-in-law draws this alpana in the kitchen and invites her son-in-law for a meal, wishing his family wealth, a prosperous and healthy life, says Biswas. In case one thinks that drawing an alpana is a womans domain, Biswas, who has authored a book based on his research on the subject, says that even men used to perform the rituals and draws alpanas about 60 years ago. Its just that with time, they withdrew from the field and women took over. Rabi Biswas Traditionally done in the courtyard of mud-houses in villages, alpana is made using rice powder paste on a base of cow dung, water and mud. But since mud-houses have given way to brick and mortar ones, Biswas prepares alpanas on handmade papers processed with cow dung and water. Selling these alpanas at fairs across the country is an important source of livelihood for him alongside the money earned from workshops. His dedicated work in the area has got him attention of organisations like Daricha Foundation and INTACH, which help him get more workshops. On cemented floors, white clay can be used as an alternative to rice powder paste. But Biswas informs that the much-simpler option of alpana stickers have made inroads in villages too, curtailing the practice of drawing by the hand to a significant extent. Further, engagement of women in activities such as watching television for long and making bidis and selling supari has taken them away from alpana. Rabi Biswas Most people do not know that the stickers are only aesthetic designs done on computers. They are bereft of any motifs. It defeats the purpose of the Bengali alpana bringing together people to draw motifs and observe rituals together and communicate with each other, says Biswas. After BJP hoardings threatening to "hit" Pakistan in their own territory came up in communally sensitive Muzaffarnagar, a local Samajwadi Party leader has also put up a hoarding claiming that Prime Minister Narendra Modi ordered the surgical strike only after consulting with SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav. Mohammed Shamsher Malik, the district president of the Samajwadi Yuvjan Sabha, confirmed to TOI that he had ordered the hoardings to be put up. TOI In the hoarding, placed at Novelty Chowk in the city, pictures of SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, CM Akhilesh Yadav and Malik can be seen, along with a message thanking the Indian Army for the surgical strike, and Mulayam, "on whose advice the Indian government carried out the strike". The hoarding goes on to declare, in an obvious reference to the BJP, "The Indian Army which carried out the strike and enhanced India's pride globally are heroes; those who play toxic politics in the name of the Army are zeroes." AFP "Netaji (Mulayam) has been our defence minister in the past, so he is well informed on what has been going on at the border and how the terrorists' infiltration could be curbed. He met PM Modi and advised him to conduct surgical strike across the LoC," Malik told TOI. On being asked how, being a very junior leader in the party, he was privy to such confidential details, he said, "Our senior leaders in the district share what they discussed with leaders in Lucknow and Delhi. I got to know from them and realised the common man must know the truth, about who advised the Union government on such a bold step." AP District president of Samajwadi Party in Muzaffarnagar, Shyamlal Saini, denied that he had any such information mentioned by Malik. He told TOI over the phone, "Neither do I have any idea where Malik got this information from, nor did I know, till now, about any such hoarding in the city. However, we know that the Centre took the decision of conducting surgical strikes taking all the senior politicians in confidence. As Netaji has been defence minister in past, government would certainly have discussed the matter with him before taking such a bold step. We see no harm if someone among us praises the Indian Army and our leaders for conducting surgical strikes in PoK." BCCL Two days earlier, BJP supporters had erected hoardings at nine spots in city but brought them down shortly after a massive row erupted on social media. Aam Aadmi Party had slammed BJP for politicising the incident while, taking a dig at the BJP, Omar Abdullah, former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir posting from his official Twitter account: "And some people will lecture others about politicising the Army action all the while turning a blind eye to hoardings like these that sprout." The traditional evil trio of demon king Ravana, his brother Kumbhkarna and son Meghnad might have to give way for a newer lot this year. According to teachers and students at a school here, Pakistan PM Nawaz Sharif is the new Ravana of this era, LeT co-founder Hafiz Saeed the new Meghnad, while Kumbhkarna has been renamed as IS. BCCL The children of the school have prepared large effigies of the trio using waste material and have also decided to celebrate each Dussehra in this manner, until Pak-sponsored terrorism is brought to an end. Not surprisingly, soldiers of Indian Army, who are fighting terrorists on the borders, are the modern Lord Rama and Laxmana for the children. Uma Devi Children's Academy School in Mohammadi city of Kheri district has attracted considerable attention in the area with their unique take on Dussehra traditions. "Dussehra is the day when the demon king Ravana was killed by Lord Rama. Ravana was the symbol of evil in ancient times but now the demons have taken on new faces. We believe that Pakistani PM Nawaz Sharif, who supports and allows all the terrorist activities in his nation, is the demon king of this era," said Sunny Gupta, media manager of the school, to TOI. BCCL "Since Dussehra represents the day when good triumphs over evil, we have decided to replace the traditional effigies with those of Nawaz Sharif, his beloved Hafiz Saeed and IS," he added. The idea actually popped up during a poster competition, where a few of the children painted these terrorist figures as modern Ravana, Meghnad and Kumbhkarna. This idea was supported by the principal and other staff of the school as well. TOI The opportunity of playing the role of modern Lord Rama and Laxman was given to class XI students Harshit Dixit and Harvinder Singh, respectively, who were dressed as Indian soldiers. "In ancient times, people were terrorised by the demon Ravana and in this era people are being terrorised mainly because of Pakistan, because they are supporting all the terrorist activities. Whatever is evil is Ravana for us. Nawaz Sharif is openly supporting terrorism and this is why he is Ravana for us," said Harshit. School principal Pushpa Gupta said, "Dussehra is the day when we burn all the evil energy around and inside us. I completely agree with the idea of our students to represent Nawaz Sharif as a modern-day Ravana." The turbulence at the frontlines has put our minds to a smouldering wreck. And thats how we know that Earths paradise is coming to pieces because of this war between India and Pakistan. But whats more important in times like these is that one should not forget about humanity in the midst of the unrest. The momentous days in Srinagar witnessed yet another mishap wherein our jawans were caught up in a fatal road accident. Somewhere near the Pantha Chowk-Lasjan, an army vehicle with at least 12 soldiers on board met with an accident. Some soldiers slewed off the road and hit a tree while some were stuck inside the truck. Apart from the grave incident, a low-lying high tension wire added more to the misery, thus making it impossible for jawans to come out of the truck. And just when it became too complicated to escape for the soldiers, some locals came to their rescue. They started off with disconnecting the high-tension wire and then slowly pulling soldiers out of that truck. They then transferred them safely to the local hospital in a civilian truck. Theres a good chance that this situation would have gotten out of hands had locals not acted quickly. All thanks to them for acting on time and saving the lives of Indian soldiers. "Army thanks the local youth for the rescue of soldiers stuck in accident vehicle near Pantha Chowk Srinagar," tweeted Northern Command of Indian Army. Proud of my Kashmiri brothers, who rescued an army jawan from his mangled vehicle. You may not love India but you've proved your humaneness. Ajai Shukla (@ajaishukla) October 9, 2016 "It will further strengthen the bond of friendship between the awam (people) and the jawan (soldier)," said Colonel Rajesh Kalia, defence spokesman at Srinagar. Heres a video showing how they executed the rescue mission: People in Nashik are fuming in rage after a 17-year-old Dalit boy raped an innocent 5-year-old Maratha girl. The situation is slipping out of hands when the issue was brought to everyones notice on Saturday. Hundreds of commuters were stranded for ours on the National Highway 3, Mumbai-Agra highway because of the protest. Several vehicles were also set on fire by the locals. Mayur Bargaje The accused has now been arrested but his home remains ablaze. The protest that initially broke out in pockets has now spread across the city. Locals flocked together to burn government buses and pelt stones at the convoy of Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan. They further attacked Nashiks Inspector General of Police, Vinaykumar Choube. Strongly condemn rape attempt Anjaneri, #Nashik. Culprit must be punished. Fast track court Must. Baban Zende (@BabanZende1) October 10, 2016 Tension Grips Nashik Over The Alleged Rape of Five-Year-Old Maratha Girl https://t.co/dIKcqBEnlF pic.twitter.com/xsu5US3jMp Nishi (@TheNewsAddictor) October 10, 2016 The situation aggravated after Mahajan released his statement that the case was attempt to rape and not rape. He said that the villagers are giving a false account of the incidence. We have invoked Section 376 of the Indian Penal Code (rape) and certain sections of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences Act. The accused, who is a minor, has been arrested, said Nashik District Collector Radhakrishnan B. indianexpress Some buses and private vehicles were set ablaze by the mob. We have sent more policemen in the area and our immediate priority is to bring the law and order situation under control, he added further. The incident happened on Saturday afternoon. The 5-year-old victim was playing with her 7-year-old sister when the accused lured them with chocolates. He then took the girls to an abandoned school where the 7-year-old escaped but the 5-year-old could not. The girl was badly bruised, claimed a relative. indianexpress The situation went out of hands on Sunday and thats when the police had to shell out tear gas to control the crowd. So far 9 state buses and 4 police vehicles have been burnt down. Authorities blocked internet usage and networks in some areas to prevent the news surfacing. A lot of things are under control as of now, but the tension is still prevailing. AFP The Line of Control (LoC) will no longer be sacrosanct for India if Pakistan continues to export terrorists. This was indicated by India to Pakistan after the September 29 surgical strikes which took Indian troops into Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK) to strike against terrorist launch pads, top-level sources in the government said. 1. An IITian, Now A Professor In Canada Invented Futuristic Roads For India That Can Repair Itself dailyhunth Nobody is unknown to the pitiable quality of Indian roads. It only takes one monsoon to turn these roads into a self-destructing mode. While you fight the unaccountable pits on roads, an Indian professor teaching in Canada found a brilliant way to ensure that the road mends itself without any added cost. Using advanced materials and technology, he created self-repairing roads that are cost effective, have greater longevity and is sustainable. 2. Vishwa Hindu Parishad Leader Caught In A Burqa, Harassing Women At Muslim Event! AP Abhishek Yadav, said to be the office-bearer of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), was caught clad in a burqa and harassing woman at a milaad programme organised to commemorate Muharram in the trans-Ganga area of Mauaima here late on Saturday. Locals present at the programme thrashed him before handing him over to the police. 3. Bihar 'Topper' Ruby Rai Wrote Names Of 101 Romantic Bollywood Movies In Her Answer Sheet! BCCL Believe it or not, the investigation into the Bihar topper scam case has revealed that Ruby 'topper' Rai had written "Tulsidas Ji" 300 times in the answer sheet of compulsory Hindi language paper. According to the investigators, Ruby could not keep her interest in hindi films at bay either, mentioning the names of 101 romantic Bollywood movies in one of her original answer sheets. 4. A Water Crisis Is Coming To Karnataka As Western Ghats River Begin To Dry ibtimes.co.in There may be uncertainty over what becomes of the Cauvery conundrum, but environmentalists are certain of one thing: this is going to be one difficult summer for Karnataka. In fact, environmentalist Dinesh Holla says we could be facing one of the worst water crises ever because rivers in the Western Ghats are already running dry. 5. When India Needs Its Soldiers The Most, Govt Passes Plan To Cut Disability Pension BCCL While the battle for the OROP was hard won, the government has given the army a cause for concern again, with a pay scale cut. Veterans debilitated in the line of duty have recently found that a large portion of their disability pension will be cut, following a notification issued on September 30 - a day after the surgical strikes. Veterans have responded with a petition that is being distributed across associations and groups, citing the need to keep soldier morale high. Remember last week's billboard broadcast of porn in Jakarta? It was an ordinary afternoon drive for commuters in Jakarta before porn took over a jumbo-tron billboard for 5 minutes Now, the man responsible for the incident has been arrested, confirming that it wasn't an accident, but a deliberate act of vandalism at a major intersection in the capital. Police and cybercrime specialists in the largely conservative, Muslim-majority country launched a hunt for the perpetrator and on Tuesday arrested a 24-year-old IT analyst in his office. The man has confessed to the crime in a Jakarta court. He admitted hacking into the billboard to stream porn to thousands caught in the afternoon traffic jam. Spectators were shocked and amused" 5 minutes after a Japanese porno film 'Watch Tokyo Hot' began playing on the billboard. The man easily hacked into the billboard after seeing log-in credentials displayed on the billboard. We are still investigating whether he was working alone, whether he had a particular motive or whether he was just fooling around, Jakarta Police Chief Muhammad Iriawan, told AFP. Under the Electronic Transaction Law, he could be jailed for 12 years. Pornography is illegal in Indonesia. Even romantic scenes in films and television programmes are often blurred or cut altogether by state censors. Were excited to announce that indmin.com is now part of fastmarkets.com. A new look and an improved experience means you can still stay ahead of this fast-moving market with price data, news and market intelligence right here on Fastmarkets. Discover more than 2000 prices, news and analysis in primary and secondary metals markets. We cover base metals, industrial minerals, ores and alloys, steel, scrap and steel raw materials. If you already have a Fastmarkets account, youll still have uninterrupted access to your markets by logging in with your current details. TheAuthority, in extreme northeast Greece, has signed as MoC with the Chinese investment group Sinoftone and Navision Capital Partners that essentially elevates the Chinese side into consultants for theon future projects and infrastructure improvements, as well as the possible creation of a free trade zone in the area. The specter of a resumption of previously suspended auctions of foreclosed residences in the country -- with liens held either by the state or banks -- looms as a significant political headache for the leftist Greek government in the coming period. Home Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter The announcement last week by the United States of the largest military aid package in its history to Israel was a win for both sides. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu could boast that his lobbying had boosted aid from $3.1 billion a year to $3.8bn a 22 per cent increase for a decade starting in 2019. Mr Netanyahu has presented this as a rebuff to those who accuse him of jeopardising Israeli security interests with his governments repeated affronts to the White House. In the past weeks alone, defence minister Avigdor Lieberman has compared last years nuclear deal between Washington and Iran with the 1938 Munich pact, which bolstered Hitler; and Mr Netanyahu has implied that US opposition to settlement expansion is the same as support for the ethnic cleansing of Jews. American president Barack Obama, meanwhile, hopes to stifle his own critics who insinuate that he is anti-Israel. The deal should serve as a fillip too for Hillary Clinton, the Democratic partys candidate to succeed Mr Obama in Novembers election. In reality, however, the Obama administration has quietly punished Mr Netanyahu for his misbehaviour. Israeli expectations of a $4.5bn-a-year deal were whittled down after Mr Netanyahu stalled negotiations last year as he sought to recruit Congress to his battle against the Iran deal. In fact, Israel already receives roughly $3.8bn if Congresss assistance on developing missile defence programmes is factored in. Notably, Israel has been forced to promise not to approach Congress for extra funds. The deal takes into account neither inflation nor the dollars depreciation against the shekel. A bigger blow still is the White Houses demand to phase out a special exemption that allowed Israel to spend nearly 40 per cent of aid locally on weapon and fuel purchases. Israel will soon have to buy all its armaments from the US, ending what amounted to a subsidy to its own arms industry. Nonetheless, Washingtons renewed military largesse in the face of almost continual insults inevitably fuels claims that the Israeli tail is wagging the US dog. Even The New York Times has described the aid package as too big. Since the 1973 war, Israel has received at least $100bn in military aid, with more assistance hidden from view. Back in the 1970s, Washington paid half of Israels military budget. Today it still foots a fifth of the bill, despite Israels economic success. But the US expects a return on its massive investment. As the late Israeli politician-general Ariel Sharon once observed, Israel has been a US aircraft carrier in the Middle East, acting as the regional bully and carrying out operations that benefit Washington. Almost no one blames the US for Israeli attacks that wiped out Iraqs and Syrias nuclear programmes. A nuclear-armed Iraq or Syria would have deterred later US-backed moves at regime overthrow, as well as countering the strategic advantage Israel derives from its own nuclear arsenal. In addition, Israels US-sponsored military prowess is a triple boon to the US weapons industry, the countrys most powerful lobby. Public funds are siphoned off to let Israel buy goodies from American arms makers. That, in turn, serves as a shop window for other customers and spurs an endless and lucrative game of catch-up in the rest of the Middle East. The first F-35 fighter jets to arrive in Israel in December their various components produced in 46 US states will increase the clamour for the cutting-edge warplane. Israel is also a front-line laboratory, as former Israeli army negotiator Eival Gilady admitted at the weekend, that develops and field-tests new technology Washington can later use itself. The US is planning to buy back the missile interception system Iron Dome which neutralises battlefield threats of retaliation it largely paid for. Israel works closely too with the US in developing cyberwarfare, such as the Stuxnet worm that damaged Irans civilian nuclear programme. But the clearest message from Israels new aid package is one delivered to the Palestinians: Washington sees no pressing strategic interest in ending the occupation. It stood up to Mr Netanyahu over the Iran deal but will not risk a damaging clash over Palestinian statehood. Some believe that Mr Obama signed the aid package to win the credibility necessary to overcome his domestic Israel lobby and pull a rabbit from the hat: an initiative, unveiled shortly before he leaves office, that corners Mr Netanyahu into making peace. Hopes have been raised by an expected meeting at the United Nations in New York on Wednesday. But their first talks in 10 months are planned only to demonstrate unity to confound critics of the aid deal. If Mr Obama really wanted to pressure Mr Netanyahu, he would have used the aid agreement as leverage. Now Mr Netanyahu need not fear US financial retaliation, even as he intensifies effective annexation of the West Bank. Mr Netanyahu has drawn the right lesson from the aid deal he can act against the Palestinians with continuing US impunity. - See more at: http://www.jonathan-cook.net/2016-09-19/palestinians-lose-in-us-military-aid-deal-with-israel/#sthash.fL4Eq28N.dpuf "Russians Don't Care About International Law And We Do" John Kerry Video Leaked audio reveals what John Kerry told Syrians behind closed doors, "I have argued for the use of force, I stood up but I am the guy that stood up and announced that we going to attack Assad" Posted October 08, 2016 October 09, 2016 " Information Clearing House " - " NYT " - BEIRUT, Lebanon Secretary of State John Kerry was clearly exasperated, not least at his own government. Over and over again, he complained to a small group of Syrian civilians that his diplomacy had not been backed by a serious threat of military force, according to an audio recording of the meeting obtained by The New York Times. I think youre looking at three people, four people in the administration who have all argued for use of force, and I lost the argument. The 40-minute discussion, on the sidelines of last weeks United Nations General Assembly in New York, provides a glimpse of Mr. Kerrys frustration with his inability to end the Syrian crisis. He veered between voicing sympathy for the Syrians frustration with United States policy and trying to justify it. The conversation took place days after a brief cease-fire he had spearheaded crumbled, and as his Russian counterpart rejected outright his new proposal to stop the bombing of Aleppo. Those setbacks were followed by days of crippling Russian and Syrian airstrikes in Aleppo that the World Health Organization said Wednesday had killed 338 people, including 100 children. At the meeting last week, Mr. Kerry was trying to explain that the United States has no legal justification for attacking Mr. Assads government, whereas Russia was invited in by the government. The problem is the Russians dont care about international law, and we do. Mr. Kerry has been hamstrung by Russias military operations in Syria and by his inability to persuade Washington to intervene more forcefully. He has also been unable to sell Syrian opponents of Mr. Assad, like the ones in that room, on a policy he does not wholeheartedly believe in. His frustrations and dissent within the Obama administration have hardly been a secret, but in the recorded conversation, Mr. Kerry lamented being outmaneuvered by the Russians, expressed disagreement with some of Mr. Obamas policy decisions and said Congress would never agree to use force. Were trying to pursue the diplomacy, and I understand its frustrating. You have nobody more frustrated than we are. The meeting took place at the Dutch Mission to the United Nations on Sept. 22. There were perhaps 20 people around a table: representatives of four Syrian groups that provide education, rescue and medical services in rebel-held areas; diplomats from three or four countries; and Mr. Kerrys chief of staff and special envoy for Syria. The recording was made by a non-Syrian attendee, and several other participants confirmed its authenticity. John Kirby, a State Department spokesman, declined on Thursday evening to comment on what he described as a private conversation. He said that Mr. Kerry was grateful for the chance to meet with this group of Syrians, to hear their concerns firsthand and to express our continued focus on ending this civil war. Several of the Syrian participants said afterward that they had left the meeting demoralized, convinced that no further help would come from the Obama administration. One, a civil engineer named Mustafa Alsyofi, said Mr. Kerry had effectively told the Syrian opposition, You have to fight for us, but we will not fight for you. How can this be accepted by anyone? Mr. Alsyofi asked. Its unbelievable. In the meeting, he and the others pressed Mr. Kerry politely but relentlessly on what they saw as contradictions in American policy. Their comments crystallized the widespread sense of betrayal even among the Syrians most attractive to Washington as potential partners, civilians pushing for pluralistic democracy. One woman, Marcell Shehwaro, demanded the bottom line, asking how many Syrians had to be killed to prompt serious action. What is the end of it? What he can do that would be the end of it? Mr. Kerry responded that Assads indifference to anything could push the administration to consider new options, adding, Theres a different conversation taking place since the intensified bombing of Aleppo and the further breakdown of talks with Russia. But he also said any further American effort to arm rebels or join the fight could backfire. The problem is that, you know, you get, quote, enforcers in there and then everybody ups the ante, right? Russia puts in more, Iran puts in more; Hezbollah is there more and Nusra is more; and Saudi Arabia and Turkey put all their surrogate money in, and you all are destroyed. At another point, Mr. Kerry spelled out in stark terms distinctions the United States was making between combatants, which have upset the Syrian opposition: The United States wants the rebels to help it fight the Islamic State and Al Qaeda because, as he put it, both have basically declared war on us. But Washington will not join the same rebels in fighting Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite militia allied with Mr. Assad, even though the United States lists Hezbollah as a terrorist group like the others. Hezbollah, Mr. Kerry explained, is not plotting against us. He also spoke of the obstacles he faces back home: a Congress unwilling to authorize the use of force and a public tired of war. A lot of Americans dont believe that we should be fighting and sending young Americans over to die in another country. One of the Syrians in the room assured Mr. Kerry, No one is requesting an invasion, but he insisted that the rebels needed more help. As time ran short, Mr. Kerry told the Syrians that their best hope was a political solution to bring the opposition into a transitional government. Then, he said, you can have an election and let the people of Syria decide: Who do they want? A State Department official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said later that Mr. Kerry was not indicating a shift in the administrations view of Mr. Assad, only reiterating a longstanding belief that he would be ousted in any fair election. At one point, Mr. Kerry astonished the Syrians at the table when he suggested that they should participate in elections that include President Bashar al-Assad, five years after President Obama demanded that he step down. Mr. Kerry described the election saying it would be set up by Western and regional powers, and the United Nations, under the strictest standards. He said that the millions of Syrians who have fled since the war began in 2011 would be able to participate. Everybody whos registered as a refugee anywhere in the world can vote. Are they going to vote for Assad? Assads scared of this happening. But the Syrians were skeptical that people living under government rule inside Syria would feel safe casting ballots against Mr. Assad, even with international observers or that Russia would agree to elections if it could not ensure the outcome. And that is when the conversation reached an impasse, with Ms. Shehwaro, an educator and social media activist, recalling hopes for a more direct American role. So you think the only solution is for somebody to come in and get rid of Assad? Mr. Kerry asked. Yes, Ms. Shehwaro said. Whos that going to be? he asked. Whos going to do that? Three years ago, I would say: You. But right now, I dont know. How U.S. Torture Left Legacy of Damaged Minds: Beatings, sleep deprivation, menacing and other brutal tactics have led to persistent mental health problems among detainees held in secret C.I.A. prisons and at Guantanamo. New Guantanamo intelligence upends old worst of the worst assumptions : It was clear early on that the intelligence was grossly wrong, said Mark Fallon, who between 2002 and 2004 was Special Agent in Charge of the Department of Defenses Criminal Investigation Task Force. Click for Spanish , German , Dutch , Danish , French , translation- Note- Translation may take a moment to load. What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments Sign up for our FREE Daily Email Newsletter For Email Marketing you can trust Donate Please read our Comment Policy before posting - It is unacceptable to slander, smear or engage in personal attacks on authors of articles posted on ICH. Those engaging in that behavior will be banned from the comment section. The Katsina State Command of the Vigilante Group of Nigeria, says over 3,000 of its member have been killed by cattle rustlers operating in the state over the last three years.. The state Commandant of the group, Alhaji Abba Aliyu, revealed this while speaking with reporters on Monday in Safana that the rustlers operate mainly in seven local government areas in the state. The vigilantes were killed in the past three years during clashes with cattle rustlers who have been terrorizing seven local governments in Katsina state. Aliyu said that the high casualty, was because the vigilante members were always in the line of fire during operations. The vigilante have recorded high casualty because they always lead security agents to fish out the cattle rustlers hiding in forests. Our members are only allowed to carry clubs and other local weapons while the cattle rustlers are armed to the teeth with sophisticated weapons and this lead to the death of our members, he said. The commandant stressed that in spite of the high casualty, the group would not relent in its support to security agencies in the effort to rid the state of bandits and other criminals. Aliyu said that the fight would continue until cattle rustlers surrender their arms to government, and give undertaking to live normal life. According to reports that the cattle rustlers mostly attack farmers and herdsmen in Safana, Batsari, Jibia, Kankara, Danmusa, Dutsima and Dandume Local Government Areas of the state. Mr. Saminu Aliyu-Kiri, a lecturer at the Department of Computer Science in Bayero University, Kano who was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Kaduna State last Thursday has regained his freedom. Confirming his release, the Director of Public Affairs of the University, Malam Ahmed Shehu, said the lecturer was released on October 7 and had since been reunited with his family in Kano. Shehu, who did not state whether ransom was paid before the release, said it was by the miracle of God that the lecturer regained his freedom. Aliyu-Kiri, of the Faculty of Computer Science of the university, was kidnapped alongside two other persons, while on his way back from an official assignment in Shaki, Oyo State. The Federal Government has been called upon to outlaw the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) as a precautionary measure against the emergence of a more deadly terror group. This followed the recent order by the Kaduna State Government declaring the IMN an unlawful society. The Islamic Movement in Nigeria also known as Shia, has its headquarters in Zaria, Kaduna State. Addressing reporters yesterday in Abuja, activists, under the aegis of the Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE), described the Kaduna governments action as a relief to the residents. CATEs Secretary General Daniel Obaje, who addressed the press, said the ban was timely because it came on the heels of a series of activities the sect members allegedly planned to undermine the states security. Obaje said: It is in this light that we urge the Federal Government to follow the example of Kaduna State by immediately outlawing the IMN nationwide and pursue criminal charges against anyone who continues to maintain the group, remains its member or attempts to reorganise it under a new name or identity. Because there have been previous concerns that remnants of the Boko Haram terror group are ditching their sectarian affiliation and joining IMN, the Federal Government should immediately mandate security agencies to dismantle the IMNs network, cells and infrastructure to ensure it is unable to resurface as a more deadly terror group. Those associated with the proscribed group should be kept under close security watch with a requirement that they are not allowed to travel abroad to countries where they could get advanced military training and further radicalization. Obaje added: The ban on IMN should extend to its subsidiaries and affiliate organisations founded on the same model and ideology. Further directives must be issued to security agencies with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) being in the lead of unravelling how much foreign funds come to the IMN and if it has a link with international terror financing . Bayelsa State Executive Council has approved the employment of 65 medical personnel, comprising of doctors, pharmacists and medical laboratory scientists, to meet the manpower needs in the states health sector. Dr. Kojo Omietimi, who is the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Health, made this disclosure at the end of the 67th session of the Executive Council Meeting held in Yenagoa, the state capital. Dr Omietimi added that as part of the resolutions at the meeting, the council had set aside N11 million monthly for the payment of their salaries. He said, by the end of this month, arrangements would have been concluded for the medical personnel to commence a one year internship. Donald Trump, the presidential nominee of the Republican Party in the United States is on his way to the Missouri city of St. Louis for the second presidential debate against rival Hilary Clinton of the Democratic Party. The weekend in view of the US presidential race for Trump was nothing other than silly comments, damage control, an apology and mass exodus of Republican leadership support. Trump will be under pressure having been adjudged by many polls to have lost the first debate to Hillary having appeared unprepared. The Debate will begin at 9pm and will be televised on CNN. Trump landed in hot water in the weekend over sexist comments he made which were revealed in an audio recording. Washington Post released a recorded conversation between him and Billy Bush back in 2005 where he bragged, When youre a star, you can do anything, grab them by the p*ssy, I moved on her actually, she was down in Palm beach. I moved on her and I failed. I did try and f**k her, she was married, before adding, I moved on her like a bitch. This caused outrage as even the Chairman of the Republican National Committee (RNC), Reince Priebus, expressed his disappointment in Trumps comments. He, however, is travelling with Trump to the debate alongside former New York City Mayor Rudy Guiliani. Vice presidential candidate Mike Pence will resume travel schedule Monday. Trumps campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, sent out a photo on her Twitter feed this afternoon confirming the trip to the debate. SEE ALSO: Melania Trump Says Her Husbands Lewd Comments Are Unacceptable The Oba of Benin is regarded as one of the most important Nigerian monarchs; he is also referred to as Omo NOba or the Emini mini mini. The ancient Benin Kingdom was first ruled by Oba Eweka 1 in the culture rich tradition of the Bini. Although Nigerians place very little importance placed traditions, the process of the ascension of the Oba of Benin is altogether interesting and mysterious. The 10-day ceremony starts at Egua-Edaiken, the traditional residence of the heir-apparent. The Ceremony begins with the heir-apparent (Edaiken) traveling to Benin accompanied by his people on a day of his choosing. On his way back, he will stop at a historical palm tree; Udinamaimesunaimiuwa which literally translates to work before pleasure and climbs this tree. This symbolic tree climbing rite dates back to the time of Oba Ewuare whose rule was characterised by so much suffering he was sometimes forced to climb palm trees to forage for food. Having scaled this mini-hurdle, the Edaiken will continue his journey into Benin. However, he will be forced to leave his chiefs behind at the first moat which is called Iya-akpan. The heir-apparent will then be escorted back into Benin by Oredo chiefs and will enter through Iguisi(also known as Lagos street) to Eko-ohae(known as bachelors camp) where he will stay for 3 days. Then he performs the Usama rite, a rite first performed by Oromiyan when he built the first palace where all his successors were crowned and lived until the 13th century when Oba Ewedo moved the palace to its present site in the centre of the town. The Edaiken will remain in Usama for 7 days to perform all of the rituals and ceremonies of the Obas. Before the 7th day, he is expected to visit a village few kilometres from Benin where he will perform the ceremony of choosing a title hell answer as the Oba, a tradition which started at the time of Oba-Eweka the first whose maternal grandfather Ogie-Egor lived in. After picking a name at Use, the Edaiken will return to Usama where the crowning ceremony will be performed by Oliha. The Oliha is the Leader of the Uzama and he will proclaim the Edaiken in his newly acquired title as the Oba of Benin. It is significant to note that until the ceremony at Use, the Edaiken never knows before hand what name is going to be crowned with. Henceforth,the Edaiken will cease to use personal names and he will be known as Oba. Additional information and reporting by @zegbua The wife of Mr Ajibola Oyedele, a chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ekiti State, has been reportedly kidnapped by unknown gunmen According to reports, the kidnappers have since demanded a ransom of N40million from Oyedele. Oyedele, popularly called 50-50 by his political fans, revealed on Saturday night that he was able to speak with his wife at about 5:45pm. She was abducted late Friday at about 8:30pm at the family home in Omuo Oke, a town in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State. The woman did not resist her abductors. According to Oyedele the kidnappers claimed that he was their actual target. At gunpoint, my wife surrendered the key to our Nissan Ultima to the kidnappers and they drove her away to an unknown destination. We have not heard anything from her since the incident. All her lines are switched off, he said in an earlier post on Facebook. Oyedele who defected to the APC in July this year, was the only PDP member of the last Ekiti State House of Assembly. He was subsequently appointed Special Assistant on Parliamentary Affairs by Governor Ayo Fayose. But he resigned from the government on May 31, 2016, citing poor remuneration. Almost seven years after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) handed over the N2.8billion Chelsea Hotel to the government of Bayelsa State, the hitherto money-spinning edifice is rotting away in Abuja. The hotel was seized from the states first civilian governor, the late Diepreye Alamieyeseigha. A Federal High Court, Lagos in 2007 ordered the forfeiture of the hotel by Alamieyeseigha after the ex-governor was sentenced for corruption. Besides the hotel, the EFCC sold other Alamieyeseigha assets in Nigeria and realised N3, 128, 230, 294.83billion; $441,000; E7, 000 and 2,000. The money was remitted to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in accordance with the law, for onward delivery to the state government as ordered by the court. Former EFCC Chairman Mrs. Farida Waziri on September 7, 2009 handed over the hotel to ex-Governor Timipreye Sylva in Abuja. The thinking was that it would be a source of revenue for the state. Seven years after the asset was returned to the state government, the hotel has become a haven for miscreants, men of the underworld, rodents and reptiles. Shady activities are being perpetrated at the abandoned hotel, which poses danger to some shopping malls and banks in the Central Business District of Abuja. Some of the miscreants have stripped the hotel of vital materials, which has no security. An EFCC source, who spoke in confidence, said: As at the time we handed over the hotel, in 2009, the asset was worth N2.8billion. We returned the hotel to Bayelsa State with another asset at No. 2 Marscibit Street, Off Aminu Kano Crescent Wuse II Abuja which was valued at N210million. We took a step further by instructing Diya Fatimilehin and Co., former managers of the hotel to provide the state with detailed inventory of assets of the hotel. It is unfortunate that nothing has been done in the last seven years. The land where the hotel is sited attracts either up to N800million to N1billion in Abuja. Yet the asset is allowed to lie fallow. To the source, the fate of the once throwing hotel is a typical case of how the anti-graft war is being frustrated and rendered meaningless A former Chairman of EFCC, Mr. Nuhu Ribadu worked day and night to bring Alamieyeseigha to justice but the efforts have come to naught, he said. Asked if the EFCC can query the state government on why the hotel has been abandoned, the source said: Well, there is not much we can do because we have done our best. The states funds were looted and used to buy the hotel; we traced the loot and recovered the assets. It is left to the state to live up to its pledge to make judicious use of the asset or sell it. We have been expecting a status report from Bayelsa State on how it has spent the recovered funds and the utilisation of the returned assets. Upon the receipt of the hotel in 2009, Sylva said: The Bayelsa State Government will not be able to manage the assets by itself. The fund that the state government will receive will also go to building what is called the Transparency Plaza, in the middle of the Yenagoa Central Business District, so that this plaza will be a monument that will be a constant reminder of today. As soon as the fund is accessed, we will like to ask you to come to Bayelsa State to lay the foundation of this plaza. We will welcome your close monitoring of the expenditure of this fund, after all without the instrumentality of EFCC, we would not have accessed this fund, so it is only good that you know exactly what we are doing. We are running an open government; our budget is on the website, anybody can access it. We are fully committed to transparency and to partner fully with EFCC. As at press time, rodents, reptiles, rodents, miscreants, drug addicts have taken over the hotel. It was gathered that many posh cars and Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) massed up in darkness at the hotel at night for what a source described as nocturnal deals. A concerned bank executive said: The activities of some miscreants at the old hotel premises constitute security threats to commercial entities in CBD, including choice malls and banks nearby. Security agencies and the police should have more than a passing interest in some activities at the old hotel. Source: The Nation As Nigeria joins the rest of the world to mark the 14th World Day against Death Penalty, rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS), has asked the National Assembly to reconsider its stance on the application of death penalty for terrorism related cases. HURILAWS in a statement on Monday, by its Senior Legal/Programmes Coordinator, Collins Okeke said it was concerned that despite the progressive abolition of the death penalty globally, Nigeria has opted to expand the scope of the death penalty by including acts of terrorism among the offenses punishable by death. The statement read: The Human Rights Law Service (HURILAWS) is concerned that despite the progressive abolition of the death penalty globally, Nigeria has opted to expand the scope of the death penalty by including acts of terrorism among the offenses punishable by death. Often these offenses, which do not necessarily result in lethal consequences, are drafted in very broad and undefined language, meaning they could be applied to a wide variety of activities. It has never been conclusively shown that the death penalty deters crimes more effectively than other punishments. The correlation between crime rates and the death penalty seems to be even less relevant in the case of terrorism, where the act is politically motivated, with often no cost-benefit calculation. People committing terrorist acts are dedicated to their cause, which counteracts and neutralizes whatever legal threat is meant to deter them. Some terrorists assume that they will die while engaging in acts of terrorism, therefore the threat of an execution does not serve as a deterrent for such acts. Moreover, many terrorism-related cases are never solved and terrorists who have not killed themselves in the act are rarely apprehended. In response to growing terrorist threats, many countries have passed or amended antiterrorism laws. This appears to have a strong symbolic value: they provide politicians an easy and expeditious response to terrorism and demonstrate their apparent effectiveness in countering terrorism. However, it is encouraging that few countries have actually carried out executions. Moreover, the political use of the death penalty for terrorism by governments is not only ineffective against terrorism, but can also be exploited by terrorists themselves. Their position is reinforced by the countries violent response as they see themselves as martyrs, and even use it to justify future reprisals. The death penalty for terrorism can therefore risk contributing to extremism and violence. HURILAWS calls on Nigerias National Assembly to reconsider the application of death penalty for terrorism related cases. Meanwhile, World Day against Death Penalty, is a day set aside every year by the World Coalition against the Death Penalty to globally advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. The theme for this year is death penalty and terrorism. Source: Vanguard Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode on Sunday assured that the State Government in collaboration with security agencies would soon rescue victims kidnapped from Lagos Senior and Junior Model College, Igbonla-Epe, vowing that the government would also commence a review of its laws to curb and effectively punish perpetrators of such act. The Governor, who spoke shortly after carrying out an extensive inspection of projects across the State, also issued a 7-day ultimatum for all illegal structures on the States waterfront to be demolished. Speaking to journalists at the Illubirin Housing Scheme in Lagos Island, the Governor who was visibly worried about the erection of several shanties and structures within the premises and especially on the waterfront, said such would not be allowed in the State anymore. He said kidnappers, suspected militants and criminally minded persons often seek refuge in such shanties close to the waterfront, from where they perpetrate their heinous crimes and then make use of the waterways to ferry their victims to another location, in most cases to another state. The Governor said, I also want to use this opportunity to appeal to all those living in the shanties around these schemes especially on the waterfront illegally that they should vacate the areas forthwith. You will see that most of the issues that we have with kidnappings are actually being brought up by those who are illegal settlers by the waterfront. We will commence demolition of all the shanties around the creeks in Lagos State and also around our waterways in the next seven days. I have given directives to that effect to the appropriate agencies. The safety of our children and all Lagosians is paramount in this administration. We will not allow a few set of people who come into Lagos and stay on our waterfront illegally and then use it as opportunity to kidnap our people. I also want to assure our people that government is seriously on the issue of the children and the teachers that were kidnapped in the Igbonla Model College and very soon, we will get the victims back. I believe that the era of kidnapping has come to an end. We are going to review our laws and I can tell you sincerely that we will deal with kidnappers squarely in Lagos from this moment onwards. We will review our laws and make sure that there is no room for kidnappers in this State. Governor Ambode, who also spoke on the plans to continue construction of the Illubirin Housing Scheme, said his administration has taken time to review its mortgage scheme vis-a-vis its financial flow, adding that the Illubirin axis would be designed as live, work and play environment under a private sector initiative. In addition to that, the other housing projects that we are doing are on course and I want to assure Lagosians that in the next few months, we will be seeing a whole lot of housing units being rolled out. We believe strongly that people should be able to pay one month rent and live in our housing schemes. We dont think in a recession, we should be having a situation where we allow people to come and buy when they dont have money or to come and pay one year rent. We think the way to move forward is to allow these our younger ones to just pay one month deposit and pay one month rent and move into the houses and then more or less play up our rent-to-own scheme, Governor Ambode said. The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has destroyed 5.93 hectares of Cannabis Sativa in Shendam Local Government Area of Plateau State. Mrs Ngozi Madubuike, the NDLEA Commander in the state, said that the farm, situated at Zampit village in Shimaka district of the area, was located after a tip off. She told newsmen in Jos on Monday that the value of the destroyed Indian hemp stood at N670, 380. Madubuike said that the operation was carried out in collaboration with soldiers of 332 Artillery Battalion, Shendam. She disclosed that eight persons, including a woman were arrested, while the farm was burnt down by the operatives. Madubuike said five guns were recovered from two of the suspects. The commander urged residents to support the agency by volunteering vital information to track down drug traffickers in the state. Nigerian Lawmakers Are Learning Twitter Users Have No Time To Pander To Them For many of Nigerias overpaid and underworked lawmakers, judgment and the dressing down they usually deserve is left to the divinities. Such is the accepting nature of Africas Giant that despite allegations that lawmakers receive as much as N10 million monthly, there has been little or no outrage. 41-year old member of the House Of Representatives, Hon. Herman Hembe, representing the Vandeikya/Konshisha constituency of Benue state got his comeuppance when he was engaged by a Nigerian on Twitter on Sunday Night. His decision to make a joke of Hon. Abdulmumin Jibrins suspension, as well as a call to Twitter activists to give him 1 million, likes backfired horribly 2nd full day of Mumu-ni Jibrins suspension. House calm and engaged in the peoples matters. Give me 1million likes, dear Twitter activists pic.twitter.com/Kjhb40QBUd Hon Herman Hembe (@Hembrix) October 4, 2016 See the over grown and cerebrally malnourished children were paying armed robber salaries and allowances to. https://t.co/gt9m3p27H5 KA (@KwamiAdadevoh) October 9, 2016 We, the tax payers. Those of us who work 5-7 days a week, 52 weeks a year so you can work 3 days a week, 20 weeks a year. Thats who https://t.co/1aji84rE5s KA (@KwamiAdadevoh) October 9, 2016 Do our lawmakers not realize theyre paid by taxpayers? Vanguard The Indigenous People of Biafra IPOB has said that contrary to the misleading reports allegedly sponsored by the Department of State Services, DSS, on the charges preferred against its leader and Director of Radio Biafra. Leadership The Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, has said that it is not true that the Federal Government is working against the people of the Niger Delta region. Guardian A report from Stanbic IBTC Banks Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) has showed that Nigerias private sector downturn eased slightly in September, when compared to thatin August, 2016. Punch The Niger Delta Development Commission has debunked claims by the Bayelsa State Government on the rehabilitation of 14 roads in the state. The Sun The Federal Government at the weekend reached an agreement with the World Bank Group and other development partners for the release of about $1.3billion for the funding of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with the planned takeoff of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN). Thisday A nurse with the Ajaokuta Steel Company, Roland Omosegbon, was at the weekend kidnapped along the Kabba-Obajana road in Kogi State by unknown gunmen. Premium Times The All Progressives Congress, APC, is concerned about the desperation of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and some of its governors to drag the President into circumstances surrounding the raids of the homes of some judges by the State Security Service (SSS). The Nation The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Mahmud Mohammed has expressed discomfort over Saturdays arrest of some judicial officers by men of the Department of State Services (DSS). Buy Naija to grow the Naira advocate, Senator Ben Murray Bruce took to Twitter to say Nigerians who fly British Airways over Nigerian Carriers like Arik do not have the right to criticize the president for the crash of the naira. Whenever you fly BA to London over Arik you lose your right to criticize President Buhari for the crash of the Naira #BuyNaijaToGrowTheNaira Ben Murray-Bruce (@benmurraybruce) October 9, 2016 This triggered reactions expressed with the hashtag #ArikHorrorStories. Are we ready for #ArikHorrorStories? Sir @benmurraybruce is your phone fully charged ? Do you have a power bank? Captain Charisma (@D_iiW) October 10, 2016 Nigerians are replying the senators tweet in a bid to tell him that Arik had offered them poor services in the past and the fact it is a Nigerian brand does not mean that they have to overlook their incompetence. Here are some tweets in the trend: #ArikHorrorStories someone asked for jollof rice..hostess replied Sir, we are going to Nigeria, theres plenty jollof there A.Durosinmi-Etti (@AbiolaD_Etti) October 10, 2016 #ArikHorrorStories my pops was coming to visit me in school in Minnesota and midway through the flight the air conditioning stopped working A Pretty Ugly Nigga (@IseunLuese) October 10, 2016 Once on a flight from Abuja to Lagos Arik kept me waiting for 4 hours, then took me to Enugu before bringing me to Lagos. #ArikHorrorStories Naz Onuzo (@IamSnazz) May 24, 2012 Former President Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday tasked the Nigerian government to intensify effort on job creation and employment generation. Speaking at the third convocation ceremony of the Baze University, Abuja, the former president stressed the need for skills acquisition programmes in university enviroments. Obasanjo, who presented a paper on Education and Employment Generation, pointed out that the surge in the number of migrants who embark on the perilous journeys through the Mediterranean to Europe, call for an urgent need for job creation. Nigeria, he said, should have a rethink on job creation and employment generation, and the rethinking, he pointed out should start from the university environments by having programmes aimed at creating jobs and employment opportunities. He also urged the federal government to create an enabling environment for young entrepreneurs to thrive via business-friendly policies. Obasanjo urged the students to be good ambassadors of their university as they go into the world. Earlier in his remarks, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, noted that the commission would work closely with private universities across the country to advance the frontiers of knowledge in Nigeria. The NUC boss disclosed that the commission would soon convene a summit on private universities with the aim to ease bottlenecks that hinder smooth operations in private universities. Two hundred and twenty nine students out of which 21 bagged First Class degrees, graduated from the university. The Vice Chancellor, Professor Tahir Mamman, said 125 students from the Faculty of Management and Social Sciences were awarded Bachelor of Science degrees in the 2015/2016 academic session. He also said 61 students graduated from the Faculty of Law while 43 from faculty of Computing and Applied Sciences were also awarded degrees. The graduating students were presented degrees in their various disciplines by the Chancellor, Alh. (Dr.) Ahmadu Abubakar. Nine of them were honoured as the best graduating students. They include: Nkechiyere Nneka Agu, Khadija Saad Mohammed, Chioma Annebella Obiajulu, Ridwan Olusukanmi Kareem and Dike Chijioke Obalum. Others are Samira Tsamiya Ladan, Farida Abdulmumini Aminu, Fatima Harani Maiyaki and Saidu Umar Baffale. Results of the Chairmanship and Councillorship elections into the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 newly created Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in Ogun State in 53 Councils have been released. The candidates of the All Progressives Congress(APC) won 53 chairmanship seats based on the results so far announced on Sunday afternoon by the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission(OGSIEC). The ruling APC also won 99% of the councillorship seats in the 53 LGAs and LCDAs announced by OGSIEC Chairman, Alhaja Risikat Ogunfemi. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has however only won a councillorship seat in Yewa South. Former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo paid a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari at the Aso Villa on Monday. The pair reportedly discussed governance and national issues. Former President Obasanjo visited this afternoon. Always a pleasure to discuss Governance & national issues with him pic.twitter.com/7WYFAjvss5 Muhammadu Buhari (@MBuhari) October 10, 2016 Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, despite being a member of the PDP threw his weight behind Muhammadu Buhari during the last general election. The Buhari administration has been far from convincing in its first year and a half of governance, pursuing an anti-corruption agenda at the detriment of the economy. Recently, the Department of State Services arrested two supreme court justices as well as several judges. The incident has left Nigerians divided, with some accusing the government of high-handedness while some have supported the governments move. The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has rejected the results of Saturdays local government elections in Ogun State and called for its cancellation. The South-West Zonal Secretary of PDP, Bunmi Jenyo, who made the call at a press conference on Sunday in Abeokuta, the state capital, said the council elections were characterized by fraud and irregularities. According to the results declared by the Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission (OGESIEC), the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) won the chairmanship positions in all the 20 local government areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state. Chairperson of the commission, Mrs. Risikat Ogunfemi, who declared the results, said the party also won 346 councillorship seats out of the 349 wards in the state. The Unity Party of Nigeria, however, won two councillorship seats while the PDP won one in the election, which a total of 17 political parties participated in the poll. But Jenyo described the poll as condemnable, irresponsible and unacceptable, adding that the height of irregularities and violence masterminded by the APC was due to the ruling partys imminent loss to opposition PDP in the process. He alleged that APC resorted to rigging because of the rejection of its candidates by the people across the state. Mr. Jenyo said the action of the ruling APC was barbaric, primitive and ridiculous, taken because PDPs popularity scared them to resorting to violence which marred the entire process completely. The South-West zonal secretary of PDP claimed that election materials were not supplied in some local governments, such as Ijebu water side, and that ballots boxes, papers and other electoral logistics were not provided by OGISIEC. The PDP spokesperson said ballot boxes and papers were hijacked by miscreants in some local government areas, particularly in Abeokuta. He further alleged that there were sporadic shooting in some local councils, and that some PDP members who resisted the hoodlums sustained injuries from gun shots and machete cuts in Ilara, Remo North Local Government Area. Mr. Jenyo said some of his injured party members were being treated at Backcock University Teaching Hospital in Remo council area of the state. As a result (of the violence), many voters were scared and terrorized to leave their polling units, he said. Definitely, with the aforementioned facts, it is obvious that the election exercise must be cancelled outrightly, if democratic values are anything to go by in Nigeria. And we therefore call for its cancellation, the PDP stalwart stated. Two persons, Jamiu Alabi, 24, and Yemi John, 32 have been apprehended by the Lagos State Police Command for being in a possession of human heads. The duo who were arrested at Ipaja area of Lagos State on Saturday night, were said to have concealed three human heads inside loaves of bread, labeling each with amount and names. While one of them had Danjumo N20,000 written on it, the others had Yusuf N70,000 and Alhaji Mumuni N10,000 The State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, who confirmed the arrest said the case was under discreet investigation. She added that for now, the police will share limited information as they are trying to trace other suspects involved in the matter The Enugu State Police Command says it has arrested an armed robbery kingpin, Chukwudi Chigbata, who has been on its wanted list for the past three months. The commands spokesman, Ebere Amaraizu, made the disclosure in an interview with newsmen on Sunday in Enugu. Amaraizu said that Chigbata was placed in the wanted list over several nefarious activities within Uzo-uwani Council Area and its environs. The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two members of a robbery gang for allegedly attacking a polythene producing company in Alibaba, in the Isashi area of the state, stealing a raw material evaluated at N6.4m. The suspects are 42-year-old Moruf Afolabi and one Saheed Adeoti, a new worker of the company. A policeman, identified simply as Tunde, aka Agbo, reportedly escorted a truck containing 220 bags of the stolen raw material to the Mangoro area of the state, where they were sold. PUNCH Metro learnt that the suspects were arrested sometime in September 2016, three weeks after they attacked the company, Alphabet Packaging Nigeria Limited. It was learnt that the gang members had gone to the company around 7am on Sunday, August 14, and told a security guard at the gate that they were directed by the manager to collect the raw material. The guard reportedly insisted that they called the manager on the phone so he could confirm the directive. When the robbers realised their ploy would not work, they reportedly resorted to force. One of the suspects pretended that he wanted to use the toilet on the premises. The guard allowed him in and the rest of them forcefully gained access into the company. They tied the guard with a rope, sealed his mouth and put him in a room while they looted the store where the raw material was. They stole 220 bags and packed them in a truck. The case was reported at the Isashi Police Division and was later transferred to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the state command in Ikeja. The information we gathered showed that one Tunde, whom one of the suspects identified as a policeman, escorted the truck to where the chemical was sold. But investigation revealed that the said policeman was not aware it was stolen, a police source said. Afolabi, who hails from Abeokuta, Ogun State, told the police that he was invited for the operation by Adeoti, adding that he knew Tunde as a policeman in the Aboru area of the state. He said, Saheed (Adeoti) and I had earlier worked together at a nylon making company. I know Tunde at Aboru. He is a policeman and I have seen him in police uniform. On that day, Saheed called me on the phone and said I should meet him at Joju bus stop, Sango Ota. When I got there, he told me to follow him to steal Idorama nylon chemical, and I did. Adeoti, 25, a native of Ayetoro, Ogun State, said they sold the chemical to a businessman who had a shop at the Mangoro area of Lagos, adding that he got N1.2m from the proceeds. We took the stolen chemical to Mangoro and sold each bag for N24,000 to a man called Ibeh. He knew we stole the chemical. Maruf and I got N1.2m each and we gave the driver that drove the truck N40,000. This is my first time of doing this kind of business, he said. A police prosecutor, Inspector Benedict Aigbokhan, arraigned the duo before an Ikeja Magistrates Court on Friday on two counts of armed robbery. The charge read in part, That you, Saheed Adeoti, Maruf Afolabi, and others at large, on August 14, 2016, at about 7am at Alphabet Packaging Nigeria Limited on Mayila Street, Anibaba, Isashi, Lagos, in the Lagos Magisterial District, while armed with sticks, did tie the security man, Lanre Ladoja, with a rope, and forced a piece of cloth into his mouth and rob 220 bags of Indorama polythene nylon making material valued at N6.4m, thereby committing an offence punishable under Section 278 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The presiding magistrate, Mrs. O. Olanipekun, did not take the plea of the defendants. She ordered that the case file be forwarded to the Directorate of the Public Prosecutions for advice. The case was adjourned till October 21, 2016, for legal advice. Source: Punch A police driver has killed two people while attempting to stop an overloaded commercial bus on the Asaba-Ibusa-Ogwashi-Uku Expressway, in the Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. Several sources, who witnessed the accident, told PUNCH Metro that the driver of the commercial bus and a male suspect, who the police were taking to the state command in Asaba, died on the spot. A female suspect, who the policemen had also arrested, reportedly passed out and was rushed to a hospital. A witness, who identified himself simply as Uche, told our correspondent that the police van, with inscription Anti-Crime Patrol, Kwale division, was coming from the Ogwashi-Uku area on Thursday around 2pm when the incident happened. He said the police, upon sighting the overloaded bus, started chasing it. Uche added that the bus was heading towards the Ughelli area when the police van, carrying three policemen and two suspected criminals, crashed into it to force it to a halt. Although one of the bus passengers survived, the bus driver, identified as Chinedu Ojimadu, was not so lucky as he was burnt to death in the presence of sympathisers and the policemen. Our correspondent, who was returning to Warri from Asaba, the Delta State capital, saw debris of the bus at the scene of the accident at Umuehea Junction in Ibusa. It was gathered that the policemen, in order to avoid a reprisal from sympathisers, called for help from the Ibusa Police Station. This accident was a flagrant abuse of power by those who are supposed to enforce the law. The policemen veered off their lane to stop a bus on motion from a slope, which resulted in the bus exploding. The incident must be thoroughly investigated. The three policemen must be fished out to pay for their crime. They killed my brother for no just cause. They watched my brother burn without doing anything, a relative of the deceased driver told our correspondent on the telephone on Sunday. A senior police officer at the Kwale Police Division confirmed the incident, but directed our correspondent to the spokesperson for the state command. The spokesperson for the Delta State Police Command, SP Celestina Kalu, also confirmed the incident to our correspondent on Sunday, but said she could not tell if there was any casualty. Source: Punch The second US presidential debate was held on Sunday night. Republican Presidential candidate, Donald Trump was on the ropes and knew that only a spectacular performance would save him from political annihilation. He landed in hot water following the leak of a tape where he bragged about making sexual advances towards women. His comments drew criticism from many GOP figures, with a few calling on him to quit the race. Having lost the first debate, Donald Trump had the air of a desperate man as he met with women who claimed to have been sexually assaulted by Bill Clinton just minutes before the debate began. His apology for his lewd comments contained references to Bill Clintons infidelity, a topic he once promised to never bring up. The debate was messy and will probably go down in American history for its lack of clear purpose. Donald Trump avoided any questions as moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz struggled to keep the debate on course. Trump would go on to interrupt Hilary a record 18 times, as they traded insults until the debate ended. CNN polls showed many viewers leaning Hillarys way even though many agreed it was a better showing from Trump compared to the first debate where he seemed unprepared. 57% of viewers reckoned Hillary Clinton won the second debate while 34% thought Donald Trump was the better candidate. It is now two in two for Hillary with just one Presidential debate left until the November elections. One of the major ideals that recommend democracy as a conventional system of government is the principle of Rule of Law as one of its cardinal pillars. British jurist and constitutional theorist, A.V. Dicey when he coined the concept at the end of the 19th century, described it as one of the two basic principles of the English constitution . He saw in it a veritable weapon for checking the excesses of governments who at the time carried on like lords of the manor with little or no respect for the triumph of laws. It is instructive to note however, that before Dicey popularized the concept, renowned philosopher, Aristotle already wrote 25 centuries ago in his work Politics III, that the rule of law was preferable to that of any individual. This ideal has remained alive to the present day. Thus, the notion of the free and lawful men and of the king being under God and the law are to be found from the early times of the common law. The conception of the rule of law demands that all actions of government officials be justified in law and that no government official , however exalted in rank, be entitled to disregard the law in the name of reasons of state. In Diceys words, every man, whatever be his rank or condition, is subject to the ordinary law of the realm and amenable to the jurisdiction of the ordinary tribunals. Quite more apposite to our discourse is the words of Herring CJ in the celebrated case of Arthur Yates & co pty Ltd v Vegetable seeds Committee (1945) 72 CLR 137 at 66, it is not the English view of the law that whatever is officially done is law .. On the contrary, the principle of English law is that what is done officially, must be done in accordance with the law. Of the three distinct branches of the principle, Action According to Law, finds more expressios and relevance to this intervention. This simply means that the organs of government must be subject to legal rules. This conception, being the simplest of the 3, can be found very early in the common law. Thus , King John promised in Article 39 of the Magna Carta (1215) that No free man shall be taken or imprisoned or desseised or outlawed or exiled or in any way ruined , nor will we go or send against him except by lawful judgment of his peers or by law of the land. The jurisprudential import of this phenomenon is one that begs of no serious intellectual riguour before its tenets meet conprehension. In fact, it is what it says: rule according to laid down rules and regulations as a veritable tool to check the excesses of power which we are told by Lord Acton, that its absolutism corrupts absolutely. And who is despot other than one with acute reprehension for the institution of laws. The concept of rule of law therefore, side by side its adjunct principle of seperation of powers, it could be said, are the features next to enfranchisement , that have earned democracy as a system of government, its resplendent colours and arguably the reason why it has become a model for many nations in contemporary human society. What follows from the foregoing therefore, is that a government which fails to institutionalise such and make it the raison detre of its administration is not worth its good name as a democratic government. Such a government becomes at best an authoritative one in democratic garb, flaunting democratic institutions , ostensibly to fly the banner of its democractic nature to the international community and citizens at home . That is, it becomes a democracy only in form but not in substance. And since substance in the equation of legality takes precedence over form, it would not be out of place to conclude that democracy is not practiced in such a clims but at best, a mockery of same. It is therefore along this construct, that the uncivilized, militaristic, draconian and obnoxious manner, operatives of the DSS acting on orders from above (whatever that means), in a near nationwide brazen attacks cum invasion of the private residences of respectable judges of both the superior and inferior courts of records at the most ungodly hour of the day on Saturday, 8th of October 2016 must be situated. If anyone bought the narrative of the mercantilist spin doctors of President Muhammadu Buhari being a changed and democratised military dictator by the act of his taking the oath of office and swearing to uphold and defend the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the 29th of May 2015, that confidence must have been lost with the speed the coconut falls from its tree, when the media ran to town with the news of the exectuive rascality and highhandedness carried into effect by its Gestapo police. And as for Buhari and the gullible ilk who bought the narrative of the spin doctors of white wash wizadry at the campaign trails, this latest act among others provides an opportunity for their ranks to learn a thing or two from these age long proverbs to wit: The leopard does not lose its spots, no matter how much is expended to come about that, and that we do not learn to be left handed at old age. This much, PMB has proven times without memory. For the records, there is nothing that can explain away the manner the DSS in the quintessential gestapo style set about their hatchet job the other day. No amount of explanation and justification can win it any acceptability. At law, we say that it is void ab initio and therefore, loses the chances of any legality deriving from it. One is miffed and obfuscated over the manner and reckless abandon with which the SSS have carried on under the headship of Buharis kinsman, Alh. Lawal Daura so much that it has become a consistent pattern, snow balling into an unwritten law since the notorious invasion and arrest of the former National Security Adviser Alh. Sambo Dasuki in his house with no regard for standard procedures in its modus operandi. As of fact, it appears with each obnoxious act , they have only become more ferocious and brazen; a pattern that suggests some hands in the background patting them in the back and urging them on in their professional misfeasance. It would be recalled that this same Gestapo police was reported to have invaded the government house of an incumbent governor at about the same ungodly hour of the day destroying, maiming and carting away properties including cash sums belonging to the government house without as much of a whimper from the presidency. An act never before witnessed in our chequered history. Observers of the political scene would also recall that the Zamfara and Ekiti state houses of Assembly in recent past, played host to these same rampaging boots.The same Nazi police has become notorious for disobeying and flouting court orders with inpunity and unbriddled breach of the fundamental rights of too many a citizen from Nnamdi Kanu, to Sambo Dansuki through Robert Azibola among others. What should worry all and sundry, irrespective of political persuasions in this particular incident is the choice of judges who are victims of this latest act of gross insubordination. Upon a closer look, one finds out that they in one way or the other have an axe to grind with the DSS in the discharge of their professional duties as the interpreters of our Laws and bulwark of the liberty of the citizens in the words of Right. Hon. Nnamdi Azikiwe. Justice Adeniyi Ademola and Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja Division is said to have been raided for allegedly granting bail to retired Air Commodore Mohammed Umar of the presidential Probe panel on Arms. Another is said to have been raided for banning the DSS from coming to his court for unending flouting of its orders. Justice Muazu Pindiga who was picked at Gombe state, is said to be the first chairman of the election tribunal that upheld the election of governor Nyeson Nwike in Rivers State. Justice Sylvester Ngwuta of the supreme court is also hounded for delivering judgments that have not been particularly favorable to the DSS and the presidency. In Rivers state, the governor would not allow the abduction of justice Abdullahi Liman under his watch. We are told he had the nozzle of a gun pointed at him and went home with injuries. Altogether, one is presented with an ugly picture of the DSS resorting to inpunity as a weapon to itimidate the judges and send a word to the judiciary that the barrel of the gun is stronger than the gavel. To justify and lend some credence to their stealth, they fly the Kite of corruption on the part of the judges in the discharge of their duties and allege the recovering of substantial amount of money in the apartments of their victims in a fit to earn popular support. But the corruptness or otherwise of our judges is not immediately in issue here . What is, is the resort to the commando style in the prosecution of a supposed legal duty. At law, an unlawful act done in the prosecution of a lawful duty remains a wrong. In criminal jurisprudence, a criminal summons almost always preceed and arrest. With the latter option always had recourse to, when a summon has been disobeyed. At no time atleast as far as we know, were the justices invited by the DSS for interogation neither is a search warrant which the operatives claim to have gotten executed at such ungodly hour of the day, save in circumstances where efforts to arrest an accused or a suspect within the window set by the law which is between 5am and 8pm has proved abortive. All of these cast serious doubt on the testimony or representation of the DSS and leave behind the impression of a sinister object by the DSS to itimidate and embarras the learned Justices. No one says the judges that line our court both the superior and the inferior ones are paragons of decency or vintage cesars wives beyond reproach, but diplomacy and professional due deligence matters. The Nigeria judicial council (NJC) is not oblivious of the rot within the judiciary and only last week recommended the compulsory retirement of three judges of the superior courts including a chief judge to send the message that professional indiscretion and misconduct both in professional respects and otherwise, would not be tolerated within the bench. In any case, the DSS cannot overeach it self by constituting itself into a busy body holding brief for both the EFCC, ICPC and NJC combined. No matter the amount of money found in the private residence of these judicial officers, it doesnt in anyway earn their stealth any justification, however they belabour the narrative. That can only be a story for another day. Let it be said that our grouse is not with the personages or the personalities of the judicial officers indeed the law remains supreme in any democratic institution. Our worry and fear is with the institutional victim of this affront. If the judicial arm of government in a state should at anytime become the object of ridicule; the victim of executive compromise or abitrage, then citizens in such a society have every course to be worried for if the institution that is widely aclaimed to be the last hope of the common man comes under attack from the executive, not only is their independence compromised, but also the civil liberties of citizens vanishes into the thin air like a gust of wind. It is commendable therefore, that the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) under its new headship, A. B. Mahmud (SAN), and the Nigeria Judicial Council (NJC), have both voiced their opprobrium for the otiose and odious conduct of the DSS calling for the immediate release of the learned justices without more. It is trite that two wrongs does not make one right. In the bid to rid our body politic of corruption that has become its by word, courtesy deserves and the law impresses it that such a general good must be prosecuted with equal respect for the laws shorn of any promiscuity and impunity so that we do not lose four running after eight. President Muhammadu Buhari, may or may not have given the orders upon which such Gestapo-ic theatrics was executed but the buck still stops right at his table as the Commander in Chief of this Octopus of a nation. At not time should any arm of our nascent and burgeoning democracy, or any of its institutions be subjected to such level of intimidation, harassment and embarrassment as witnessed last weekend if at all the idea of running a democratic system of government according to the dictates and sanctions of the law, still appeal to us. It is high time PMB as he is popularly called heeded the voice of reason by taming what has overtime leapfrogged into a Gestapo police reminiscent of the dark era of Nazi Germany, as the consequences of a failure to, promises incalculable harm to both government, the citizens, our democracy and the ultimate goal of governance. This is not Banana Republic nor is it a Hitlaristic Germany. Enough said! Dino Fiddling while Nigeria Burns The ostentatious, opulent, controversial and profligate self styled Anti-corruption crusader, senator Dino Melaye, Chairman Senate Committee on Federal Capital Territory, in an obvious show of nonchalance to the poverty, deprivation, indigence hunger and want ravaging many Nigerians in the face of a biting recession, bought himself a brand new Rolls Royce which media Reports say is valued at 180 million naira. When quizzed by press men as to the source of the money, the garrulous senator tells them, he deserves some Privacy and ought to be respected. Dino Melaye gives no hoot what anybody thinks and like emperor Nero, would rather fiddle while Nigerians especially members of his senatorial district, burn. Like the French Queen Maria Antoinette in the 17th century, he may as well ask Nigerians to go grab some cake if they cant afford bread. What pity! Raymond Nkannebe, a Lawyer and Public affairs commentator Can be reached at [email protected] Twitter :@RayNkah The Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Comrade Timi Frank, has challenged the partys National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, to publish the minutes of the National Working Committee (NWC), where the party rejected the report of the Ondo State Primary Appeal Panel. Mr. Odigie-Oyegun had last week claimed that the report of the appeal panel on the Ondo governorship primary election was set aside by the NWC. In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, Frank wondered why it took the national chairman two weeks to prepare lies as responses. According to him, the situation in the party as well as the accusation and counter-accusation have got to a stage where Odigie-Oyegun must publish what he described as the undoctored minutes of the meeting, if he does not have any skeleton in his cupboard. He said: Unknown to the national chairman, the last two NWC meetings were properly recorded and the record shows the contributions of each and every member of the NWC at the meetings. Chief Odigie-Oyegun should tell the world why he brushed aside the suggestion of the National Youth leader Dasuki Jalo, who suggested that the party should submit an interim name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pending the time a political solution will be found to the matter. But Odigie-Oyegun and few others, who benefited from the corruption that produced Rotimi Akeredolu as governorship candidate did not see wisdom in what the national youth leader said. Chief Odigie-Oyeguns few responses to the many allegations raised by our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, can never hold water. For example, the chairman and his cohort contradicted themselves when Odigie-Oyegun said there was no voting, but he forgot that the National Vice Chairman Hilliard Eta told reporters that there was voting, which is in agreement with the position of the partys Southwest National Vice Chairman Chief Pius Akinyelure, who also said the NWC members actually voted on the Ondo State Governorship Appeal Panel Report. Mr. Frank quoted the APC national chairman as saying in his response that voting on the issue became unnecessary and never took place in view of NWCs rejection of the Appeal Committees report, while the Southsouth Vice Chairman Hilliard Eta had said before we met on the last day for the submission of name to INEC, we had met three days earlier. In that meeting, there were two reports before the NWC. That of the appeal committee was voted on. That day, we were 14 in number, not 11 as we have it in the media. After that, we mandated our national chairman and secretary to go out and do wider consultations so that we can have a political solution to the heated environment the situation has caused the party. He asked: Now, who is deceiving who? In another clime, Chief Odigie-Oyegun would have voluntarily resigned as the national chairman of APC to allow someone else correct the damage he had done to the ruling party. But it is not too late. Our National leader Tinubu has spoken that Odigie-Oyegun should step aside, and that is the opinion of larger percentage of leaders and members of APC. It is expected of our national chairman to do the needful before the evidences of many evils done to the party will be made public. He asked all lovers of APC to disregard Chief Odigie-Oyeguns made-to-believe-lies because the true position of what transpired at the NWC meeting had been revealed by the National Vice Chairman (Southwest) Chief Pius Akinyelure. It is surprising that Odigie-Oyegun made mention of party constitution in the process of removing the national chairman, but the same Odigie-Oyegun has never obeyed the partys constitution in calling for NEC meeting as expected and by allowing the deputy national officers to act in absence of their bosses. My case is a perfect example. Odigie-Oyegun must go! The presidential nominee of the Republican party Donald Trump has vowed to jail his rival Hilary Clinton of the Democratic party if he is elected President of the US as he slammed her for operating a private email server when serving as US Secretary of State. SEE ALSO: Polls Suggest Hillary Clinton Won Second Presidential Debate Trump also added that he would appoint a special prosecutor to look into his Clintons email use because she had endangered national security during her tenure as President Barack Obamas chief diplomat from 2009-2013. The engagement between two presidential runners quickly turned into an acrimonious discussion of a 2005 video that emerged on Friday in which Trump was heard using vulgar language and talking about groping women without consent. Trump, however, said he was embarrassed by the video but dismissed it as locker room talk. Trump then attacked Hilarys husband, Bill Clinton, for his treatment of women, insisting that the former President had done worse to women. Hillary refused to respond to Trumps comments during the debate about Bill but she responded that Trumps comments showed he was unfit for the White House. He has said the video doesnt represent who he is but I think its clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is, Clinton said. In regards to the use of a private email while serving as Secretary of State, Clinton admitted that was a mistake and took responsibility for it. For using a personal e-mail account. Obviously, if I were to do it over again, I would not. Im not making any excuses. It was a mistake, she stated. Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has lampooned the Department of State Services (DSS) for the arrest of judges over alleged corruption. He described the DSS action of raiding judges residences in the middle of the night and claiming recovery of questionable amounts of cash and documents as deliberate misinformation and concocted stories to justify their unconstitutional assault on the nations judiciary. According to Wike, the DSS lacked the constitutional powers to be involved in the legal process to discipline a serving judicial official because there is a legal process that must be followed. He spoke on Saturday night during a special dinner for the management and players of Rivers United at the Government House, Port Harcourt. The weak blackmail of the DSS will not lessen the crime they have committed against the Nigerian state by assaulting the judiciary, Wike said, adding: Their blackmail stories will not move me. They will concoct all kinds of stories to justify this undemocratic illegality perpetrated against the judiciary. It is really unfortunate that DSS would concoct a false defence that $2million (that is N900million) was found in the house of the judge. It is unfortunate that the DSS is coming up with flimsy excuses. The governor, who stressed that he would never condone acts of corruption, however, vowed to never support any process that is targeted at ruining the nations judiciary. He pointed out that the National Judicial Council (NJC) was saddled with responsibility of disciplining errant judges, after which indicted judicial officers are handed over to the law enforcement agencies for prosecution. He stated that the same process applies to the police, army and other para-military agencies, which have their own internal mechanisms for disciplining errant and corrupt officials. In the police, erring and corrupt policemen are first given orderly room trial, sacked and then appropriately prosecuted. For judicial officers, the DSS has no role. This impunity must stop. I am not in support of any judicial officer being involved in corruption. What we are saying is that the right things must be done. We must not do things that will jeopardise our hard earned democracy. If they had abducted the judge, they may go ahead to kill the judge and they will say that Rivers State is insecure. The way things are going, nobody should relax. Freedom comes with sacrifice. Independence comes with sacrifice. Liberty comes with sacrifice. We must resist this injustice. Nobody can intimidate Rivers people. Gov. Wike also described as laughable, claims by the DSS that he used thugs to prevent its operatives from conducting a search of a judges residence in Port Harcourt, saying he was senior citizens of the state when he stopped the DSS unconstitutional act. I was there with our State and National Assembly members, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Austin Opara, the PDP Chairman, Bro Felix Obuah and some caretaker chairmen. When they said I was with thugs, I just laughed. An Ebute Meta Chief Magistrates Court sitting in Lagos on Monday remanded a 30-year-old woman, Bose Okhlua, at Ikoyi Prisons for allegedly killing a co-tenant. Okhlua appeared before Chief Magistrate Abimbola Awogboro on a charge of murder. Her plea was not taken by the magistrate, who said the court lacked the jurisdiction to try such cases. The Prosecutor, Insp. Daniel Ighodalo, told the court that the accused committed the offence on June 4 at 3p.m. at No. 4, Ogunmuyiwa St., Ikate-Itire, Surulere, Lagos. He said the accused allegedly murdered one Mercy Onuoha, 24, by hitting her head on the wall when Ohklua threw her against the wall. The duo engaged a fight over whose turn to have their bath in the bathroom in the tenants apartment. In the process, the deceased hit her head against the wall, he said. According to the prosecutor, the offence contravened Section 221 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011. The Yobe State Government on Monday said it would distribute about 5,136 bags of rice donated by the Federal Government the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in twenty-one communities across state. Gov. Ibrahim Geidam stated this in Gujba while receiving the donation from the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Hajiya Khadijah Bukar. Geidam, who was represented by his deputy, Abubakar Aliyu, said the donation of food and non-food items would facilitate the resettlement and rehabilitation of the returning people of the communities. They will obviously need continuous delivery of relief materials up to the time they will consolidate themselves in the returned communities, he said. According to the governor, 3,000 bags will be shared to inhabitants of Katarko, Gujba, Buni Yadi, Buni Gari, Goniri, Gotala, and Kukuwa Tasha communities. He said IDPs in Gulani Local Government Area would share 1,200 bags, just as those in Damaturu Local Government Area would share 492 bags. Gambir, Mitiri, Malumti, and Alhajiri local governments will share 200 bags while, Pompomari, Kukareta and Usmanti were allocated 244 bags. Earlier, the minister said the Federal Government donated the food through the National Logistics Committee for movement of relief items coordinated by the Nigeria Customs Service. Khadijah expressed satisfaction with the process of distribution adopted by the state committee on resettlement and rehabilitation of displaced persons chaired by the deputy governor. She assured the people of governments continued support to persons displaced by insurgency in the state. Callebaut opens Indonesia factory Barry Callebaut has celebrated the grand opening of its first chocolate factory in Indonesiafollowing its announcement of a long-term outsourcing agreement with GarudaFood Group, one of the largest food and beverage companies in Indonesia. Barry Callebaut has celebrated the grand opening of its first chocolate factory in Indonesia. As announced in June 2015, Barry Callebaut entered into a long-term outsourcing agreement with GarudaFood Group, one of the largest food and beverage companies in Indonesia, which involves the supply of at least 10,000 tonnes of compound chocolate per year to GarudaFood as well as the set-up of Barry Callebauts own operations. The new three-storey, 4,000 square meter Barry Callebaut factory is built on the premises of GarudaFoods biscuit plant in Gresik and will initially employ about 50 people. The new chocolate factory in Gresik marks an important cornerstone in Barry Callebaut's strategy to strengthen our position as a leader in all key markets in Asia Pacific. It also enables us to grow our already significant presence in Indonesia an important emerging market with about 260 million people that offers above-average growth opportunities, said Antoine de Saint-Affrique, CEO of Barry Callebaut. We are truly excited that our strong relationship with GarudaFood and this new factory will provide GarudaFood with the means to quickly differentiate themselves in an increasingly competitive market. The chocolate production lines at the Barry Callebaut factory allow us to focus our manufacturing facilities in Indonesia on biscuits and strengthen the factory as a key competence center for our biscuits products in Indonesia, said CEO of GarudaFood Group Hardianto Atmadja. This move will help us to further develop our successful biscuit brands. The new chocolate factory marks Barry Callebauts business expansion in the country, the worlds third largest cocoa bean grower and fourth most populous country. The company, which has a direct presence in eight countries across Asia Pacific, employs more than 500 people in Bandung and Makassar, Indonesia, where it operates two cocoa grinding factories. In June of this year, the company announced that it is committed to increase its sustainability activities for cocoa farmers in Indonesia. Barry Callebauts presence in Asia traces back to July 1997 when the company opened its first chocolate factory in Singapore. Across Asia, the company now operates 5 chocolate factories (China, India, Indonesia, Japan, and Singapore), three cocoa factories (two in Indonesia and one in Malaysia) and one combined factory (in Malaysia). Premarket summary for the S&P TradeGuidance - 27 minutes ago Analyzing the overnight profile for the S&P futures SPY : 387.17 (-0.48%) ESZ22 : 3,889.75 (-0.55%) New Week In Hogs Market Barchart - 1 hour ago 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%) Nearby Cotton Weaker into New Week Barchart - 1 hour ago Following the limit loss in Dec cotton on Friday, Monday trading has the board fading into the new week with losses of 64 to 88 points. December cotton ended the day locked limit lower on the 3c loss.... CTZ22 : 71.76 (-0.49%) CTH23 : 71.59 (-0.67%) CTK23 : 71.74 (-0.77%) Cattle Head into New Week Barchart - 1 hour ago 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%) Soy Market in Black into New Week Barchart - 1 hour ago Meal, Oil and Soybeans are all gaining into the new week of trade BO is leading with 1.4% to 1.8% gains so far. Some sunflower oil products (219,850 MT) appear to be among the vessels hung up as Russia... ZSX22 : 1395-6 (+0.58%) ZSPAUS.CM : 13.5747 (+0.68%) ZSF23 : 1408-0 (+0.55%) ZSH23 : 1415-6 (+0.48%) The most vexing challenge in the higher education space nowadays is how to make college affordable for a majority of Americans, particularly low- and modest-income students. It's a challenge with many interrelated moving parts including curbing escalating tuition, providing better access to financial aid, and ensuring students save money. Some funders opt to tackle one piece of this puzzle at a time. Othersand dare I say, most fundersmysteriously avoid what are perhaps the most critical issues entirely, which are rising tuition and steadily decreasing government support for higher ed. Meanwhile, grantmakers like the Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation address multiple challenges simultaneously. In its case, it can be summed up in two words: scholarships and savings. The grantmaker recently announced the launch of KC Scholars, a new scholarship and college savings program that, in tandem with 70 community partners, aims to help low- and modest-income students, as well as adult learners, finance and complete a college education. Kauffman isn't messing around. It's investing $79 million in the program over the next 10 years. This is an interesting effort to analyze, as many local funders wrestle with the question of what they can do to expand college access in their communities and look to enlist new partners in this effort The new program consists of three opportunities. The first includes 250 awards to be given to students currently enrolled in 11th grade. Awardees will receive up to $10,000 per year, paid directly to the college, renewable up to five years. The second type of scholarship is Adult Learners, and provides 200 awards for adults age 24 and older who have previously earned at least 12 college credits but did not receive a postsecondary degree. Awardees will receive up to $5,000 per year, paid directly to the college, renewable up to five years. Third, the program's College Savings Match, incentivizes high school students to resist the urge to upgrade to the new iPhonethen again, I have no idea what "the kids" are into nowadays, anywayby promising up to 1,000 one-time awards to be given annually to students in 9th grade, who will receive $25 in a 529 college savings plan. Of those, 50 will be selected to receive a four-to-one match, not to exceed $5,000, with the potential for an additional $2,000 for students who achieve college-ready milestones during high school. So, what to make of all of this? First off, the gift is classic Kauffman Foundation. While this funder is best known for its support of entrepreneurs, it's also serious about higher education, especially in the Kansas City region. Second, it's another example of a funder using collective impact approaches that mobilize diverse stakeholders around a common goal. The dozens of partners involved in this initiative come from multiple sectors and worked together for nearly a year to put KC Scholars together. Third, it's a reminder of the strong economic logic behind backing higher ed access at the local level. While this issue is often framed in equity terms in national debates, many actors within communities understand just how important expanding college is to ensuring greater prosperity in cities and regional economies. As we report often, major corporations in particular have gotten hip to the need to educate more skilled workers, particularly from diverse backgrounds, in order to meet future labor demands. This understanding is fueling a new spike in education philanthropy, especially related to STEM fields. That economic logic is core to the rationale of the KC Scholars Program, and is surely one reason that Kauffman found so many community partners ready to get behind it. As Michael Roane, co-chair of the KC Scholars Implementation Committee put it: "By 2020, two out of three jobs will require more than a high school diploma. In Kansas City, we know there are not enough high school graduates entering college and completing their higher degree. "KC Scholars will help to close that gap, by ensuring more young students and adults receive a postsecondary education." Last week Danish Prime Minister Lars Lkke Rasmussen unveiled plans for a new investment fund based on the United Nations 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG), to coincide with the start of the annual meeting of the United Nations General Assembly. To help kick off the announcement of the fund a partnership between the Danish government and large pension investors Rasmussen invited Peter Damgaard Jensen, CEO of Danish pension fund Pensionskassernes Administration (PKA), to New York to participate in a roundtable event entitled Scaling Up Private Sector Contributions. On the eve of the roundtable, Jensen met with Institutional Investor at the Danish consulate to discuss the pension funds latest green and social impact initiatives and reveal his goal to raise its allocation to environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) to 10 percent by 2020, from the current 7 percent. Jensen, who has been CEO of PKA for 15 years, oversees 33.6 billion ($37.8 billion) in three separate pension funds for health care professionals and social workers. Denmark may be a small country, but it has a large commitment to the health and sustainability of the planet. In support of those interests, publicprivate partnerships between the Danish government and private pension funds are pouring billions of kroner into European and emerging-markets projects. PKA is one of 125 members from nine countries belonging to the Institutional Investors Group on Climate Change, which works with the European Union and the UN to shape regulations and politics. The latest initiative by the Danish government, the SDG fund, is managed by the Investment Fund for Developing Countries, or IFU, a Danish government-owned fund. The aim of the partnership, launching in 2017, is to raise $750 million for emerging-markets projects. SDG investments can include climate action, affordable and clean energy, clean water and sanitation. PKA has not yet determined the size of its investment, says Jensen. (This new fund is separate from another, year-old SDG fund managed by the UN.) The PKA SDG fund is intended to be an accelerator for larger co-investments in projects in the developing world. Estimating that for every $150 million the SDG fund puts into a project, total investment could reach $900 million, the IFU forecasts that the fund may generate investments of around $4.5 billion by 2023. Of PKAs 275,000 members, 90 percent of whom are female, Jensen says, They have the view that if we can get a healthy return, we should make a difference. That view informs the funds investment in microfinance, a sector comprising 70 percent women entrepreneurs. PKA has invested 200 Danish krone (about $30 million) in two Danish microfinance funds that touch more than 5.2 million clients outside the traditional banking sector, on four continents and in 14 countries. PKA has put its resources to work in other emerging-markets investments as well. One, the Danish Climate Investment Fund, established by the that nations government and the IFU, is a publicprivate partnership to promote the transfer of Danish climate technology to developing countries. Now at $200 million, the fund is expected to eventually grow to $1 billion. In total PKA has invested 2.3 billion in climate projects such as offshore wind farms, forestry, green bonds and the climate fund. Over half 1.25 billion is invested in five offshore wind farms in Europe that supply more than 2 million households with clean electricity. Along with its commitment to wind energy, PKA earlier this year invested 30 million in the 160 million Danish Agribusiness Fund, a partnership of the IFU and a number of large pension funds. The fund will invest in Asia, Africa, Latin America and parts of Europe to boost food production. It is anticipated to generate close to 800 million in improved production, distribution and sales of food in developing countries. New regulations governing the extraction of natural gas through fracking went into effect on Saturday in Pennsylvania, the first overhaul since the industry took off in the state more than 10 years ago. The new rules allow the states department of environmental protection to require additional measures if fracking is taking place near public resources, and requires drillers to restore water supply that is degraded or damaged through fracking, according to the statement. Environmental groups hailed the new rules. An oil and gas industry group blasted the regulations, with a spokesman saying he expected legal challenges. The rules have been in development since 2011, and faced opposition from the oil and gas industry and their allies in the state legislature, where the regulations were rejected earlier this year. Since then, Democratic Governor Tom Wolf has reached a compromise that gave traditional oil and gas wells different rules than unconventional wells developed through fracking. Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, involves injecting water, sand and chemicals at high pressure into rock to extract natural gas or other products. Opposition has mounted as the run-off from fracking has been blamed for polluting water supplies in parts of the United States. In March, residents near Dimock in the northeast corner of the state won $4.2 million in damages from Cabot Oil & Gas for the contamination of well water. The verdict is being appealed. Thomas Au of the Sierra Club in Harrisburg said one of the biggest changes in the new regulations involves industry reporting of spills and contamination. Its much more thorough, he said. Pennsylvania Independent Oil & Gas Association president Daniel Weaver blasted the new regulations in a statement, saying they grew out of a flawed, pre-determined and antagonistic development process. Industries cannot challenge state regulations in court until they go into effect. Au said he expects there will be litigation over some of the new rules. (Reporting By David DeKok in Harrisburg; Editing by David Gregorio) Topics Legislation Energy Oil Gas Pollution Pennsylvania A Wilmington man convicted of the murder-for-hire killings of his business partner and the partners wife will spend the rest of his life in prison. Thirty-four-year-old Christopher Rivers received two life sentences plus 50 years Friday in the deaths of Joseph and Olga Connell in 2013. Authorities say Rivers wanted to collect on an insurance policy he and Joseph Connell took out to protect their auto repair business. Co-defendant Dominique Benson was convicted of conspiracy, but jurors couldnt agree on murder and gun charges against him. Prosecutors plan to retry him. Another co-defendant, Aaron Thompson, also is charged with murder. Joshua Bey pleaded guilty to conspiracy and was sentenced to five years in prison. He could face a longer term if he fails to testify at future trials. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. A contractor didnt obtain a key safety permit before welding caused plastic pipe and a construction tarp to burn on the Liberty Bridge last month, resulting in a 24-day shutdown of a primary artery into downtown Pittsburgh, the citys fire chief said. Officials with Joseph B. Fay Co. acknowledge they didnt have the permit for hot work like welding but said thats because city officials never told the company it needed one during a meeting on the bridge reconstruction project months before the Sept. 2 fire. The company also said fire Chief Darryl Jones wasnt at the meeting, but sent a representative. Jones told KDKA-TV that the $16 permit would have required a fire inspection, and for a fire watcher to be present with an extinguisher near any welding or other hazardous work. But Fay said in an emailed statement Friday that it did have a fire watch on the bridge equipped with hoses and extinguishers when the fire occurred. Jones contends hot welding slag dripped onto some PVC pipe, causing the highly flammable plastic to burn along with the tarp. We call that solid gasoline, because its petroleum-based, Jones said of the pipe. Company officials have declined to discuss other specifics about the fires cause, citing an ongoing investigation by the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration, which probes workplace accidents. The fires heat bent a 30-foot steel chord a key support beam which put the bridge in danger of collapse. Fay consulted with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation and other experts before deciding to straighten the chord and using hydraulic jacks to move a bridge a critical 11/2 inches. That repair took longer than using temporary braces to buttress the bridge, but it will enable a permanent repair to be completed in the future without closing the bridge again, company officials said. The fire occurred during an $80 million rehabilitation project. The contractor hopes to open all lanes of the bridge for the winter by early November, and then return to finish the work in the spring. PennDOTs contract with Fay calls for $213,000 to be deducted for each day the bridge was closed due to the fire. PennDOT is still calculating the cost of the temporary repair, which will also be deducted from the final payment for the bridges rehab. Company officials havent disciplined anyone or fired any subcontractors due to the fire. Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics Contractors Pennsylvania China will encourage more of its companies to invest in Portugal in areas such as finance, insurance, health care and infrastructure, President Xi Jinping has told the visiting Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa. Both countries need to deepen cooperation in investment and explore more markets, Xi said, according to a Chinese Foreign Ministry statement issued late on Saturday. China is willing to encourage investment in Portugal and expand to areas including finance,insurance, health care and infrastructure, the statement paraphrased Xi as saying, without giving details. Xi also repeated Chinas support for the process of European integration, the foreign ministry said. Costa will also meet Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and visit the former Portuguese colony of Macau for a cooperation forum for China and Portuguese-speaking countries. (Reporting by Ben Blanchard; editing by Paul Tait) Topics China Pool Re, the state-backed UK reinsurer that covers terrorism related commercial property losses, announced the launch of the International Forum of Terrorism Risk Re/Insurance Pools (IFTRIP). The formation of IFTRIP is the culmination of a Pool Re led initiative, which began at last years inaugural Congress for National Terrorism Re/Insurance Pools Congress. In a statement, Pool Re said the initiative is aimed at fostering closer ties and allowing for greater collaboration between the worlds terrorism re/insurance entities. Francois Vilnet, vice president of GAREAT, the French market terrorism pool, has been appointed as the president of IFTRIP, a role which will rotate between the membership on an annual basis. A charter formalizing the launch of IFTRIP was signed today at the 2nd Annual Global Terrorism Risk Insurance Congress, hosted by the Australian Reinsurance Pool Corp. (ARPC) in Canberra, with delegates from eight terrorism pools committing the support to the organization. Commitment from a further six pools unable to attend the conference in person, has already been received, Pool Re said. The launch of the International Forum of Terrorism Risk Re/Insurance Pools represents the culmination of nearly two years of work from the both Pool Re team and our colleagues from pools across the world, said Julian Enoizi, chief executive of Pool Re. It is a defining moment for international collaboration between national terrorism pools and represents a new departure which offers the potential to alter how the insurance industry protects against, and responds to, acts of terrorism across the globe, he added. Terrorism has become an international phenomenon which knows no borders. Tragic events have provided the catalyst for the creation of IFTRIP, Enoizi went on to say. However, this organization can be part of a more robust international response to this grave and evolving threat. I am truly proud that we have been able to come together as an international community with a shared vision of the role in which reinsurance pools can play in better protecting our nations economies. Vilnet from GAREAT said: We are pleased that Gareat has been chosen by our peers to serve as the inaugural presidency of IFTRIP. This will be a key step in starting the process of increased cooperation between terrorism pools. Source: Pool Re Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Reinsurance Insurance industry classroom-to-career education program, InVEST, has added Charles Hilson to its national board as an agent member. Hilson is president of the Talent Pipeline Division of Risk Management Solutions of America Inc. (RMSOA) in Chicago. Hilson joined the RMSOA team in August 2016 and is responsible for strategic planning, client services, recruitment and development of millennial talent. Prior to joining RMSOA, he was the chief executive officer of GBG Inc., an independent insurance agency with offices in three states. His industry experience also included underwriting, office management and field marketing positions with St. Paul Insurance Cos. (now Travelers), as well as national program management and agency development for CNA. Hilson has served in numerous state association leadership capacities including previously serving as chairman and president of the Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois. At the national level, he is a past member of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (IIABA) Diversity Task Force and national board member of the National African American Insurance Association. Source: InVEST Topics Agencies Training Development Gage County, Nebraska, is appealing a $28.1 million civil judgment it faces in a lawsuit filed by six people who were wrongly convicted of the 1985 rape and homicide of a Beatrice woman. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the county is asking the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to review the case and block the verdict that a federal judge issued this summer. The appeal should also buy more time for Gage County officials to come up with a plan to raise the money if the judgment is upheld. The defendants (Gage County and two sheriffs deputies involved in the investigation) are not in a financial position to easily pay a judgment if the judgment is affirmed on appeal, said attorney Jennifer Tomka, who represents the county. The six people who sued spent a combined 77 years in prison in the death of 68-year-old Helen Wilson before DNA testing cleared them in 2008. Tomka said the most the countys two insurance companies could come up with for the judgment was $7 million. And there are limits on how much the county can collect from taxpayers in a given year. It is simply not possible for Gage County to easily pay a judgment in this case. An increase of 1 cent levy in Gage County will raise $322,815.83, Tomka wrote If Gage County were forced to pay the award now, the county would have to consider filing for bankruptcy protection, Tomka said. The six who sued the county argued that investigators recklessly strove to close the case despite contradictory evidence, rather than seek justice. James Dean, Kathleen Gonzalez, Debra Shelden, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Thomas Winslow and Joseph White were the first people in the state cleared by DNA evidence, which was made possible by a 2007 Nebraska Supreme Court ruling. Wilsons killing has since been linked to Bruce Allen Smith, who grew up in Beatrice. Investigators said Smith returned to the town days before the slaying and then quickly went back to Oklahoma. He died in 1992. Topics Nebraska GEICO has just introduced its ridesharing product to 10 more states Alabama, Idaho, Kansas, Delaware, Maine, Tennessee, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri and North Dakota in addition to the product being offered in 24 states and the District of Columbia. GEICOs ridesharing insurance product rolled onto the market last year to meet the specific insurance needs of on-demand drivers. GEICO combined the coverage options of two separate policies into a single policy, eliminating the coverage gap between ridesharing and personal use whether or not if the driver is logged into the transportation network companys app. GEICO also offers drivers the flexibility to work with multiple transportation network companies. GEICOs ridesharing product is now offered through the companys Commercial division at a price that can be lower than taxi and commercial rates. GEICO is a member of the Berkshire Hathaway family of companies and is the second-largest private passenger auto insurance company in the United States. GEICO serves more than 14 million private passenger customers, insuring more than 23 million vehicles (auto & cycle). GEICO also provides insurance quotes on motorcycles, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), boats, travel trailers and motorhomes (RVs). Coverage for life, homes and apartments is written by non-affiliated insurance companies and is secured through the GEICO Insurance Agency, Inc. Commercial auto insurance and personal umbrella protection are also available. Lockton has named six executives in Houston to key roles in its expanding Energy and Marine risk management practice. Tim Woodard will serve as senior vice president and director of Energy and Marine. He has been with Lockton for 18 months after more than a decade of risk management and legal experience at McDermott International, a global energy services company. Woodard has extensive experience in risk management strategy and building and guiding successful, growing organizations. Mike OReilly has been named a senior advisor to the Energy and Marine team. OReilly will work with clients on developing customized risk management solutions and insurance programs. He has more than 35 years of experience in the energy industry as an enterprise risk expert and risk manager, most recently as vice president for Risk Management at Pride International. James R. Jimmy Brooks has been named director in the Energy and Marine team. Brooks is a long-time energy insurance professional including time as a broker, wholesaler, cover-holder and underwriter, starting with Global Special Risks (GSR) and leading the formation of Rockbridge Underwriting Agency and BCC Underwriting Catlin during the past 20 years. He is well-known and well-regarded for his entrepreneurial and innovative approaches to risk management throughout the energy sector. Linda Skiles will take on new responsibilities as a key strategic broker leader in the Energy and Marine team at Lockton. Skiles is a respected 15-year Lockton veteran with more than 30 years of market and risk management experience throughout the energy sector. She will continue to work closely with energy industry clients and with Lockton Associates to structure and manage complex risks and tailor specialized insurance programs. Kevin Siskis a new senior vice presidentaccount executive in Locktons Energy and Marine group in Houston, working with clients on casualty insurance programs. He is regarded as a leading expert in contract risk management and complex casualty programs, and has been with Aon for the past 11 years Patrick Hedrick has joined Lockton as senior vice presidentaccount executive, working closely with clients with complex casualty insurance programs, both in energy and non-energy industries. Hedrick joins Lockton after retiring from insurance broker Marsh as a Managing Director in 2015. He possesses more than 30 years of experience advising clients in energy, refining, real estate, and hospitality industries. He consulted with global clients for decades on complex risk management and insurance issues. Source: Lockton Topics Risk Management Citizens Property Insurance Corp. is urging its policyholders to call Citizens first to report losses following Hurricane Matthew in order to protect themselves from assignment of benefit (AOB) scams, according to a statement from the company. Citizens is ready to assist our policyholders as they begin their recovery from Hurricane Matthew and get their lives back in order, said Barry Gilway, Citizens president, CEO and executive director. Our claims representatives are ready to help. All you have to do is call. In its warning to its customers, Citizens said, Unfortunately, unscrupulous contractors and repair companies thrive in the frenzied days following any storm. Policyholders must be wary of unlicensed contractors or deals that sound too good to be true. The company said to protect themselves, policyholders who have experienced a loss from the storm should call Citizens first to ensure they stay in control of their claim. Further, Citizens advises policyholders not to sign anything, including an assignment of benefit, before consulting with Citizens or their insurance agent. Heres why. You may be signing away your rights and be left with unfinished repairs or forced to pay a contractor for repairs not covered by your policy. The policy may also place a limit on emergency repairs until Citizens is notified to inspect damage before permanent repairs are made, the company said. Many in the industry are concerned that the AOB issue, which has been called an insurance crisis by Citizens, will worsen after this storm. Jeff Grady, executive director of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA) said the bulk of claims that do come in will likely be residential, and agents are urging their customers to contact them first. He said the carriers and regulators are frightfully concerned of how the AOB problem could spiral after a storm like Matthew. Everyone is dreading that AOB fraud is about to be unleashed from the heavy claim volume that is about to be experienced, he said. The hucksters are warming up trucks now to canvas neighborhoods and its going to be onslaught, I fear. AOBs are most likely to be offered to policyholders when a contractor is making emergency repairs or when companies come to the door soliciting business. Citizens said policyholders may be told repairs cannot be completed until they have signed an AOB contract, which allows the company to submit the claim and deal directly with Citizens. The company said Citizens representatives are available 24/7 to handle claims. More information on the potential pitfalls of assignments of benefits is available on Citizens website. Related: Topics Catastrophe Natural Disasters Florida Hurricane Contractors A U.S. judge expressed skepticism toward a bid by Airbnb to halt a San Francisco law that imposes fines on home rental companies for processing bookings by hosts not registered with the city. In its lawsuit against San Francisco, Airbnb said it was protected by the federal Communications Decency Act, and cannot be held responsible for ensuring hosts have complied with the citys rules. Airbnb has asked for a court injunction prohibiting the ordinance from taking effect. At a hearing in San Francisco federal court on Thursday, however, U.S. District Judge James Donato said he was concerned with Airbnbs position because the statute only targets bookings, not what Airbnb publishes on its website. Im just struggling with understanding how this ordinance inherently requires me as a district court to treat your client as a publisher, Donato said. The case is a test of a federal law that protects website operators from liability for content posted by others, which tech companies argue has been crucial for the growth of the internet. The Communications Decency Act, passed in 1996, was intended to protect free speech online by removing liability for a newspaper, say, for libelous comments posted on their websites by readers. The law has since shielded social media and e-commerce sites from liability for a variety of lawsuits. The disputed San Francisco ordinance requires Airbnb and similar services to verify that people booking short-term rentals on their sites have registered with the city. The services would face fines of $1,000 each time they process a booking from an unregistered host. Donato expressed some concern about how Airbnb could comply with the ordinance without disrupting its business, and asked an attorney for San Francisco if the city would be willing to delay the ordinance until it developed an automated system for Airbnb to verify host registrations quickly. City attorney Sara Eisenberg said she was not authorized to agree to such a delay. She suggested that Airbnb could adopt a system similar to Uber, which requires its drivers to upload a copy of their drivers license before being allowed to operate on the ride hailing platform. (Editing by Matthew Lewis) Related: Topics Lawsuits Legislation For the second time in six years, California voters will consider legalizing recreational use of marijuana. This time, supporters of the move have much more financial backing and professional campaign help than they did in 2010. And polls show Proposition 64 with more than the 50 percent of voter support needed to pass. Silicon Valley billionaires and wealthy backers from the already legal medicinal marijuana industry are among the top financial supporters, contributing a combined $21 million. Opponents have raised about $2.5 million, with $1.4 million coming from Pennsylvania anti-drug crusader Julie Schauer. California voters rejected a similar measure in 2010 after campaign leaders struggled to raise money and support for the lengthy ballot measure that was hastily written by the owner of a small medicinal marijuana store. Four states and Washington, D.C., have legalized recreational marijuana in recent years, and 25 states currently allow medicinal pot, including California. The drug remains illegal under federal law. People on both sides say passage of Proposition 64 would likely ignite similar movements in other states and exert significant pressure on federal authorities to reconsider the federal prohibition. As California goes, so goes the nation, said University of California, Berkeley political science professor Alan Ross. Proposition 64 would allow people 21 and older to legally possess up to an ounce of weed and grow six marijuana plants at home. Varying tax rates would be levied on sales, with the money deposited into the states Marijuana Tax Fund. The measure also would allow cities and counties to pass their own regulations and taxes. Most of the money would be spent on substance abuse education and treatment. Some would go to repair damage done to the environment by illegal marijuana growers. Funds would also be allocated to train police to detect when people are driving under the influence of pot. Californias nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office estimated that state could collect up to $1 billion in taxes a year. Its a huge deal and its long overdue, said Steven DeAngelo, a Proposition 64 supporter who owns one of the nations largest medicinal marijuana dispensaries. Opponents argue the measure will open marijuana markets now dominated by small farmers to corporate interests and lead to children using the drug through pot-laced sweets, cookies and brownies. Proposition 64 favors the interests of wealthy corporations over the good of the everyday consumer, adopting policies that work against public health, said Kevin Sabet, co-founder of the California-based nonprofit group Smart Approaches to Marijuana. His group contributed $890,000 to the campaign to defeat Proposition 64. Backers counter that Proposition 64 includes measures to protect small farmers and will further regulate a growing industry that is still largely illegal. However, some medical marijuana advocates fear the supply of pot for patients could be threatened if Proposition 64 passes because of new regulations it would impose on growers. Several law enforcement agencies have donated a combined $250,000 to defeat the measure, and U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein announced her opposition in July. The 62-page ballot measure was crafted by political professionals and has the backing of many elected officials, including Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, a Democrat who is running for governor in 2018. Gov. Jerry Brown said hes close to announcing his position. Napster founder and early Facebook investor Sean Parker has contributed nearly $9 million to the legalization effort, which has also attracted sizable contributions from an organization backed by billionaire George Soros and another supported by Weedmaps, which rates pot stores throughout the state. Related: Copyright 2022 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Topics California Cannabis A 66-year-old man is due to be sentenced today for raping his son nine times over two years at their home in Waterford. The boy, who is now 13, has since moved to the UK where he is being treated in a specialised facility. Update 8pm: The family of a Cork man killed in a car crash in Canada say they are devastated. Cathal Murphy from Bandon is one of two men who died in the incident in Melita, Manitoba on Saturday. The Department of Foreign Affairs is providing consular assistance to both families. This evening the Murphy family has issued a statement in which they have asked for privacy as they come to terms with their loss. "We, the family of Cathal Murphy, are devastated at the death of our much loved son and brother in a road traffic accident in Canada on Saturday 10 October. We are very thankful for all the support shown to us at this difficult time. "We would ask, however, that the media would now respect our privacy as we try to come to terms with our loss. We will not be making any further public comment. "Thank you." Update 5.40pm: One of the men killed in an accident in Canada over the weekend has been named. Cathal Murphy, from Bandon Co Cork was found dead near Melita in Manitoba. Earlier The Department of Foreign Affairs says it is aware of reports that two Irishmen have died in a crash in Canada. Media outlets in Canada say the pair were in a vehicle which was found rolled over at 10.30am on Saturday morning, near Melita in Manitoba. Police in Canada say the men, aged 33 and 42, were pronounced dead at the scene. There are unconfirmed reports that the two men are from Co. Cork. Officials at the Department say they have not been asked for consular assistance, but they stand ready to provide help if it is requested. The mother of missing British toddler Ben Needham has said she now believes her son will not be found alive after disappearing on the Greek island of Kos 25 years ago. Kerry Needham told ITV's Good Morning Britain that she and her family are "tired and distressed" and cannot live for another 25 years without knowing what happened to Ben. Mrs Needham was speaking as police entered their third week of searches in Kos following new information that Ben, who was 21 months old when he disappeared, may have been accidentally killed by a digger driver. She said: "I think it really now is a case of finding him not alive. "We can't live another 25 years like this, my parents can't and I can't. It's not the best solution but it will eventually lay it to rest for us, we're all extremely tired and distressed." She added: "Twenty-five years living and not knowing where your child is, is torment. I don't like to say it but then at least we would know and it would be closure and he can be laid to rest and we can remember him as he was." Mrs Needham said it was an "agonising wait every day" for news from the police. She said: "Every time the phone rings you think 'is this going to be the one with the bad news? It's stressful, it's frustrating, it's painful but we're trying to stay as strong as we possible can." Officers from South Yorkshire Police and Greek volunteers have been working for a fortnight near the farmhouse where Ben was last seen in 1991 and said they would extend their stay after discovering a layer of spoil material that had been deposited at this site within the last 30 years. The current operation was prompted by information that digger driver Konstantinos Barkas, also known as Dino, may be responsible for the toddler's death, as he was clearing land with an excavator near where the Sheffield boy was playing on the day he vanished. Mr Barkas is believed to have died from stomach cancer last year. Mrs Needham, who has been warned to "prepare for the worst", thanked the public, the police and the British media for their support. She said: "We wouldn't have got this far without South Yorkshire Police. They've been fantastic and they've tried to do this as painlessly as possible and they've tried to find those answers for us and we need those answers good or bad and unfortunately it looks like it's going to be a bad outcome but we'll just try to get on with everything." On Saturday, Detective Inspector Jon Cousins said he had a long conversation with Mrs Needham to update her on the search and he was encouraged the family was still supportive of the police operation. Donald Trump met women who accused former US president Bill Clinton of rape and other unwanted sexual advances just over an hour before he faced Hillary Clinton in a televised debate. The Republican candidate refused to answer questions about his own lewd comments about women when he staged a press conference with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey at a St Louis hotel. Another woman, Kathy Shelton, also attended as she spoke about encountering Mrs Clinton in a criminal case when she was 12. Ms Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Mr Clinton raped her during a meeting in 1978. She sued him in 1999 and the case was dismissed in 2001. Mr Clinton denied her account. Ms Jones, a former Arkansas state worker, alleged in 1991 that Mr Clinton propositioned and exposed himself to her and in 1994 she filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him. Mr Clinton's lawyers tried to have the lawsuit dismissed and in November 1998 he paid Ms Jones $850,000 to settle the case without apologising or acknowledging culpability. Ms Willey, a former White House volunteer, accused Mr Clinton of forcing himself on her in 1993. He denied her charge and an independent prosecutor later concluded there was no evidence to doubt that denial. Meanwhile, Ms Shelton was sexually assaulted at the age of 12 in 1975 in Arkansas. Mrs Clinton was asked by a judge overseeing the case to represent Ms Shelton's alleged attacker. After the prosecution lost key evidence, Mrs Clinton's client entered a plea to a lesser charge. In an interview a decade later, Mrs Clinton expressed horror at the crime, but was recorded on tape laughing about procedural details of the case. Mr Trump staged the pre-debate event following the controversy over a 2005 recording in which he describes grabbing women "by the p***y". Mrs Clinton's spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri described the press conference as a "stunt". "We're not surprised to see Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom," she said. Irish construction activity continues to grow at a very solid pace, said Simon Barry, Ulster Banks chief economist for the Republic. The sectors recovery continues to be underpined by a greater availability of new work, as new orders increased for the 39th month in a row, and at the fastest pace since March. The health of the trends in new business offers much encouragement about the sectors near-term prospects, both in absolute terms and relative to other areas of the economy. Mr Barry was speaking as the latest edition of Ulster Banks construction purchasing managers index (PMI) widely seen as the chief health barometer for the sector, here showed a reading of 58.7 points for September, up by 0.3 points from a healthy, but slowing, growth picture in August. Anything above a neutral 50 point reading illustrates a sector in growth mode. All three sub-sectors housing, commercial, and civil engineering showed growth, last month, and company sentiment remained elevated. Mr Barry suggested that the latest rise in new orders signals an acceleration in new business growth in the last quarter. This is a pattern which leaves construction sector momentum looking stronger than both manufacturing and services as we enter the final quarter of the year, with recent PMIs from those sectors suggesting that Brexit impacts are weighing on activity trends in the more internationally exposed areas of the economy. Employment also continued to rise last month, but, following Augusts six-month high in hiring levels, Septembers job creation rate represented the weakest in a year and a half. The slowdown partly reflected the non-replacement of leavers, but also a greater use of sub-contractors, the PMI said. Sub-contractor usage increased at the fastest pace in three months, the index said. The latest strong PMI reading means the Irish construction industry has been in unchecked growth mode for three years. IFA dairy chairman Sean OLeary is calling for an extra 2c per litre from co-ops. Citing the latest global milk market indices, falling milk production, and rising cow culling, he is urging co-op board members attending meetings this week to pass back the rapidly improving dairy market returns. EU milk supplies are below last years level for June (-1.6%) and July (-1.4%); the EU production reduction scheme will exacerbate that trend as we go into the back end, said Mr OLeary. Within countries such as the UK, France, Germany, and Poland, that falling trend has been visible for several months now. Even in Ireland and the Netherlands, where production has increased, growth levels are considerably slower 1.8% and 4.9% respectively for August. In New Zealand, output is down 3% for that month, while Australian July supplies are back over 10%. Mr OLeary said that very poor profitability in most countries has led to strong increases in the number of cows culled in the EU, up 7.8% for the first half of the year, and 9.5% in June alone. The EU Milk Market Observatorys September returns were 10c/l higher than in early May, equivalent to around 35c/l gross for an Irish product mix. After deduction of processing costs, this is equivalent to a farm milk price of 30cpl-31cpl. The ICMSA says that these rising global market trends are reflected in the Ornua September PPI reaching 92.2 points, equivalent to 26.6c/l including Vat. The farmer group also notes that Glanbia, Kerry and Dairygold are mid-table in the latest Dutch Standardised Milk Price Comparison league. Fonterra is paying 28.5cpl versus the 23cpl to 25cpl of the top Irish processors. ICMSA deputy president Pat McCormack predicts milk prices to exceed 30cpl from next spring, with dairy futures markets indicating a steady demand for the next six months. He says the EU Voluntary Milk Reduction Scheme will act to further lift farmgate milk prices. However, while welcoming signs of milk price recovery, the ICMSA has also highlighted current difficulties facing dairy farmers, noting it will take time to rebuild from the income wipe-out over the last 18 months. ICMSA president John Comer has expressed disappointment to hear MEP Mairead McGuinness advocate that cereal farmers be prioritised for the 11m EU Crisis Fund. He said dairy farmers need a flat 1,200 payment, and urged Agriculture Minister Michael Creed to push for a separate tillage fund at todays EU Farm Council meeting. Dairy farmers are still producing milk below the cost of production, he said. Despite the last two months of market rallies our milk suppliers are getting a price up to 3c per litre below the cost of production. Thats the reality and it has become unbearable for our 18,000 dairy farmers. With revolutionary new antimicrobial coatings designed to turn almost any surface into a weapon against bacteria, Dublin-based start-up Kastus Technologies is preparing for a global launch in January. Its offering includes two patented products one for use on glass and ceramics and another which can be added to paint and plastic. These kill 99.99% of bacteria, are harmless to humans and the environment and are totally unique, according to company founder and CEO John Browne. As the world fights a war against superbugs, which according to some experts could cause 10 million deaths a year by 2050, Mr Browne believes the market potential for this technology is staggeringly vast. Healthcare is the most obvious market but our coating can be used anywhere there is a large throughput of people in hotels and public buildings, on public transport, in cleanrooms, food preparation areas and bathrooms and on ATMs, touch surfaces and Smartphones Smartphones may yet be our biggest market, said Mr Browne. Kastus is currently in advanced negotiations with a range of potential customers which are capable of using antimicrobial coatings in a multitude of ways and putting them to use on a multitude of surfaces. We are talking to four of the worlds top five glass manufacturers, to over ten global paint/chemical producers as well as several large plastics manufacturers in Europe said Mr Browne. The product launch in January will come ten years after the Centre for Research in Engineering Surface Technology (CREST) and DIT started work on developing the technology with the help of 3m in EU funding. The launch will also come three years after Mr Browne licensed the technology and set Kastus up to commercialise it. Since late 2013, Mr Browne has, in addition to conducting market research and holding discussions with multinationals, been engaged in securing patent protection on the IP. We now have US and UK patents on both our products and also have 13 patents pending in other regions. This has been a frighteningly expensive process but a very necessary one. Last year the companys chief focus was on product validation and it arranged for a series of external tests to be carried out in Germany and Ireland, to demonstrate the effectiveness of the coatings and also to prove that they are harmless to humans and the environment. Having secured the necessary IP protection in 2015 to prepare for a market launch, Kastus has this year found an Irish manufacturer to produce the products under contract and is now concentrating on rising the necessary funding. Back in 2013 Mr Browne used private funding to establish the company at Fitzwilliam Square in Dublin. Last year Kastus was supported by Enterprise Ireland which accorded it High Potential Start-Up status and provided investment of 250,000. Now Kastus is in the final stages of raising seed funding of 1.5m. Said Mr Browne: This will allow the company to scale from start-up to revenue generation stage with significant investment in sales and marketing, business, development, R& D and regulatory compliance. Once the funding round concludes this month, Kastus will make further preparations for the launch. We start hiring in November and will take on between eight and 15 people in business development, marketing and technical roles. We currently have two full time staff and expect to grow this to 30 or 40 by 2018. In 2017, Kastus is targeting a turnover of 3m. By 2018, it expects to see mass market adoption of its products and accelerated growth. We are ultimately building a company which will be worth 100m, said Mr Browne. For Kastus the key selling point is the uniqueness of its patent-protected technology. There is no other antimicrobial product for ceramic and glass our additive for paint and plastic is superior to anything else and is not harmful to the environment. Theyll be able to speak about the dangers of over-relying on windfall taxes and the perils of leaning on temporary forms of revenue to deliver political promises. Tax derived from a housing bubble was used to offset cuts to income tax. When the bubble popped, the country was caught short and the pain began. Everybody who came in and sat before those committee members were in agreement we could never afford to do such a thing again. Here we are though, less than 12 months later, and its like all those tedious sessions in committee room three were nothing more than a receding dream. The level of corporation tax that has flowed into the States vaults over the past 18 months or so has been nothing short of sensational. To date in 2016, corporation tax has outperformed the Department of Finance expectations by 644m. Put that in the context of tomorrows Budget. Given the assumption about 1bn will be on the table and two thirds of that will go towards additional public spending, then the extra corporation tax taken in so far this year would just about cover that requirement. In September alone, the State took in 136m in corporation tax it simply hadnt seen coming. Fianna Fails demand that 5 be added to the State pension works out at roughly 150m a year. So the corpo tax over-performance in September almost covers that one. However, there is a catch and it is a worrying one. The other tax headings to date have not fared so well when judged against expectations at the turn of the year. Income tax is lagging by 114m while Vat is 278m behind. Almost 400m has failed to materialise under two tax headings which are indicative of the state of the real economy. Were it not for the boom in profits declared here by multinationals then we could be looking at an entirely different budget. However, its not like nobody is talking about this. The Fiscal Advisory Council, the Central Bank and the European Commission all have put their concerns on the record. Dont build future budgetary strategy on this welcome new development, they warn. Instead, eye it with suspicion. As they briefed the media last week, officials at the Department of Finance acknowledged they had been concerned at the end of last year that the huge spike in corporation tax in 2015 had perhaps been a once-off. However, they went on to say that this years performance appeared to suggest that it was something more robust; more long lasting. So, lets remind ourselves of a few facts about Irish corporation tax. The vast bulk of it is paid by a tiny number of companies. Ten companies accounted for 40% of all the corporation tax collected in Ireland last year. This was 6% of all tax revenue in 2015. And just in case the parallels with boom-time stamp duty werent already poking you in the eye, hows this for an eerie symmetry? That 6% which comes from those 10 companies is proportionally almost exactly the same as stamp duty was in 2007. When stamp duty melted away so too did the room for relatively low income tax rates. The universal social charge was quickly conceived and we know the rest. Tomorrows budget will see reductions in that emergency tax. It will see money given to first-time buyers and pensioners. Perhaps the Department of Finance has got this one correct. Perhaps current corporation tax receipts are here to stay and it would be unfair to not take advantage of them to return money to people who soldiered under austerity policies for long enough. Maybe, when we get to the end of the year, income tax and Vat will have matched up with forecasts. However, to think we could be one Apple away from another austerity budget, surely puts things into some perspective. * Paul Colgan is economics editor with Ireland Live News on UTV Ireland. This package is very welcome. Poor commodity prices across a number of sectors have resulted in a lot of difficulty being experienced at a farm level. The aid package includes the voluntary supply control scheme and an allocation of funding for each member state to distribute to farmers. A surprising number of Irish dairy farmers opted for the voluntary supply control scheme which is now closed. There has been much debate within farm organisations and at a political level as to how the allocation of funding will be distributed to farmers. Following discussions at a Macra na Feirme Agricultural Affairs committee level, l and having consulted with many young farmers, I am calling firstly for the EU Commission aid package for livestock farmers to be 100% co-funded to bring the figure for the total fund over 22m. This money then needs to be strategically invested in measures which will improve profitability and efficiency inside the farm gate, rather than being paid out as a flat-rate payment to all farmers. Farmers are adamant that this package must be accessible to all farmers across the grass-based livestock sectors. If this money is spread across the livestock sectors, in a flat rate payment to all livestock farmers, then the amount received by farmers will only amount to small change. I fully acknowledge that there is a cashflow issue on many farmers due to poor commodity prices but a small once-off payment would do little to alleviate the cash flow problems which exist at the moment. Grassland improvement This aid money would be much better spent and more beneficial to farmers if it was invested in an optional grassland improvement scheme which would part fund grassland improvement measures. The measures proposed would include reseeding and dealing with soil fertility issues. A strategic scheme of this nature would show a medium- to long-term vision for improving and investing in the main productive assets within the farm gate and thus help achieve the Foodwise 2025 targets. Soil fertility and grass utilisation are one of the most efficient ways of measuring the productivity of grassland, which is a key driver of profitability for any grass-based livestock sector. In the medium- to long-term, a measure like this will return more to farmers, than a one-off small flat-rate payment ever could, as a result of improvements in soil fertility and grass utilisation. Reports from the Teagasc Beef open day 2016 declared an astonishing 50% of Irish farms are not reaching their grass growth potential. For Ireland to sustain its world renowned green image, as well as support Irish farmers, this money should be wisely invested in grassland improvements. 150 per acre This proposal based on a total fund of 22.2m, with farmers receiving a 150 payment per acre to part cover reseeding costs, would result in the completion of 148,000 acres of reseeding across the country. This is clearly the fairest and simplest proposal for the spending of this money, as it benefits all active grass-based livestock farmers, focusing on efficiency regardless of size or scale and does not show bias towards one section of the livestock sector versus another. The benefit of this measure is to decrease cost of production in the long term, rather than incurring debt, meeting our environmental and sustainability targets, and it is accessible without major cost to all farms while still being a worthwhile pay-out. Significant developments have been made in the areas of breeding with a focus on EBI on the dairy side and through the Beef Data and Genomic Programme on the suckler side but the other productive assets have not received the same amount of attention and this is now the opportune time to focus on them with a strategically focused scheme. As part of the last EU dairy aid package, Macra na Feime secured a 1,000 top-up for young dairy farmers on top of the flat payment. We called for this top-up at meeting of the dairy forum. Further lobbying resulted in approximately 1.5m making its way into the hands of young dairy farmers across rural Ireland. This is a very good example of delivery by Macra na Feirme for our members and young farmers. If on this occasion, Agriculture Minister Michael Creed does decide to go down the flat payment route again with this package, then young farmers request a top-up on the payment. Other enterprises outside of the grass-based livestock sectors can also not be forgotten also as they too require assistance and are under as much, if not more financial pressure than some of the grass based livestock sectors. The establishment of the tillage stakeholders forum which we are part of is welcomed and needed to deal with the challenges faced by young tillage farmers as a result of poor weather and bad grain prices. The pickets are back as public sector unions line up to demand their pound of flesh. The upsurge in the number of collective disputes comes at a time of general transformation in the area of dispute resolution. Structural reforms to the system are beginning to take effect following the passing into law of long-awaited new laws. The reforms have particular impact on the large number of individual worker rights disputes, which currently account for a substantial majority of the cases handled by dispute resolution bodies. However, Irish employment lawyers have been lining up to criticise the reforms contained in the Workplace Relations Act, 2015, put in place following years of consultation, by former Jobs Minister Richard Bruton. But the reforms have also been drawing plenty of support from within the industrial relations establishment, as made clear at a recent conference in University College Dublin organised by legal academic and barrister, Tony Kerr. Prior to the passing of the 2015 Act, aggrieved employees could take cases to Rights Commissioners, the Equality Tribunal, or the Employment Appeals Tribunal. They also had, and continue to have the option of going to court seeking damages. Aggrieved parties and their advisers had to negotiate a complex maze of legislation. IR practitioners became concerned at the increased presence of lawyers at these bodies and at a perceived erosion in the key principle that informality should be maintained as much as possible. The reforms were intended to bring about a restoration in the sense of informality. At first instance, hearings are now conducted by Workplace Relations Adjudication Officers followed by the option of an appeal to the Labour Court. The new two-tier system has been accompanied by an enhancement in the powers of the court and in a move that has provoked some controversy, the names of parties at hearings at first instance are no longer revealed. This has caused dismay in the media and among those who favour the idea that offending parties in particular, high profile companies should be named and shamed where they behave badly towards employees and in certain instances, contractors. Much of the resistance to the new changes is being led from within the legal profession. The results of a survey carried out by Dublin Institute of Technology academic, Dr Brian Barry, on behalf of the Employment Law Association, have attracted considerable interest. Around 140 practitioners took part, half of whom consider that the new two-tier system was actually performing worse than its predecessor. As much as 60% consider that the format of the new adjudication system is inconsistent while 40% are dissatisfied with the quality of the adjudication officer rulings. The Employment Law Association goes further, decrying the decision to disband the EAT, arguing that it has resulted in a loss of know-how and expertise in the resolution of complex legal issues and suggesting the framework for appointing Adjudication Officers is sub standard. The lawyers, it seems, are feeling out of joint because of the enhanced role in the new system accorded to laypersons, many of them officials, Similar objections were raised when PIAB, the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, was set up, some years ago. However, a different point of view was to be heard at the UCD conference where the moderator, Professor Bill Roche, raised the issue of the growing juridification of society. To put it briefly, too much legal formality has crept into proceedings, undermining the very rationale of our dispute resolution bodies. Professor Roche raised the question: should all adjudication officers be legally qualified? The former Labour Court Chairman, Kevin Duffy, one of the countrys top trade unionists in the 1990s, says: No. He pointed out that apart from the Employment Appeals Tribunal, there existed no requirement for legal qualifications under the old system. A more nuanced point of view on this issue was aired by a leading UK expert in the field; Professor Alan Neal of Warwick University. He hints at criticism of the UK system. He is particularly scathing about the impact of the decision by the last UK Coalition government to introduce a system of charges into the employment disputes service. This is of particular interest as the 2015 Act provides for the possible introduction of charges here, also. In Ireland, there is very limited provision for charges where a party has failed to show at a first instance hearing, but subsequently seeks to appeal the verdict. While there is no indication the Government is considering any extension of charge, they or a successor would be well advised to proceed with caution. In England and Wales, a pretty hefty regime of charges now exists. A party has to pay 1,200 to bring a case and could be on the hook for another 1,600 should the employer ultimately win out following an appeal. According to Professor Neal, the result has been a decline of 80% in the number of cases being taken by employees, with a particularly steep drop in the case of Payment of Wages cases. As a result, exploitative employers are now getting away with the financial equivalent of murder given that it is simply no longer worthwhile for employees, in particular lowly paid ones, to chase after money owed to them. The lawyers critique of the reforms is one that should be respected, but so too is the argument put forward on behalf of those who favour an informal system suited to the requirements of lay litigants. Lawyers, like other sectoral groups, naturally seek to protect and enhance their interests, but one should avoid the temptation, for example, to get sentimental about the lawyerly Employment Appeals Tribunal. It produced many fine decisions, but also sloppily presented ones. Too often, large awards were handed out without any adequate accompanying explanation. The new system is still taking its baby steps and it should be given a chance. A balance is required between the requirements for due process sought by the legal profession and the sort of informality and low expense that ensures access to all. The wheels of justice should be allowed to turn without unnecessary obstruction. After all, justice delayed, all too often, is justice denied. The crew of the inshore potter Celtic Dawn were hauling pots off the West Cork coast when a Spanish vessel approached at a rapid pace and did not appear to see the little fishing boat at work. The Castletownbere crew were saved by a matter of metres, and the captain of the fishing boat was non-too-impressed by the encounter. Last-minute negotiations are under way today to nail down agreement for tomorrows budget on how much pensioners, carers, widows, and others will get, and when, as part of the increases. Government partners the Independent Alliance have now suffered a budget climbdown after spending options were provided to them on their wish list, by Public Expenditure Minister Paschal Donohoe. Alliance figures had been pushing for increased payments for the fuel allowance, which runs for 26 weeks from October to April. But Transport Minister Shane Ross group was given figures which showed it would cost 10m for every extra week the allowance is provided to recipients. Mr Donohoe held phone calls with members of the alliance over the weekend on spending options. A Government source told the Irish Examiner yesterday: Theyre rolling the numbers again. But its better to give people something they will have every week or for the year. Demands to abolish prescription charges have also been dropped by the alliance, which was told that to abolish them could leave a spending shortfall of 160m. Instead, alliance demands for easier access to farm assistance payments and improvements in the Rural Social Scheme look set to be met. Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath told RTE yesterday that the alliance wanted to see the proposed all-inclusive social benefits package brought in as close to January as possible. Finian McGrath Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar, however, says a full year of pension, carer, and widow benefit increases among others will cost 350m. A compromise that may be agreed today may see hikes introduced in March at a cost of around 260m and Mr McGrath signalled this may be acceptable. Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin said at the weekend that the increases should start in January but refused to be drawn on whether it would be a red line issue for his party for tomorrows budget. Mr Martin claimed there was an element of internal Fine Gael politics at foot here, with the issue of delayed payments being sprung into the budget negotiation talks so late. The increased spending for social protection has been partially made available by the extra 200m now available for next years fiscal space, bringing the total increase to 1.2bn for 2017. Fianna Fail is also set to abstain on the budget, with sources noting the party is only required to facilitate it under the confidence and supply agreement with Fine Gael. However, a fresh row threatens to destabilise the Governments budget support. Campaigners with Independent Alliance Minister John Halligan say new details in a Department of Health briefing note for a review of services at Waterford Hospital show it was flawed from the start. Any decision by the Waterford TD not to support elements of the budget or to abstain in the Dail on related votes would put huge pressure on the Government. [timgcapJohn Halligan]JohnHalliganIndependentTD_large.jpg Government and Fianna Fail figures, however, were confident the budget would be agreed for tomorrow. Elements that have been agreed include a first-time buyers grant, which looks set to be capped at 20,000 per purchase, for new homes valued up to 400,000. Cuts are likely for the bottom three USC rates, while 11,000 children who qualify for the domiciliary care allowance will be entitled to medical cards. There is set to be an increase in the inheritance tax threshold and supports for self-employed people. Thats according to business consultant, Alf Smiddy, who chaired the five-person expert committee that produced the report, which has since been shelved. Mr Smiddy said that since the review was published, Cork had lost so much valuable time, plus major benefits, by engaging for over 12 months in a frenzy of nonsensical politicking, procrastination, and posturing. He also claimed there had been much misrepresentation of what the Smiddy Report actually recommends perhaps not surprising, giving that it was an election year. The backdrop for his comments is the publication, last week, of a report by an Independent Review Group, in Galway, which plumped for a merger of Galways city and county councils by 2019. The review group came down unanimously in favour of a merger. Mr Smiddy said five out of five independent reviews have now recommended merger (including four cities), with Limerick, Waterford, and Tipperary successfully up-and-running, and Galway integration kicking off straight away. However, the Galway review group published a deliberation report to facilitate wider public consultation, before publishing its final recommendations, while the Cork Local Government Review (CLGR) committee did not publish a mid-review report. The CLGR committee was split three/two in favour of the merger, with the opponents publishing their own minority report. The majority report recommended merging Corks city and county councils into a single super-council, with effect from the 2019 local elections. The minority report recommended, inter alia, that the city boundary be extended. However, the city council was unhappy and triggered a judicial review. In June, the Minister for Local Government, Simon Coveney, announced a review of the controversial merger, in a bid to find a compromise, with a new panel of experts. The experts have been asked to advise Mr Coveney on how best to address the issues about which the Smiddy group was unable to agree, and to consider new options, and issue a progress report before the end of the year. We are now in for another six months of a review, which, despite more delay, will at least keep the matter live, and I wish the review group well, as they work to unlock the political logjam, Mr Smiddy said. He added that it was time to get out of denial, bite the bullet, and put in place the Greater Cork Authority. It is absolutely the optimal solution for local government in Cork, by a long shot. An immunotherapy drug could soon offer hope to patients with currently untreatable head and neck cancers. Nivolumab was hailed a potential game-changer after it was found to extend the lives of relapsed patients who had run out of therapy options. After a year of treatment, 36% of trial patients treated with the drug were still alive compared with 17% of those given standard chemotherapy. Patients with advanced head and neck cancers resistant to chemotherapy are notoriously difficult to treat and generally survive less than six months. Trial participants treated with nivolumab typically survived for 7.5 months, and some for longer. Mid-range survival for patients on chemotherapy was 5.1 months. The Phase III study, the last stage in the testing process before a new treatment is licensed, provided the first evidence of a drug improving survival in this group of patients. Kevin Harrington of The Institute of Cancer Research, London, who led the British arm of the international trial, said: Nivolumab could be a real game changer for patients with advanced head and neck cancer. This trial found that it can greatly extend life among a group of patients who have no existing treatment options, without worsening quality of life. Once it has relapsed or spread, head and neck cancer is extremely difficult to treat. So its great news that these results indicate we now have a new treatment that can significantly extend life, and Im keen to see it enter the clinic as soon as possible. The treatment will have to be approved by the European Medicines Agency and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which vets new therapies for cost effectiveness. Of the 361 patients enrolled in the trial, 240 were given nivolumab while the remaining 121 received one of three different chemotherapies. Patients whose tumours tested positive for the HPV virus, which is linked to cervical cancer and may be spread by oral sex, did especially well. They typically survived for 9.1 months, compared with 4.4 months when treated with chemotherapy. The findings were simultaneously published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented at the European Society for Medical Oncology (Esmo) conference in Copenhagen. More than 600 new cases of head and neck cancer are diagnosed each year. The human papillomavirus virus (HPV) is strongly linked to cervical cancers in women and head and neck cancers in men. Beacuse of the low uptake in the HPV vaccine in Ireland, Ireland has been asked by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to participate in a meeting this week. The HSEs National Immunisation Office launched a HPV vaccination campaign in 2010, with the initial target group being girls aged 12 to 13 years. Since then about 220,000 girls have been vaccinated. An initial shot is given followed by a second about six months later. Vaccination rates peaked at 87% in 2014-15, but have fallen since. Nivolumab is one of a new class of antibody drugs called checkpoint inhibitors that help the immune system fight cancer. It works by blocking signals from tumour cells that stop the immune system attacking. Paul Workman, chief executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, said: Nivolumab is one of a new wave of immunotherapies that are beginning to have an impact across cancer treatment. This phase III clinical trial expands the repertoire of nivolumab even further, showing that it is the first treatment to have significant benefits in relapsed head and neck cancer. Its actually really hard trying to figure [things] out and get your ducks in a row when youre a young female, said Maria, who has just launched her events business Juniper & Ruby. However, she said that despite the challenges, there are some very inspirational female entrepreneurs here. We just came off an event in Network Ireland called Fearless Ambition that was in Cork. It was remarkable in terms of just all these women in the 32 counties that are just creating such impact in whatever stream theyre doing it. That gave us a bit of oomph to keep going but funding is really hard, getting your marketing and when youre only a sole employer, its pretty difficult but no rest for the wicked, she said. Maria was talking at the IFTA Gala Television Awards on Friday night where she was nominated in the Rising Star category, which was won by comedian Al Porter. She said she is also working on a number of TV projects with her girlfriend, Emmy-nominated TV producer Shauna Keogh of Empire Elite. Also in attendance on Friday was the newly-crowned rising star of Irish TV Al Porter, who has just landed a comedy slot with the BBC. Im not allowed say much. All I can say is that its going to be really big. Its the most mainstream, most prime-time show Ive ever done. Millions of people and thats not even an exaggeration will watch it and fingers crossed theyll like it and I can do more, Al said. He also revealed that he was developing a series with BBC Radio 4, and joked about settling down with Graham Norton, when asked about the potential axing of the TV presenter. The only person Graham Norton is getting the shift off is me, next time I catch him down in Cork. His mother was quoted in the exact same interview as saying that Graham had a very good friend who he sees every now and then, who she wants him to get with but hes not sure. I am willing to go on the record and say I am that man, he said. Pressure is growing for the review of the treatment of garda whistleblowers to include other gardai who have raised allegations of malpractice. Retired judge Iarfhlaith ONeill has been asked to examine the latest allegations. These include claims by Superintendent Dave Taylor that senior gardai orchestrated a smear campaign against whistleblower Sgt Maurice McCabe. The former garda press officer, in a protected disclosure to Ms Fitzgerald, claims he was instructed to spread rumours and lies about Sgt McCabe to media and politicians. Supt Taylor says text messages on a mobile phone back up his claims. But the handset was taken into garda custody during separate inquiries into leaks to the media about a Roma child. Any inability of Judge ONeill to access the phone may curtail the inquiry, it was claimed yesterday. Disabilities Minister Finian McGrath said: I would accept that that [the phone] will be an important part of any investigation. Mr McGrath said on RTEs The Week in Politics: You can take it the Independent Alliance will raise that at Cabinet level. Separately, there is pressure for the review to be widened, or for a larger inquiry. The review, currently, is looking at internal garda reports, believed to be from Sgt McCabe and Supt Taylor, and two separate documents by John Barrett, a head of human resources for the force. Judge ONeill is to report back within six weeks. But other whistleblowers want to be included. Nick Keogh, in the garda drugs squad in Athlone, has sent a solicitors letter to Ms Fitzgerald asking to be included. He alleges malpractice in the force and collusion with criminals. Frances Fitzgerald Garda whistleblower Keith Harrison has also complained to Ms Fitzgerald of the narrow review, RTE reported. He says his career was ruined after he arrested a detective garda for suspected drink driving. Former Public Accounts chairman, John McGuinness, has called for a wider review, saying there were deeper problems. The Department of Justice last night said Judge ONeills review would report in six weeks and would include any recommendations for further action, which may be appropriate and warranted to address the allegations. Ms Fitzgeralds department added: This could, of course, include forms of statutory inquiry, if the review sees fit. The Minister of State for Training and Skills launched his broadside after it emerged that a briefing note for the independent clinical review of the case for a second cardiac laboratory at UHW said it was not a top investment priority. The review, conducted by Belfast-based consultant cardiologist Dr Niall Herity, ruled out the need for the second lab a decision which almost led to Mr Halligan leaving government last month. The situation appeared to have calmed after discussions with cabinet colleagues left the way open for a future review on the issue, but Mr Halligan said the contents of the briefing note, disclosed to him following a Freedom of Information request, substantiated his claim that there had been departmental interference in the process and this led to a flawed and incomplete report. According to the briefing note, written in May, the Department of Health instead said the priority at the hospital was to upgrade decontamination facilities, theatres, intensive care facilities and staffing. Mr Halligan said: The contents of the previously unseen paragraph substantiate what I have been arguing since Dr Heritys report was first published: that there was serious departmental interference in what was supposed to be a fully independent review of cardiology services in the South-East. [timgcapJohn Halligan]JohnHalliganIndependentTD_large.jpg The result of this interference has been a flawed and incomplete report recommending investment which would have little impact on the current service provision. It is now clear that both the Department of Health and the HSE attempted to influence the outcome of Dr Heritys review. I have spoken to Minister for Health Simon Harris this evening and he has agreed to come to Waterford to listen to the views of local consultants and seek a way to move forward on the issue. The Department of Health stressed that the review conducted by Dr Herity was fully independent and that the briefing note conveyed its view. The review was strongly criticised at local level, including by senior medics in the hospital. There was also a copy of The Kerryman newspaper, to reflect William and Daniel McCarthys love of reading newspapers and of keeping up with current affairs. Speaking at their funeral Mass, Fr Joseph Begley said the brothers, who were deaf, could put their hands to anything. The hands on the crucifix were also a reminder of how the brothers communicated by sign language, he said. The two men, who were in their 70s, were found dead in their house in Millrose Estate in the Bluebell area of Dublin last week. One had died some weeks ago, and the other had continued to live in the house until he died last weekend. The two were originally from Dingle, Co Kerry, and had spent up to four weeks at their home place in The Glens, or Na Gleannta a quiet valley, three miles north of Dingle this August / September. And I am told there wasnt a blackberry left in The Glens after their visit, Fr Begley said, drawing laughter from the neighbours and friends in the congregation. The Mass, in English, but interspersed with Irish, was signed throughout for the benefit of the brothers friends in the deaf community, several of whom travelled from Dublin with John Patrick Doherty, chaplain for the deaf. Despite the sadness of their passing, the family has cherished memories, said Fr Begley. Born into a family of five, they left The Glens to attend St Josephs school for the deaf in Dublin. But while Dublin was their primary domicile, they would visit the fod duchais at least three times a year, Fr Begley recalled. At Christmas, they would shop in Dingle and buy presents for their nieces and nephews. The church heard the brothers had great loyalty to one another and had experienced great love in the course of their lives. They had an active life, they worked, they shopped, they networked with their many friends. They are predeceased by a brother, John, and survived by younger brother and a sister Angela. 130 of those children have waited in excess of 18 months, a staggering 400% increase on the January figure, which was 22. The excessive waiting times for children with suspected arthritis are fuelled by the chronic shortage of consultant paediatric rheumatologists. There are just two for the entire country. The lack of specialist staff, and concomitant long waiting times, have prompted Arthritis Ireland to describe the situation as a national crisis. Speaking at the start of National Arthritis Week, which runs from today to October 16, Arthritis Ireland CEO, John Church, said Ireland was ranked as having one of the lowest number of paediatric rheumatologists in Europe. This is a national crisis, so enough is enough. As part of National Arthritis Week, Arthritis Ireland are calling for the urgent appointment of a third consultant paediatric rheumatologist to be appointed at OLCHC (Crumlin), to help ease the huge burden on the already overstretched services, Mr Church said. Because of the potentially crippling impact of not receiving treatment in time, the British Society for Paediatric and Adolescent Rheumatology (BSPAR) says children who are suspected of having arthritis should be seen by the paediatric rheumatology team within four weeks of the referral. However, figures from the National Treatment Purchase Fund, for September, show: 101 children are waiting 3-6 months for an initial appointment, following referral; 138 waiting 6-12 months; 103 waiting 12-18 months; 130 waiting more than a year-and-a-half. The dangers of delaying treatment for those diagnosed with juvenile idiopathic arthritis have been repeatedly highlighted by Dr Orla Killeen, one of Crumlins two paediatric rheumatologists. Sbe has warned not just of the physical damage delayed diagnosis can cause, but also of the psycho-social issues that can affect children, including anxiety and depression. Her concerns are shared by Mr Church, who said JIA can, if left untreated, lead to permanent joint damage, muscle wastage and deformity, not to mention the trauma a child and its family experiences. Children deserve better, Mr Church said. Children on waiting lists are not just waiting in pain; they are also at risk of permanent, irreversible joint damage that impacts on their ability to live a normal a life as possible, he added. Arthritis affects 1,200 children nationwide. There are seven different types of childhood arthritis, and these can affect all ages, from babies and toddlers to teenagers. To support Arthritis Ireland, sign their petition, or donate by logging onto arthritisIreland.ie. They are robbing our childhood Marianne dArcy recalls exactly when her daughter first saw a paediatric rheumatologist almost two years after being referred because the appointment fell on World Arthritis Day, October 12, 2015. By then, Darcy White, from Kildare Town, had endured years of pain, bouts of lockjaw, ankle fractures, disrupted schooling, anxiety, and panic attacks. Darcy White, 16, Co Kildare, who has juvenile idiopathic arthritis, waited almost two years to be seen Still, when the family was finally given a diagnosis of Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis, it came as a shock.We all sat there in the consultants room shaking our heads, Marianne says. Darcy, now 16, was first referred to a rheumatologist in 2013 on the advice of a maxillofacial surgeon treating her for lockjaw. She joined a lengthy list of children waiting to be seen at Our Ladys Childrens Hospital Crumlin. By then, she had endured three ankle fractures, the most recent in 2013, the year she opted for home-schooling, because the physical pain and psychological stress were simply too much. Shes very motivated about her school-work, so that wasnt a problem, says Marianne. And she returned to school the following year, but I can hardly remember a year when we werent contacted by the school for missing more than 20 days. Since becoming a patient of Crumlin, Darcy has tried two different drug treatments, but neither has worked, her mother says. The first was a chemotherapy drug. Darcy was told shed be injecting herself once a week, Marianne says. The second was what is known as a biologic drug, a relatively new class of drug given as intravenous infusion. Marianne says this has also failed to bring about improvement. We got word last week when Darcy was in for joint steroid injections that they would be trying her with another biologic, says Marianne. So how has Darcy dealt with years of pain and waiting to be seen by the relevant experts? Had I been seen earlier my condition would not be this aggressive, she says. The pain is excruciating, it often brings me to tears. Her wish is that other children with arthritis not be left waiting as she was. Dont they realise they are robbing our childhood and causing irreparable damage physically and emotionally? says Darcy. Dont they care? Under the Nursing Homes Support Scheme, also known as Fair Deal, the state pays the balance of a persons nursing home costs after the individuals contribution is paid. In publishing the figures last week the HSE acknowledged that there were variations in the cost of care for public and private nursing homes, with public nursing homes generally having a higher cost of care. It said this was due to a number of factors, including reductions in long-stay public beds numbers, the need to modernise or replace a significant number of public centres and improve their environments in line with HIQA standards, the geographical location of residential placements including in areas that would not be financially viable for a private operator, and higher nurse staffing ratios and a reliance on agency staffing. A row led to the death of 28-year-old James (Jay) Banville, from Raheen, outside Clonroche, in Co Wexford, at about 3.20am on Saturday morning in Waterford City. The incident, at New Street, happened just hours into a purple flag weekend aimed at underlining the city as a safe and vibrant place. Mr Banville was pronounced dead at University Hospital Waterford, after gardai found him on a city centre street. A member of the public had alerted gardai to an altercation on New Street between the victim and another man. On arrival at the scene, gardai found the 28-year-old had been stabbed. The Wexford man was socialising in Waterford on Friday night. He was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford, but pronounced dead. A 35-year-old man, who is understood to be a non-Irish national who lives in Waterford, was arrested near the scene of the crime, and was held for questioning over the weekend by gardai at Waterford garda station, under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act. The man is due to appear before a district court in Waterford this morning in connection with the incident. Jay Banville was taken by ambulance to University Hospital Waterford where he was pronounced dead. The row happened around the corner from John Street, which leads to the main thoroughfare in Waterfords city centre. Gardai sealed off a section of New Street and a technical examination of the scene was carried out on Saturday, while a post-mortem was performed on the body at University Hospital Waterford. Gardai have appealed for anyone who was in the area at the time, or who may have any information, to contact them. In particular, they are appealing to two young women who were in Johns Lane, at the Park Lane Apartments, between 3am and 4am [on Saturday morning], and who may have witnessed an incident, to contact the incident room at Waterford on 051-305300, the garda confidential line, 1800 666111, or any garda station, the gardai said. The location is a few hundred metres from OConnell Street, where a man in his 40s was was stabbed and injured at about 6.45pm on Thursday. He was treated in hospital for injuries, which were described as non-life threatening. A man in his 20s was arrested. Waterford had been celebrating purple flag weekend, which involves businesses, the local council, and the Chamber of Commerce. The city was designated a purple-flag area last year by the Association of City and Town Management. The designation recognises good-quality evening and night-time economy, where people can enjoy a safe night out in a pleasant environment. Mayor of Waterford, Cllr Adam Wyse, has offered his condolences to the family of Saturday mornings fatal stabbing. He said it has been a difficult few days for the area, following the stabbing in OConnell Street on Thursday evening, and the death of 16-year-old Katie Murphy, from nearby Ballinamona, in a crash in Tramore on Wednesday evening. He urged witnesses to the early-morning incident to contact the authorities. Anyone who could have seen anything, or who knows anything about it, should contact the guards and let them know any information, Mr Wyse said. The mayor added that people should not be put off socialising in, or visiting, the city. This is not a regular thing that happens in Waterford. Going to the flicks is an event thats become fraught with moral conundrums for those of us who are politically correct. To sit through a film with a clear conscience one must put their prospective movie through a series of tests such as the Bechdel, DuVernay and the Vito Russo tests, to ensure the movies we watch represent minorities, women and LGBT characters in a way that at least pays lip service to their real life. Each test has three basic principles. There is minor differentness between them but the general gist is that two or more such characters need to exist in the story and exist beyond their race/gender/sexuality, and that they function beyond bringing colour to the narrative of a white, hetro cis-gendered lead. However, were we to put our pennies where our principles are, and only go to flicks that passed, wed be cinematically frigid. In 2015 the number of LGBT characters in mainstream releases was 47. Racial diversity among those characters had decreased by 7%. Three quarters had less than 10 minutes screen time, while the single trans character existed purely to give the audience something to laugh at when her identity is revealed. Penn and Boo in Orange is the New Black TV is doing better. GLAADs annual Where We Are On TV report for 2015/16 found that there were huge increases in LGBT characters across network, cable and streaming devices. People of colour make up a third of all recurring characters and were close to gender parity (with female characters edging out male by 12% on streaming sites). Since the turn of the century weve had shows that have excavated every shade of the rainbow from the murky (Oz) to the mundane (Cucumber), in the process changing the limited manner in which weve been presented. Weve had gay rappers (Empire), spies (London Spy), museum directors (The L Word), prisoners (Orange is The New Black), even Republicans (Scandal) challenging the still predominant stereotype of the acid-tongued mess (Girls). Perhaps the best sign of progress is the manner in which the sexuality of break-out characters are no longer used to define them, like Kalinda in The Good Wife, Omar in The Wire or David on Six Feet Under. Omar in The Wire But 2016 still contained a viscous self-inflicted kick to the cajones with the cancellation of Looking, with many griping that the show wasnt representative enough. But, as a community, weve never been shy of cannibalising our own for not living up to our exacting standards. Fifty years ago gays never made it onto the television screen, beyond kindly liberal TV documentaries that painted us as sad, lonely and isolated. The riot at the Stonewall Inn changed this. By the early 1970s, gay characters were appearing as functioning members of the family in American Movies of the Week like A Certain Summer with Martin Sheen or acting as Trojan horses that mocked the misinformation that went before such as SOAP where Billy Crystal was the first gay character on prime time TV. The British embraced and subverted stereotype via Mr Humphries on Are You Being Served, who since it was never stated that he was gay was welcomed into British living rooms with a wink and a nudge. Mr Humphries on Are You Being Served Public protests were held by gays over this supposed caricature, yet Mr Humphries softened audiences up for John Hurts performance as Quentin Crisp in The Naked Civil Servant, a man who possessed many of the same attributes, but who refused to hide his homosexuality. Yet there was a serious lack of diversity in the type of gay lives shown. And the stories that came out of Aids were a continuation of the image of the tragic homosexual where we were victims in earnest and well-executed melodramas, like An Early Frost or Our Sons, dying due to our persuasion. Yet AIDS energised the movement and made us visible in new ways. The news broadcast images into the homestead each evening of activists, of caretakers, of a community rising up. Talk shows like Oprah and Donahue afforded us the chance to discuss our own lives in a manner that educated the public, while Ricky Lake and Jerry Springer gave us autonomy, to play a part in domestic dramas that were less about what we were, and more about who. But it was the contrasting fortunes of sitcoms like Ellen and Roseanne that showed how a foothold could best be developed with the public. Roseannes gay kiss brought the show its best ratings and quickly developed a so what approach to its LGBT characters, skewering straights for their limited perception of gay people. Ellen the first programme to feature a lead gay character came wrapped in the cotton of a straight friendly narrative, divorcing her character from her community. It was cancelled within the year. Will & Grace proved that a show that put gays front and centre could appeal to a wider audience, even though it thrived though archaic shorthand about what gay life looked like. But, like Modern Family after it, Will & Grace too often presented its gay leads as sexless eunuchs, with more interest in sewing than screwing. The cast of Will & Grace Queer as Folk explored gay men as sexual beings, featuring explicit simulated acts between a 29-year-old whod just become a father and the 15-year old schoolboy. It was greeted with protests on Manchesters Canal Street by gays rejecting a premise creator Russell T Davies never put forth, that this is how all gays behaved. Which appears to be the crux of the issue. Weve seen the impression the wrong depiction can give our bosses, our parents and our friends. Gay life is not uniform and the depiction of one life wont fit all. Looking may have failed its imagined brief, but surely its time where gays shouldnt need shows about our lives to act as a totem pole for the entire community? Reports over the last few weeks suggest that 2016 will be another one for the records. Southwest winds, blowing over seas warmed in a changing climate, drive these armadas towards our shores. Like the unfortunate Spanish sailors of 1588, men-of-war come to grief along the coast from Cork to Donegal. Ships are feminine but warships are an exception. The Tirpitz Scharnhorst and Bismarck were famous battleships, while American aircraft-carriers are called after Presidents. Will a USS Hillary Clinton break the gender mould? According to Reddalls Fact Fancy and Fable (1892), a man-of-war was originally a sailing vessel full of armed men. The term came to refer to heavily-armed manoeuvrable frigates developed during the 16th Century. Fully-rigged Portuguese ones had a characteristic shape; the inflated purple-blue bladders, being found among the flotsam and jetsam on our tide-lines today, resemble them. These semi-transparent balloons belong to one of the most intriguing creatures to visit Irish waters. People refer to the Portuguese man-of-war, erroneously, as a jellyfish; it has the nasty sting which defines jellyfish in the public mind. An elusive creature, its very difficult to study. You cant tag and track a man-of-war, nor can you keep one in an aquarium; this ocean dweller doesnt take to captivity. Nobody even knows how long the creature lives but its clear that the man-of-war isnt a jellyfish. Nor is it a single organism but an association of creatures, known as polyps, working together. Polyps are little soft-bodied organisms, usually anchored to something and extending sensitive tentacles to locate and harvest food. The tentacles discharge tiny poisoned arrows to disable or kill prey. The polyps of a Portuguese man-of-war remain autonomous individuals, but are dependent on each other like Siamese twins joined at the hip. They operate in the manner of a ships crew; each member doing a particular job. The division of labour resembles that of a honey-bee colony. The queen bee produces eggs while attendants see to her needs. Some worker bees collect pollen, others make honey or clean the hive, while nurse bees build honeycombs and look after the larvae. The drones only task is to mate with queens during nuptial flights. Karl Marx, impressed by honey-bee organisation, would have been equally so with the man-of-war. Some polyps work to move the colony about, erecting its most conspicuous feature; the inflatable bladder which acts as a sail. The balloon, extending up to 15cm above the water, may also be a sunscreen to block harmful UV radiation. The bag can be deflated and submerged if danger threatens. In the core body of the colony, underwater, other polyps are engaged in digestion and reproduction. The armed tentacles, used for defence and hunting prey, extend for tens of metres below the colony. They will sting a swimmer who blunders into them. By all accounts, this is an extremely painful experience but tabloid claims of lethal deadly killers are exaggerated. Fatalities occur occasionally among people who are susceptible to anaphylactic shock, just as they do following bee or wasp stings. If you happen upon a man-of-war on the beach, dont handle it with bare hands; even severed tentacle can sting. A species of fish has developed immunity to the arrows. It lives among the tentacles, using them for security. A substance on the surface of the fishs body is being studied in the hope of developing a protective cream for human swimmers. The Portuguese Man OWar on Long Beach near Clonakilty, Co Cork, one of a couple of dozen which were on the beach recently. They are pink and red with a span of 30cm long and 10cm wide in the water but when seen on the beach they look like a deflated balloon. Picture Dan Linehan We humans dominate the planet, largely because we learned to cooperate with each other for mutual benefit. Only a few creatures, social insects, termites, lions, wolves, and chimps among them, have developed this unique ability. That a so-called primitive creature, from a phylum largely unchanged for over 500 million years, managed to do so, is remarkable. The latest reports suggest that the Korean company is now set to make big changes to their manufacturing process, and they're currently putting pause on production entirely until things have been fixed. That is going to cause significant delays for the many customers who are still using potentially dangerous phones, who will now have to wait even longer for a replacement. Anyone who was starting to consider swapping to a new manfacturer will now have another reason to jump ship. Figures published by the EU show total payments to farmers in 2015 fell almost 5% over the previous year, despite an increase in the actual number of beneficiaries. The average payment to individual farmers fell from 13,167 in 2014 to 12,460 last year a reduction of 5.4%. An analysis of information on EU farm payments published by the Department of Agriculture shows 130,621 beneficiaries were paid 1.627bn last year. Almost 650 more Irish farmers received payments from Brussels in 2015 than in 2014. The figures show over 2,700 farmers or farm businesses received over 50,000 in EU payments last year. A total of 2,723 individuals or bodies were paid over 50,000, representing 2.1% of all recipients. Of these, 327 or 0.25% of all beneficiaries, received over 100,000. Co Meath had the highest number of high earners with 44 recipients of 100,000 or more in EU funding, followed by Co Cork (41), Co Tipperary (38) and Co Waterford (20). The analysis shows most of the top earners are co-operatives, leader partnerships, community development organisations, farm businesses and even one State body, Bord Bia. Co Dublin and Co Meath were the only two counties in which average EU payments increased last year. The biggest single fund is the Common Agriculture Policys single payment scheme which is worth around 1.2bn but the figures also include payments under 15 other schemes relating to development, farm improvement and environmental schemes. For example, the bulk of almost 1.7m received by Bord Bia is related to the School Fruit and Veg Scheme. The biggest beneficiary of combined EU payments in 2015 was the Meath Community, Rural and Social Development Partnership (previously Meath Leader) based in Kells, Co Meath which received over 2.6m. It was one of seven organisations to receive over 1m in funding. The others were: Bord Bia; Cill Dara Ar Aghaidh Teo; Fingal Leader Partnership; North East Kerry Leader Partnership; Forum Connemara; South Kerry Development; and Mayo North East Leader Partnership with the majority of money funding for development projects. Ornua, formerly known as the Irish Dairy Board, received funding of over 432,000. The largest funding for a private enterprise was paid to Walter Furlong Grain Ltd a company owned by Co Wexford farmer, Walter Furlong. His 2015 payment of 389,640 was an increase of around 22,000 over the previous year. Other high earners included OShea Farms of Piltown, Co Kilkenny (329,914) owned by brothers, Richard, Thomas, Joseph and Seamus OShea and Meath potato farmer, Patrick Reynolds, from Navan (267,130). Two farm enterprises near Ardee, Co Louth, controlled by the controversial beef baron, Larry Goodman Glydee Farms and Branganstown Farms were collectively paid 483,753 last year. The analysis shows that farmers and farm businesses in Dublin had the highest average payment last year at 19,669. Other counties with above-average payments included Co Waterford, Co Kilkenny, Co Carlow and Co Tipperary. At the other end of the scale, farmers in Co Mayo had the lowest average EU payment at just 8,361. Average payments were also below 10,000 for farmers in counties Cavan, Galway, Monaghan, Donegal, Leitrim and Sligo. Co Dublin and Co Meath were the only two counties in which average EU payments rose last year. Farmers in Co Monaghan saw their average payments decrease by almost 13% to 8,361. Average payments for farmers in Co Cavan and Co Limerick also fell around 12% compared to 2014 levels. Co Cork has the highest number of recipients of EU money with 13,421 over 10% of all Irish farmers receiving an average payment of 15,260. The single biggest beneficiary from the county was the Clonakilty-based, West Cork Development Partnership which got over 603,000 in funding during 2015. Publication of the sums of EU money received by farmers has proven controversial with farming representative bodies claiming that such information poses a security threat to individuals listed as in receipt of large funding. Both the Irish Farmers Association and the Irish Creamery Milk Suppliers Association have called for publication of the details on payments to farmers to be banned as they represented a breach of farmers rights to privacy in relation to personal financial data. Although publication of how much money farmers across the EU received from Brussels was halted in 2010 on data protection grounds, the practice was reintroduced last year following the introduction of new regulations by the European Commission. They require all EU member states to publish the information and the department of agriculture has no discretion on whether the details can be released or not. The European Commission has said details of such payments must be publicly accessible for reasons of transparency. Overall, 55bn was paid out to 10 million farmers across the 28 EU member states in 2015. West Cork Vintage Ploughing & Threshing Associations celebration of 50 years of John Deere in Ireland took place on Sunday, October 2, at Ardgehane, Timoleague, Co Cork, featuring John Deere harvesters and tractors from down through the years. Information is limited to the name of the beneficiary, the municipality where they are resident and the amount of payments under individual schemes. Detailed addresses of farmers are not published. The identity of farmers who are paid less than 1,250 are not released. Under CAP reform proposals, future funding under the single payment scheme is to be capped at 150,000 as part of the EUs plans to make the system more equitable between rich and poor farmers. How the figures are calculated The figures containing details about EU agricultural payments to Irish farmers are extracted from publicly available data recently published on the Department of Agriculture website. They contain details of sums paid to farmers under various Common Agriculture schemes in 2015. Breakdown of funding by county - no of farmers, total funding, average payments Under EU regulations, the identity of the beneficiary is published, except for any payments under 1,250. Only the name of the municipality where the farmer is a resident (and not their full address) has been published for reasons of privacy. The EU Commission has stated that the rules governing the publication of details of payments to farmers in the EU enhance transparency regarding the use of EU funds by reinforcing public control over money used. At the same time, they strike a balance between these objectives and the beneficiaries right to respect their private lives, it added. The Department of Agriculture said the information is published exclusively for complying with the terms of the EU legislation. The information must be published by May 31 for the preceding financial year and remain available for two years. Top 50 recipients in each county News KIA: Govt Needs to Control Its Military Ethnic Kachin call for the end to Tatmadaw offensives, in front of the Burmese Consulate in Chiang Mai, Thailand on October 10, 2016. / Kyaw Kha / The Irrawaddy CHIANG MAI, Thailand While Burma Armys air strikes continue on Kachin Independence Army (KIA) security outposts in northern Burma, the KIA, its political wing and the Kachin public are calling for a halt to the offensives, as well as a government intervention. Lt-Col Naw Bu, a KIA spokesperson, told The Irrawaddy that as of Monday, Tatmadaw troops, including both the ground and air forces, were still attacking the KIA post known as Gidon in the Nhkram mountain range. The Tatmadaws two jet fighters have been bombing the Gidon post since 8:30 a.m. and then continued shooting from the ground with artillery, he said. In order to overcome obstacles to building peace in the country, the government needs to control its military, the lieutenant colonel added. The [National League for Democracy] government is keeping their mouths shut while the Tatmadaw is fiercely attacking the KIO. We, as well as our people, do not want that, Naw Bu said, referring to the Kachin Independence Organization and the Kachin public. Tensions have increased in Kachin and northern Shan stateswhere the KIA is activesince the first session of the 21st Century Panglong peace conference concluded in early September. The Tatmadaw has used its artillery and air force to target the KIAs security posts around its headquarters in Laiza, on the Kachin-China border. On Oct. 1, a two-year-old Kachin child was killed by the splinters of an artillery shell that hit near her family home in Puwang village in Shan States Muse Township. Another two children were seriously injured and admitted to the Mangsi Hospital in China. Since last week, thousands of Kachin State residents have been holding protests and calling for an end to the Tatmadaws offensives against the KIA. On Monday, ethnic Kachin community members staying in Chiang Mai, Thailand urged the NLD government to intervene to end the war in Kachin State and to order the Burma Army to stop offensives against the KIA. Dozens of protesters gathered in front of the Burmese Consulate in Chiang Mai, demanding the government and the Burma Army take responsibility and respond with immediate action. Their requests included a stop to offensives and the launching of artillery into civilian villages, the allowance of better access to humanitarian aid, and a safe return for the internally displaced people and refugees to their homes. The protesters delivered a letter to the mailbox of the Burmese Consulate, as consulate officials were not there to receive it. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is a Nobel Laureate and as the head of state, she must order the military to halt the offensives, said Ah Jung, a pastor of a Kachin community church and a protester. Hka Tawn, a Kachin woman living in Chiang Mai who participated in Mondays protest told The Irrawaddy that the protest was one of solidarity. We Kachin staying in Thailand do not want to see the troubles facing our fellow Kachin in Burma, thats why we came to protest to show our support, she said. On Saturday, Oct 8, the Kachin Independence Organization and the ethnic armed alliance known as the United Nationalities Federal Council both issued separate statements calling for end to the Tatmadaws military action in the region. The Tatmadaw will have to take responsibility for the consequences following its attacks against the KIO, the KIOs statement said. KIO representatives joined the 21st Century Panglong conference, in which stakeholders presented their stances on building a future federal democratic state. Meanwhile the Burma Army stayed firm on their adherence to the controversial 2008 Constitution. Conference organizers stressed that those groups that did not sign the countrys nationwide ceasefire pactsuch as the KIA/KIOwould not have equal negotiating status in the peace process as those who signed the pact in October 2015. Nang Lwin Hnin Pwint contributed to this report. Burma Nine Police Dead in Arakan State Border Attacks A tower belonging to Burmas border guard is pictured near the border fence of Bangladesh in Maungdaw June 5, 2014. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters RANGOON Nine police officers were killed and five injured during a series of attacks on border guard headquarters and outposts near the Bangladeshi border in northern Arakan State on early Sunday, according to police statements. The assaults were carried out by nearly 200 attackers from 1:30am to 4:30am at Kyikanpyin headquarters and Kotankauk and Ngakhuya outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung Townships, police said. Eight attackers were killed and two were captured alive, Police Force Chief Maj-Gen Zaw Win said during a press conference on the attacks on Sunday in Naypyidaw. According to information released at the press conference, 62 assorted arms and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition were taken by attackers in the three separate attacks. The police chief didnt confirm public speculation that the attacks were masterminded by the Rohingya Solidarity Organization (RSO), a small militant group formerly active along the Bangladeshi border in the 1980s and 1990s that has been quiet for nearly two decades. Since 2012, communal strife between local Buddhist Arakanese and Muslim Rohingya has killed scores and displaced up to 140,000 people in Arakan State, also known as Rakhine State. U Kyaw Tin, the deputy minister of foreign affairs, said an investigation was underway to see if the assailants had links in Bangladesh and, if necessary Bangladeshs ambassador for Burma would be summoned. He added that the State Counselor [Daw Aung San Suu Kyi] firmly told us to respond to this case within the law. In August, the State Counselor announced the formation of an advisory commission led by former UN Gen-Sec Kofi Annan to advise on lasting solutions to complex and delicate issues in Arakan State. On Sunday afternoon, authorities extended the existing curfew in Maungdaw and Ya Thae Taung Townships from 11pm 4am to 7pm 6am. The assembly of more than five people is prohibited. Arakan State Education Department ordered the closure of Maungdaw District schools on Monday morning. About 400 government schools are affected, according to Education Department officer U Aung Kyat Htun. Burma NLD to Discipline Lawmaker After Extramarital Affair Entrance signboard to Myaungmya. / Salai Thant Zin / The Irrawaddy RANGOON The National League for Democracy (NLD) will discipline its lawmaker representing Irrawaddy Divisions Myaungmya Township in the Lower House after news of his extramarital affair went viral on social media. NLD spokesperson U Win Htein said lawmaker Dr Soe Moe Thu will be punished in line with the partys rules and regulations. Dr Soe Moe Thus wife filed a lawsuit at No. 9 Police Station in Mandalay on Sunday accusing her husband of adultery. Weve already warned him once, but he denied [having an extramarital affair] at that time, U Win Htein told The Irrawaddy. Now, he cant deny it. So, our party discipline enforcement committee will take action against him. We have already cancelled his foreign trip, he said. [Dr Soe Moe] will be subject to an internal investigation. Witnesses from both sides will be questioned, said NLD Rangoon Division deputy information officer U Soe Win Oo. The maximum penalty is expulsion from the party. Or he may be suspended for a certain period. It is the second scandal to rock Burmas most popular political party in a week. Last Thursday, A Rangoon motel filed a lawsuit against NLD lawmaker U Nyan Linn, accusing him and two friends of swearing, threatening and drunkenly fighting with motel staff. Political commentator Dr Yan Myo Thein told The Irrawaddy that these recent scandals suggest that Burma is in need of impeachment legislation that grants citizens the right to recall. People should have the right to recall if they do not like the representatives they have elected. Dr Yan Myo Thein said. Only when the fundamental rights of voters are put first, will the parliament be able to serve the interests of the people. U Tin Aye, former chairman of the Union Election Commission, in August last year urged U Shwe Mann, the then speaker of the Union Parliament, to enact legislation on recalling lawmakers as soon as possible. However, lawmakers voted to suspend the bill. News Police Chief Admits Weak Security Measures in Arakan State Police Chief Maj-Gen Zaw Win at the press conference in Naypyidaw on Sunday. / Htet Naing Zaw / The Irrawaddy NAYPYIDAW Chief of the Burma police force Maj-Gen Zaw Win admitted weak security measures near the Bangladeshi border in northern Arakan State where border guard headquarters and outposts were hit by a series of fatal attacks early Sunday. We have deployed security forces in all places, but we failed to ensure the effectiveness of security forces to patrol this area, the police chief admitted at a press conference in Naypyidaw later the same day. Additional security forces have since been brought into Arakan State, also known as Rakhine State, said the police chief. It now has the largest number of security forces of all the states and divisions of Burma. Authorities view Arakan State as now having two pressing needs, he said. Forces will need to round up the remaining attackers and also enforce the rule of law. We are now deploying forces with the use of helicopters. police chief Maj-Gen Zaw Win told The Irrawaddy. The Ministry of Defense will be on operations in the area and the Ministry of Home Affairs will enforce security and rule of law. Nine police officers were killed and five injured during a series of assaults on Kyikanpyin headquarters and Kotankauk and Ngakhuya outposts in Maungdaw and Rathedaung Townships by nearly 200 attackers from 1:30am to 4:30am on Sunday. The assailants took 62 assorted arms and more than 10,000 rounds of ammunition in the three separate attacks. Nine attackers were also killed and two arrested, said the government. On Sunday afternoon, authorities extended the existing curfew in Maungdaw and Rathedaung Townships from 11pm 4am to 7pm 6am. The assembly of more than five people is prohibited. Guest Column When Silence Hurts More Than a Bullet Aung San Suu Kyi waves at supporters while wearing traditional Kachin dress at the Kachin National Manau Park in Kachin State on February 24, 2012. The statement on the arc reads, Warmly Welcome Public Leader Aung San Suu Kyi. / Soe Zeya Tun / Reuters In Burmas general election in November 2015, many ethnic Kachin voted in support of the National League for Democracy (NLD) based on party leader Aung San Suu Kyis promises of change. They believed that she would stand with them and speak on their behalf against the social and political discrimination endured during decades of military dictatorship. Following the 21st Century Panglong peace conference at the beginning of September, fighting intensified between the Burma Army and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA), with the Tatmadaw carrying out air strikes against the KIA. Despite failing to implement political dialogue after the last ceasefire was signed with the group in 1994, it now appears that the Burma Army is using these offensives to pressure the KIA into signing the countrys highly controversial nationwide ceasefire agreement. The already dire humanitarian situation took a turn for the worse when a two-year-old Kachin girl, Zung Myaw, was killed and two other children seriously injured in the shelling of Puwang village in northern Shan State on Oct. 1. Yet despite widespread reporting of the tragedy by independent mediaand the Kachin publics subsequent call for Aung San Suu Kyi to condemn the Burmese militarys offensivethe publics anger and frustration has been met with silence from the countrys leadership. When Aung San Suu Kyi was asked in panel discussion in London in 2012 to explain why she was reluctant to condemn the Burma Army, she responded that she condemns all violence, and that resolution to the conflict was not about condemnation, but about finding the root causes. The current State Counselor spoke of the need to pursue findings from independent commissions in order to better understand the countrys war. But she has yet to take any action or issue a public statement on the human rights violations that the conflict has causedabuses that have been widely documented by both community-based groups and international organizations including Human Rights Watch and the United Nations. These injustices include the disappearance of Sumlut Roi Ja, a young mother who went missing on October 28, 2011, after she was arbitrarily detained by the Burma Army near Mu Bum in Kachin State. There are the two Kachin farmers, Brang Yung and Lahpai Gam, who in June 2012 were severally tortured after their arrest by the military, including reportedly being forced to engage in sexual acts with one another. Although Brang Yung has since been released from prison, Lahpai Gam remains behind bars without any evidence or witness testimony indicating his guilt in being unlawfully associated with the KIA, of which he is accused. Then, in January 2015, two ethnic Kachin volunteer teachers, Hkawn Nan Tsin and Maran Lu Ra, were brutally raped and murdered in Kaung Kha, northern Shan State; the crime is believed to have been carried out by Burma Army soldiers stationed in the area. These are only some of the many documented examples of impunity granted to government forces in cases of grave abuses against members of ethnic communities. Yet it is this same military that Aung San Suu Kyi said in 2013 that she is fond of, affectionately calling the institution her fathers army, a reference to the late Aung San. As an ethnic woman who has listened to survivors re-live their stories of horrific Burma Army abuse, these comments feel to me the equivalent of rubbing salt in our wounds. Despite an election message of change, six months into the new governments term, representatives appear to many constituents to be distant and unapproachable. Representatives from local NGOs in the Kachin State capital of Myitkyina say that NLD parliamentarians are often absent from meetings on community issues. While members of other smaller political parties are regularly in attendance, NLD lawmakers often reportedly say that they need to await permission from their headquarters to participate in such events. It is worrying, then, to think that the publics concerns and issues are not being represented in the parliament by those with the responsibility to represent them. It was reported that during a monthly meeting held on Oct. 4 between NLD leadership and parliamentarians, executive members asked that during parliamentary sessions, party members not ask difficult questions that could be perceived as harming the image of the NLD leadership. If parliament members are discouraged from raising the concerns of the people they promised to represent, they have failed those who voted for them. The issues being discussed in the legislature should not be based on government convenience, but on the pursuit of solutions for the issues faced in the constituencies. If the NLD is to live up to its promise of change and fair representation, channels of communication must become more open and accessible to the public, and their representatives must be allowed to speak freely. After more than two decades as an opposition leader, it is hoped that the State Counselor would understand the importance of such inquiry. Aung San Suu Kyis status as a democracy icon should not stop us from having this conversationchecks and balances on power are, after all, one of the most important signposts of a functioning democracy. The feeling of disconnection is found not only in the publics disillusionment with their parliamentary representatives in these cases, but also with those involved in the peace process. Khu Oo Reh, general secretary of the ethnic armed alliance the United Nationalities Federal Council (UNFC) and leader of the Delegation for Political Negotiations (DPN), stated the importance of State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi consulting with all sides in the peace process before she has her final say. What he fears is that her mind has been made up in advance, before negotiations for each step have completed. If the conflict is to be resolved and reach a permanent end, Aung San Suu Kyi must, for the sake of fairness, put forth significant effort to communicate with ethnic armed organizations, including those within the UNFC, as she has done with the Burma Army. Since last week, thousands of residents across Kachin State have taken to the streets and to the Manau cultural grounds in the state capital to condemn the Burma Armys offensives and indiscriminate shelling in the region. This outpouring of frustration indicates the level of local discontentment with the governments silence over both the death of a toddler and the larger military campaign in Kachin State. People have long had high expectations that Aung San Suu Kyi would address the struggle against this state of perpetual insecurity and ethnic discrimination. Across Burma, they are calling on Aung San Suu Kyi and the NLD government to condemn the ongoing military offensives in ethnic areas. The Kachinas well as other ethnic communities also under threatare still hoping that she will stand with them. After all, as American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. once said, in the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends. Stella Naw is an advocate for democratic federalism in Burma, with a special interest in reconciliation and the rights of ethnic and indigenous peoples. Burma Burmese Trio Readies for History-Making Everest Bid A trio of climbers hopes to become the first Burmese nationals to summit the worlds tallest peak, a climb expected to take over two months. RANGOON A trio of Burmese climbers plans to summit Mount Everest, the worlds tallest peak, a climb expected to take more than two months and that, if successful, would secure the mens place in history as the first Burmese nationals to accomplish the feat. At a press conference in Rangoon to promote the 64-day Myanmar Everest Expedition, three leading local mountaineersPyae Phyo Aung, Nyi Nyi Aung and Win Ko Kodiscussed their attempt to conquer the mountain, towering more than 29,000 feet above sea level in Nepal. Since the first successful climb in 1953, over 3,000 people are believed to have successfully summited Mount Everest, part of the Himalayan Range, but none among this high-altitude club has been Burmese. The climbers, from the Technical Climbing Club of Myanmar group, will depart from Rangoon on Saturday, three days before their climb begins on March 29. They will be joined by three Brazilian climbers in Nepal, and hope to wrap up their expedition in the first week of June. Team leader Pyae Phyo Aung, who has 10 years of climbing experience, said that in addition to the history-making potential of the trip, the trio hoped to expand their ecotourism knowledge and promote adventure sporting in Burma. The Technical Climbing Club of Myanmar, one of five active Burmese climbing associations, began in 2011 with a handful of rock climbers and mountaineers, to empower local climbing communities while developing modern climbing techniques. The group also advocates for awareness-raising on environmental issues, such as the ethics of leave no trace of refuse behind when climbing, trekking or camping. The coming Everest expedition sees the group partnering with a local Nepalese guiding company and an international emergency evacuation provider, the latter chosen because they have caution about unforeseen risk and are best prepared for safety concerns and emergency rescue as well, said Nyi Nyi Aung, one-third of the trio. In 2014, five mountaineers from the Htoo Group, including a Tibetan climber, attempted to climb Mount Everest, but their ascent was halted at base camp, at 17,500 feet, due to an avalanche at the camp that forced all climbers to abandon the ascent. This years expedition, like the 2014 bid, is being sponsored by the Htoo Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the Burmese conglomerate Htoo Group, owned by US-blacklisted tycoon Tay Za. Paw Myint Oo, chief executive officer of the Htoo Foundation, told The Irrawaddy that their support was based on the expectation to raise the Myanmar flag on the summit of Mount Everest. He also said in an opening speech that this expedition will be a historic trip for Burma, as the climbers task is not an easy task, but [rather is about] overcoming many difficulties and barriers. The Htoo Foundation CEO encouraged the climbers to share their experiences when they return to Burma in June. Burma State Counselor Fatigued after International Trip Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visits the Lincoln Memorial in Washington on Sept. 14, 2016 / Jonathan Ernst / Reuters RANGOON Burmas State Counselor Office announced on Monday that Daw Aung San Suu Kyis health is stable but she needs to take some rest for a while. The announcement came after the State Counselor arrived home on Sunday night from a more than two week trip to Britain and the US. On Friday the 71-year old skipped a meeting with the Partnership Group on Burma at the United Nations in New York as her doctor advised her to rest. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi was not able to greet supporters waiting outside the airport on her arrival on Sunday as she has done on previous returns. The Ministry of Information announced that a scheduled meeting between the State Counselor and business people on Wednesday was postponed, without giving explanation. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is feeling fatigue as she was on a very tight schedule during her US trip, a statement released Monday morning said. She is also suffering a gastric problem as she didnt have meals at regular times during the trip and is suffering from arthritis in her neck. But her health is not in a state of concern and she just needs to rest for a while, the statement added. Daw Aung Suu Kyi flew to Britain on Sept. 10 prior to a trip to the US upon the invitation of the US government. Burmas State Counselor had meetings with the British Prime Minister Theresa May, US President Obama, and other international officials and dignitaries. She gave a speech at the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly in New York. Burma This Week in Parliament (September 26-30) The gates to the compound of Burmas national Parliament in Naypyidaw, Nov. 2014. / Reuters Monday, September 26 Lawmaker U Htay Aung submitted an urgent proposal to the Lower House calling on the Union government to dismiss three Myanmar National Human Rights Commission (MNHRC) members regarding their controversial handling of the abuse of two underage domestic workers in Rangoon. The Lower House approved the proposal. Lawmakers debated the draft law to amend the Ward or Village Tract Administration Law. Tuesday, September 27 In the Lower House, lawmakers debated a proposal submitted by U Kyaw Aung Lwin of Sidoktaya Township, which called on the Union government to take prompt action to care for abused and exploited Burmese migrant workers in foreign countries in cooperation with concerned governments. In the Upper House, U Aye Min Han of Mon State asked if the Union government regulates the tender winners regarding the construction of state-funded projects, monitors their work, and takes legal action if projects do not meet set standards. Construction Minister U Win Khine replied that tender winners are required to repair construction projects if they are damaged within two years of completion and the government imposes fines if work is not finished on schedule. Wednesday, September 28 The Lower House voted to approve the Burma Investment Bill submitted by the Ministry of National Planning and Finance. It also approved monitoring of government action regarding U Kyaw Aung Lwins proposal to care for abused and exploited Burmese migrant workers in foreign countries. The Upper House approved the draft law to amend the 1973 Myanmar Board of Examination Law. Thursday, September 29 No parliamentary session. Friday, September 30 Burmas Parliament hosted the 37th General Assembly of the Asean Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, with an opening speech by State Counselor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. The general assembly will be held from September 29 to October 3. The opening ceremony was held at the Myanmar International Convention Center and all the other activities will be held at the Hotel Royal Ace in Naypyidaw. Burma Army officers tried to convince displaced ethnic Karen on Thursday to return to their villages, despite continuous daily fighting in Karen States Mae Tha Waw area, The Irrawaddy has learned. One officer, commander of Infantry Division 22, and another, the tactical commander of Infantry Division 44, met hundreds of internally displaced people (IDPs) seeking refuge within the compound of a Buddhist monastery in Myaing Gyi Ngu, Hlaing Baw Township. They told the IDPs that the areas they had fled were, in fact, stable, and encouraged them to return to their homes. In total, more than 3,800 people have been uprooted since Sept. 9 by fighting between the Democratic Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA) and the Burma Army, who are aided by the allied Border Guard Force (BGF). Among the crowd were 30 additional families who had just arrived that day after escaping fighting in the area of Ba Thraw village. The Irrawaddy overheard a conversation between a displaced Karen village head and the Tatmadaw officer from the 44th Division. They are enjoying their food here, so they dont want to go home, right? the tactical commander said. The village head replied that this was not the casethat the people in his community were too afraid to return to their land. Nay Lin Htet, who is managing the makeshift camp inside the monastery, told The Irrawaddy that any decision to go back to their homes should be made by the displaced people themselves, rather than due to pressure from above. They are saying the areas are stable, but we do not know whether its true or not, he said of the army representatives, pointing out that villagers would rather stay in their own houses, and would do so if it were possible. Until then, Nay Lin Htet added, he would do his best to make sure they are taken care of. If they keep staying here [] we will continue to help them, Nay Lin Htet said, pointing out that the Karen State government had donated food to support the displaced; since it is a monastery, all meals are vegetarian. A nurse, who is treating injured and sick IDPs in the Myaing Gyi Ngu monastery, found the officers pressure disingenuous. They were the people who created the problem, she said of the Burma Army. It is not true what they said. Maj. Naing Maung Zaw from the Karen BGF argued that it was riskier to stay in the monastery. Their property will destroyed if they abandon their homes and villages for a long time, he said, insisting that the area had been secured. The Irrawaddy observed some people leaving the monastery by car and motorbike, as well as in army trucks, but learned that they were relocating in order to stay with relatives in other, safer areas, rather than returning home. When the military transport discovered that the IDPs were not going back to their own homes, they asked them to disembark. Infantry Division 22 has set up an outpost on the nearby Salween River. A further two hours away, fighting continues in Mae Tha Waw. The road out of Myaing Gyi Ngu used to reach Myawaddy, on the Thai border, but the road is now blocked as skirmishes continue to break out along it, making it difficult to leave the country. Monday, October 10th, 2016 (10:32 am) - Score 1,820 The European Commission has published a new Analysys Mason study that examines the cost of, among other things, providing 1Gbps capable fixed line broadband connections to all residential areas across the 28 EU member states, which for now still includes the United Kingdom. The research is designed to support the new Gigabit Society strategy, which was announced last month (here). This pledged a new target for all European households to get a minimum line speed of 100Mbps+ by 2025, with businesses and the public sector told to expect 1Gbps+. The strategy also included mention of a USO for broadband and support for future 5G mobile connectivity. The total cost of achieving all of the targets in this admittedly non-binding strategy was estimated to require an investment of 500 billion (450bn), most of which is rather optimistically predicted to come from private sources (note: the EC also expect a 155 billion investment shortfall). Todays report is thus designed to complement the ECs new strategy by examining how much the necessary infrastructure might cost to deliver through various different scenarios, which include some useful country-specific figures. In particular it focuses a lot of energy on the aspiration of deploying 1Gbps (1000Mbps+) capable wireline (fixed line) broadband to all homes, such as via FTTP/H or Cable (DOCSIS 3.1) technologies. Scenario E: Home fibre connectivity Our fifth scenario considers the provision of 1Gbit/s wireline connectivity to residential premises. We assume that residential areas are fully covered by wireline infrastructure, though the final drop (the connection between the secondary connection point and the end user) is only made when a customer takes service. The weighted average take-up across the EU28 is forecast to be 81% by 2025. We model the cost of providing this coverage to 80%, 90% and 100% of population areas. Similar to other scenarios, fibre deployed for previous scenarios (e.g. Scenarios A, C and D) can be re-used. In Scenario E a series of assumptions have been adopted about the standalone cost model. On average 81% of households are expected to take broadband and 100% of these will connect via a 1Gbit/s network by 2025, which includes some users connecting via cable networks (e.g. Virgin Media) and excludes the cost of final connections to SEDPs (e.g. businesses). The basis of coverage in Scenario E targets full coverage of the access network, at least up to the final node before the home in each area that is covered (the study models 80%, 90% and 100% of areas being covered). The final connection to the home is made when a customer takes the service. Overall the study predicts that 77bn of the total fibre cost for Scenario E could be met by commercial deployments, which would leave 172bn left to be tackled (total 249bn). The study notes that the cost of delivering Scenario E with 80% coverage would unsurprisingly be lower at 123bn, while 90% pushes this to 170bn and as usual the cost of tackling the final 10% of mostly smaller or more difficult to reach areas produces a huge increase to hit the 249bn total. Its further noted that the 249bn total could potentially come down by as much as 30-40bn if +10% more cable duct could be re-used than in the base case assumption. According to Analysys Mason, the deployment cost per subscriber of delivering Scenario E would also be lower in the United Kingdom than a lot of other major EU states, particularly in rural areas. For example, the rural cost per subscriber in the UK is estimated to be around 2,200 and its interesting to note how much cheaper this is than most of the other countries. As youd expect the short line lengths vs higher population density in urban areas produce much lower costs to connect a subscriber than the long line lengths in rural areas. Regarding the differences between countries, these are driven by a number of factors, including local labour rates, the availability of duct infrastructure, the take-up of broadband and the market share of the modelled operator (e.g. vs. the market share held by the cable network operator). Sadly we dont get a detailed break-down of how the figures were arrived at (this would have been useful), which is largely true of the full report that acts more like a general overview than a detailed assessment of each country. Otherwise the rural figure of around 2,200 for the UK converts to 1,981 at todays exchange rate, although the GBP to EUR exchange has recently collapsed. Never the less its worth noting that at lot of the Governments Phase 2 Broadband Delivery UK projects adopted a model of 1,700 per household (taxpayer subsidy) and that often reflects a much slower hybrid-fibre solution. The report may thus seem to be underestimating the cost of pushing 1Gbps via fixed lines into rural areas, although you can see from Figure 1.10 on the right that the UK investment cost per user does shoot up for the final 5% and peaks at just below 6,000. Overall the total UK cost prediction does in fact point to a familiar figure of around 28bn (25bn). In the end the total of 249bn represents the most wide-scale EU deployment possible, which might not necessarily be what the EU ends up adopting. As usual theres also plenty of room for adjustment in such forecasts, depending upon the approach taken and the levels of existing network coverage or ducts shared etc. At the same time we must not forget that a lot of EU states are still struggling to meet the existing Digital Agenda targets, which aims to ensure that very home in the EU can access a 30Mbps+ capable superfast broadband connection (plus 50% subscribed to a 100Mbps+ service) by 2020. The UK at least looks likely to achieve this (EU Connectivity Report). Mind you theres a big question over the UKs future in all this given Brexit, which could complete by around Spring 2019. The UK might simply choose to ignore the new targets and be less ambitious, but hopefully the Government will work to keep us competitive. However that would require a lot of new investment, which so far theyve been reluctant to commit. Terre Haute, IN (47809) Today Showers early, then cloudy in the afternoon. High 61F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Cloudy skies early, then partly cloudy after midnight. Low near 45F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Social Media Strategy: Eight Tips for 2015 There is no doubt that social media is playing a huge role in this years U.S. presidential election. For proof of this, you just have to log on to YouTube to find footage of either of the candidates making a speech, sleeping on an airplane or just grabbing a bite to eat. And anyone with a Facebook account knows the level of rancor that is happening on that social media site between people favoring one candidate or the other. Even if you dont have a computer, the nightly news bombards you with tweets from the candidates and anyone who has an opinion about the candidates. The Numbers According to a survey of 3,760 U.S. adults by the Pew Research Center, 35 percent of people 18 to 29 years old say social media is the most helpful source of information on the 2016 presidential election. Census data show that baby boomers and seniors ages 45 and older represent about 60 percent of voters in national races (judging by the 2008 presidential race). Nearly one out of two voters is 50 or older. Those pieces of information are not counter to each other, however, because according to a study conducted by DMN3, an overwhelming 82.3 percent of Boomers belong to at least once social networking site, with Facebook being the number one. Eighty-two percent of the 1,000 boomers surveyed say they use Facebook the most. Can all of this actually impact an election? A piece on feedforall.com outlines three areas in which social media can seriously impact a political campaign: when used for fundraising, for engaging the constituency, and in accountability. For the purposes of this article, well cover how social media can be used for political engagement. Spreading the Word In a post on The Brooking Institutes website, Darrell M. West says, One of the most worrisome developments in the contemporary period is the massive citizen disengagement from politics and feeling of alienation on the part of voters. Social media offers ways to re-connect citizens and leaders, and create more of a sense of public responsiveness. This responsiveness can, as with most anything, be both good and bad. During the 2004 U.S. presidential campaign, Howard Dean went from being a long-shot candidate to a frontrunner in a few short months, due to his innovative embrace of the Internet for fundraising. However, the same social media he used for fundraising contributed to what is widely considered to be his downfall the viral video of him screaming a message to his constituency in response to his disappointing showing at the Iowa Caucus. That outburst, known in political jargon as the Dean Scream, became a YouTube staple. That an entire campaign could be derailed by something like a video is sad, but it seems to be the nature of the social media beast. The Good and the Bad Social media is a proven tool for those who want to get the word out on issues that are hot buttons in elections. The main instances of this phenomenon in America have been Occupy Wall Street in 2011 and, more recently, Black Lives Matter. But it also brings out the darker side of digital introverts and often amplifies slanted views or political biases. With the 2016 presidential election weeks away, social could not be more powerful or dangerous, according to CIOs Matt Kapko. While social media gives a place for people to voice their opinions, it also amplifies hostility and slants information. Social media acts as glue for like-minded people, and it can reinforce their confirmation biases, says Kapko. While doubtful that one good meme is going to change anyones mind about their candidate, the proliferation of slanted information can result in people unwittingly using misinformation to make a choice in the election. While anyone with a photo editing program can create a meme and populate it with false information, the mere fact that such memes are on the Internet adds underserved credence. The Candidates and Social Media The candidates themselves have wholeheartedly embraced social media, particularly Twitter. The feedforall.com article says, Technology has given self-proclaimed political pundits a pulpit from which they can spread their message. How much these political pundits will be able to influence political campaigns and election results is still unclear. To put this in perspective, Donald Trump has 12.1 million Twitter followers and, according to The Economist, the number is rising by about 50,000 every day. Moreover, since each of his tweets is re-tweeted thousands of times and often quoted in mainstream media, his real audience is much bigger. (Hillary Clinton currently has about 9.3 million Twitter followers.) The two candidates know the value of a tweet because they (or their staffers) seem to send one what every three seconds. And those tweets are shared a thousand times over. Its a much easier, and cheaper, alternative to the whistle stop tour. Klout Klout is a website that uses analytics to rank the online social influence of its users. The score can be between one and 100. In other words, your Klout score represents your social influence. Hillary Clintons Klout score as 95, according to William Arruda, writing for Forbes, with the topics shes most often associated with as are activism, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, children, Donald Trump, economics, elections, government, Hillary Clinton, history, human rights, immigration, LGBT issues, politics, Republican party, September 11 attacks, the White House, U.S. First Ladies, U.S. Senate and Washington. Trumps Clout score is six points lower 89 and his topics are Affordable Care Act, Benghazi, Bill Clinton, border security, CNBC, CNN, conservative politics, Donald Trump, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Fox News, government, Hillary Clinton, immigration, police, Politico, politics, Republican party, the White House and Twitter. The article explores how the candidates rank in using specific social media websites like Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. According to adweek, Even the fairly new entrants like Snapchat are proffering filters and 10-second video ads catered to political campaigns. The first few candidates to run ads on this platform were John Kasich, Rand Paul and Scott Walker. Snapchat even hired ex-Google leader Rob Saliterman, who led political ad sales during the George W. Bush administration. Social media is becoming increasingly important in any kind of marketing strategy, and getting elected is the biggest marketing strategy of them all. The people who have grown up with technology may not be old enough yet to care about political campaigns. But they will be. Thats something future politicians need to realize and embrace. In fact, anyone with a brand to promote, whether it be a politician or a business, needs to keep this in mind. Toni Bowers is a veteran technology reporter and editor. She currently writes the SMB blog for IT Business Edge, which advises small businesses on how to get the most out of tech on a small budget. It seems that automobile makers are moving on from old model cars. Almost every car makers are releasing electronic vehicles of their own. The car makers have one agenda and that is to create an environment-friendly cars. One of the European car makers, Volkswagen had launched its electronic car on the Consumer Electronics Show (CES). Maserati is following the footsteps of several automobile makers. Maserati Will Release An EV On 2020 Maserati, an Italian luxury automaker has announced that it will be releasing an electronic vehicle on 2020. It is also a subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler (FCA). FCA engineering boss Roberto Fedeli, wants to create the EV as soon as possible. Fedeli recently said in an interview on Car & Driver, "I think that we could show something before 2020. Maybe 2019. We are working to be ready with something that we can show during the next couple of years." He also said that Maserati's EV will not be an SUV or a large sedan, but it will be a grand-tourer instead, in The Verge reported. Though Maserati was the last to launch an EV for its company, the auto maker said that the car will be something special. Fedeli also said that their EV will be very much different from Tesla, which is only a top EV producer. "The execution and quality of the products of Tesla are the same as a German OEM in the 1970s," he claimed. "Their solutions are not the best." EV Is The Newest Offer Of Any Car Company Car makers are making sure that the next vehicles they will produce will have the same quality or better quality with their old models even if it is a challenge because electronic vehicles are very different with the old version of the cars, according to Tech Crunch. There will be serious competition arising between the car makers. In what could be the trial of the century, Apple once again won back the $120 million verdict that Samsung appealed and had overturned in its court battle for the slide-to-unlock and quicklinks patent. From a decision of eight-versus-three from a full panel of judges, Apple emerged as victor in one of the patent infringement cases filed against Samsung. Apple won, then lost, then won again In a report from Ars Technica, the first trial had Apple awarded with $120 million in damages in its second legal face off with Samsung. However, Samsung appealed the decision and a jury of three decided to strip Apple of its claim citing invalidity and infringement on the patent cases filed by Apple. Fast forward today, Apple got the full court to review the case and again won the battle against Samsung for the second time. Slide-to-unlock One of the patent cases involves the use of slide-to-unlock feature by Samsung on its smartphones. The jury previously ruled against Apple saying it did not have the original idea due to a reference-art showing the similar concept in a touch-screen toggles for an air conditioner. This decision was reversed by an eight-versus-three decision saying that Apple would not have looked at a wall-mounted air conditioner to design a lock screen that would address the problem of pocket dialing. Samsung still won a penny The Verge reported that the judges maintained the decision of Samsung's win over Apple for its use of a video and galley patent demanding the Cupertino-based company to pay Samsung $158,400. However, the site added that a claim that would probably bring more damages against Samsung was sent back to the initial court to be reassessed. Another huge battle between Apple and Samsung is set to happen next week with the Korean company heading to the Supreme Court to contest the pending payment of $548 million to Apple in a historical first design patent case hearing. In a press conference on Saturday, South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley warned the residents that hackers are trying to get into their computers by sending fraudulent emails, taking advantage of Hurricane Matthews damage to the state. Emails disguised as help for hurricane information As reported by Daily Mail, the hackers send an email with a link to provide updates on power outages brought by Hurricane Matthew in Manning, Myrtle Beach and Clarendon County. Once the receiver clicks on the link, it will open their computers to hackers so they can get any information they want. "They started to receive some calls that this was happening, and what they saw a hacker that was trying to get into normal emails and so it was just precautionary to make sure that we got the word out," said Governor Haley. Also, she said that one of the most effectives ways to prevent this problem is to know how to recognize scam emails and sender, so the person can delete it. Using Hurricane Matthew for criminal purposes Cybercrime is known to take advantage of calamities and other crisis situation, and this holds true for Hurricane Matthew and the residents of South Carolina. "Any time you see anything that's of semi national significance that affects a lot of people, it is really easy to craft something quickly to get it out there, it's evolving more and more rapidly because there is more and more money to be made. This is a lot easier to fall for, it is something that you are actually looking for, something that you want and something you may have already researched, there's a lot of money to be made there and it's easy, it costs them nothing to hack your computer that way and email," Doug Cone, a web consulting firm ownner, told WSPA. Everybody at some point wants to get out of the spotlight and just enjoy living a simple life. Well, Selena Gomez just started doing it. One of the most iconic teen age superstar in these era is getting ready to step away from the Hollywood spotlight as she is on her personal break. The Disney product sensation was spotted in Tennessee just enjoying her lunch. As E! News confirmed, the versatile performer was out on an afternoon meal at the Texas Roadhouse in Alcoa, Tennessee. "She enjoyed herself and was there for a late lunch," an eyewitness shared with E! News. "She couldn't have been more gracious to everyone and to the fans and was more than happy to take pictures with whoever." The sighting was so thrilling that fans created a hashtag of her resurfacing stating #SelenaIsBackParty which trended on Twitter for a short period last Saturday. Selena announced last August that she would be taking some time off away from the spotlight. Her decision to have a break is not that hard since she is focusing on her health issues and side effects of her lupus diagnosis. Some followers on her account was devastated when she announced it, some understood and were happy about it. "Around a year ago I revealed that I have lupus, an illness that can affect people in different ways," she shared in a statement to E! News. "I've discovered that anxiety, panic attacks, and depression can be side effects of lupus, which can present their own challenges." Selena continued, "I want to be proactive and focus on maintaining my health and happiness and have decided that the best way forward is to take some time off." "Thank you to all my fans for your support. You know how special you are to me, but I need to face this head on to ensure I am doing everything possible to be my best," she shared. "I know I am not alone by sharing this, I hope others will be encouraged to address their own issues," she ended. For now, let us relive the funniest moments of Selena Gomez this year. Another Galaxy Note 7 caught on fire. AT&T Inc. stopped selling the phones of Samsung Electronics Co. over concerns about the smartphone's safety. The Verge reported that Daniel Franks was having lunch with his daughter and wife in Houston, Texas when his Samsung Galaxy Note 7 replacement caught fire while it was on the table. He said that his daughter regularly plays the Minecraft game on the cellphone and was concerned if the phone caught fire while it was at her daughter's hands. "Based on recent reports, we're no longer exchanging new Note 7s at this time, pending further investigation of these reported incidents," AT&T spokesman Fletcher Cook said in an e-mailed statement on Sunday. "We still encourage customers with a recalled Note 7 to visit an AT&T location to exchange that device for another Samsung smartphone or other smartphone of their choice," Cook added. Samsung is investigating the fires to determine whether a product safety issue exists. Samsung was criticized because it failed to bring its Samsung Note 7 product recall in CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission). With the latest incident, it is possible that U.S. regulators will take the lead on the investigation. "We are working diligently with authorities and third party experts and will share findings when we have completed the investigation," said a Samsung spokesperson in a statement to The Verge. "Even though there are a limited number of reports, we want to reassure customers that we are taking every report seriously. If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps approved by the CPSC to resolve the situation," the company said. Samsung started replacing its Note 7 last month. Its lithium battery overheats, causing burn hazard to customers. The phone is also banned in airplanes after Southwest Airlines Co. needed to evacuate its passengers due to smoke caused by the defective device. Note 7 Battery Explosion!! CAUGHT LIVE ON CAMERA!! Hurricane Matthew has left at least 6 people dead in Florida. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) Kennedy Space Center was also standing on the path of the category 4 hurricane. However, NASA's officials have announced initial assessment that shows only minor damage. Hurricane Matthew Hits NASA's Complex The Kennedy Space Center was only guarded by a skeleton crew during the strong storm. NASA had also prepared by closing out the park from visitors. However, Hurricane Matthew seemed to weaken as it approached the NASA complex. The same number of crew assessed the damage after the storm had left. 45th Space Wing Commander Brig. Gen. Wayne Monteith has released a statement on Facebook. NASA Kennedy Space Center has been spared by extreme damage when the winds shifted to the east. Spokesman George Diller agreed that a direct hit would have caused more serious damage. He added that they have not yet seen any reason to flight hardware. According to The Christian Science Monitor, the complex suffered from isolated roof damage, damaged support buildings, a few downed power lines and limited water intrusion. This is based on aerial surveys conducted from the aftermath of the storm. NASA has yet to inspect every building very thoroughly to make sure. > NASA also reported that the complex has experienced "some beach erosion". According to Gizmodo, the space center has been consistently dealing with rising sea levels. The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Complex will be re-opened for visitors today. NASA's Complex Is Hurricane-Resistant The Kennedy Space Center is designed to be hurricane-resistant. This is further pursued after the Hurricane Andrew in 1992. It is supposed to endure 130 to 135mph storm winds. However, Hurricane Frances was able to cause enough damage to the complex back in 2004. Hurricane Matthew was reported to have 58 to 81mph of winds when it hit the space center. According to The New York Times, the storm is now just a post-tropical cyclone. Samsung Electronics Co. and Apple Inc. will have a face-off in the US Supreme Court on Tuesday. This is in connection with Apple's previous design patent lawsuit against Samsung back in 2011. Samsung has recently been ordered to pay $120 million to Apple by the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Korean-based tech company was found to infringe Apple's slide-to-unlock and autocorrect feature patents. The Impact Of The Design Patent Case The impact of the case is not only limited to the two tech rivals. Villanova University's Patent Law Professor Michael Risch has talked to The Christian Science Monitor about the case. He explained that it also affects other design patent cases. Risch revealed that there would be lesser companies involved in such cases. This will happen if the court decides to change its usual legal stand. Apparently, the increase of design patent cases may be caused by its profitability. The Wall Street Journal has reported about Samsung's argument on the case. The company has cited an ambiguously worded law passed by Congress in 1887. This will favor Samsung in not paying all the profits from its 11 smartphones. According CNET, these 11 smartphones are the Galaxy Prevail, Gem, Indulge, Infuse 4G, Galaxy SII AT&T, Captivate, Continuum, Droid Charge, Epic 4G, Exhibit 4G, Galaxy Tab, Nexus S 4G, Replenish and Transform. Risch added that the Supreme Court will have to decide whether the "profits" refer to "profits on the entire product" or "profits due to the infringement of the patent". How Much Does Samsung Owe Apple? If Apple wins their case, Samsung might be paying an additional $180 million aside from the previous $548 million. However, the decision will not be immediate. The ruling will most likely be on early 2017. Whoever wins the case, it's assured that there will be more trials. Which Side Are You? Other tech companies like Facebook, Google, HP, eBay and Dell have expressed support to Google. They argue that the damages as awarded are "deeply flawed". CNET also reports that 50 professors from Stanford and Georgetown universities are on Samsung's side. Apple is not short of such support system. Calvin Klein, Alexander Wang and more than 100 design industry professionals have sided with the iPhone maker. > Google has recently announced the Noto or "no more tofu" universal font language. The new open-source font is now available for download. This will supposedly solve the problem with "tofu". It will prevent the display of blank boxes on the computer screen. This is encountered when the language used is not recognized. Google's Noto Project Google has collaborated with both Monotype and Adobe for the Noto project. The tech company admitted that it had worked on Noto for the past five years. They also revealed that there was an extreme challenge, especially with Arabic and Indic languages. Monotype CEO and President Scott Landers described the project as the most significant of all time. He acknowledged their good and productive partnership with Google. Landers also expressed his company's desire of more collaboration with Google. They plan on furthering the use of this type in many cultures, languages and geographies. Noto was specifically developed for Google's Android and Chrome OS devices. Based on the press release, Noto should enable global communication across borders and time periods. Noto Fonts Are An Innovation New York University Assistant Professor Finn Bunton has expressed his excitement over the new Noto fonts. He revealed to The Christian Science Monitor that it's monumental and an amazing public service. Apparently, this innovation lies in the translation technology used. The Noto fonts defy the previous problem encountered in displaying texts. Google was able to overcome limited codes. Bunton even praised the company for accomplishing such feat. He added that Noto will provide visually harmonious and easy to read texts. The Noto Fonts Noto is able to support more than 800 languages and 100 writing scripts. According to Hot Hardware, that includes 110,000 characters in an entire set. They are also available in eight weights. Google is set to add emoji and more new characters. You can download the Noto font here. > Legislative body Bundesrat has recently passed a resolution to ban combustion engines in Germany. Vehicles with such engines will not be allowed by 2030. Bundesrat has also asked the European Union (EU) to enforce the same rule in all EU member countries. The Ban On Gas And Diesel-powered Cars According to German weekly magazine Der Spiegel, Bundesrat will only permit the use of zero-emission passenger vehicles. Apparently, the ban will help to reduce carbon emissions. Fossil fuel-burning vehicles have contributed to 15 percent of global emissions, according to The Christian Science Monitor. However, this will not be enforced easily. As a member country, the said ban still has to go through the EU. It has to be approved by the international body. Otherwise, they cannot implement this in Germany. Bundesrat has already appealed to EU Commission in Brussels. It's now up to EU whether to pass the said mandate or not. Germany's Strong Influence On EU Regulations There's a good chance that EU will eventually authorize the ban. The country's strong influence on EU regulations will work in their favor. According to Forbes, Germany has inspired EU regulations over the years. Another advantage is the current transition of combustion engines to all-electronic ones. This is evident with famous automakers BMW, Volkswagen and TeslaE. Tax Incentives For Zero-Emission Cars According to Engadget, Bundesrat has also requested EU to review taxation policies. This includes the effect of such taxes on the stimulation of emission-free mobility. It may give more tax incentives to buyers of zero-emission cars. It's also possible that tax breaks will be eliminated for diesel cars in EU countries. The German magazine also mentioned that higher taxes will only cause the demise of fuel diesel. It seems that half of the cars in Europe are diesel-driven. This is because diesel fuels have a lower price. It also offers higher mileage per liter. Europeans will have to wait until the decision is final. It will take some time before electric cars are able to fully replaced the old-school combustion engines. > Scientists have stumbled upon a new ant species inside a poisonous frog. Finding new species of animals and insects can be hard, and would often involve much effort. Sometimes, however, the unexpected can happen, as in this case. The new ant species has turned up from the belly of a Little Devil frog from in Ecuador, according to Science Daily. The Little Devil frog is known for eating ants, so researchers would use them to hunt for new ant species. Once they've eaten enough, their contents are then flushed for researchers to study. The new ant species is mysterious in that it is the only one known of its kind. It has been named Lenomyrmex hoelldobleri, after the Bert Hoholldobler. He is a German evolutionary biologist and ant expert celebrating his 80th birthday. Knowing about the new ant species would be the next challenge since there is little information about it. The ant found is already dead so not much information could be obtained from it. Researchers did note that the ant is a female worker and that it is the seventh species in a little known Neotropical genus. It is also said to be larger than the other members of the genus. Christian Rabeling, a myrmecologist from the University of Rochester, New York said that the ant's mandibles are like forceps. It likely preyed on smaller insects such as termites, though that hypothesis has not been proven yet, as noted by the National Geographic. Its mandibles are slender and elongated much like other members of its genus. The search now focuses on finding where the living members of the new ant species are. Scientists will likely search for it in Ecuador. Once a sizable number of them has been found, it would then be given various prey in order to see what it could catch. It would not be an easy task, however, as the region from where it has been found is also one of the most threatened areas. In related Science news, it has been recently reported that Hawaii bees are near extinction. As more Galaxy Note 7 replacement phones that are supposed to be safe are catching fire, the troubles seem to not be over for the South Korean tech giant Samsung. The Galaxy Note 7 Saga Continues According to Tech Times, late last week, just days after a replacement Galaxy Note 7 exploded in Taiwan, a replacement Galaxy Note 7 unit caught fire aboard a Southwest Airlines flight. On Friday, Oct. 7, the South Korean company issued a brief statement stating that it will further address any unresolved issues. According to the statement posted on the company' official website, Samsung will work with the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in order to address the situation in case that it concludes a safety issue exists. However, reports are coming in regarding more replacement devices catching fire. For instance, according to The Verge, In Houston, Texas, another Samsung Galaxy Note 7 replacement has caught fire. Its owner, Daniel Franks, was at lunch with his wife and daughter when their replacement Note 7 smartphone caught fire. The phone had been replaced in late September, at a Best Buy store. Franks wondered what could have happened if his eight-year-old daughter was holding the phone at the moment when it caught fire, as she used to regularly play Minecraft on the mobile device. Measures Taken By Samsung In the past week alone, this is already the fifth replacement Galaxy Note 7 reported to catch fire in the U.S. The CPSC announced that it will investigate the issues and the company AT&T has stopped selling the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 phones entirely. Samsung also issued a statement for its part, saying that it has yet to determine whether a "product safety issue exists," but is currently investigating the fire incidents. After the South Korean tech company was criticized for launching in its initial recall of the flagship Galaxy Note 7 phone without even going through the CPSC, now it seems that Samsung is letting U.S. regulators take the lead on the investigation. A Samsung spokesperson said in a statement that the company is working diligently with third party experts and with the authorities and it will share findings after completing the investigation. By 2024, the International Space Station will be retiring. As such, China believes it will be the only country to have a space station in service by that time. The country has already sent out two modules of its space laboratory, the Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2, with the latter having been launched on Sept. 2016 using the Long March 2F rocket from the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center. After the successful launch, two astronauts are expected to spend 30 days in the station this month to conduct experiments. Chinese Space Station To Be Completed By 2022 The core of China's space station module is scheduled to head out into space in 2018 which will be lifted by the most powerful Chinese rocket, the Long March 5. The station is expected to be completed by 2022 consisting of a core and two lab modules, with ports that will enable multiple spacecraft to dock, according to Northbridge Times. This dock will be used by manned and cargo spacecraft to deliver supplies for astronauts who will reside in the station for over a year. The space station itself is designed to last up to 10 years in orbit, circling Earth 400 km above the surface. China Loses Control Of Tiangong-1 However, it seems that China is experiencing problems with Tiangong-1. Last month, officials have announced that the first module has "comprehensively completed its historical mission" and is set for re-entry in the later part of 2017, according to The Guardian. While the country seems to consider this as a planned maneuver, the announcement is confirming months of speculation that China has lost control of its 10.4m-long module after suffering from either technical or mechanical failure. "You really can't steer these things," said Jonathan McDowell, a renowned Harvard astrophysicist and space industry enthusiast. "Even a couple of days before it re-enters we probably won't know better than six or seven hours, plus or minus, when it's going to come down. Not knowing when it's going to come down translates as not knowing where it's going to come down." While most of the module's structure will be melted as it passes through Earth's atmosphere, some of its denser parts such as the rocket engine will not fully disintegrate. The damage, however, will not be widespread but will be enough to cause a nasty wallop to someone's roof or car. What This Space Monopoly Means It can be remembered that the U.S. banned China in 2011 from getting aboard the ISS despite the fact that it was allowing astronauts from 15 different countries to enter the space station, including astronauts from South Africa, Brazil, and Malaysia. The grounds for this? National security, reported TIME. It's no secret that China has made clear its intentions in broadening its military prowess, including the high-vantage of space. However, this "precaution" seems to stem from fear going way back from the Cold War when Russia launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. So this prohibition might backfire to the U.S. when China decides it won't allow American astronauts to enter their space station after its completion, slowing humanity's progress in advancing tech used in space. Each year, there are numerous UFO sightings being reported. Many of these sightings would later turn up to have some logical explanation, though there would always be a handful that would still end up a mystery. A recent UFO sighting in the U.K. might be one of the latter. The UFO is said to have been captured on video by UFO expert Gary Heseltine after a tip by an anonymous ex-cop, according to The Sun. The UFO has been captured on video by Heseltine using his night vision camera. The UFO sighting happened over the town of Holmfirth at 8:50 p.m. last October 6. After the former cop has tipped of Heseltine he set up his location at a vantage point above Holmfirth, though his effort didn't last long since his laptop, to which the night vision camera was attached to, drained its battery fast, forcing him to stop filming. The video of the UFO is about 2 minutes long. As Heseltine described it, the UFO was traingular with row of red lights on it, as The Huddersfield Daily Examiner notes. The object hovered for an hour. At 9:20 p.m., it shifted to a new position and then slowly got back to its original position. By 9:50 p.m. it went away towards the direction of Manchester. Though the former cop who initially reported the sighting remains anonymous, Heseltine said that he is a credible witness. He also said that the man did the right thing by contacting him so as to corroborate the sighting. As for the object, he said that the sighting was unusual as the craft first remained dim at first before flaring up. Heseltine is one of the leading UFO experts in the U.K. He had been with the British Transport Police until he left it in 2013 to concentrate on his online publication, UFO Truth Magazine. He is said to be convinced that UFOs have been here for many years based on his years of sightings and documenting them. He has also set up a national U.K. police database for UFO sightings. in other Science-related news, Proxima b is said to possibly have an ocean, which might harbor alien life. According to reports, Peter Quinn is alive and will return in "Homeland" Season 6. This is after fans believed that the CIA agent is dead after seeing Carrie Mathison removes his pulse monitor in the last episode of season 5. Meanwhile, actress Claire Danes admits "Homeland's" female president is "tenacious and formidable" just like Democratic Presidential Nominee, Hillary Clinton. Last season, Peter Quinn was declared brain dead and rumors claim that the first episode of season 6 on January 15, 2017, will show him dead. However, actress Claire Danes reveal that he is not dead and has survived in the coming season. She also shares that the reason why her character will leave for New York is because Quinn will be staying there for therapy. The resemblance of "Homeland" Season 6's first female president to Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is undeniable. In fact, Danes discuss the traits that both nominees have in common. She says President Keane in the series is "politically more radical" and "a little rogue" which give her "Clinton-esque traits". The similarities between the two presidential nominees even made fans speculate that the series is endorsing HRC but creators say it was not done intentionally. Producers explain that the storyline has already been discussed and finalized even before the presidential election started. "Homeland" Season 6 is expected to center on New York City and the effort against counter-terrorism. According to showrunner Alex Gansa, it is set 20 years after the 9/11 bombing where they will show why people is threatened by terrorism. It will also focus on the presidential election and the challenges of a first female president will go through. Now that Samsung is already wrapping up its recall program, fans are starting to talk about the next Note device. While it's still a bit early to discuss about the Note 8, there have already been patent leaks about it online. Here are the two Samsung Galaxy Note 8 patents that have been spotted recently: Samsung Galaxy Note 8 News: Camera-related Patent Spotted According to a report by Yahoo, Samsung has filed a patent in South Korea and it aims to improve its device's camera interface. It was said that Samsung might be changing how the camera is navigated as it adds new screen gestures. Furthermore, the zooming features of the cameras are also expected to receive some changes. Needless to say, this is still a premature information and Samsung may still disregard this patent in the final Galaxy Note 8 product. The interesting part in this, however, is the fact that the said patent was filed one week after the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus' launch. This could mean that Samsung's decision to improve the Note 8's camera has been provoked by the iPhone 7 Plus' hefty camera specs. Needless to say, this could also be just a happy coincident. Samsung Galaxy Note 8 News: Stylus-related Patent Spotted Apart from the possibility of getting a more improved camera specs, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8 could also be getting a more improved stylus. According to TechRadar, there was also a filed patent that aims to put a speaker in the Note 8's stylus. According to the patent, the S Pen's speakers will work differently depending on the stylus' position. Nevertheless, a patent doesn't always guarantee that the feature will exist in the device. However, this still confirms Samsung's intention to improve its stylus. Being one of the Note series' key selling points, the S Pen is indeed a significant part of the Galaxy Note 8. So with a set of possible improvements like the one mentioned here, it seems like Samsung will indeed be making up for Note 7's hard luck. Nonetheless, the release date of the Note 8 might still be a little too far away. Basing on Samsung's past Note phablet release, the Galaxy Note 8 could be launched August or September of 2017. Daniel Craig gave the clearest indication recently as to what his feeling is in the matter of reprising his role as the MI6 super spy in the latest "James Bond" movie. He said that if he "were to stop doing it," he would "miss it terribly." Has no one decided yet on who's going to play the iconic British spy on the upcoming movie? Craig Was Reluctant To Continue After "Spectre" After completing the last installment of the franchise, "Spectre," Craig very clearly stated that he is reluctant in continuing the role. In an interview with Time Out magazine, he said he would "rather break this glass and slash my wrists." It appeared that his feelings at that time regarding the role was already set. This Is Not Good For Other Actors If Craig holds on to his latest sentiments, it would mean bad news for other actors seemingly being considered to topbill the next "James Bond" movie. These include James Norton, Idris Elba, Michael Fassbender and Jamie Bell. Even Tom Hiddleston's name was thrown in the lot, along with hundreds of other notable actors. Producers Seem To Have Their Eyes Only On Craig It also appears that the eyes of the latest "James Bond" movie producers are set on Craig. To them, there can only be one double O7 - Daniel Craig. The executive producer of the film franchise, Callum McDougall says he and co-producer Michael Wilson along with their top honcho, Barbara Broccoli want Craig to return at all cost. "We would love Daniel to return as Bond, without any question," said Callum in an interview with Radio 4. He added that Craig is their "first choice" to keep playing James Bond. Craig first played the role of the iconic British spy in "Casino Royale" which was released in 2006. It's now ten years later, and his fifth James Bond movie if this development pushes through. It is always important to know when food will spoil, as spoiled food can lead to food poisoning. Food poisoning can be life-threatening, and as a new study shows, its effects could even extend later in life. A bacterium left in the stomach after food poisoning could later on lead on to Crohn's disease, as a study from McMaster University shows. This bacterium is adherent-invasive E. coli (AIEC) and through a mouse model, it is shown that infective gastroenteritis could lead to its growth even years after food poisoning. Crohn's disease is a condition that inflames the intestines and leads to bowel problems. Canadians are said to have the highest incidence of the disease, with one in 150 having either Crohn's disease of colitis, according to Science Daily. Crohn's disease could be a lifelong disease. Brian Coombes, lead author of the study and Professor of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University as well as a researcher at the Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Diseases said that Crohn's disease could lead to other complications, such as colorectal cancer and premature death. New diagnostic tools will have to be made in order to find people who might be at risk of Crohn's disease later on, News Medical reports. Coombes also stressed the need to understand more on where the disease originates. This could help in creating new solutions and treatments. Food poisoning is a medical condition that people should take seriously. It can be deadly if not treated properly, and as the study shows it could even lead to complications later on. Food preparation as well as storage is critical in reducing the risk of food poisoning. Checking of labels and expiration dates are also critical in preventing food poisoning. While there are studies about food poisoning and its effects, a new method has also been made to lessen binge eating. The newest and best smartphone Samsung released this year has been the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. The problem is that their first release of the Galaxy Note 7 has been recalled. This is because of the exploding problem. A lot of users of the Galaxy Note 7 has expressed their disappointment and proof of the exploding smartphones. Therefore, Samsung recalled all of their first releases and promised to replace a better Galaxy Note 7. It seems Samsung is having additional problems with the recent event that happened with their upgraded Galaxy Note 7. On Thursday, October 6, a Galaxy Note 7 that has been released caught fire on an airplane. This past week, similar cases have surfaced online. Samsung was aware of these events but has been nothing but silent regarding the matter. Exploding Galaxy Note 7 Cases On the early morning of Tuesday in Nicholasville, Kentucky, Michael Klering woke up to find that his replacement Galaxy 7 has caught fire and filled his bedroom with black smoke. Klering noted that a Samsung representative contacted him and asked if they could take possession of the damaged phone. He did not consent but allowed the company to x-ray the device. This incident was not disclosed and the public wasn't warned of the possible danger by Samsung. They did not even take action publicly. On Friday that same week, a Galaxy Note 7 that had been replaced on September 21st caught fire. The 13-year-old girl who was holding the device told the local news that she had a "weird burning sensation". In response the Thursday's and Friday's incidents, Samsung has issued statements saying that investigations are being conducted and that their highest priority is customer safety but as far as we know, this is not true. For all users of Galaxy Note 7, it is a much better choice to have it refunded or exchanged for safety reasons. > When reports first came out that units of Samsung's newest flagship - the Galaxy Note 7 - were exploding, the world kept a close eye to see how the company would turn things around. There was a lot of pressure to quickly replace the risky units and it was able to do some in a few weeks. However, things seem to continue going downhill as even the replacement units are going up in flames. The Verge spoke with the owner of the fifth replacement unit that caught fire, who was in a restaurant with his wife and their daughter when the incident occurred. Fortunately, the Galaxy Note 7 was just on the table when it happened and was not in the hands of the little girl or her parents. Their story was already the fifth report to make headlines in a week. Ars Technica, on the other hand, has already reported on seven cases, the worst of which took place in Kentucky. The explosion happened at 4am, which caused plenty of smoke to fill a man's bedroom. In the end, the man was brought to the hospital because he started to vomit from all the fumes he had inhaled. Samsung released a statement on October 7, where it stated how it understood why consumers and carriers are expressing their concerns. "If we conclude a safety issue exists, we will work with the [Consumer Product Safety Commission]," it said. "[And will] take immediate steps to address the situation." Evidently, the risk of using the device has not been exterminated. As such, AT&T is cutting off its losses now and has already stopped selling the phones completely. Other carriers like T-Mobile have also stopped selling the device. In Korea, Yonhap News Agency has stopped production of the unit. Meanwhile, the US Consumer Product Safety Commission has already begun its own investigation. According to the agency, it is already "moving expeditiously" to find the cause. However, it also admits that even its actions might not result in a conclusion before more reports are filed. > The two console giants of today's generation, Sony and Microsoft will once again clash for dominance in the next few months with the upcoming release of PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox Project Scorpio, respectively. Earlier this year, Sony has announced their newest console upgrade the PlayStation 4 Pro which will feature support for HDR and 4K, making use of the mainstream HD resolution for modern TVs and monitors. Following the Japanese multinational corporation's statement, in the latest E3 event, Phil Spencer, the current head of the Xbox team has announced the release of the latest upgrade of their current console, the Xbox One S. Basically, the new console upgrade will feature support for 4K and HDR and also has some minor improvements in the hardware department. In short, it's a more efficient and powerful Xbox One. But the real deal comes when the head of the Xbox department announced an ongoing project that will finally nail the coffin against its longtime rival. The current project, dubbed Project Scorpio, is said to outrank PlayStation 4 Pro when it comes to power and efficiency. But will that be the case, is PS4 Pro better than Project Scorpio? Many critics still doubting and here are the reasons why: PlayStation 4 Pro is more than just HDR Aside from the console's feature of HDR support, PlayStation had made a huge step in console development upon the introduction of the PlayStation VR which will also make use of the latest trend of virtual reality and incorporate it into the PS 4 Pro. Aside from immersive gaming experience, users are also able to maximize the use of their 4K TVs which, for some people that have high-end devices, is a deal-breaker when it comes to console gaming. Although the Project Scorpio will also come with a VR feature, it's still debatable how this will go against the PSVR considering the fact that details regarding the Project Scorpio and its VR headset are still clouded with mystery. But it is speculated that Project Scorpio will be the 'most powerful console' to be released in the market when it ships. But before jumping into conclusions, it is important to note that even in the past, it's widely known that hardware is just a half of the story when it comes to a consumer's perspectives. Factors like exclusive games and additional features will also play a major role in deciding which console a consumer is going to purchase. Note that PlayStation still dominates the current console market today and undeniably has more exclusive games in their arsenal. It would take Project Scorpio some several new key features in order to outrank PlayStation 4 Pro and until further details regarding Xbox's new console arise, we can only speculate about how it'll go against the newest flagship of Sony's PlayStation. Google unveiled a line of smartphones last week, which officially replace the original Nexus branding. The Pixel and the Pixel XL both sport some of the best specifications that the market currently has to offer. Certainly, the devices do well against other players in the market on paper, but may not prove sufficient in actual use. The devices are definitely nothing to throw away. As earlier mentioned, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL arguably sport the best specifications that are currently available. They are, after all, powered by the newest Qualcomm Snapdragon 821 processor. As Value Walk notes, the devices also run on Android 7.1 Nougat and 4GB of RAM. There is also a 32GB option or 128GB option for internal storage for both units. Their rear and front cameras are both 12.3 megapixels and 8 megapixels. They do, however, differ in screen size, pixel resolution and battery life. While the smaller Pixel has a 5-inch screen with 1080 x 1920 pixel resolution, the Pixel XL has a 5.5-inch screen with 1440 x 2560 pixel resolution. The smaller option has a relatively weaker 2770 mAh battery, while the larger option has a more reliable 3450 battery. Both units seem to have taken inspiration from the iPhone, which it is often compared to. It is sleek, clean and modern. The unit has rounded edges, which feel comfortable to the touch. The Pixel and Pixel XL are also expected to be very durable because of its Gorilla Glass 4 protection. Despite all these positives, however, Forbes notes that there is still a lot of room for error, especially because the units were made by Google. The publication brought out the history of Google, saying that things would have to be different this time around. The search engine giant does have a history of half-successful products, which were a lot of hype but no actual substance. "We are somewhat perplexed by the launch of the device," Anil Doradla, an analyst at William Blair, told the publication. "And we believe that the Pixel will not be viewed in a positive light by the Android ecosystem players, including Samsung." At this point, only time will tell whether or not the Google Pixel and Google XL will do well in the market. That is, better than Google's previous releases like Google Glass. Both smartphone units are set to hit stores on October 20. > The hit series "NCIS Los Angeles" Season 8 has not aired its 8th episode on Oct. 9, as the series reportedly took a two-week break from broadcast. The said episode titled "Black Market" is set to televise on Oct. 16 instead. Despite the show's absence on air, CBS released the synopsis for episodes 4 and 5 respectively that will keep fans sated over the short hiatus. In "NCIS: Los Angeles" Season 8 Episode 4, Nell Jones (Renee Felice Smith) will allegedly save the day. To recall, Kensi Blye (Daniela Ruah) is still missing in the field as she remains in the Intensive Care Unit following the helicopter crash in the premiere episode. Granger (Miguel Ferrer) then brought Nell back and it turns out to be the right call. According to reports, Nell will be officially back in episode 4 and is expected to be better than ever. In fact, Nell will help the team to take on a notorious triad assassin who poisoned a Homeland Security agent. Their investigation will lead them to a warehouse of counterfeit purses and stolen government money. On the other hand, Kensi was not mentioned in the "NCIS: Los Angeles" Season 8 Episode 4 synopsis. To recall, Deeks (Eric Christian Olsen) proposed to her while she is in a medically-induced coma. Her condition was caused by the tragic helicopter crash in episode 1. Meanwhile, "NCIS: Los Angeles" Season 8 Episode 5 is titled "Ghost Gun." Bar Paly, who plays the role of Anna Kolcheck, is expected to return in the said episode. Anna will reportedly build a special connection with G. Allen. With this, speculations claim that Season 8 will showcase a possible love story between the two. "NCIS: Los Angeles" Season 8 Episode 4 airs on Sunday, Oct. 16 while Episode 5 follows on Oct. 23. The hit K-drama series "Jealousy Incarnate" aired its 14th episode last week and fans still can't get over the "climactic" kiss scene between Na Ri and Hwa Shin. Here's a recap of what transpired in the said episode. "Jealousy Incarnate" Episode 14 Recap: Na Ri Nails Audition In "Jealousy Incarnate" Episode 14, Lee Hwa Shin was able to get Pyo Na Ri in the studio for her announcer auditions. With very little time left, he gave some useful tips that will help Na Ri pass the test. Meanwhile, Jung Won's effort to stall time by keeping his mother from getting in the studio also paid off as it gave Na Ri ample time to reach the station. Na Ri's auditions included various tasks such as impromptu reporting, tongue twisters and an unexpected snake prop that will test the composure of applicants. Na Ri was able to nail all the tests and even kept her composure during the snake surprise. Hwa Shin served as her inspiration as she imagined him right in front of her throughout her audition. Lee Hwa Shin Gets Suspended For Helping Na Ri Hwa Shin proved that Na Ri really matters to him as he took the risk of turning the chopper around without consent from the station. Originally, he was tasked to go directly to Busan for his news coverage. However, he changed the route to assist Na Ri. Hwa Shin was suspended for a month and will not have a chance to audition as an announcer himself. On the other hand, Na Ri feels guilty of what happened that she confessed to her superiors about Hwa Shin's kind intentions. Pyo Na Ri And Lee Hwa Shin's Kiss Scene Records High Rating "Jealousy Incarnate" Episode 14 marks the beginning of Na Ri and Hwa Shin's confirmation of feelings for each other as the two shared an intense kiss following the successful audition. Hwa Shin now bares his softer side on her. Na Ri, although in denial, also gave in. The scene is so climactic that it reportedly recorded a 15.7 percent in ratings, making it the highest for any scene in "Jealousy Incarnate." According to reports, the viewership ratings for episode 14 recorded 11.8 percent for the national and 14.1 percent for the Seoul National Capital area. It is also the highest rating episode of the series based on TNS Media Korea. "Jealousy Incarnate" airs every Wednesdays and Thursdays at 10 p.m. For now, relive Hwa Shin and Na Ri's romantic moment in the video below. A huge amount of details of the upcoming Nintendo NX has been leaked, revealing the marketing strategy, bundle options, packaging and features. What is most surprising, though, is that it may be another 4K console, if the leak proved to be true. In the Nintendo NX leak dump over at Reddit, the source is said to be an employee in one of the major retailers said to be carrying the console once it becomes available to the market. The poster FlapSnapple claims that the source has been verified, so the leaked information is highly likely to be accurate. Nintendo NX To Have 4K Support? Among the details spilled is the 4K support, which means Nintendo NX may have what it takes to go head-to-head with the PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox Scorpio. Except that no 4K gaming was mentioned, only streaming. "What this likely means is playback of content such as Netflix, etc.," the Redditor said. "Not gameplay." For gaming, players will have to settle with 1080p resolution with 60 frames-per-second, which many reports have stated to be not too shabby. There are also unconfirmed reports of 900p resolution on the handheld version. Nintendo NX Marketing: Gaming 'On The Go' According to the source, the Nintendo NX poster reads, "Interact with your game on the go." This would corroborate previous rumors about a home and handheld console in one. It was not revealed when the stores will put the product on the shelves, but demo units should arrive by February 2017. Nintendo NX Price The base price is said to be at $299.99, while the Bundle should be priced at $399.99. There are reportedly at least four titles at launch, which presumably includes one or more Mario titles, but the content of the Bundle option is unknown at this point. Nintendo NX Release Date Other uninteresting details that were divulged include the packaging size and colors. The Nintendo NX's box will apparently be bigger than the Wii U's with blue and white color scheme. The name "NX" is printed on the box, which may indicate that this is the official name. Unfortunately, there was no mention of the target launch timeframe. The Japanese company has not yet revealed the Nintendo NX, but rumors say that it will be unveiled soon. According to Techno Buffalo, there are still six months before the expected release date, which is in March 2017, so there is still no cause to worry. The controversial website WikiLeaks has published a second batch of 2,086 hacked emails from Hillary Clintons presidential campaign chairman John Podesta. The leak includes 170 attachments and 50,000 messages where many delicate situations are revealed about Clinton during recent and previous political events. As reported by IBT, this second release comes less than a week after the first one, and it could determine the U.S. presidential elections, considering that some documents are very harmful to Clinton. The first publication started to circulate on social media, and one of the most important email, which was marked as confidential, showed a conversation between former Democratic staffer and political writer Brent Budowsky and Podestra on January 2016, which implied that Bill Clintons sex life might destroy his wife's efforts to be president. WikiLeaks published a very controversial conversation "I never ask journalists about their sources. I know you would be among them. Both Clinton's would be well advised to advise the people in their orbit to shut the hell up about this. Even if I thought Bill Clinton was a liability I would never in a million years write it, or say it to the media, but I think he is a huge asset and I also think some of the people they pay do not perform a service to them," says an excerpt from one leaked email. Also, WikiLeaks showed some other emails in which Buduwsky apparently said that Clinton is used to tell lies, and told her to stop the attacks against Bernie Sanders in the primaries, considering that his voters offered great support when she became the Democratic Nominee. The most harmful email for Hillary Clinton However, the most harmful email is the one that according to Trunews, allegedly shows her relation with Goldman Sachs, which would allegedly aid the Clinton Foundation. "They have an interested party (who today just asked for a draft lease - so that is moving quickly) on the table for part of the space so if we want additional space, we need to move quickly," Graham wrote. "Goldman, b/c of their relationship with us, is delaying the drafting of a lease for this interested party until they get a better sense from us but they cannot hold them off too much longer," says in the email Clinton Foundation Chief Operating Officer Laura Graham to a senior aide to Mrs. Clinton, Huma Abedin. Although it is not known the reliability of these documents, this situation will set the course of the U.S. presidential elections, since Julian Assange promised to publish all its related files before November 8. October marks a watershed in Microsoft patching practices for Windows 7 and 8.1, and confusion reigns supreme. With the majority of organizations still holding off upgrading their fleets to Window 10, this patchocalpyse may have significant impact if youre not prepared for the sticky details. The upshot: Windows 7 and 8.1 will no longer receive individual patches. These will give way to two separate kinds of monthly updates: a security-only strain and a full collection of updates. The security strain isnt cumulative; the full bundle is. Each has its own deployment method. KBs have been KOd. Sounds simple, right? The devil, however, is in the details, and for many organizations, it may be quite a devil indeed. Here we break down what you need to know about Win7/8.1 updates going forward, in hopes of helping you avoid your own patchocalypse. Microsofts new Win7/8.1 patching strategy Six weeks ago, Microsoft product manager Nathan Mercer kicked off a long discussion about new directions for patching Windows 7 and 8.1, and Server 2012 R2, starting in October. Details are available on the TechNet blog (and its 100-plus questions), but heres the synopsis: Security patches will be combined each month into a single Security-only Update that can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Those with corporate networks can access Security-only Updates through WSUS or SCCM. Security-only Updates are not cumulative. that can be downloaded from the Microsoft Update Catalog. Those with corporate networks can access Security-only Updates through WSUS or SCCM. Security-only Updates are not cumulative. All security and nonsecurity patches will be combined into a cumulative update, called a Monthly Rollup . The Monthly Rollup is accessible from Windows Update -- where most individuals get their patches nowadays -- or from Update Catalog (where anyone can download and install it), WSUS, or SCCM. When you install a Monthly Rollup, Windows Update downloads only the deltas. . The Monthly Rollup is accessible from Windows Update -- where most individuals get their patches nowadays -- or from Update Catalog (where anyone can download and install it), WSUS, or SCCM. When you install a Monthly Rollup, Windows Update downloads only the deltas. Microsoft will gradually add older patches to the Monthly Rollup. For now, dont expect to see a big bunch of patches in the Monthly Rollup, but realize Microsoft is working in that direction. You can uninstall an entire Security-only Update or an entire Monthly Rollup. There are no individual patches, thus no individual patch uninstalls, and you cant hide individual patches. On the face, its relatively straightforward: No more individual patches, but two different kinds of monthly updates. Security-only Updates must be downloaded and installed, while the full collection can go through Windows Update. Security-only Updates are not cumulative; the Monthly Rollup bundle, including both security and nonsecurity updates, is cumulative. Those who continue to use Windows Update will get all of Microsofts Windows patches. Those who turn off Windows Update can manually install security patches only. But in all cases, individual patches -- analogous to the KBs weve known for a decade -- exist only as bullet points in the documentation. From there, the details get messy. Mercer acknowledges the following: .Net will be updated separately, with a combined security/nonsecurity .Net Framework Monthly Rollup, and a security-only update for the Update Catalog and WSUS. IE11 will be serviced in both monthly rollup and security-only update, but it isnt clear whether IE11 patches will be included in the new Security Update and/or Monthly Rollup. Weve already seen situations where nonsecurity IE updates have been included in IE security updates. The distinction could become crucial in the future. For those who arent on IE11, Microsoft wont force you to move to IE11, but we plan to eventually include patches for whichever version of IE you currently have installed in the Monthly rollup, similar to the .Net rollup. Thankfully, driver updates arent included in either the Security-only Update or the Monthly Rollup. Out-of-band security patches will be posted as soon as theyre available, then be incorporated into the subsequent Security-only Update and Monthly Rollup. There will be no changes to the current patching method for Vista or Server 2008. Mercer also offers a description of a Third Tuesday preview of the nonsecurity part of the Monthly Rollup. Well have to see how that works out. The immediate impact The most important note for most Windows Update users: You dont have to change anything. The Automatic Update settings (that is, Automatically download and install, Download but let me choose when to install, Notify but dont download, or Never check) work as they always have. The Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates check box works as it has before -- if Microsoft tags an update as Recommended and this box is checked, the update appears checked (ready to install) in the Windows Update list. If that box is unchecked, the update appears as unchecked in the Optional category. Microsofts been working on the mechanics of the patching process for the past few months. You might not have noticed, but Microsoft already has support pages with the details for Win7 and for Win8.1. Win7 and 8.1 patching has already started morphing. So far weve seen three Windows 7 nonsecurity update rollups -- KB 3172605 in July, KB 3179573 in August, and KB 3185278 in September -- that first appeared as Optional/unchecked patches, then were later updated to Recommended patches. As I explained a couple of weeks ago: the general pattern is to have a cumulative update (er, patch rollup) released as Optional, wait a month to see if anything explodes, and if not, then change it to Recommended the next month. If you tell your machine Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates, the nonsecurity patch rollup wont be installed during the first Patch Tuesday, but will be installed during the following month. Thats clever, and it looks like itll work. The only ones who will get stung by bad nonsecurity patches are the ones who go out of their way to check and approve unchecked Optional nonsecurity patches. We havent seen any testing of cumulative nonsecurity patches or of bundled security and nonsecurity patches, but the patterns starting to come into focus. Trust issues The problem, of course, is that many individuals and organizations dont trust the install all of Microsofts patches approach. Hard to blame them -- the Get Windows 10 lessons run deep, and many dislike and distrust Microsofts enhanced telemetry capabilities, which they equate with snooping. The following simple approach to patching Windows 7 and 8.1, starting in October, is directed at individuals, but admins may find the demarcation helpful, too. Win7/8.1 users fall into one of two camps: Those who trust Microsofts updates and those that only want security patches. Lets call them Group A and Group B, respectively: Group A are willing to take all of Microsofts new telemetry systems, along with potentially useful nonsecurity updates. are willing to take all of Microsofts new telemetry systems, along with potentially useful nonsecurity updates. Group B doesnt want any more snooping than absolutely necessary, and they dont care about improvements like daylight saving time zone changes, but want to keep applying security patches. A third group, Group W, doesnt want anything from Microsoft -- no patches, no security updates, nada. I dont recommend that you sit on the Group W bench, but it can be understood given changes Microsoft has made to Win7 and 8.1 machines, without our permission, in the past. For Group A, patching is much easier: Set it once and forget it, unless theres a big bug. For Group B, the snooping should be less -- but theres no guarantee -- and the patching method is entirely manual. You can move from Group B to Group A, but as far as I can tell theres no way to move from Group A to Group B without completely reinstalling Win7 or 8.1. Microsoft has a history of mixing security and nonsecurity patches in arbitrary ways. Thats going to trip users and admins up alike if it continues to release buggy security updates, then fix the security update bugs in nonsecurity updates (see, for example, KB 3179573 in August and KB 3172605 in July). For now, lets assume Microsoft will fix Security-only Update bugs with Security-only Update patches. If they dont, were going be in a world of hurt. How to prepare for the patchocalypse Starting with October Patch Tuesday patches, there are two very different approaches to patching Win 7 and 8.1 machines, and you need to choose sides. The details arent entirely known -- and are bound to change -- but in broad strokes, heres what you need to do. Step 1. Choose between Group A and Group B. Choosing sides isnt as simple as asking, Do I trust Microsoft? You have to ask yourself whether the additional hassle of manually installing security patches is worth keeping Microsofts new snooping routines off your machine. You also have to ask whether the benefits of the new nonsecurity patches (in recent months weve seen improvements to Disk Cleanup, various bug fixes, time zone changes, performance improvements in odd scenarios, and several others) are worth the added exposure to Microsofts data gathering activities (about which we have no details). Note that the snooping routines already on your machine will stay there, even if you choose Group B, unless you manually uninstall the routine. I wont mention KB 2952664 by name. Step 2. If youre in Group A, set up Windows Update. If youre working on a machine that wont ever get manually updated -- good ol Aunt Marthas PC or one for the boss -- it would be wise to turn on Automatic Update. Contrariwise, if youre working on a machine that gets lots of TLC, and youre reasonably well tuned in to Windows news, I recommend you turn off Automatic Update. With it off, youll be able to watch automatic updaters install the latest updates, then decide for yourself when its time to get patches. Turning off Automatic Update in Group A is a trust-in-Microsoft-but-cut-the-cards move. In Windows 8.1s desktop mode, hold down the Windows key and press X, then choose Control Panel. In Windows 7, using an administrator-level account, click Start, Control Panel. In both cases, click System and Security. Under Windows Update, click the Turn automatic updating on or off link. (Note: If you have Control Panel set to View by icons, click Windows Update, then on the left choose Change Settings.) If youre working on Aunt Marthas PC, in the drop-down box choose Automatic (recommended) Automatically download recommended updates for my computer and install them. If you want to cut the cards, select Check for updates but let me choose whether to download and install them or Never check for updates (not recommended). The two choices behave similarly, but the first one will (at least in theory) show a notice in the system tray, down near the clock, when new updates are available. In either case, check the box marked Give me recommended updates the same way I receive important updates and click OK. Youre done. Step 3. If youre in Group B, turn off Windows Update In Group B, you dont need -- or want -- Windows Update. There are many ways to turn it off, but the simplest and least invasive option involves using the normal Control Panel setting. The methods identical to Group A: In Windows 8.1s desktop mode, hold down the Windows key and press X, then choose Control Panel. In Windows 7, using an administrator-level account, click Start, Control Panel. In both cases, click System and Security. Under Windows Update, click the Turn automatic updating on or off link. In the drop-down box select Never check for updates (not recommended) and click OK. Now the monkeys on your back to check for updates from time to time. While we dont have a comprehensive list of KB patches that you should uninstall, in order to minimize Microsoft snooping, theres a raging debate going on at AskWoody.com. Youre most welcome to join in, but realize its not all that simple: A snooping patch to you may be a massive cleanup patch to me. Further, with the dearth of information emanating from Redmond and the absence of a definitive explanation from on high, were all guessing. The best advice Ive seen on reducing the effect of snooping patches that may already be installed on your machine comes from ch100, who recommends you first turn off the Customer Experience Improvement Program (CEIP). Step 3.1. Click Start > Control Panel > Action Center. Step 3.2. Under Related settings, choose Customer Experience Improvement Program settings. Step 3.3. Choose No, I don't want to participate in the program, then click OK. You can find details in any of my Windows 7, 8, or 8.1 books. Then ch100 recommends you specifically uninstall three patches: KB 2952664 (or its Win 8.1 doppelganger KB 2976978), KB 3150513, and KB 3021917. Those patches are worth uninstalling because they seem to circumvent the CEIP setting. Theres a reason why those three patches dont appear in the Win 7 SP2 convenience rollup, released in May. In short, for Group B, turn off Automatic Update, turn off CEIP, uninstall KB 2952664 (or KB 2976978), KB KB 3150513, and KB 3021917. This Week in Review A weekly review of the best and most popular stories published in the Imperial Valley Press. Also, featured upcoming events, new movies at local theaters, the week in photos and much more. Get unlimited access to all content and features at ivpressonline.com with our Full Online Access Subscription. Read our E-Edition, the digital replica of the print newspaper online, access content in exclusive sections including Family, Teen, Business, Databases, Farm and more. This option does not include daily home delivery of the Imperial Valley Press newspaper. For home delivery service, please select Premium or Premium Plus. The presentation, How Marketing Can Revitalise Your Professional Services Business, was given to an audience of accountants and solicitors from across the area. The speaker was marketing expert Ted Aves, who told his audience: "With its strong emphasis on customer satisfaction, marketing is a powerful sales development tool, especially if companies find it hard to differentiate themselves from the competition. AT&T, an American multinational telecommunications, might stop the selling of Samsung Electronics Co.'s flagship Galaxy Note 7 due to unresolved issue of the smartphone's safety. Bloomberg reported that AT&T will most likely to release a statement of its final decision come Friday. Like Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint, AT&T (the second largest U.S. wireless carrier) has already started replacing returned Note7 devices with other alternative smartphones. However, in a statement on the replacement of Note7 devices from Samsung through Andrew Bowin of Samsung Corporate Communications Team, Samsung said that they do understand the concern of their carriers and consumers. "We continue to move quickly to investigate the reported case to determine the cause and will share findings as soon as possible. We remain in close contact with the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) throughout this process," Bowin wrote. Samsung said that if indeed a safety issue exists, they will do the necessary steps to address the problem. "We want to reassure our customers that we take every report seriously and we appreciate their patience as we work diligently through this process," Bowin ended. It could be remembered that Samsung Note7 was reportedly caught fire on a Southwest Airlines plane bound to fly from Louisville, Kentucky, to Baltimore, Maryland. This happened even take-off on Wednesday. Almost dozens of reports of the faulty batteries of Samsung Note7 were recorded. These lead Samsung to replace more than a million of Galaxy Note 7 devices. Rumors said that Samsung actually rushed the production of Galaxy Note7 to outperform Apple's iPhone7 and that due to these reasons, Samsung is said to have temporarily suspend the production of Galaxy Note 7 and this was done with the help of authorities in the U.S. and China. Also, on Sunday, T-Mobile was reported to have suspended the sale of the new Note 7. "Customers can still bring their recalled Note 7 or the new replacement Note 7, along with accessories they purchased from T-Mobile, to a T-Mobile store for a full refund and choose from any device in T-Mobile's inventory," the mobile operator said in a statement on Sunday, according to PCWorld. North Korea might have tested another nuclear rocket after satellite image analysis shows some suspicious activity on Sohae Satellite Launch Station. This speculation arose during the Workers' Party in North Korea. South Korea and the US started to notice that nuclear tests and missile launches took place on significant political dates in the country. According to Yahoo News, the US-Korea Institute at John Hopkins University were the once who noticed the suspicious activity in the country. They noticed crates on the launch pad and vehicles near the fuel and oxidiser buildings. Aside from that, they also noticed some movement on their vertical engine test stand. However, the Institute admitted that there are covered areas on the station like the gantry tower and assembly structures, which made it unclear if there were really preparing a launch that day. BBC News reported that scientists use seismometers to find out if the blast came from a nuclear blast. They said that everything has a distinct vibration. They explained that Earthquakes have quick and sharp pressure waves that are followed by shear and surface waves. On the other hand, landslides has the vibration of debris rolling down slopes while volcanic eruptions has the blast of breaking rocks caused by lava. Explosions can be identified through high-intensity seismic energy that happens in brief durations. This was first discovered in the Cold War when the United States funded a research to use seismology to track the weapons development program of the Soviet Union. Since then, scientist all over the globe used seismology to track down explosions further differentiating the difference of vibrations caused by an earthquake and vibrations caused by explosions. The first nuclear test in Korea happened on Oct. 9, 2006 in an underground detonation site which has a low yield and was considered a failure by most people. The most recent test happened last month when they tested a high-powered rocket engine which the South believes was targeted on the US east coast. Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence returned to Charlotte on Monday for his campaigns first rally since the disclosure of a video showing Donald Trump speaking about women in vulgar sexual terms and threw his support fully behind the presidential nominee. Its been an interesting few days, said Pence, who was quiet in the immediate aftermath of Trumps comments. He said Trump literally embodies the spirit of America and that hes proud to stand with Trump. Pences visit to Charlotte comes as other prominent Republicans have pulled back support from Trump or urged him to withdraw following the release of the 2005 tape Friday. The visit from Pence is also the first campaign appearance by a candidate in Charlotte following Sundays second presidential debate. On Monday, the Washington Post reported Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, said he would no longer campaign with or defend Trump and freed other House Republicans to do the same. Other Republican leaders to stop backing Trump include Ariz. Sen. John McCain and New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte, both in reelection races. My faith informs me were to hold up a Godly standard, said Pence, whose remarks put to rest any rumors he would quit the ticket. But we all fall short of the glory of God. Theres no one righteous, other than The One. I dont condone what was said, said Pence, who talked about the centrality of his Christian faith in his life. But the other part of my faith is grace...Were called to forgive as weve been forgiven. It takes a big man to know when hes wrong, said Pence, speaking in front of an audience of nearly 400. Donald Trump last night showed hes a big man. The Indiana governor started speaking at Centerstage@noda, 2315 N Davidson St. at about 1:15 p.m. Pence last campaigned in Charlotte in August during a private event hosted by Charlotte Pipe and Foundry. Monday, he spoke until shortly after 2 p.m. He was then headed to a restaurant in Gastonia and a 6 p.m. event in Fletcher. One audience member asked Pence how he would heal the racial divisions in the U.S. following police shootings of black men. Protests that turned violent at times rocked Charlotte last month after Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott, 43. Pence said that the public deserves an immediate and transparent review of such shootings, but also said people need to respect the police. Enough of those who would seize on these tragic moments to divide us and demean people who serve in law enforcement, said Pence. Pence sought to shift the focus of the race back to Clinton, drawing jeers from the crowd whenever she was mentioned and talking about key conservative issues, such as building up the military, cutting taxes, repealing regulations, repealing the Affordable Care Act and appointing conservative justices to the Supreme Court. He linked Clinton to President Obama and said the foreign policy from her time as secretary of state had weakened the U.S. position and led to more turmoil in the Middle East. History teaches us that weakness arouses evil, said Pence. The weak and feckless foreign policy of Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama...are all a testament to this truth of history. He also promised to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement and other trade deals that Trump says hurt American workers. Trade means jobs, but its first going to mean American jobs, said Pence. Open borders and open trade received loud boos from the crowd. Several women at the rally said they werent bothered by the tape of Trump, in which he bragged to then-Access Hollywood host Billy Bush on a hot mic about allegedly kissing women and grabbing them by the genitals. Shelley Greenberg, 50, said Trumps stances on the issues in the race are more important to her. We have all done and said stupid and ignorant things. Period. I dont appreciate what he said. But the issues are what are on my mind, said Greenberg, a Charlotte resident who works in health care. She also said Trump won the debate: Trump went into Armageddon debate and he came out a solid winner. He exposed Hillary and I call that leadership. Before the Pence rally, N.C. Republican Chairman Robin Hayes called the tape of Trump inexcusable and absolutely horrible in taste. But Hayes said Trump was contrite enough on the debate stage to satisfy him, and that the country should focus on more important issues. He also reiterated his support for Trump and said the state Republican party wont withdraw resources from Trump to focus on down-ballot races. That should become an irrelevant question as we pursue the much greater goals of how the countrys going to be run for the next four years, said Hayes. He is our chosen representative. I am supporting him. Pences visit comes as Charlotte remains in the political spotlight. North Carolina is a crucial swing state, and though Clinton holds a slight edge in polling averages, the state remains within polls margins of error. Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Kaine will campaign Wednesday at Davidson College. Kaine is expected to urge voters to take advantage of early voting, which starts Oct. 20. Trump will return to Charlotte for a Friday night rally at PNC Music Pavilion. The event will start at 7 p.m., with gates opening at 4 p.m. Outside of the Charlotte area, President Barack Obama will campaign for Clinton on Tuesday in Greensboro. At Sundays debate, Trump disagreed with Pence over policy in Syria. Pence had suggested there may be a need for U.S. military strikes. OK. He and I havent spoken, and I disagree, Trump said. Today Areas of patchy fog early. Rain. High 61F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 90%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch. Tonight Rain showers this evening with mostly cloudy conditions overnight. Low 49F. Winds light and variable. Chance of rain 40%. Tomorrow Partly cloudy. High around 75F. Winds light and variable. 10/10/2016 JSU alumnus Thomas Madden former Chief Information Security Officer for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta will visit JSUs campus on Oct. 14 to discuss Cyber Security: Why We Cant Win from 11 a.m. to 12 p.m. in Ayers Hall, Room 355. Come learn more about the current state of cyber security at this free public talk presented by the JSU Center for Information Security and Assurance. Madden holds a BS in business administration and an MPA from Jacksonville State. He is a nationally recognized expert in developing information security programs and a regular featured speaker at the SecureWorld conference. In 2006, he was presented the US Government Information Security Leadership Award (GISLA) by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. He stays involved with his alma mater by serving as a mentor to JSU students. An information question and answer session will follow the presentation. For more information, contact Dr. Guillermo Francia, III, director of the JSU Center for Information Security and Assurance, at 256-782-5723 or gfrancia@jsu.edu. By Helen Lackner | ( OpenDemocracy ) | Is the forgotten war turning into a forgotten famine? What answers will we give when the next generation ask how we could watch these tragedies and do nothing? Most of us are glued to our visual media watching the nightmare unfolding in Aleppo and the systematic bombing and killing of a besieged population in the city while the worlds politicians are debating allocation of responsibility in New York between meals at expensive restaurants. Meanwhile, as we are watching Syria, other tragedies are unfolding in the region, Libya and Iraq. But I will focus on Yemen. For a year, the UN has been predicting famine in the war-torn country. Some of us have pointed out that Yemenis, unlike people elsewhere, dont go out and starve to death in public. They have a different culture and do it at home and in private. These horrors are caused by war, they are not climate change natural disasters. They happen because politicians (is that the right word?) pursue their narrow interests and objectives at the expense of the welfare and lives of millions of their people. Are these men (at the moment few women are involved here) completely deprived of any sense of humanity? Many of us wonder what answers we will give the next generation when they ask how we could sit and watch these tragedies and do nothing, just as we asked our parents how they allowed the Nazi holocaust to happen. And this time, there is no way we can answer that we dont know. Why are we so helpless? Is there really nothing we can do? Just write, read, watch, turn up at demos in front of embassies and be ignored? Is that the best democracy can offer? Visible suffering in hospitals While many die at home some Yemenis, particularly children, do die in hospitals and their suffering is visible. Two journalists have just reminded us of this. On channel 4s Unreported World, Yemen: Britains unseen war, Krishnan Guru-Murthy shows us harrowing scenes from hospitals in Sanaa and camps in the northern Tihama coastal plain near one of the wars fronts. Nawal al Maghafis film Starving Yemen was filmed in Hodeida itself and in Beit al Faqih, 60 km south on a major asphalted straight road in the flat Tihama plain. The UN tell us that 14 million Yemenis are food insecure and 7 million of them severely food insecure, in other words malnourished or starving. Both films were made about two months ago, and in areas relatively easy to reach. Since then the situation has only worsened. In both films, we see children dying of starvation and the diseases associated with malnutrition; they also explain the role of war-worsened poverty in the suffering. The children we see here have some access to medical facilities, despite the constraints on supplies and power, but they are still starving and dying. Both these films clearly demonstrate that famine is no longer a remote possibility for the future, but is happening now. Yemenis are dying of starvation now. What of all the children further afield? What about the adults? What about the millions who live in remote mountain villages and less remote towns in the hinterland, many days drive on collapsed tracks and across destroyed bridges, how do they get food? Highland staple is bread, and 90% of Yemens wheat is imported. Although the rains have been good this year and the sorghum, millet and maize crops should be good, they are by no means sufficient. Highland rural families at best satisfy 20 to 30% of their food needs from their own production, urban ones are totally dependent on purchased food. The UN tell us that 14 million Yemenis are food insecure and 7 million of them severely food insecure, in other words malnourished or starving. Food Why is neither food aid from the WFP nor commercial food reaching them? Some blame the Saudi-led coalitions blockade. This is supposedly no longer a problem as the coalition and the internationally-recognised regime have given the UN authorisation to implement a Verification and Inspection Mechanism to speed up the docking of ships at Red Sea ports under the control of the Huthi-Saleh faction. It has approved the landing of almost one million tons of food, and 923,000 tons of fuel since May this year and checked 149 ships. However, the earlier Saudi-led coalition planes extremely precise and efficient targeting of the cranes in Hodeida port disabled them, thus slowing down all unloading, and extending ships waiting time to dock. This explains the shocking image in Murthys film of a warehouse full of 45,000 tons of decaying wheat flour which was unsuitable for human consumption by the time it was unloaded; it could have fed 45,000 people for a month. A further question: how come crucial crane cabins were so precisely and efficiently targeted when apparently incompetent targeting resulted in strikes on 5 MSF facilities, 4 of which are hospitals? Disease Malnourished people are more vulnerable to all diseases. So the overall worsening of medical services is a further contributor to a death toll which, up to now, has been systematically under-estimated by the UN. Recently raised to over 10,000, as Dr Ashwak Muharram, the doctor in Starving Yemen says, they only count those killed directly and ignore those who are killed for lack of medication, electricity in hospitals, or starvation. Do you have to be killed by an airstrike to count? What about the rest? Do you have to be killed by an airstrike to count? What about the rest? Estimates of total deaths to those directly associated with military action vary widely, but the lowest figure is that as many people die of indirect causes. This would mean that the current death toll in Yemen would be over 20,000. Many observers, particularly those with experience of the medical situation, think this is a considerable under-estimate. There is little doubt that the medical services are unable to cope with the situation. First they are starved of supplies, whether medication, consumables, or equipment. Second most of them lack electricity as most public electricity networks are not functioning, many generators are destroyed, and fuel is expensive and hard to come by. Thirdly, damage and destruction of medical facilities has had a major impact. According to a World Health Organisation survey, published end of September, 274 health facilities have been physically damaged by the war, and as many as 1900 out of 3507 are either not functioning or only partially functioning. In 267 districts[2] surveyed there is not a single doctor. In those hospitals which are functioning, the first services to reduce operations under stress are operating theatres and intensive care units: this almost certainly ensures that those with most acute and urgent problems will die. Paralysed Central Bank Importers of essential commodities have faced considerable difficulties on the international markets in recent months due to increasing constraints in the banking system and restrictions on letters of credit essential for large consignments. This situation is about to worsen dramatically because of the decision by the coalition-supported, internationally-recognised government to effectively paralyse the Central Bank (CBY). This was the only remaining and operating joint national institution in a country in practice divided between the area under the control of the Huthi-Saleh alliance and the areas surrounding them, which Hadis internationally recognised government claims to control. The CBY had remained neutral and been as well managed as it could be in the circumstances. Its reserves have melted in recent months due to a lack of income while it continued paying salaries. The Hadi government decided to move the bank to its temporary capital Aden, and disavow the Banks governing body based in Sanaa, thus ending the truce prevailing on its functioning. This is the precursor to greater disaster for the people of Yemen. Taken with the approval of the new Gang of four, a group established on 25 August in Riyadh and composed of the US, Saudi Arabia, UAE and the UK, this decision will certainly cause much more suffering for the Yemeni people everywhere. Although the Gulf Cooperation Council states leading the coalition promise to support the new CBY based in Aden with substantial funds, observers are allowed to wonder whether and how promptly these promises will be kept; salaries of most military/security personnel in some parts of the liberated areas are paid with very considerable delay. Both military and civil personnel on government payrolls are demonstrating daily demanding their salaries throughout Yemen, in areas controlled by both sides. The effective paralysing of the Central Bank will only worsen the humanitarian crisis, as it will make imports of food and medical supplies all the more difficult. It may even prevent remittances from reaching the thousands of families who are only kept above extreme poverty and starvation by the support they get from relatives out of Yemen. Meanwhile, war and the arms trade Meanwhile the war goes on. The usual fronts have seen more violent fighting since the breakdown of the peace negotiations in early August. The Saudi-led coalition air strikes have intensified. The military stalemate has certainly been a factor in the decision to end the truce on the Central Bank, a decision guaranteed to worsen suffering. The death toll mounts, from strikes, from malnutrition and starvation. The decision makers, whether Yemeni on both sides, or their supporters now focused on the new Gang of four, continue to show total contempt for Yemeni citizens lives and welfare. The Saudi-led coalition air strikes have intensified. At long last there seems to be some public momentum to put pressure on the British and US states to stop their sales of weapons and ammunition to the leading state in the coalition, Saudi Arabia. Opposition is growing. Both the British Parliament and the US Congress are witnessing moves to stop the arms sales; they have been unsuccessful up to now but at least they are showing concern. It is unlikely that our governments will prioritise the lives and welfare of millions of Yemenis over short-term profits for the arms trade from sales to Gulf Cooperation Council states, and the jobs they provide. High tech jobs which could be re-cycled into more peaceful and useful sectors. Britain will see a Judicial Review of the governments arms sales policy next January. Can we achieve more? Readers are urged to write to any officials of their choosing, demanding an end to the arms sales, demanding that their government call for a more even handed resolution at the United Nations Security Council which might make peace negotiations more likely to succeed, calling for an end to this pointless war. You can also help by informing as many people as you can of the situation, so Yemen stops being the forgotten war. Donations to Medecins Sans Frontieres or an alternative NGO of your choice active in Yemen will certainly be used to alleviate the suffering of a few people at least. Each of these small actions has a minimal impact, but if enough of us do enough of them, who knows? We may be able to answer our children that we put an end to some of the horrors of the second decade of this century. [1] Yemen has a total of 333 districts. Thanks go to Nawal al Maghafi and BBC for permission to use the two stills from her film. Via OpenDemocracy Related video added by Juan Cole RT: Number of malnourished children skyrocketing in Yemen, UN urges end to conflict amid Saudi strikes Chinese officials announced [press release] Sunday that 70-year-old former legislator Bai Enpei has been sentenced to death for his part in taking bribes. The announcement comes as the government has continued its anti-graft campaign speared by President Xi Jingping to root out any and all corrupt practices in the region. The court found that the former legislator had not only participated in bribes but had also obtained excessive assets allegedly as a result. Bai received [AP report] a suspended death sentence, which will convert to life in prison with good behavior, a ban from holding political offices as well as a forfeiture of all his assets. The ongoing graft campaign has become a contentious civil rights issue as many criticize the campaign for targeting political activist. A southern China court in September sentenced [JURIST report] three prominent labor organizers to suspended prison terms, almost nine months after they were arrested during a crackdown on civic organizations working outside of the Communist Party. Noted human rights lawyer Xia Lin was sentenced [JURIST report] to 12 years in prison by a Chinese court also in September. Xia, who famously represented many Chinese dissidents including artist Ai Weiwei, was arrested and accused of fraudulently obtaining more than a million dollars to take care of gambling debts. The Ethiopian government [official website] declared a national state of emergency on Sunday. This is the first time that a state of emergency has been declared in the country in 25 years, since the ruling party came into power. Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn announced the state of emergency to local news services and explained that the declaration will last for six months [BBC report]. The government accuses foreigners for stirring the civil unrest that has plagued the country and prompted violent protests over human rights and government land grabs. The conflict between the Ethiopian government and protestors has been widespread. Tensions increased over the past week when at least 55 were killed in clashes between police and protesters at a festival. Last month Ethiopias opposition leader and leader of the Oromo ethnic group, Tiruneh Gamta, demanded the release of all political prisoners [JURIST report] regardless of any political stand or religion or creed. The Oromo ethnic group, representing the largest group among the protesters, is largely credited with starting the protests last November when the government announced its plan to expand the capital into the Oromia region. Although the Oromos initially started protesting against what they viewed as a plan to remove them from fertile land in the region, the protests started taking on a different theme even as the government dropped its plan to expand the capitalone calling for the release of political prisoners [Al Jazeera report]. According to rights groups, at least 500 people have been killed and thousands arrested since the unrest began. In January several Ethiopian rights groups called on the international community to address the killing [JURIST report] of protesters. The Florida Democratic Party [party website] filed a federal lawsuit [complaint, PDF] on Sunday against Governor Rick Scott [official website] requesting he extend the voting registration period in the state an extra week due to Hurricane Matthew. Currently the voter registration period in Florida for the upcoming presidential election ends on Tuesday. The complaint states that Scott refused to extend the voter registration period despite ordering millions to evacuate their homes as the hurricane was approaching. Because of the effects of Hurricane Matthew, the plaintiffs argue that citizens will face the tough decision of risking their safety to register to vote, and even if they decide to register, many election offices are closed. They further claim this will prevent thousands of Floridians from registering to vote. The plaintiffs complaint argues that refusal to extend the registration period places and undue burden on the right to vote under the First and Fourteenth Amendments [LII materials] to the US Constitution, is disparate treatment favoring residents who live inland, and violates the Voting Rights Act of 1965 [DOJ backgrounder] because it abridges voting rights for minorities. Voting issues have become especially contentious as the presidential election approaches. Last week a federal court issued [JURIST report] a preliminary injunction in favor of the Pyramid Lake and Walker River Paiute Native American tribes challenging Nevadas voting procedure of failing to provide polling places on Native American reservations. Late last month California Governor Jerry Brown signed legislation [JURIST report] clarifying felons voting rights. The law now clarifies that those sentenced under the third category of Criminal Justice Realignment Act of 2011, a term in county jail, are not stripped of their constitutional right to vote and confirms that only those serving a state-prison sentence or on parole and under California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation supervision lose the right to vote. Earlier in September a judge for the US District Court for the Northern District of Illinois granted a motion [JURIST report] blocking Illinois from allowing voter registration on Election Day in the states most populated counties. The week before the US Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit struck down [JURIST report] a procedure implemented by the Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted that effectively eliminated inactive voters from registration rolls if they failed to respond to letters requesting confirmation of their status and addresses. The Federal Supreme Court of Iraq [official website] ruled [press release, in Arabic] Monday against Prime Minister Haider al-Abadis proposal to eliminate the mainly ceremonial roles of Vice President and Deputy Prime Minister. The court reasoned that these roles are constitutionally required [Iraq constitution, PDF] and their elimination can only be passed through an absolute majority in parliament and then ratified by a national referendum. The Prime Minister had proposed the role eliminations last year with the approval of his cabinet. Iraq has faced significant challenges in recent years with both providing basic infrastructure and fighting militant groups. Last November the Iraqi parliament voted to prevent al-Abadi from passing important reforms without the parliaments approval [JURIST report]. In August of last year the Iraqi Parliament unanimously approved [JURIST report] al-Abadis reform plan [statement] to cut spending and eliminate many top political positions. The reform plan seeks to restart a corruption investigation program. Iraqs cabinet approved the proposal [JURIST report] earlier that week, though it faced some criticism. In 2013 the Iraq parliament passed a law [Reuters report] restricting the prime minister, parliament speaker and president to two four-year terms. The UN Security Council [official site] on Saturday failed [press release] to adopt two measures meant to protect the Syrian people from continued warfare. Russia used its veto power and Venezuela voted against a French and Spanish measure to immediately cease airstrikes and military bombardment missions in the area. In turn many Western nations voted against the Russian resolution that would have begun a multilateral approach to ending the conflict. The resolution differences [Reuters report] rested in the timeframe of the ceasefire and the correct way to end the crisis. The continued destruction during the war in Syria continues as an international human rights disaster. US Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday called [JURIST report] for an investigation of alleged war crimes committed against Syrian civilians by both Russia and the Syrian regime. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad al Hussein cautioned [JURIST report] Russia Tuesday against the continued use of incendiary weapons in the fight for Aleppo. A UN childrens rights expert on Monday stated [JURIST report] that Syrias continued infliction of harm on children is a brutal abdication of human rights obligations they have committed to respect. David Kaye, the top UN expert on free expression, stated [press release] Friday that reports that Yahoo allowed the US government to search hundreds of millions of customers e-mails raise serious human rights concerns. According to recent reports [NYT report], Yahoo is alleged to have created software to scan all incoming e-mail for specific criteria provided by either the US National Security Agency (NSA) or FBI. Kaye expressed his concerns that the alleged e-mail surveillance meets the standards of necessity and proportionality for the protection of legitimate government interests. Kaye acknowledged [s]tates place undeniable pressures on the private information and communication technology sector that often lead to serious restrictions on the freedom of expression, but said that those companies have varying degrees of leverage in their relationships with the government and should exercise this leverage so as to resist or mitigate the harm caused by the abusive application of the law. In closing, Kaye said companies like Yahoo should be evaluated in regards to the steps they take to promote freedom of expression, even in circumstances where promoting that right is difficult. Surveillance and data collection have been a worldwide topic of discussion, particularly after Edward Snowden leaked top-secret [JURIST report] US NSA documents in 2013. In December China passed a new anti-terrorism law [JURIST report] that requires technology companies to provide information to the government obtained from their products and make information systems secure and controllable. Last October the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit denied [JURIST report] a motion by the American Civil Liberties Union to halt the bulk collection of phone records by the NSA. The court ruled that Congress intended for the agency to continue its data collection over the transition period, and the new legislation was to take effect November 29. In August 2015 the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit reversed [JURIST report] a ruling that had blocked the NSA from obtaining call detail records from US citizens. In July 2015, MIT scientists published [JURIST report] a paper criticizing the US and UK governments for seeking the redesign of Internet systems to allow governments to access information even if encrypted. A group of UN human rights experts spoke Friday on the subject of the death penalty and terrorism, calling the death penalty ineffective [press release], and often times illegal, in deterring to terrorism. Speaking ahead of the World Day Against the Death Penalty, the rights experts stated it has taken notice of governments relying upon the death penalty in order to battle terrorism, either reintroducing capital punishment or expanding the scope of offenses it is applicable toa policy that contradicts the international movement to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances. Currently, 65 countries maintain some form of the death penalty for terrorism related crimes. The experts were emphatic that there is no sufficient evidence of the death penalty providing more satisfactory results in curbing terrorism than through other forms of punishment, going so far as to say terrorists who are executed may just gain in prestige as may their cause. In conclusion, the experts called upon nations engaged in resolving the issue of terrorism to ensure that the programmes to which they contribute do not ultimately result in violations of the right to life. Capital punishment [JURIST op-ed] remains a controversial issue in the US and worldwide. In July, following a failed military coup, the Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan stated he would approve reinstating the death penalty [JURIST report] if he garnered sufficient backing from the Grand National Assembly. In May a spokesperson for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned [JURIST report] Iranian authorities for the sentencing of Nargis Mohammadi, an anti-death penalty activist. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein welcomed [JURIST report] the measures being taken by pharmaceutical giant Pfizer to prevent the use of its drugs in state-sponsored execution by lethal injection. UN human rights experts expressed [JURIST report] grave concern earlier that month over Belarus death penalty practices after reports surfaced that a man was executed while his case was before the UN Human Rights Committee. NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Drinks Daily News The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Drinks Weekly News A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Drinks Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter France-based private-label snacks group Europe Snacks and UK peer Kolak Snack Foods today (10 October) announced the companies had merged. Free Report Whats the forecast for the food and grocery industry? Market drivers and inhibitors Five-year forecasts and the impact of COVID-19 The performance of the online channel versus offline Major trends in the market including rapid delivery, ambient retailing, supply chain disruption, and inflation Assess developments within this sector to help your business thrive in 2022 and beyond. The food and grocery sector thrived during the pandemic, largely due to the shutdown of the food service industry and the sectors subsequent necessity, panic-induced bulk purchasing, and spending more time at home. The market has grown as a result of inflation. Consumer unwillingness to go out and socialize, and the reopening of several hospitality facilities, helped maintain the demand for groceries, particularly online, in 2021. As consumer behavior changes, we consume more food and drink at home, and inflation increases basket sizes. GlobalData predicts that the sector will continue to hold a higher share than had been predicted prior to the pandemic. This is true despite the fact that the food and grocery sector's share of overall retail will decline from its peak in 2020. This report will discuss market forecasts and key themes in the global food & grocery industry in 2022 and beyond. It covers:Assess developments within this sector to help your business thrive in 2022 and beyond. by GlobalData Enter your details here to receive your free Report. 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Visit our privacy policy for more information about our services, how we may use, process and share your personal data, including information on your rights in respect of your personal data and how you can unsubscribe from future marketing communications. Our services are intended for corporate subscribers and you warrant that the email address submitted is your corporate email address. Thank you.Please check your email to download the Report. The businesses said the deal would create a leader of the sector. Financial details were not disclosed. In a joint statement, the companies said the enlarged group would generate annual revenues of circa EUR250m and have six manufacturing sites in France and the UK. They said they supply 200 retail and discount customers across Europe and beyond. Europe Snacks CEO Christophe Fenart will be the CEO of the business. By bringing together Europe Snacks and Kolak we are moving towards our goal to become the pan-European partner of choice for our customers brands, driving innovation across a full range of crisps and snacks, Fenart said. Ashok Lakhani, co-founder and the chairman and CEO of Kolak, will have a seat on the companys board as a non-executive director. Bharat Lakhani, Kolaks other co-founder, was the UK firms business development director. He will be stepping back from the business, the statement read. Rikin Lakhani, Kolaks managing director, will lead the UK arm of the new business. He said: I am delighted to be working with Christophe and the team at Europe Snacks. I am very excited about the opportunities that this merger presents both nationally and internationally for us and our customers. Nicolas Eymeoud, the MD of Europe Snacks, will lead the groups French operations. Europe Snacks and Kolak will continue to operate under their brand names, the statement read. Private-equity firm Apax acquired a majority stake in Europe Snacks from fellow buy-out house IK Investment Partners in 2013. Last year, Europe Snacks took a majority stake in French crisp maker, Sibell. Related Companies NEWSLETTER Sign up Tick the boxes of the newsletters you would like to receive. Just Style Daily Update The top stories of the day delivered to you every weekday. Just Style Weekly Update A weekly roundup of the latest news and analysis, sent every Monday. Just Style Magazine The industry's most comprehensive news and information delivered every quarter. Udi Alonis new feature film, the winner of this years Berlinale Panorama Audience Award, is one of two Israeli films at the festival having the word junction in their title. Can one see this as a sign that Israel is standing at an important crossroads in its history? Katoikos.eu spoke to the director and the Palestinian leading actor, Samar Qupty. Im not political. Ana mish politi (Im not political), sings Kareem, a young Palestinian rapper from a stage, improvised on the ruins of his friends house, which Israeli bulldozers flattened down to make space for the planned Museum of Coexistence. The story of Junction 48 takes us to Lod or Ludd, as its pronounced in Arabic a small town with a mixed Jewish-Arab population just a few kilometres away from Tel-Aviv, in Israel proper. Kareem (played by Tamer Nafar, who is a rapper himself and the co-author of the script) and his girlfriend, Manar (played by Samar Qupty) use their songs to fight both the discrimination by the State of Israel and the violent patriarchal conservatism in their own community. However, Junction 48 is a political film, which does not content itself simply with pointing fingers. Obviously, you cannot make a film about Palestinians without it being political, says Qupty. But you dont have to put politics in the foreground. Instead, we tried to show politics as an integral part of our daily life. Kareems outcry Im not political is about the unaccomplishable wish not to be political, adds Aloni. I dont want to be political but they just destroyed my friends house with a bulldozer because hes an Arab. Im not political but my girlfriends conservative family doesnt let me see her. It is the longing for the impossible normality. And it is also what makes this film so universal. The Arab society is very conservative, it sees powerful women as a threat, says Qupty. Hence, as an Arab and a Palestinian woman living in the State of Israel, you face multiple levels of oppression at once. Thats hard, but it also makes your will to change things stronger. This is who Manar is. But she is not the kind of rebel that simply abandons tradition. In fact, she appreciates the good things about her society. Instead, she uses her art, her songs, and her love for Kareem as a particular way of struggle from within. Its very easy to express struggle pathetically, adds Qupty. Struggle is usually associated with demands, protests and demonstrations. But thats only a small part of the struggle. Weve been occupied since 1948. It has been 68 years now and the new generation is tired of being pessimistic. Instead, it transforms the powers that push it down into art, into music. Thats our new struggle, our new revolution. Its our new revolutionary way of life, if you want. The Spectre of Binationalism Aloni (born 1959) is by all means a habitue of Berlinale. Junction 48 is his sixth film at the festival. A son of the late Israeli politician Shulamit Aloni (1928-2014), who was the leader of the progressive Meretz party and a Minister of Education under Yitzhak Rabin, Aloni is a filmmaker, writer, and visual artist known for his radical interpretations of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Katoikos.eu: You often speak of binationalism. Do you see it as alternative to the lasting stalemate between the aspired two-states solution and the one-state reality? Is it at all realistic? Udi Aloni: Israel is indeed the only true democracy in the Middle East for the Jews, that is. [laughs] For me, binationalism is primarily a cultural notion. It means keeping ones particularity whether Jewish or Palestinian. It is based on the concept of community and of difference both between communities and within them. My friend and teacher, [the Palestinian poet], Mahmoud Darwish expressed this idea well. He wrote: Let us go together in two separate paths. Let us go together and let us be kind. In fact, Ill jump on any solution that will end the current atrocities. If anybody made the two-states solution possible, I might support it. But, for now, it is the two-states solution that is the most unrealistic dream. Katoikos.eu: Can Europe do anything to help solve the conflict? Aloni: First, Europe should abandon creating this fiction of two states. The European leaders seem reluctant to understand how we [the Israelis and the Palestinians] are entangled with each other. My recommendation is thus: First of all, see it as it is! See, for example, what it is to be a Palestinian citizen of Israel! In all my meetings with the Europeans, they would tell me: Bring us one Palestinian and one Israeli. I say: Okay, but only if the Palestinian is a citizen of Israel. I will not bring you one who is under full occupation and let you celebrate normality. Im against normalization. They say: But this is an Israeli Arab! I say: No, his family is in Gaza, in Ramallah, in Sabra and Shatila. In my opinion, the binational opportunity is the only way to survive this place. The flip-side is Bibi Netanyahus paranoia and an ever-tighter enclosure. Gaza is already the biggest ghetto in the Middle East. Soon enough, Israel itself might become an even bigger ghetto. However, I also dont think the solution will come from the West. Of course, Europe, including Germany, should stop giving weapons to Israel. Europe and America must stop supporting the colonialist powers in Israel. But binationalism has to be a Middle-Eastern thing. Maybe, in that regard, Europe should move aside. Katoikos.eu: What is the role of art in this? And how do you see your political role as a filmmaker? Aloni: What is art? Art is a possibility to open possibilities. Unfortunately or, maybe, luckily so, were not going to change the world through art. But we offer a different possibility to see it. The statement of the film lies in its performative act. After all, it was an opportunity for Tamer, myself, and the entire crew a mix of Israeli Jews and Palestinian Arabs to function together. We created our Noahs Ark. At some point, the Flood in the region will be over: the craziness of the Israeli government with its hyper-vanity, ISIS fundamentalism in the void left by colonialism, etc. All this cannot continue for too long; it will fail. The question is: When it ends, what will be waiting there? My hope is that it will be a community similar to our ark. For now, the situation can be described by a well-known line from the Communist Manifesto: A spectre is haunting the region the spectre of binationalism. And all the powers there have entered into a holy alliance to exorcise this spectre. Katoikos.eu: The most refreshing thing about your film is, perhaps, that it couldnt care less about political correctness. Aloni: We have the most racist jokes about each other, Tamer and myself. What could be more fun than that? After all, we know that it comes from our universality, from our common fight both against the occupation and against honour killings of Palestinian women by their own community. People often find this complexity hard to handle. When I say I fight for Palestinians, people say: Heres a self-hating Jew. But for me, the only way I can practice my Jewishness is to be in total solidarity with the Palestinians. One should leave the narrative of the Other and be Br-other! It is an entirely different stance. Curiously, this otherbrother thing works even better in Hebrew, where other (akher) has brother (akh) in it. Katoikos.eu: Was it a conscious decision not to try to present the complexity of the political situation and not to underline the fundamental victimhood of Palestinians? Aloni: In the big fight between Noam Chomsky and Slavoj Zizek, I take Zizeks side. Chomsky thinks that if you just show people the truth, they will choose the right way. Its a typical American understanding. According to Zizek, trauma or ideology will always block your view. When you look at the sun, you become blind. Hence, it would be futile to simply show the truth of occupation. I feel I can only change something by deconstructing the ideology that prevents people from seeing the truth. In a way, Id be happy if your readers didnt focus only on my radical political statements but let the film speak for itself, go under their skin, see its dream. Katoikos.eu: Both Zizek and the French philosopher Alain Badiou are mentioned in special thanks. What was their role in the film? Aloni: These were just my personal thanks. I feel I owe them a lot. Both of them adored the film, which was a bit of a surprise to me, actually. I thought that I finally made a film that says Fuck you, philosophers! People often make a distinction between intellectual films and films about life. But, in Judaism for example, the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge have the same roots. And this is perhaps my first film, in which I could finally put the two together. Both the philosophical ideas and the ruling ideology are there they function in the film without being seen. If I did well as a director, the viewer will not feel either, while being in the very midst of it. A good film is like a homoeopathic medicine. It remembers its active ingredients without actually containing them. Vienna, the grand city of music, is playing host to the 60th edition of Europes premier pop singing event; albeit, Vienna is famous for opera, symphonies and classical music. #12Points is how the city has been rebranding itself for the duration of the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). The face of the ESC 2015 is Thomas Neuwirth, more commonly known by his Drag Queen persona Conchita Wurst. From advertising for bank loans to having a sausage named after her, no one in the past few years has achieved as much popularity after winning the ESC as Conchita. The city entered into a week of celebrations on the Sunday leading up to the finals. The State Opera House (Wiener Staatsoper) organised a special matinee programme, with the overarching theme of Building Bridges, wherein it invited ESC participants to share the stage with renowned operatic voices. The event was a huge success, involving the likes of Juan Diego Flores of Peru, Valentina Nafornita of Moldova, Aida Garifullina of Russia, Mario Pecoraro of Austria, who represented the operatic repertoire alongside ESC representatives Boggie of Hungary, Morland and Deborah Scarlet of Norway, John Karayiannis of Cyprus and, of course, Conchita herself. The Austrian Chancellor, the Director of the State Opera, ESC participants and associate staff were all in attendance. That same evening, the official inauguration of the festivities occurred at Eurovision Song Village in the square facing the picturesque Viennese City Hall (Wiener Rathaus), with Conchita beside the Mayor of Vienna, Michael Haeupl, who has spared no expense to showcase the best of Vienna to the world. With excitement and fever abound in the atmosphere, the Viennese and national authorities have organised numerous open air viewing areas. The social statement has been quite hugely successful, with Vienna portraying itself as a liberal city tolerant towards people of all orientations. The first semi-final was held on Tuesday, the 19th of May. The event seemed to go on without any upsets, as most of the expected finalists secured their tickets. The Viennese took this as an opportunity to commemorate one of their favourite music legends, Udo Jurgens, the first Austrian winner of the ESC in 1966 with his song Merci, Mon Cherie, who passed away in December 2014. He attained popularity after his win and, throughout his lifetime, was a household name in Austria and the German-speaking world. The first challenge to the organisation arose right after the event was completed, when a deluge of rain swept through the area as crowds of people were leaving the venue. The authorities seemed unprepared to cope with the sudden downpour; lots of guests gave the organisers a piece of their mind, some of whom werent even able to communicate in basic English. 12 points to Vienna for its organisation, was among a number of outbursts overheard as people waited in the rain to collect their belongings. It was at least half an hour before the tension diffused, the rain subsided and ponchos were handed out. The second semi-final passed without any major hiccups both inside and outside the Stadthalle. The final on the 23rd of May shall play out to a much larger audience with an expected number of over 200 million viewers- the second largest event, only after the Oscars, in a non-sport category. The next host city of the event has a lot to live up to after Vienna set the bar so high, hosting the event after almost five decades. Warren Buffetts personal income taxes, once debated in Congress after he complained they were too low, are back in the political fray. In response to a comment by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, the Omaha financier said Monday he didnt take a massive deduction, as suggested by Trump, and has paid federal income taxes every year since 1944. Buffetts federal income tax last year: $1,845,557, despite making $2.85 billion in charitable contributions, he said. Buffett, a supporter of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, sent out a press release giving figures from his 2015 tax return in what he said was a response to Trumps comment during Sundays debate with Clinton. Asked to respond, Trumps campaign did not comment specifically on Buffetts press release but said Trump and the campaign have commented on the income tax issue multiple times. Buffetts income taxes and charitable contributions also have been the subject of other criticisms by detractors, who have said his annual donations of corporate stock are a means to escape federal taxes on his growing wealth. Berkshire Hathaway Inc., the business Buffett runs as chairman and chief executive, paid income taxes last year totaling $10.5 billion. During the debate, Trump was asked about a recent New York Times story that said he reported a $916 million loss in 1995, meaning he likely paid no federal income taxes for as long as 18 years. Warren Buffett took a massive deduction, Trump said during the debate. Trump also said he properly followed tax laws and did not pay federal income taxes for some years. In Mondays press release, Buffett said, He has not seen my income tax returns. But I am happy to give him the facts. Buffett said his adjusted gross income on his 2015 federal tax return was $11,563,931. His deductions totaled $5,477,694, which included $3,469,179 in allowable charitable contributions, $2,972,478 in state income taxes and $36,037 in other deductions. He donated $2.85 billion to charities in 2015, nearly all of that to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and to four Buffett family foundations, but almost none of that qualified as a deduction. Tax law properly limits charitable deductions, Buffett said, and he does not carry forward such contributions to be deductions in future tax years. Tax laws generally allow both contributions and losses to be carried forward to future tax years as possible deductions. He said he has copies of all 72 of his income tax returns, the first one filed in 1944, when he was 13. Though, being a slow starter, I owed only $7 in tax that year, he said in the press release. Trump has declined to make his tax returns public, saying he is being audited and would make the returns public when that is over. IRS officials have said a taxpayer is free to make returns public even if they are under audit. Last summer Buffett spoke at a campaign rally in Omaha for Clinton, introducing her to the audience and challenging Trump to a joint appearance during which he and Trump both would make their tax returns public and answer questions. That hasnt happened. In Mondays press release, Buffett said his tax returns have been audited multiple times and are being audited now by the Internal Revenue Service. I have no problem in releasing my tax information while under audit, Buffett said. Neither would Mr. Trump at least he would have no legal problem. The bulk of Buffetts wealth is tied up in Berkshire stock. He received a $100,000 salary last year from Berkshire, an amount that hasnt changed for years, and $370,244 for personal and home security costs. The source of the rest of his income isnt public but likely comes from other investments. The gain in value of Buffetts Berkshire stock about $12 billion this year isnt counted as income because he hasnt sold any of the stock. He donates shares of Berkshire stock to the foundations each year, which means he doesnt pay income taxes on the gain in value of those shares. But Buffett owns about 38 percent of Berkshire, which means he indirectly accounted for about $4 billion of Berkshires $10.5 billion in 2015 income taxes. Buffett, 86, has said that when he dies 99 percent of his wealth will go to charitable foundations, a transfer would also would exempt the gain in value of the Berkshire shares from income taxes. The Federal Election Commission reported that Buffett contributed $2,700 to Hillary Clintons campaign in 2015 and a total of $150,200 to Democratic campaign organizations in 2015 and 2016, plus $2,700 each to Democrats Rep. Brad Ashford of Nebraska and Sen. Ronald Wyden of Oregon. Buffetts earlier foray into tax policy came early in President Barack Obamas administration, when he pointed out that his office staff, including his assistant, pays higher income tax rates than he does and that Congress should set a minimum tax rate for high-income people like himself. Discussion of instituting a Buffett tax has continued since then. Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns the Kearney Hub and Omaha World-Herald OMAHA Robert W. Grant stabbed his on-again, off-again girlfriend 46 times, then tried to skip town without his T-shirt that read Almost Single, Douglas County authorities said Wednesday. Grant, 32, is accused of killing Trudy McKee, 43, at the Blossoms Apartments, 9805 Park Drive, on Sept. 17. Douglas County Judge Jeffrey L. Marcuzzo ruled Wednesday that there is enough evidence to try Grant for first-degree murder. Omaha police Detective Thomas Queen testified that Grant occasionally stayed with McKee, a registered nurse from Elm Creek, at the apartment she shared with her teenage daughter. All three lived in Wichita, Kan., until earlier this year. McKees daughter told police that before she left for school, she saw her mother and Grant asleep in bed. She returned home about 3:30 p.m. to discover her mothers body inside the master bedroom. A neighbor told police that she heard a womans bloodcurdling scream in the morning, but did not call police. Police found a duffel bag of clothes and shoes at the apartment that appeared to be bloodstained. Tests later showed it was McKees blood, Queens said. Police also found the Almost Single T-shirt that McKees daughter identified as Grants. Grant was arrested by Omaha police later in the day after he boarded a Chicago-bound bus without buying a ticket. During questioning, police noticed a spot of blood on Grants shoes. The blood tested positive for McKees DNA, Queen said. A murder weapon has not been found. We're always interested in hearing about news in our community. Let us know what's going on! Go to form Samsung Electronics Galaxy Note 7 smartphones are displayed at the company's shop in Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported Monday, following reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon) Law enforcement officers, left, drag a person from a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline, near the town of St. Anthony in rural Morton County, N.D., Monday, Oct. 10, 2016. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers won't yet authorize construction of the $3.8 billion, four-state Dakota Access oil pipeline on federal land in southern North Dakota, it said Monday, along with reiterating its earlier request that the pipeline company voluntarily stop work on private land in the area. (Tom Stromme/The Bismarck Tribune via AP) 282 Shares Share By the time I reached Dr. R, I was twelve months into an undiagnosed, severe, lower abdominal pain condition. Desperate for an accurate diagnosis and treatment plan after seeing ten doctors who had misdiagnosed me, I was exhausted and beyond frustrated with the care Id received. Seated across from Dr. R. in her office with copies of my medical records and symptom diary in tow, I waited quietly while she reviewed my documents. She glanced up from my typed history of the pain, complete with tests and treatments performed, medications prescribed and list of misdiagnoses, and made eye contact. She said, You poor thing. Im sorry youve been going through this. Her words drew tears to my eyes. Twelve months of debilitating chronic pain had wrangled me to a prone position most hours of each day, had chewed my ability to work, and eroded much of my capacity to mother our young daughter. Dr. R. was the only doctor who conveyed empathy. Thats one out of ten. Empathy is a vital component of care. According to the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Providing empathic care improves the physicianpatient relationship, resulting in improved patient outcomes and satisfaction. Is empathy a dying art in medicine? A study published in the Journal of Academic Medicine found that empathy erodes in medical students by the third year in medical school. Because current medical education emphasizes detachment and clinical neutrality and places greater emphasis on technology, rather than on humanism in medicine, are we churning out physicians poised for physician burnout? Physician burnout erodes empathy toward patients and mitigates physicians feelings of effectiveness and capacity to contribute meaningfully. The AHRQ Safety Network states, Burned out clinicians may develop a sense of clinical detachment from their work and view people especially patients as objects. Physicians spend much more time now on data entry to fulfill electronic health record (EHR) requirements as mandated by the ACA. According to new research in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, the demands of EHRs are increasing burnout in physicians. I cant imagine what might have happened if Dr. R. had been burned out and hadnt been capable of being empathic in my first visit with her for my pain condition. Id already spent a year seeing ten doctors, some repeatedly, and not one treated me like a human being who was suffering. I had begun to feel like a robot that simply presented medical records, reported symptoms, submitted to tests and treatments, and answered questions. On that same day, Dr. R. also said, Im going to do my best to help you. And boy, she sure did. I knew I had a smart and kind physician in my corner who actually cared, enough so to do research on my symptoms on her own time. If hernias in women hadnt been so rare at the time, I know she would have nailed the diagnosis. She came incredibly close. The cause of my pain turned out to be caused by a muscle tear in my C-section site with nerves pinched in the tears and an inguinal hernia with a nerve trapped in the opening. By chance, I found the diagnosis in a New York Times article, In Women, Hernias May Be Hidden Agony, http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/health/17brody.html by recognizing my symptoms in a patient portrayed in the article. I hunted down the hernia specialist/surgeon Dr. T., who healed the patient in the article. Lucky for me, she was located in my city, and I made an appointment. Dr. T. also conveyed empathy toward me. In my first visit with her, she responded to my tears with a hand on my shoulder and said she thought she could help me. Dr. T. healed me through surgery, and Ive been pain-free for five years. Among the twelve doctors I saw for the pain over 16 months, two showed empathy: Dr. R. and Dr. T. They are the only physicians I still see and feel bonded to. Im immensely grateful to both of them. With the emphasis on technology in medicine and intense demands on physicians, lets not forget just how important empathy is to the patient and to the physician. After all, isnt the doctor-patient relationship the cornerstone of quality and safety? Perhaps its one salve for physician burnout too. Martine Ehrenclou is a patient advocate. She is the author of and the Take-Charge Patient and Critical Conditions: The Essential Hospital Guide to Get Your Loved One Out Alive. Image credit: Shutterstock.com Kilkenomics, the worlds only festival where economics and comedy meet, has announced an exciting line up for their 2016 programme with tickets now on sale. Kilkenomics is the only festival in the world at which you will find some of the most important figures in international economics sharing a stage with the UK & Irelands most talented comedians. With a mission to bridge the gap between the academics of economics and the public affected by economic decision, Kilkenomics is a weekend that is not easily forgotten. Since 2010 Kilkenomics, hosted on Kilkennys medieval mile, has gone from strength to strength and ticket numbers doubled in 2015. The seventh edition of the festival is set to be bigger than ever before with a stellar line-up of national and international economists, commentators and comedians arriving in Kilkenny for four days of economics with a comic twist in an intimate setting. As ever the programme brings together the international and national topics that everyone is talking about from the US presidential election to the future of Europe. On Friday 11th November, Kilkenomics welcomes back one of the world's foremost behavioural economists Dan Ariely. Following the painful treatment he received for injuries sustained in an explosion, Dan became engrossed with the idea that we repeatedly and predictably make the wrong decisions in many aspects of our lives. His books: Irrationally Yours, Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationalityand The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty have made our understanding of behavioural economics accessible and beneficial and his legendary talks are intriguing, revealing and often very funny. On Saturday 12th November Jim Rickards is in conversation with David McWilliams for The Road to Ruin: The Global Elite's Secret Plan for the Next Financial Crisis, an exclusive preview of Jims latest book The Road to Ruin. Over in the Watergate Theatre host Colm ORegan will be joined by Liam Halligan, Wolfgang Munchau, Diane Coyle, Joris Luyendijk, and Cormac Lucey to discuss one of the political shocks of the decade in Brexit: Could England's Difficulty be Ireland's Opportunity? Are we capable of inventing our way out of Armageddon or will the robots rule us in the end? Dara O Briain will be joined by a lively panel of Rory Cellan-Jones, Nassim Taleb, Rory Sutherland, Diane Coyle, Joris Juyendijk to debate The Future of Things: Will Technology Ruin Us or Save Us? Kilkenomics original game show, Jargon-Busting...Again returns with a new batch of baffling and confounding economic and financial words and phrases designed to bemuse, amuse and enthuse. Economists and comedians attempt to outdo one another in demystifying the coded language of the dismal art. Just days after we find out the verdict of the American people in the most controversial and divisive presidential election campaign in history a panel of experts hosted by Des Bishopwill look at the new leader of the free world and examine what lies ahead for the US and the world in Trump | Clinton: Are We Witnessing the Beginning of a New American Civil War? The fastest-selling show each year, Kilkenomics Brunch, is back again on Sunday 13th November with a light hearted and optimistic look at the Sunday newspapers in the company of some of the festivals brightest and liveliest contributors. Speaking about the return of the festival for 2016, leading economist and festival co-founder David McWilliams said, Building on the success of 2015, this years line-up at Kilkenomics is set to be the most impressive yet. An unforgettable experience, the festival firmly has its finger on the pulse of current Irish and World issues and is four days of demystifying economics with the worlds best minds. Tickets for Kilkenomics 2016 are available online from today (Friday 7thNovember) at www.kilkenomics.com. Join the discussion on Twitter via @kilkenomics using #kilkenomics HANOI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official market and indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi at 0055 GMT. Oct 10 Oct 7 USD/VND mid-point 21,970 21,980 USD/VND interbank 22,275/22,335 22,302/22,303 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.34/35.61 35.18/35.45 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank quotes are indicative bid/ask prices. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co, the gold manufacturer. Interbank offered rates are indicative, quoted from market sources. For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) (Kitco News) - Cobalt, as we reported previously, is the secret ingredient in lithium ion batteries. Battery-electric vehicles like Teslas contain approximately 50kg, or about 10% of the total battery weight, in every car. As we had anticipated, the price of cobalt went up by more than 20% over the past six months (from around $10.80/lb to now $13.40/lb). In addition to an increase in demand, recent reports of unsafe conditions and child labor emerged in a report by Amnesty International, shocking a customer base with firm environmental and ethical values. How will this affect the market? We spoke with William Hattan, an independent metals investment advisor and expert on cobalt. In recent times there were stockpiles and excess inventory from the previous period of overproduction keeping the price down, explains Hattan. These reserves have now been used up. Cobalt is only a 100,000 ton /year market. If there is a shortage in supply by even 5 or 10% which we expect to hit by the first half of next year, then you are going to feel that. A lot of large consumers are trying to get into long term contracts at this point because they are seeing the future, and they worry about the escalating prices in cobalt. Hattan: An additional problem is that the battery market, which is not just in electric vehicles but also in smartphones and other portable electronic devices, once consumed about 40% of the available cobalt. It is now closing in on 50% because of the demand in electric vehicles. You have Tesla, BMW, Nissan, GM, Mercedes Benz its going to be a very competitive market. 70% of all cobalt is a by-product from nickel and copper mining. As a result of the poor prices for nickel and copper last year, a lot of mines have been shut down, contributing to a reduced availability of cobalt. The sad news about the horrific conditions in cobalt mines in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is that there is no way to get away from the metal soon. The market for battery powered vehicles and devices is in a seemingly unstoppable growth pattern, leaving less metal for the aerospace industry that is already backlogged for high grade material. Not to mention new applications for cobalt like the emerging market for industrial gas turbines (IDT) where the metals content is anywhere between 4 and 10% of the turbine alloy. Companies like Apple and Samsung, among others, made commitments to find ethical supply sources in the near future. They will have to dig a little deeper because there are not a lot of new copper and nickel mines coming on stream, says Hattan. There is only one in the U.S. that I am aware of, Formation Metals out of Idaho, that is one or two years away from going into production. Based on the numbers we see there is definitely going to be a short-term squeeze. By the first half of next year, I would be very surprised if the market doesnt reach at least 16-17 dollars per pound, for battery grade material. The average price of cobalt has been $18-20/lb over the past 15 years. For the metal to go back to these levels in 2017 is very realistic. In two years, I could see it trading as high as $25/lb Will we ever see cobalts all-time highs $30-40 again? Hattan is optimistic: The combination of all these factors make for very bullish news for cobalt. By Bodo Albrecht, www.bodoalbrecht.com Follow me on Twitter @BodoAlbrecht By Swati Pandey and Nichola Saminather SYDNEY/SINGAPORE, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Investors and traders in Asia indicated on Monday they are mostly increasing their bets on Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton winning the U.S. presidential race after the second of three debates with Republican party nominee Donald Trump. Some, though remain cautious, saying there was still a chance of a surprise Trump win. They said many in the markets were wary after being burned by the shock "Brexit" vote in June. MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan edged up around 0.1 percent by mid-afternoon in Singapore on Monday, while Wall Street index futures were little changed after Clinton exchanged barbs with Republican party nominee Donald Trump in the televised event, which was shown live across trading rooms during Asia's morning. The 90-minute debate quickly turned into an acrimonious discussion of a 2005 video that emerged on Friday in which Trump was heard using vulgar language and talking about groping women. The controversy has caused some senior Republicans to withdraw their support for him. "For those that think that Trump has a very, very low chance of winning the U.S. elections it might be a good time to go long on global equities," said Itay Tuchman, Citi's head of markets for Australia and New Zealand. Markets could be prematurely pricing in a Clinton victory, as they did during the "Brexit" vote in June, when the United Kingdom voted unexpectedly to leave the European Union, said Lee Jin Yang, research analyst for Aberdeen Asset Management in Singapore. "We need to remember that Brexit only became a key focus one week before the vote. The market had priced in near zero probability of it happening but it did." According to a CNN online poll, Clinton won the debate by 57 percent to 34 percent. But Josh Crabb, head of Asian equities at Old Mutual Global Investors in Hong Kong, said he is wary of such polls - especially after Brexit. "The way that mainstream media, and a lot of commentators, interpret the outcome of the debate may be different to what the voting public in general takes away," Crabb said. "That is a concern because often, a lot of these polls have not been quite as accurate as people are expecting." Mathan Somasundarum, a strategist at stock brokerage Baillieu Holst in Sydney, said a Clinton victory would reduce the risk of the United States adopting a strong trade protectionist policy. Trump has been highly critical of the NAFTA trade deal with Mexico and Canada as well as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which has yet to be ratified by the U.S. Congress. He has promised to build a border wall and make Mexico pay for it. "I would expect the U.S. dollar to weaken and you would expect then there is some pressure coming off emerging markets, and then commodities, which (are a) proxy for emerging markets," Somasundarum said. "China, commodities and the Aussie dollar should do better." While the markets had already begun to price in a Clinton victory even before the Republican party's crisis over Trump's 2005 remarks, some are beginning to game out what would happen if the Democrats won both houses of Congress, which are now Republican controlled. The possibility of the Democrats controlling Congress and the White House is a concern to some in the markets as they see it leading to more regulation of businesses and higher taxes. "Over time, people will start thinking, is this going to mean a big difference in the way taxation works? Is it going to mean more government involvement?," said Crabb at Old Mutual Global in Hong Kong. "But the immediate reaction will be a relief rally." Angus Gluskie, managing director of White Funds Management in Sydney, said while markets usually view one party dominating the government as a risk, it could be different this time. "Investors have been disappointed by the political stalemate over recent years, which has prevented meaningful and well-needed changes being pursued," Gluskie said. Steven Friedman, senior investment strategist at BNP Paris bas Investment Partners in New York, said he saw little in the debate that represented a game-changer for either candidate. "This obviously plays to Clinton's advantage, given her lead in the polls," he said. Strategists in a recent Reuters equity poll mostly viewed an election victory on Nov. 8 by Clinton as more positive for the stock market through the end of the year, largely because her positions - unlike her opponent's - are well-known. Chris Brankin, chief executive at stock brokerage TD Ameritrade Asia, said he thought Trump was much better prepared for the town hall debate in St. Louis than he was for the first debate, and that could give markets some pause. "I have always said markets 'know what they get' with Hillary, as she as always been seen as pro-Wall Street and Trump is a bit of an unknown for investors. "After tonight's debate I still think there are a lot of questions as who will be elected into office next month and markets are probably going to remain range-bound till after the U.S. elections." (Writing by Bill Tarrant.; Editing by Martin Howell.) (Kitco News) - Gold and silver futures prices are moderately higher in early U.S. trading Monday, on short covering in the futures market and bargain hunting in the cash, following last weeks drubbing that drove both markets to multi-month lows. December Comex gold was last up $8.70 an ounce at $1,260.60. December Comex silver was last up $0.31 at $17.69 an ounce. Gold prices are also benefitting on ideas U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump performed better than expected at the Sunday evening debate against Hillary Clinton. Most of the world marketplace sees Trump as a bigger unknown than Clinton. China market participants are returning to the marketplace this week after a week-long holiday last week. Chinese and Indian demand for gold bullion may pick up in the coming weeks, ahead of Indian festivals and on notions last weeks price downturn presents a longer-term value-buying opportunity in gold. European stock markets were mostly weaker to start the trading week Monday. The German Deutsche Bank saw its shares down again. Asian markets were mostly firmer Monday as mainland Chinas markets reopened. Chinas central bank on Monday pegged its yuan currency at a six-year low against the U.S. dollar. Markets are closed Monday for holidays in Japan, Canada and Hong Kong. The British pound is weaker against the U.S. dollar again Monday following Fridays flash crash that saw prices spike to a 31-year low. The pound is feeling pressure from notions of a quick exit by the United Kingdom from the European Union. Crude oil prices are higher Monday and hovering just above $50.00. World market watchers have been keeping an extra close eye on crude oil prices. Nymex crude oil futures closed above the key $50-a-barrel level last week, which is technically bullish. Reports Monday said Russias energy minister will soon discuss OPECs proposal to reduce crude oil production levels. The Saudi Arabian oil minister says he is optimistic an OPEC accord can be reached and that crude oil prices could hit $60.00 a barrel yet this year. U.S. economic data due for release Monday includes the employment trends index. The U.S. government is closed Monday for a holiday. (Note: Follow me on Twitter--@jimwyckoff--for breaking market news.) Wyckoffs Daily Risk Rating: 2.5 (Trader and investor market risk aversion is not elevated today.) (Wyckoffs Daily Risk Rating is your way to quickly gauge investor risk appetite in the world market place each day. Each day I assess the risk-on or risk-off trader mentality in the market place with a numerical reading of 1 to 5, with 1 being least risk-averse (most risk-on) and 5 being the most risk-averse (risk-off). Technically, December gold futures bears have the overall near-term technical advantage and still have downside momentum. Prices are in a three-month-old downtrend on the daily bar chart. Bulls next upside near-term price breakout objective is to produce a close above solid technical resistance at $1,300.00. Bears' next near-term downside price breakout objective is closing prices below solid technical support at $1,225.00. First resistance is seen at the overnight high of $1,266.80 and then at $1,271.60. First support is seen at $1,250.00 and then at last weeks low of $1,243.20. Wyckoffs Market Rating: 3.5 December silver bears have the overall near-term technical advantage. Silver bulls next upside price breakout objective is closing futures prices above solid technical resistance at $18.46 an ounce. The next downside price breakout objective for the bears is closing prices below solid support at $17.00. First resistance is at the overnight high of $17.84 and then at $18.04. Next support is seen at $17.50 and then at last weeks low of $17.115. Wyckoff's Market Rating: 3.5. By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com Follow @KitcoNewsNOW DUBAI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's stock market stabilised early on Monday after a sharp fall on the previous day, while other Gulf stock markets largely moved sideways in quiet trade. The Saudi stock index , which had tumbled 2.2 percent on Sunday as banking shares dropped because of concern about the impact of government austerity policies on their balance sheets, was flat after 45 minutes of trade on Monday. The banking sector index edged up marginally. Qassim Cement dropped 3.2 percent after reporting a 29 percent year-on-year drop in third-quarter net profit, citing lower demand for cement as well as cost increases due to cuts in state subsidies for electricity and fuel. But Saudi Basic Industries gained 0.9 percent after it and Saudi Arabia Fertilizers Co (SAFCO) said they had hired investment banks to advise on the potential sale of a stake in the Ibn Al-Baytar fertiliser company, a 50-50 joint venture between them. SAFCO rose 0.4 percent. Dubai's index was also flat. But the most heavily traded stock, builder Drake & Scull , surged 6.6 percent after saying it had appointed chief operating officer Wael Allan as its new chief executive, replacing Khaldoun Tabari, a major shareholder. Drake & Scull's chief financial officer, Kailash Sadangi, told Reuters in August that the company had asked advisers for proposals to review its business and find strategic investors; the change at the top of the company could clear the way for new investment and fresh action to stem its losses. Qatar's index edged up just 0.1 percent as Qatar National Bank lost 0.1 percent before the release of its third-quarter earnings later in the day, but Doha Bank added 1.2 percent. (Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Dominic Evans) By Huw Jones LONDON, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Scotland said on Monday there was no evidence it had deliberately caused SMEs to fail, while a senior British lawmaker called for the country's regulator to fix a publication date for a long-delayed review into the allegations. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) announced the review in January 2014 into how the bank's Global Restructuring Group (GRG) treated business customers during and after the 2007-09 financial crisis, when taxpayers had to rescue the lender. Earlier, the BBC reported that documents leaked by a whistleblower supported allegations that RBS tried to profit from struggling businesses in a "dash for cash" by bank staff. "The leaks today illustrate the need for the FCA to get on with publication as soon as possible. I will be writing to the FCA for a publication date," Andrew Tyrie, chairman of parliament's Treasury Select Committee, said in a statement. "The basis of what has come out so far, this appears to be a shocking story, with many businesses at the wrong end of it." The FCA review, partly based on findings from consultants Mazar's and Promontory, was due to be published by the end of 2015. The regulator said earlier this month it has received the consultants' final report, but needs to complete a number of steps before it can publish the overall findings. "This has been a complex and lengthy review - it is therefore important that we do not rush the final stages of this process," the FCA said on its website. RBS said it had let down some small business customers and that it should have done better in some areas, but said investigations had no shown any wrongdoing on its part. "We have seen nothing to support the allegations that the bank artificially distressed otherwise viable SME businesses or deliberately caused them to fail," RBS said. RGL Management Ltd, set up to launch a GRG-related group action against RBS in early 2017, said it expects to act on behalf of more than a thousand businesses with an aggregate claim size reaching billions of pounds. Meanwhile, Collyer Bristow, a law firm, said the FCA should set up an independent compensation scheme so that customers can avoid the cost of going to court. (Reporting by Huw Jones and Andrew MacAskill; Editing by Alexander Smith) SEOUL, Oct 10 (Reuters) - South Korea said on Monday that it sold its first 50-year treasury bonds at 1.574 percent. The finance ministry said the yield for the one-off sale of 1.1 trillion won ($986.77 million) was 4 basis points over the average yield for the benchmark 10-year notes for the preceding three business days. Earlier in the day, Vice Finance Minister Song Eon-seog said there would be no additional issuances of the "super long" bonds this year. ($1 = 1,114.7500 won) (Reporting by Cynthia Kim; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu) HANOI, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Here's a snapshot of Vietnamese dong exchange rates in the official and unofficial markets, indicative SJC gold prices in Hanoi and interbank offered rates at 0414 GMT. Oct 10 Oct 7 USD/VND mid-point 21,970 21,980 USD/VND interbank 22,300/22,302 22,302/22,303 USD/VND unofficial 22,345/22,365 22,320/22,340 SJC gold (mln dong/tael) 35.47/35.74 35.18/35.45 Interbank offered rates Overnight 0.4-0.9 0.4-0.9 1 week 0.4-1.3 0.4-1.3 1 month 1.5-2.4 1.5-2.4 3 months 3.2-4.2 3.2-4.2 NOTES: As of Jan. 4, 2016 the State Bank of Vietnam has begun setting the mid-point rate on daily basis, allowing dollar/dong transactions to move in a band of +/- 3 percent around the mid point. The dong's exchange rate against other currencies is not restricted by a band. Interbank offered rates are the latest indicative bid/ask prices, quoted from market sources. One tael is equivalent to 37.5 grams or 1.21 troy ounces. SJC gold prices are quoted by state-owned Saigon Jewelry Co. For more interbank rate fixings released at 0400 GMT, click on . For Vietnam market overview click on: Vietnam's bonds market auctions: Bonds auction results: (Compiled by Hanoi Newsroom) (Adds comment by source comment) By Dominique Vidalon and Gwenaelle Barzic PARIS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Vincent Bollore has raised his stake in Vivendi to above 20 percent, the French tycoon's holding company said on Monday, further tightening his grip on the media giant as he presses ahead with trying to turn Vivendi into a European media powerhouse. Vivendi's share price, which has fallen by about 8 percent since the start of the year compared with a drop of more than 11 percent in the Stoxx Europe 600 media sector index , was up 2.2 percent at 18.47 euros by 1227 GMT. Shares in Bollore SA were up 1.5 percent at 3.09 euros. The Bollore Group, which until now had held a 15 percent stake in Vivendi, said in a statement that as a result of a number of transactions the size of its holding had now moved above 20 percent and would be around 29 percent by April next year after taking into account the build-up of the double voting rights which have been granted to established shareholders by a new French law. "These operations reflect the confidence the Bollore Group has in Vivendi's potential for development and its willingness to remain as the primary shareholder of the company in the long term," Bollore's holding company said. The 64-year-old businessman has made no secret of his plan to gradually increase his holding in Vivendi while pursuing his expansion strategy. Since Bollore became chairman in 2014 Vivendi has bought a key stake in Telecom Italia and moved back into the video games business by acquiring French company Gameloft and buying a 22.8 percent stake in sister company Ubisoft , despite opposition from the founding Guillemot family. However, Bollore has also encountered a number of obstacles this year, including continued resistance by the Guillemots to allowing Vivendi to take control at Ubisoft. In addition Italian broadcaster Mediaset is now suing Vivendi for damages after it backed away from a deal to buy its pay-TV unit Mediaset Premium. "We see this more as a move to consolidate the long-term control of the company, perhaps for the benefit of the next generation of Bollores, rather than a conviction that certain share price drivers (recovery at Canal Plus) are about to turn positive," Kepler Cheuvreux analysts said in a note. "That said, the investment in Vivendi now represents close to 5 billion euros, more than half the market cap of Bollore Group, so the long-term conviction can be said to be firmer than ever," they added. Losses at TV subsidiary Canal Plus' French channels totalled 264 million euros in 2015 and could reach 400 million euros this year, Vivendi has said. (Reporting by Dominique Vidalon, Gwenaelle Barzic; and Mathieu Rosemain; Editing by Geert de Clercq, Greg Mahlich) * Carinthia says 98.7 pct of Heta bondholders accept offer * Big step towards ending major political, economic scandal * Low rate of hold-outs minimises threat from legal action (Adds detail on offer, creditor reaction) By Francois Murphy and Kirsti Knolle VIENNA, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The Austrian province of Carinthia won over almost all creditors of a failed bank with an offer to buy their bonds, a major step towards averting the threat of bankruptcy for the province and ending a long-running headache for the government in Vienna. The decline and collapse of Carinthian bank Hypo Alpe Adria , from which "bad bank" Heta Asset Resolution was formed, has cost Austria billions of euros, and Carinthia was on the hook for Hypo bonds with an original face value of 11 billion euros ($12.3 billion) that it guaranteed. Arguing it could not afford to honour those guarantees, Carinthia offered to buy back those bonds for less than the guaranteed amount. Having had an initial offer largely rejected in March, an increased offer that expired on Friday was accepted by all but a fraction of creditors. "The offers have been accepted by holders representing an aggregate nominal amount of 10,671,968,023 euros. This equals 98.71 percent of the aggregate outstanding nominal amount of all instruments," a special purpose vehicle that Carinthia set up to pay creditors said in a statement on Monday. The acceptance rates of 99.6 percent for owners of senior bonds, which make up the bulk of the paper, and 89.4 percent for owners of junior bonds were well above the thresholds required for the offer to be binding on all bondholders. The small number of hold-outs minimises the risk of legal action that could scupper the buyback, a test of new European 'bail-in' rules that aim to ensure investors meet some of the cost of bank failures. That risk does, however, remain. "The Heta case is not over," the Teutonia group of creditors said in a statement, adding the Austrian law underpinning the offer "is clearly unconstitutional and will be fought by several creditors". When asked who those creditors were, a spokesman for Teutonia said only one member of Teutonia with a small number of bonds would go to court, the others having accepted the offer. The core of the offer - 75 percent of the original face value for senior bondholders and 30 percent for junior bondholders - is unchanged from the overture that was rejected in March. A sweetener of a specially issued Austrian government bond topping up that offer, however, has been increased. Austria is also lending Carinthia the money for the deal. Senior bondholders who reinvest their payment in that bond, which runs until 2032, can bring the repayment rate to about 90 percent. Junior bondholders can recover roughly 45 percent if they invest in a promissory note running until 2068. Both can sell those instruments after just two months. ($1 = 0.8928 euros) (Editing by Mark Potter) (Kitco News) - European stock markets were mostly weaker to start the trading week Monday. The German Deutsche Bank saw its shares down again. Asian markets were mostly firmer Monday as mainland China's markets reopened after a week-long holiday last week. China's central bank on Monday pegged its yuan currency at a six-year low against the U.S. dollar. Markets are closed Monday for holidays in Japan, Canada and Hong Kong. Gold prices are higher Monday on bargain hunting after last week's strong selling pressure. Also, ideas U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump performed better than expected at the Sunday evening debate against Hillary Clinton are positive for gold. Most of the world marketplace sees Trump as a bigger unknown than Clinton. The British pound is weaker against the U.S. dollar again Monday following Friday's "flash crash" that saw prices spike to a 31-year low. The pound is feeling pressure from notions of a quick exit by the United Kingdom from the European Union. Crude oil prices are lower Monday and hovering just below $50.00. World market watchers have been keeping an extra close eye on crude oil prices. Nymex crude oil futures closed above the key $50-a-barrel level last week, which is technically bullish. Reports Monday said Russia's energy minister will soon discuss OPEC's proposal to reduce crude oil production levels. The Saudi Arabian oil minister says he is optimistic an OPEC accord can be reached and that crude oil prices could hit $60.00 a barrel yet this year. U.S. economic data due for release Monday includes the employment trends index. The U.S. government is closed Monday for a holiday. By Jim Wyckoff, contributing to Kitco News; jwyckoff@kitco.com Follow Jim Wyckoff @jimwyckoff SHARE By Michael C. Moore, mmoore@kitsapsun.com BAINBRIDGE ISLAND Don't try to find out too much about acclaimed actor Hamish Linklater's play "The Vandal;" the Internet isn't exactly awash with information. And don't try to get too much out of the Lesser-Known Players, who offer four performances of what The New York Times described as an "amiable comedy-drama" Oct. 20-23 at Rolling Bay Hall. "There are so many spoilers," said Jennifer Hodges, one of the Lesser-Knowns' founding members and one of "The Vandal's" three cast members. "You can't really say too much without giving something away." Kristi Jacobson, who directed the Lesser-Knowns' debut outing last year's "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)" returns to helm the decidedly fringe piece, with which she had no familiarity until Hodges thrust it at her. "My first response was that there was a lot there. The language is great," said Jacobson, an avowed "language person" who's been heavily involved in the Kitsap theater scene for the last several years, but takes her first dip into the kind of black-box pool required by Linklater's first playwriting effort. "It's perfect for our season, and it's perfect for our stage." The play depicts a simple encounter involving a woman waiting at a bus stop, a young man who attempts to make small talk until the bus arrives, and the keeper of the liquor store where she's talked into going to buy the kid a bottle. When it debuted off-Broadway early in 2013, produced by Flea Theater in Soho, Times reviewer Charles Isherwood called Linklater's dialogue "tart, often friskily funny," and said the characters all "are effectively drawn with sharp contours." Though not well known, it's an example of the kind of "chewy theater" Jacobson said the Lesser-Knowns are trying to unearth. "The stuff we're looking at doesn't really fit in anywhere else," she said. "Just for me, I've been doing lots of more classical theater in some of the other (Kitsap) places. It's nice to tackle something modern like this." Pete Benson, a recent Bainbridge arrival with decades of theater experience under his belt, said that performing a play for an audience that's never seen it is like "having a blank canvas. "That's what's wonderful about new works like this," said Benson, who made his Kitsap debut in last summer's Bainbridge Performing Arts "Bard at Bloedel" production of "Much Ado About Nothing," in a cast that also included both Hodges and Jacobson. "You really get to explore." In the Lesser-Knowns' production, Benson plays the storekeeper. Bainbridge newcomer Derek Villanueva plays Robert, the young man who attempts to befriend Hodges' character, who remains nameless. The show also will feature original music composed and played by Bainbridge-based cellist Taylor Rae Jensen. "When we listened to what she wrote, it was like she understood the script," said Benson of Jensen, who was invited by Hodges to soundtrack the show. "It brings a little Bainbridge to the show," Hodges added of the music. "And the cello is so expressive, it really lends itself to this kind of mood piece." Hodges pointed, with a laugh, to another most tenuous Kitsap connection. "The play's set in Kingston," she shrugged. "Not our Kingston, but a Kingston." PREVIEW 'THE VANDAL' Who: Lesser Known Players What: Comedy-drama by Hamish Linklater Where: Rolling Bay Hall, 10598 NE Valley Road, Bainbridge Island When: 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20-22, 2:30 p.m. Oct. 23 Tickets: $20-$15 Information: Brown Paper Tickets 800-838-3006, brownpapertickets.com SHARE John G. Nordgren III of Port Orchard Nov. 15, 1933 to Oct. 3, 2016 John G. Nordgren III of Harper (Port Orchard) passed away Oct. 3, 2016, in Bend, Oregon. John was born Nov. 15, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois. He was preceded in death by his parents, John G. Nordgren, Jr. and Alice Temple Nordgren. The family moved to the small South Kitsap community of Harper in 1942, and John attended South Kitsap schools (including a one-room elementary school in Southworth). He graduated from South Kitsap High School in 1952. John had a long and rewarding career at Puget Sound Energy, retiring as a manager in 1994. After retirement, he and his wife, Lee, lived on their power boat for over 15 years, cruising the waters of Washington, British Columbia, and Alaska. When cruising days were over, they built a new home in the community of Harper, on property that had been in the family since 1936. They continued their travels in their motorhome, until John unexpectedly passed away during a trip to Bend. John is survived by Arleta (Lee), his wife of 59 years. He was preceded in death by their daughter, Judith Ann Nordgren Whitish; and is survived by daughter, Carri Lee McLallin; son, Michael John Nordgren; daughter-in-law, Dawnelle Reid Nordgren; and five grandsons: Dillon, Casey, and Shane McLallin and Gabriel and Zachary Nordgren. He is also survived by his extended family, Christopher, Elizabeth, and Mackenzie Olsen. John will always be remembered as a caring and loving husband, father, grandfather, and friend to everyone. He took a deep interest in everyone he met and truly "never knew a stranger." His family and wide circle of friends will miss him forever. At his request, there will be no formal memorial service. Donations in his memory can be made to Children's Hospital of Seattle or any charity of your choice. Please visit http://www.bairdmortuaries.com/obituary/John-G-Nordgren for an online memorial and guest book. SHARE Norma Card, Bremerton Maybe mothers can calm protests Watching the protests on television from cities across the country after a police officer shoots a black person, I noticed as a few mothers came out, grabbed their child and yanked the kid away from the protest. Maybe it's mothers who should organize, take charge of the children and stop some of this. It's also a good diea for black churches to organize. By Greg Rock, Carbon Washington Like facing the acceleration of a deadly, but treatable disease, our response to climate change is at a critical decision point. The military has identified climate change as a major threat to our national security. The Department of Defense calls it a "threat multiplier" because of how climate disruption exacerbates many of our global challenges from food and water shortages, to disputes over refugees and resources, the spread of infectious diseases, and destruction by natural disasters. Not only that, rising sea levels pose a growing threat to U.S. military bases and infrastructure around the world. Closer to home, we see the damage to our oceans, which have absorbed so much carbon pollution they are turning acidic. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association warns us that "Puget Sound has some of the world's most corrosive waters. Scientists are finding that marine waters in the Northwest have become so corrosive that they are eating away at oyster shells before they can form." New research has found a similar impact on Dungeness crab. Across the state we are also facing more frequent and severe wildfires, drought, flooding, and coastal destruction. And this is just the beginning. If worldwide emissions continue on their current trajectory for just the next five years, scientists estimate we will likely exceed the 1.5 degrees Celsius of warming limit that they believe would help avoid the worst effects of global climate disruption. People may say that Washington is an environmentally conscious state, and it is, but we're not doing enough. Even under the new Clean Air Rule, the Department of Ecology estimates that we will fall short of our 2035 greenhouse gas reduction target. And while increased investment in mass transit will help, it is nowhere near enough. Sound Transit estimates that its entire system in 2040 will reduce annual emissions by less than two percent of the approximately 48 million tons needed to meet the state's 2050 target, for example. The good news is there is a way to quickly and dramatically lower our carbon emissions, and provide a model for the rest of the country to follow suit. Scientists and economists agree that putting a price on carbon pollution is by far the cheapest and most effective step that we can take to close that gap. And there is a measure on the ballot this November that does exactly that. Initiative 732 is designed to be climate-, business- and budget-friendly. All the money generated through a tax on the carbon pollution from burning fossil fuels is returned to households and businesses in three ways: through a one percent reduction in the state sales tax rate; funding a Working Families Rebate of up to $1,500 a year for 460,000 low income households; and eliminating the Business & Occupations tax for manufacturers to help maintain their competitiveness as they shift to lower-carbon sources of energy. We already have proof that this approach works. British Columbia successfully implemented a similar revenue-neutral carbon tax in 2008. Even while cutting its greenhouse gas emissions five to 15 percent, B.C.'s economy grew at a faster pace than the rest of Canada. The Sightline Institute, a Washington sustainability think tank, conducted an extensive analysis of I-732 and found it "will put wind in the sails of Washington's clean energy economy as nothing else possible," while "also helping low-income families by making Washington State taxes less regressive," and that yes, "it's revenue neutral." That's why the measure has garnered endorsements from many scientists, economists, business leaders, and lawmakers across the political spectrum including state Rep. Sherry Appleton and Sen. Christine Rolfes. Climate change impacts already cost our state $2.2 billion a year by some estimates. It is frightening to think of the consequences if we delay action. We ought to be acting responsibly now to protect the climate, and the natural world that we've inherited, for our children and future generations. This November, please vote yes on I-732. Greg Rock is a sustainable energy engineer (M.Sc.) and on the executive committee for Carbon Washington. Learn more at yeson732.org. SHARE The Hillary Clinton campaign is relentlessly focusing on the defects of Donald Trump rather than the defects of the Republican agenda. It could be a winning strategy. But it has pitfalls. The campaign's goal is to attract a wide swath of voters who might ordinarily lean Republican on issues, as well as unenthusiastic Democrats who need the specter of a Trump presidency to get to the polls. As Clinton told a crowd a few weeks ago at the American Legion convention in Cincinnati, "this is not a normal election" and "the debates are not the normal disagreements between Republicans and Democrats." One new Clinton ad, for example, shows young women looking at themselves in mirrors while sexist comments by Trump are played in the background. Vilifying Trump and creating a broad bipartisan coalition against him are entirely justified. Trump is indeed a menace. It's also a winning strategy if Clinton's only goal is to get elected president. But a singular focus on Trump poses two big risks for what happens after she wins. First, it reduces her presidential coattails that might otherwise help Democratic candidates running for the Senate and House. Portraying Trump as an aberration from normal Republicanism gives their Republican opponents a free pass. All they have to do is distance themselves from him. Six months ago, when the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee were still linking Trump to the Republican Party, Democrats were well positioned to win back control of the Senate defending just 10 seats compared with 24 for Republicans. But the odds of a Democratic Senate takeover have shrunk. In the key battleground state of New Hampshire, for example, 78 percent of voters now view incumbent Republican Kelly Ayotte, a first-term senator who rarely mentions Trump on the campaign trail, as a "different kind of Republican" than Trump, according to a CBS News/YouGov poll of battleground states last month. In Ohio, 20 percent of likely Clinton voters said in another recent poll that they will vote for incumbent Republican Sen. Rob Portman over the Democratic candidate, Ted Strickland. Strickland was leading several months ago, but Portman has pulled ahead. Portman has made it clear he wants nothing to do with Trump. When Ohio hosted the Republican National Convention this summer, Portman stayed away. In Pennsylvania, Republican Sen. Pat Toomey is running neck-and-neck with former environmental official Katie McGinty. Toomey should be vulnerable, but he has refused to endorse Trump and is running as his "own man." In North Carolina, Democratic candidate Deborah Ross, a former state lawmaker and ACLU lawyer, has a fighting chance to beat incumbent Republican Sen. Richard Burr, but Burr is focusing on state issues and is keeping his distance from Trump. Clinton needs a Democratic Senate if she becomes president. Without one, her legislative initiatives will be dead on arrival. She may not even be able to count on enough votes to confirm her Cabinet choices. On the other side of Capitol Hill, the odds of Democrats retaking the House now seem impossible. Moreover, in pursuing Republican voters who have doubts about Trump, the Clinton campaign has gone to great lengths to avoid tainting House Speaker Paul Ryan with Trump thereby leaving Ryan more powerful than ever if Clinton wins. The second risk in focusing on the unique disqualifications of Trump is that it may dilute public support for what Clinton wants to accomplish as president. After all, if the central purpose of her campaign and the major motivation of her supporters is to stop Trump, she'll already have accomplished that before she's even sworn in. It likewise makes it more difficult for her, as president, to push back against Republican orthodoxy with a bold vision of what America must do. The reality is that Trump's proposals aren't far removed from what the Republican Party has been trying to achieve for years cutting taxes on the rich and on corporations; gutting health, safety, and environmental regulations; repealing Obamacare; spending more on defense; blocking immigration and sending more undocumented workers packing; imposing "law and order" in black communities; and preventing an increase in the minimum wage. Focusing on Trump's character flaws instead of the flawed Republican agenda is appropriate up to a point. Donald Trump is dangerous. And, yes, the first priority must be to stop him. But that shouldn't be the only priority. Former U.S. Secretary of Labor Robert Reich is Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California at Berkeley and Senior Fellow at the Blum Center for Developing Economies. A guest post by GROTIBCW: ELECTORAL FRAUD WILL IT EXPLODE THIS ELECTION Its easy and we posted earlier that it is happening. https://www.facebook.com/Noislandbaycycleway/posts/1143346702410849 How widespread time will tell. The above post talked about intercepting postal ballots and voting using some one elses ballot paper. This post talks about overseas voting and the potential for easy fraud. Overseas special votes are one area the Greens have always targeted and done better at it than any other party at national, and presumably local body elections. Remember it is often the Greens that get an extra seat or two well after national election night, when Special Votes, usually from overseas voters or those not in the electorate on voting day, are fully counted. Its usually the fringe parties that focus on benefiting from this voter segment. But with the MoU between Labour and Greens once could say that Labour will benefit in both local body and national elections. Lester with his open and public endorsement by Greens might be feeling happy. Overseas and postal votes are increasing. Here is a paper from a Maori voter perspective done under the aegis of the Institute for Governance and Policy Studies at Victoria University which has some interesting statistics. http://ips.ac.nz/publications/files/759b2c8f278.pdf ___ The first major leap in the total overseas vote came in the 2002 election. In June of that year, the chief electoral officer announced that overseas voters would be able to download their papers from the internet and fax them back to New Zealand to record their vote. The result was that the number of New Zealanders enrolled overseas jumped from 18,000 to over 30,000 and the number of overseas votes cast rose 47% to nearly 17,000. Sensing the potential for overseas votes, the political parties scrambled to entice them. ACT leader Richard Prebble speculated that there were as many as 250,000 potential expatriate New Zealand voters around the world, while Labour Party president Mike Williams suggested that there were hundreds of thousands of potential voters in Australia alone. Prebble went so far as to predict that the new laws could lead to a ten-fold increase in the overseas vote. He announced that ACT would send its MPs to campaign in Australia, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom and that it planned to contact 100,000 New Zealanders abroad via email (ACT New Zealand press release, 13 June 2002). The Green Party based candidates in London and Sydney, and Labour placed advertisements in overseas magazines, launched a website, and made use of its London branch and its links with the Australian Labor Party. National also targeted overseas voters via a website and permission-based emailing lists, although its campaign director was sceptical of the value of sending MPs overseas to campaign. The other notable exception to this excitement was New Zealand First, which preferred to put all its efforts into securing local votes ___ Also at the last election, an attempt to create an Expatriate Party was made on the basis that about 20% of NZ population lives overseas. http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/political/236378/party-wants-to-%27galvanise%27-expatriates But the Green Party with the international Green movement and focus on climate change has the most success in this area. As evidenced by them repeatedly winning extra seats after special votes (that include overseas votes) are counted. The Green party also has as its natural constituency young, idealistic (and dare we say it naive) voters who are easy fodder to target. Their need social acceptance and virtue signalling and the fact that they are overseas and will not pay any of the taxes and tax increases (which are the usual consequence of implementing Green policies) here makes them more likely to vote Green and for Green Policies without thinking too much about impact on resident tax payers or rate payers. The Green Party has organised enrolment parties overseas at pubs over wine, beer and skittles to encourage supporters to enrol. https://kiwigreensuk.wordpress.com/2014/07/31/cheers-to-voting/ Greens also ran voting parties during the 2014 elections to get people to vote electronically with their Print->Tick->Snap->Upload->Green in Govt! campaign. See Pic 1 below and here https://goo.gl/btYMal When the voting systems were First Past the Post, it did not matter much because fringe parties could NOT pick up a seat easily. With the MMP system they can add 1-2 candidates, or more, easilyas proven by the Greens results in recent past. Under STV system for local bodies, overseas votes can be even more influential. Remember Celia W-B beat Kerry Prendergast by a measly 176 votes in the 5th iteration of counting. At that time she was supported by the Greens. One of the other key factors in overseas and special votes influence on local body elections is the low turnout. At 40% turnout in recent times for Wellington, a zealous, committed and active voter base with a good communication system provides the opportunity fringe parties to easily benefit. Being comfortable with using online technology also helps. And the electoral system has made it easier to do this without appropriate checks and balances. With the percentage of special votes and postal votes steadily increasing at national elections, this becomes an issue. It is even more of an issue at local body elections because voting is 100% by postal vote. The biggest weakness with NZ enrolment and voting processes is its total, and in our view naive, trust based acceptance of a signature on a form, whether sent in physical form or electronic form, with out any need for verification of identity. There is an attemp to use the RealMe governement logon feature, but it is not mandatory. The addition of online enrolment and voting options, and the fact that postal voting is becoming more prevalent, with no published process that checks for where these actions originated from, and who they were done by, before people vote or even before votes are counted are all creating conducive conditions for fraud. If there is a suspicion that votes were rigged, political party or candidates scrutineers could raise objections and trigger a enquiry. Its no longer petitions but an expensive and lengthy legal challenge. But that has not happened only once recently. Parties tend not to progress this if overall results were favourable. Also because suspicion can only be raised after full count of votes, parties seem reluctant to be seen as sore complaining losers. We think this will change soon. And either the law will be changed before a scandal hits or will definitely be changed once more scandals occur. And those scandals could occur during the local body elections currently underway. To ENROL right now (rolls are processes are same for all elections), one can go online and enrol by providing details which are effectively name, date of birth, occupation, phone number and address (or last address if you are now overseas). One can opt for the enrolment form with those details included, to be sent an email address or a physical address. The form needs to be signed and posted back. If being done electronically, the process allows the form to be printed, signed, scannned and upload (or posted). One can use a RealMe account to do this, but it is not mandatory. To VOTE in national elections you just need to provide you name date of birth and address to obtain a ballot paper either electronically or by post. Which you vote, sign, scan and upload or post back. To VOTE in local body elections which is a fully postal vote, you can ask for your a physical pre-printed ballot paper to be sent to a different address locally or overseas. It is not clear what checks are done to validate the person requesting this is the voter. Once received you just tick, sign and post back. Local body elections do not seem to allow for electronic option (print-vote-sign-scan-upload/post) IN ALL PROCESSES ABOVE THERE IS NO MANDATED NEED FOR PROVIDING PROOF, OR VERIFICATION, OF WHETHER THE SIGNATURE IS OF THE PERSON WHO CLAIM THEY ARE. IT IS ACCEPTED ON TRUST UNLESS SOME PARTY RAISES OBJECTIONS AT THE TIME OF COUNTING OR AFTER RESULTS ARE DECLARED. There is another option. One of the ways of enrolling if you are overseas is as follows (from elections.org.nz) You can get someone else to complete the enrolment form for you, but: they must be a registered elector (ie, they must be enrolled themselves), and they must print Elector Overseas signed by their direction on the form next to their signature. That is it ! So really any eligible voter can enrol anyone eligible to vote! At this point there is no proof required for identity verification, or residence. If someone intent on committing electoral fraud is willing to take the risk to sign enrolment and voting papers they can easily do so. It is a long and difficult process to identify and prove fraud. Although a recent high profile case has succeeded and wet bus ticket convictions handed out. http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/crime/9511429/Aspiring-politician-guilty-of-election-fraud There is talk about how fraud may be detected using statistical methods, but NZ does not seem to have a routine process of applying such techniques. http://polity.co.nz/content/uncovering-electoral-fraud All the while, the Green Party continues to resist all attempts at any tightening of the process. https://home.greens.org.nz/speeches/holly-walker-speaks-third-reading-electoral-amendment-bill We think the process is archaic naive and totally based on trust. It is too open to manipulation and any fraud is very difficult to prove. THE ENROLMENT AND VOTING PROCESS NEED TIGHTENING UP. THE ABILITY VALIDATE IDENTITY IS ESSENTIAL. ESPECIALLY FOR POSTAL VOTING. Stuff reports: It was just a scraped knee. So three-year-old Ashley Pachecos Venezuelan parents did what parents do: They gave her a hug, cleaned the wound twice with rubbing alcohol and thought no more of it. Two weeks later, the little girl writhed screaming in a hospital bed. Her breathing came in ragged gasps as she begged passing patients for a sip of water. Her mother stayed day and night in the trauma unit. She kept Ashley on an empty stomach in case she might cut in front of hundreds of other patients for emergency surgery in one of the hospitals few functioning operating rooms. Her father scoured Caracas for scarce antibiotics to fight the infection spreading through his daughters body. They had no idea how much worse it was going to get. If Venezuela has become dangerous for the healthy, it is now deadly for those who fall ill. One in three people admitted to public hospitals last year died, the government reports. The number of operational hospital beds has fallen by 40 per cent since just 2014. And as the economy fails, the country is running short on 85 per cent of medicines, according to the national drugstore trade group. The Herald reports: Air New Zealand will begin rolling out inflight wifi on its jet services next year, starting with transtasman flights. Chief executive Christopher Luxon said Air New Zealand is in the final stages of commercial negotiations with suppliers. Proving flights would begin in the second half of 2017 and internet services progressively available on Tasman, Pacific Island and long haul jet fleets from the end of next year, said Luxon. The airline is negotiating with Inmarsat and Panasonic Avionics. Internet connectivity wil be supplied by Inmarsats new global GX satellite constellation and integrated with Air New Zealands in-cabin Panasonic Avionics technology. Domestic New Zealand jet services were likely to offer a wifi service from 2018. Growing. Thriving. Prospering. Black entrepreneurs make Knoxville proud! Knox News reporters and photographers have spent the last year reporting the stories of local Black-owned businesses. Sailing Toward a Life of Mentorship: An Arctic Youth Story By Jannelle Trowbridge, Arctic Youth Ambassador The Trowbridge family sailing through Prince William Sound. Photo by Rachael Scholten I tell my students, When you get these jobs that you have so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game. Toni Morrison This quote means a lot to me. Growing up, I knew it was important to work hard, but along the way, I learned how important it is to have help from others. Ive been lucky to have mentors; great people who have impacted and empowered me. Now Im trying to follow their example and pay it forward, helping younger students and promoting youth involvement. I was born in Grand Rapids, Michigan, and moved around a lot with my family, led by my first mentors: my parents. My parents worked hard to pursue their ambitions. In the summer of 2008, I was 10 years old when my family of four moved onto our 30-foot wooden sailboat, bound for an uncertain future. We sailed through the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. We landed for a winter in Newfoundland. The next summer, we journeyed to Greenland and on my 11th birthday, we left Greenland in pursuit of the Northwest Passage. After a journey through the Arctic, we finally landed in Nome, Alaska. I enrolled in 7th grade and quickly embraced life in Alaska. Within a year, we had a dog team. I learned how to navigate Nomes environment more efficiently than any other place I had ever lived. I loved my life there, so leaving Nome for college at the University of Alaska Anchorage six years later silently shocked me more than eating muktuk a traditional meal of whale skin and blubber and learning to mush. The Trowbridge familys Greenlandic Lead dogs: Rena and Ice. They are royal sinkers. Thankfully, a campus counselor in Nome encouraged me to apply for the Alaska Native Science and Engineering Programs Summer Bridge component. This program really helped me prepare for college. I spent a month living on campus and taking an intense five-week trigonometry course. With the help of my ANSEP peers, I survived. The next month, I worked with one of ANSEPs partners, the United States Geological Survey. I spent two weeks in the Chukchi Sea collecting bivalves to see how their growth rings compared to sea ice data. After a quick trip home, I was thrown into college. Anchorage became a foreign reality and I missed my family. I quickly learned the powerful value of networking and how it is vital to future success. My ANSEP network of peers guided my adaptation. I continued to work for USGS and my mentor there recommended me for the Arctic Youth Ambassadors Program. I applied, curious to understand the politics of science in the Arctic. The program did more than that. It empowered my voice. It took 22 youth from around the state and put us in places to talk and inform people of our experiences in our different backgrounds. When I started looking at issues in Alaska, or even in other states, I began to realize that the people directly affected often do not have the presence and voice they need. The piece often lacking is a network. Better communication and representation is vital. I have also seen the power that youth program outreach has. I see that when people are given the tools and support they need, they can make the change they want to see. When active and enabled youth advance an issue, people will give more attention to underserved communities and support the important diversity needed in problem solving. What happens in the Alaskan Arctic will not stay here. Jannelle mushing her family dogs at the start of the 2014 Junior Iditarod. Photo courtesy of Rachael Scholten. Interwork Korea CEO Moon Hyun-myoung, left, poses with Gyeonggi Province Governor Nam Kyung-pil at Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Support Center in Suwon, Oct. 4. / Courtesy of Interwork Korea By Park Jae-hyuk Interwork Korea was selected as one of 199 promising small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Gyeonggi Province. CEO Moon Hyun-myoung received a certificate at Gyeonggi Small and Medium Business Support Center in Suwon, Oct. 4, along with CEOs of other companies that were also certified as promising SMEs. The supplier of cosmetic cases and containers, false eyelashes and cosmetic OEM products was awarded by Korea International Trade Association in 2015, as its exports totaled more than 10 million dollars. The company has earned about 80 percent of its annual revenue from exports and its sales have been continuously growing for more than 20 years due to its business systems and knowhow which meet the demands of customers, according to the company. An Interwork Korea official said the company aims to satisfy its customers and develop trendy cosmetics products through further R&D, advancing the company's laboratory capabilities. The official also said the company recognizes the importance of exclusive technology amid the harsh competition in the cosmetics market. Gyeonggi Province has selected potential SMEs since 1995 for incentives and growth assistance. More than 5,000 firms have been certified so far. The province selected 199 firms among 733 candidates this year. By Kim Tae-gyu Elliott Management employed a strategy of enticing other hedge funds to join its investment by sending an open letter to request the ownership restructuring of Samsung Electronics, according to local experts Monday. Such "wolf pack" hedge-fund activism has emerged as a prominent way to influence large-sized targets such as Samsung Electronics, the world's top maker of smartphones and memory chips. "With a small fraction of Samsung shares amounting to 0.62 percent, Elliott's efforts for change might not work effectively. Hence, it needs help from other funds for the formation of a wolf pack," said Prof. Kim Sang-jo at Hansung University. "In other words, Elliott strives to become a lead activist regarding Samsung and it now is wooing peripheral activists through the open letter. Samsung would be able to deal with a single wolf but a pack of wolves would be different." Last week, Elliott issued an open statement that the "unnecessarily complex" ownership structure of Samsung Electronics undermines it share prices, asking for the split-up of the tech giant. Samsung has showed a prudential and textbook response to the open demand, probably due to last year's proxy war between the U.S. hedge fund and its sister company Samsung C&T. Back then, Elliott held a substantial stake of 7.12 percent in Samsung C&T, Korea's leading builder that has a 4.1 percent share in Samsung Electronics, but did not win out. "Last year, Elliott lost because it did not resort to the wolf pack tactic. It appears to have learned its lesson and is trying to attract other funds this time so as to achieve its eventual goal of securing capital gains through the appreciation of Samsung shares," Kim said. "The statement is a kind of invitation to other hedge funds and it remains to be seen how many would respond." Kim added that if Samsung Group, the nation's top corporation, succumbs to the tactic, global hedge funds would work on other conglomerates including Hyundai Motor, SK, LG and Lotte because their ownership structures are also complicated. Lee Jong-woo, a research head at IBK Securities, concurred. "The imperative mandate of hedge fund operators is to make money no matter what strategies they take. If necessary, Elliott could join hands with other hedge funds," Lee said. However, Prof. Lee Phil-sang at Seoul University said that Elliott may be able to attain its goal alone because Samsung also hopes for an ownership change through a power transfer from the bedridden Chairman Lee Kun-hee to heir Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics. "What Elliott wants is in line with what Samsung hopes. In that sense, Elliott does not have to form a big alliance. Samsung is likely to react in tandem with Elliott's wishes," Lee said. A researcher conducts a test on a pig to establish the safety of an intravascular micro-robot created by the Robot Research Initiative at Chonnam National University in Gwangju. / Courtesy of Chonnam National University Chonnam National University prods students to start businesses Chonnam National University President Jee Byung-moon By Chung Hyun-chae GWANGJU Chonnam National University is stepping up efforts to maintain its lead in R&D of micro-robots for medical use and hydrogen fuel cell technology for automobiles. These efforts are part of the university's strategy of boosting academic-industrial cooperation and encouraging students and faculties to create their own businesses. "I believe our university's robotics research, especially for micro-robots, has become world-class," Jee Byung-moon, president of the Gwangju-based national university, told The Korea Times. "We've developed technologies in this area and we have a competitive edge in commercializing them." He said that the university's R&D center, Robot Research Initiative, created the world's first colonoscopy robot in 2001 and the world's first intravascular micro-robot for the treatment of blood vessel-related diseases in 2010. In March 2015, the center developed an active capsule endoscope and has signed a 1 billion won contract to transfer the technology to Woo Young Medical, a medical device manufacturer. Under the contact, the center will receive 2 percent of endoscope sales as a licensing fee. Woo Young has established a subsidiary, ARESMED, to commercialize the endoscope. Doctors can control and move the endoscope, if commercialized, inside a patient's body by using a joystick. "We will work together with ARESMED to commercialize the technology and plan to receive a medical certificate by 2017," Jee said. If the university implements its plans successfully, he added, robot-related sales are expected to reach 5 trillion won by 2027. Chonnam National University founded its own tech company in 2011 to commercialize technologies developed by its students, faculty and its research centers. The company now has 13 subsidiaries and plans to open five more this year. The university took the initiative to establish the Gwangju Technology Holding Company this year in cooperation with other universities in Gwangju, the city government and local companies. The university is also taking the lead in hydrogen fuel cell technology, which is regarded as a new growth engine because the new energy source produces no air pollution. In 2009, the university opened the Hydrogen & Fuel Cell Institute to conduct research on converting hydrogen to electricity. It also hosted the World Hydrogen Energy Conference 2014 at the Kimdaejung Convention Center in Gwangju, gathering more than 500 scientists and scholars. Last year, the Gwangju municipality built the Center for Creative Economy and Innovation, a government project to provide support for startups in collaboration with major conglomerates. Hyundai Motor, the main sponsor for the project, wants to work closely with the center to develop a hydrogen fuel cell car. "As Hyundai is interested in making hydrogen-powered cars, I hope our university's research center will cooperate with the automaker in developing fuel cell technology," Jee said. Promoting entrepreneurship "We are trying to promote entrepreneurship among students by encouraging them to put their ideas into practice and launch their own startups without fear of failure," Jee said. Launched in 1999, the Chonnam National University Business Incubator has helped undergraduates, graduate students and professors launch their own businesses. The business incubator offers opportunities for undergraduate students to experience starting a business, while providing space for those with their own business plans or technology. "In order to reduce risks and to raise the success rate, we set up a university brand shop last year to promote and sell products devised by students and professors," Jee said. Thanks to the school's strong support, many students have made remarkable accomplishments. For example, Lee Su-chang, a computer science major who graduated from the university in 2002, launched Amazingsoft, a web analysis company that generated 3.5 billion won in sales in 2015. Naver, the nation's largest web portal, acquired the company in 2013 for 10 billion won. Humanities students have also seen success. Park Ji-min, a philosophy major who graduated in 2014, opened HERZ fab cafe, a multiplex cultural space located in Gwangju, which generated 300 million won in sales in 2015. The university won the 2015 AABI Awards from the Asian Association of Business Incubation (AABI) in recognition of its efforts to assist school members' startups. It was the second time that a local university received such an award, after the Korea Advanced Institute of Science Technology (KAIST) did so in 2007. Focusing on research In addition to giving wholehearted support for technology development, Chonnam National University has also tried to enhance research capabilities in both quality and quantity. "Most professors think that only excruciating efforts for self-reform will enable the university to revive its past glory of being one of the nation's top three regional universities," Jee said. Theses written by the university's professors and cited by international science journals totaled 1,757 in 2014, up from 1,553 in 2012 and 1,646 in 2013. The president said that the university ranked second in the number of thesis citations among 41 national universities across the nation. "To strengthen our university's research capacity this year, I will allow professors to devote themselves to conducting research exclusively by freeing them from the burden of teaching students," Jee added. By Choi Sung-jin Much has been said about Korea's notoriously low birthrate and how the consequent "population precipice" will destroy the economy and national survival itself. But a recent survey shows that only six out of 10 expectant mothers have received care and attention in public places. In the survey of 8,007 people, including 2,531 pregnant women, by the Ministry of Health and Welfare in the past two weeks or so, 59.1 percent of expectant mothers replied they had been taken care of by others, up slightly from 58.3 percent last year. The most common type of care was giving up seats to pregnant women in mass transit, which accounted for 59.4 percent, followed by adjustment of working hours (11.5 percent) and lifting baggage (7.9 percent), it said. People failed to pay attention to pregnant women mostly because they were not aware of the latter's pregnancy (49.4 percent), did not know how to help them (24.6 percent) or were just tired (7.9 percent). To improve the situation for pregnant women, 63.5 percent of expectant mothers hoped the government would better educate people about the importance of caring for pregnant women or conduct publicity campaigns about it. The ministry also wants to make more efforts in this direction. "We have started placing more posters on subway trains encouraging people to give up their seats to pregnant women," a ministry official said. "The government will continue to spread a culture to ensure healthier pregnancy and childbirth through more active PR campaigns." Monday was the 11th "Expectant Mothers' Day." By Lee Kyung-min A hospital staffer has been arrested for performing plastic surgeries without a doctor's license, police said Monday. According to Gangnam Police Station, a local court issued an arrest warrant for the man, surnamed Lim, 56, after the prosecution sought it following the police's request. Lim allegedly performed double eyelid surgeries and nose jobs on at least 186 patients between January last year and February this year at a clinic in Nonhyeon, southern Seoul. The clinic owner, surnamed Kang, 40, who hired Lim, was booked without physical detention. No medical malpractice from Lim's surgeries has been reported yet. Rather, Lim's patients showed great satisfaction with the results, with many of them recommending him to their close acquaintances. Police said that Kang, a urologist, acquired the clinic early last year, but as he lacked relevant knowledge in plastic surgery, he asked Lim to perform surgical procedures. Lim had been working there long before. Lim has basic medical knowledge as he obtained a license as a nursing assistant 30 years ago and served his mandatory military duty as a medic. While Lim's duties were strictly limited to helping doctors and nurses, he managed to learn most surgical operation procedures while working at a plastic surgery clinic in downtown Seoul. Lim even taught Kang how to use a scalpel to make an incision and insert a nasal prosthesis. After quitting Kang's clinic in February, he began working at a nearby clinic in Yeoksam-dong. Following tips about the unlicensed practice, police located him by tracking his mobile phone. They found that Lim worked for not only the Yeoksam clinic but also for at least five other clinics in the southern Seoul area, performing surgeries on call. It is not known whether the other clinics knew about his lack of qualification. Lim initially denied the allegation, but confessed later following Kang's confession. Police plan to expand their investigation, suspecting that more patients and clinics might be involved. By Hong Dam-young, Park Si-soo South Korea's foreign ministry "does not care about" two K-pop fans from Saudi Arabia who left the male-dominant Middle East nation without mandatory approval of an adult male from their families. The two, in their 20s, reportedly arrived here two days ago, but their whereabouts is unknown, with their parents having sleepless nights hoping for their return, according to local news reports. Regarding the issue, a diplomat at the foreign ministry's Middle East section told The Korea Times, "We are aware of this issue but not interested and we won't take any action for the children because this issue should be addressed by Saudi Arabia, not us." According to Saudi Arabia's English-language newspaper Saudi Gazette, the two "fled" to South Korea last week. The father of one student said his daughter went to university in the morning as usual but was late to return home, the paper reported. "We were not very worried because she works at a shopping center after university. We assumed she might have gone to her job. By 11 p.m. we became worried," the father was quoted as saying in the report released on Oct. 9. "I reported this to the police. By looking at my Abshir [family] records I found out that my daughter had left the kingdom for South Korea with a friend. I think my daughter used my phone to log into my Abshir account and give herself permission to travel." A brother of the other student told the newspaper that his sister had traveled to South Korea with a friend. According to the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Seoul, Saudi women -- minors and adults alike -- need permission from an adult male in the family to travel overseas. School to reform science education for original ideas By Jung Min-ho Korea's best schools may produce the world's best test-takers who know how to choose the one "right" answer, but it is far from producing creative talent. The country's long-cherished dream of winning a Nobel Prize in any area of science has never come close to materializing, while scientists from its "Asian rivals" Japan, China, Taiwan and India have earned the award for their groundbreaking discoveries. Recognizing this problem, the science college at Seoul National University (SNU), one of Korea's most selectively exclusive schools, plans to form an education reform committee to focus more on fostering creativity in its teaching methods, according to school officials, Monday. Some of the key changes will be adopting "flipped learning," in which students learn new content outside of the classroom in advance and discuss it in class, and "peer teaching," which allows them to learn from one another. For some of its programs, the college will also introduce an honor system, where students take tests without supervisors after pledging not to cheat. Physics Professor Yu Jae-jun will collect opinions from professors in different departments to complete the formation of the committee by the end of the month. The aim is to give students more room to be creative, moving from the old method in which professors gave top-down instruction and students only memorized what they heard. With the changes, the college hopes that students will focus more on learning the process of finding answers rather than just getting answers themselves. "Following the footsteps of other countries does not require creativity, but to become a first mover in any area of science, students need to be able to find their own research colors and approaches," Yu said. "The school is trying to set up the right environment to help them." Kim Seong-keun, dean of the science college, also believes the open environment can better help students grow as independent scientists. "We want to nurture more deviators from the typical courses," he said. Critics of Korea's education methods say the country's narrow emphasis on academic work kills creativity of both teachers and students as well as the prospects of winning a Nobel Prize. It is unclear how much the new methods will help in achieving the goal, which Kim believes requires a sense of curiosity and original thinking on how to figure out why things happen. "Because winning the award is not a record game, it requires originality more than a high-level of research expertise," he said. "As Korea tries to reform itself to foster more creativity, it will get closer to deserving the prize." Parties criticize lukewarm gov't attitude By Kim Se-jeong The government is under pressure to come up with stronger measures to stop Chinese fishermen from operating in Korean waters illegally. The calls come three days after a Coast Guard speed boat sank after being rammed by a Chinese fishing vessel. The 4.5-ton boat was one of two Korean vessels dispatched to waters near Socheong Island where 40 Chinese boats were fishing illegally. The Chinese boat weighed about 400 tons. Rep. Chung Jin-suk, the floor leader of the ruling Saenuri Party, demanded stern action from the administration. "The government should find the Chinese vessels that escaped and bring them to justice," he said. Noting it is about maritime sovereignty, Chung said, "It is not news that Chinese fishermen use steel pipes and knives against coastguards during crackdowns. I wonder if the Korean authorities have become powerless." He said his party would consider stationing more Coast Guard officers in the West Sea. Rep. Woo Sang-ho, the floor leader of the main opposition Minjoo Party of Korea, echoed Chung. "The violent, illegal activities by Chinese fishing boats are beyond a tolerable level. I would say they are not fishermen but pirates." Woo said the Navy should join the Coast Guard's crackdown. Cheong Wa Dae also expressed regret over the incident. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs called in China's consul general in Seoul to complain and demand measures to alleviate the situation. Nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan / Korea Times file By Jun Ji-hye South Korea and the United States began a large-scale joint naval exercise, Monday, in all seas off the Korean Peninsula in a show of force against possible provocations from North Korea. It is very rare for the two countries to conduct joint drills in the East, West and South Seas, officials said, adding that this reflects the seriousness the two allies attach to the military tension caused by the North's continuous provocative actions. Washington dispatched the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, the USS Ronald Reagan, for the six-day exercise, Invincible Spirit 2016, which focuses on training the allies' naval forces on joint precision attacks on the North's military installations and the regime's leadership that would be launched in the event of a war with the reclusive state. The drill was originally planned to take place in the West Sea and southern coastal areas off Jeju Island only, but following the North's fifth nuclear test, Sept. 9, the training area was expanded to all the waters surrounding the nation. "The expansion of the exercise area is aimed at showing the allies' firm readiness posture to jointly respond to the North's repeated provocations," said Cdr. Jang Wook, the Navy's public affairs officer. The South Korean Navy mobilized about 40 warships, including the Aegis-equipped destroyer Sejong the Great, while the U.S. Navy mobilized seven vessels including the Reagan and an Aegis-equipped cruiser as well as P-3 and P-8 maritime patrol aircraft. The allies will carry out a maritime counter special operation force with the scenario of destroying North Korean special forces that attempt to infiltrate into rear areas of the South Korean waters. The Reagan will lead aircraft carrier strike group operations in the East Sea. "The navies of the two countries plan to enhance their interoperability and capability of jointly conducting anti-submarine, anti-aircraft and precision-guided strike operations," the Navy said in a press release. Previously, the allies conducted a four-day large-scale joint naval exercise in the East Sea, July 25, 2010, following the North's torpedoing of the South's warship Cheonan, March 26 that year that killed 46 sailors. They also conducted similar drills in the West Sea from Nov. 29 to Dec. 2 in the same year after the North's deadly shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, Nov. 23, which caused the death of two marines and two civilians as well as severe property damage. At that time, the aircraft carrier USS George Washington participated in both drills. The Navy said the exercise this time became more offensive-oriented and the exercise area was considerably expanded compared to the two conducted in 2010. Since the latest nuclear test, the Kim Jong-un regime is raising military tension by indicating that it may soon test an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM). The indication came as the regime has said it will "continue to have its door wide open with greater enthusiasm towards conquering the world of outer space." Pyongyang claims that the launch of a satellite is part of a peaceful space program, but the international community views it as a cover to test technologies used in the development of an ICBM, believed to have a range of more than 10,000 kilometers, which in theory is capable of striking targets on the U.S. mainland. Authorities from Seoul and Washington are also paying keen attention to the possibility that the North could also push ahead with an additional nuclear test in defiance of global warnings. By Jun Ji-hye North Korea is consolidating the one-man rule of Kim Jong-un and calling for the people's allegiance to the young leader, as the country marked the 71st founding anniversary of the ruling Workers' Party, Monday. The Rodong Sinmun, the party organ, said in a commentary that the people should show greater loyalty to Kim and follow his orders. The newspaper also called for greater efforts to repair damage caused by severe flooding in the northernmost region of North Hamgyong Province, which left about 140 people dead. Another commentary in the newspaper stressed the importance of military reinforcement, raising the need to possess strong means to strike the enemy, including nuclear weapons for self-defense. Last year, the reclusive state held a massive parade to show off its military prowess, but this year the regime has been marking the national holiday without much fanfare as of Monday. The South's Ministry of Unification said there is no sign of Pyongyang holding any major event, but it is closely watching developments amid the growing possibility of a major provocation including another nuclear test or a missile launch to celebrate the anniversary. The isolated state carried out its fifth and most powerful nuclear test, Sept. 9, when it celebrated the anniversary of the North Korean regime's founding. The North claimed that it detonated a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can be mounted on a ballistic missile during the test. Military authorities from South Korea and the United States have assessed that the North is capable of conducting a new test at any time once its leader decides to do so. Military officials here are also paying keen attention to the possibility of a ballistic missile test, possibly a Rodong medium-range missile or a Musudan intermediate-range one. The possibility of the launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), in what the North has claimed as placing an "Earth observation satellite" in orbit, has also been raised following its purported successful ground test of a new rocket engine Sept. 20. The North's Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said Saturday that the regime will continue to be enthusiastic towards "conquering the world of outer space," indicating that it will launch a satellite soon. The South's Ministry of National Defense said the nation is willing to conduct preemptive strikes against the North's nuclear and missile facilities, if there are signs of an imminent nuclear strike by Pyongyang. For its part, the Joint Chiefs of Staff said the military has been on high alert for any provocations by the North. South Korea's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae on Monday called the recent sinking of a Coast Guard boat by a Chinese fishing vessel "regrettable" as concerns rise over increasingly violent maritime clashes. "The incident is regrettable," presidential spokesman Jung Youn-kuk told reporters during a regular briefing. The Coast Guard said one of its 4.5-ton speed boats that was conducting a crackdown on illegal fishing boats was sunk when a 100-ton Chinese boat intentionally rear-ended it. The ramming occurred around 3 p.m. on Friday in waters 76 kilometers southwest of Socheong Island in Incheon, west of Seoul. Coast Guard authorities say that the unprecedented sinking of a law enforcement boat was tantamount to "attempted murder" and vowed to take appropriate measures in the future to uphold the law. On Sunday, Seoul's foreign ministry and the Coast Guard separately called in senior Chinese diplomats based in Seoul to lodge formal complaints over the incident and urge them to prevent recurrences. (Yonhap) Lawmakers from the ruling Saenuri Party hold a meeting at the National Assembly, Sept. 30, to mull ways of better coping with growing threats from North Korea's nuclear and missile programs. Rep. Won Yoo-chul, left, called for the country to arm itself with nuclear weapons from the standpoint of self-defense, while Rep. Chung Jin-suk, center, said the military should consider getting nuclear-powered attack submarines that can deal with the North's submarine-launched ballistic missiles. / Yonhap By Jun Ji-hye The ever-growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea have been fueling various issues related to national security among politicians, some of whom have called for the nation to arm itself with nuclear weapons. Others have also called for the development of a nuclear-powered submarine and the prompt takeover of the wartime operational control (OPCON) of the South Korean military by the United States. Given the North's unwillingness to stop its military provocations despite warnings from the global community, politicians are expected to continue raising national security-related issues, probably until the 2017 presidential election, apparently mindful of the fact that security issues in this country, which is still technically at war with the North, are always a good tool to attract voters. But critics point out that the politicians' continued attempts to raise security-related issues would only create populist pledges that have little possibility of realization. Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil speaks at a parliamentary inspection held at the provincial government building in Suwon, Oct. 5, during which he raised the need for the nation's nuclear armament, and a shift from conscription to a volunteer military system. / Yonhap After Pyongyang conducted its fifth and most powerful nuclear test on Sept. 9, politicians from the conservative Saenuri Party called for the South's nuclear armament, saying it is the only effective way to deter provocations from the North. Some even said the nation could also consider leaving the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which stipulates that a member can leave the agreement if its national security is severely challenged. On Oct. 3, Gyeonggi Province Gov. Nam Kyung-pil, a potential presidential candidate for the ruling party, said the nation should begin preparations for nuclear armament in the face of growing threats from the North. Citing concerns that the United States may withdraw its nuclear umbrella from South Korea, Nam said it is time for Seoul to consider various options, one of which is nuclear weapons. "Preparations for nuclear armament should begin with the next government, or, in fact, now," he said. Last month, Rep. Won Yoo-chul, a former ruling party floor leader, made a similar comment, saying the nation should devise all possible ways to deter threats from the reclusive state, including nuclear armament from the standpoint of self-defense. "North Korea's fifth nuclear test is breaking the peace and stability in Northeast Asia and fueling fears and anxieties," he said. He also said the nation should consider withdrawing from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in order to be able to acquire nuclear weapons. The repressive state claimed that during its latest nuke test, it detonated a miniaturized nuclear warhead that can be mounted on a ballistic missile. In addition, the North Korean Embassy in Russia claimed late last month that the North has "basically completed" development of its nuclear weapons, saying it will continue a qualitative and quantitative buildup of such weapons. The test followed a series of launches of short-, medium- and intermediate-range ballistic missiles, and submarine-launched ballistic missiles (SLBMs) in recent months. The U.S. special envoy for North Korean human rights issues will visit South Korea this week for meetings with his counterpart and other senior officials, the State Department has said. Ambassador Robert King will be in Seoul on Monday through Thursday for meetings with newly appointed Ambassador for North Korean Human Rights Lee Jung-hoon and other senior government officials, the department said in a statement released Saturday. The envoy will also be speaking at the Korea Institute for National Unification (KINU) 6th Chaillot Forum on North Korea human rights, it said. From Seoul, King will head to Tokyo for meetings with Minister for the Abduction Issue Katsunobu Kato, Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Director General for Asian and Oceanian Affairs Takeshi Osuga, and other senior Japanese government officials, the department said. (Yonhap) By Kim Mi-kyoung North Korea launched 21 ballistic missiles and conducted two nuclear tests in 2016. The Japanese Prime Minster Shinzo Abe emphasized "substantially more serious" nature of Pyongyang's provocation in addressing the U.N. general assembly on Sept. 21. He went on to demand "entirely distinct" means to deal with the increasingly belligerent Kim Jung-un regime. Abe managed to line up the U.S. and the U.K. in his calls for a new U.N. resolution for sanctions on North Korea. Even China, Pyongyang's traditional ally, joined the rally in denouncing the Kim regime. A series of denunciation was soon followed by the South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se the next day. His agenda, however, was on human rights, not nukes. He demanded the U.N. to go beyond the usual lip service on responsibility to protect, but to take "meaningful action." North Korea problem constitutes of nuclear threats and human rights violations. And these two issues are not separable for Japan. North Korea is a self-proclaimed nuclear power. North Korea has conducted five nuclear tests for the past 10 years. The yields of bomb and quake magnitudes have been increasing accordingly. The Kim regime claims that "miniaturization" of nuclear warheads has been complete and it can exercise consummate level and type of counterattack if and when the U.S. engages in preemptive strike. The Abe administration argues that its insecurity stems from geographical proximity and the Peace Constitution. While Japan cannot change its geographic location, it can amend the article 9 of the Constitution. Pyongyang's provocation is a necessary condition for PM Abe to continue his hawkish stance. Abe has no reason not to utilize the threats to his maximum advantage. It often appears as if Kim is the biggest supporter of Abe. That is one big irony in the bilateral relations. Another irony lies with the entanglement of nuclear threats with human rights violations in both societies. The violations pertain to the following groups: Japanese wives of Koreans who were repatriated to North Korea (1950s-1984); Japanese abductees in North Korea (1970s-1980s); repatriated Korean escapees living in Japan (2000-present); and Korean residents in Japan (1910-present). The violations put the living and breathing human faces on the nukes. The nukes have deeply hurting words written on them. The incidences of "hate speech" increase targeting a most vulnerable population such as pre-school children. They did not choose their parents' nationality, and have nothing to do with the Kim regime's nuke development programs. Japan enacted North Korean Human Rights Acts in 2006. Article 1 of the Act states that it aims to "deepen the public's recognition of Japan regarding human rights violations in North Korea, elucidate the actual situation of human rights violations in North Korea and prevent such violations through cooperation with international community." Article 7 was added to the amended Acts of July 2007 formatting the basis for economic sanctions to resolve the abduction issues. The Acts show Tokyo's prioritization of its citizens' rights over universal human rights norms. The writer is associate professor at Hiroshima City University. She can be reached at mkkim_33@hotmail.com. Kid-glove response emboldens Chinese fishermen On Friday, an unacceptable thing took place in the Korean exclusive economic zone (EEZ) in the West Sea. A fleet of Chinese fishing boats teamed up and rammed through a police boat, dispatched there to crack down on their illegal fishing. Outnumbered, the Korean maritime police fled the scene and the Chinese escaped little damaged and sailed into their waters. Chinese illegal fishing is one thing but our law being mocked in our own territory can't be tolerated any longer. Russia had its warship bombard illegal Chinese fishing boats in 2012; Argentina sank a Chinese boat intruding its waters when it disobeyed orders, and Indonesia not only blew up Chinese fishing boats but also sank a commandeered illegal fishing boat, also Chinese, by drilling holes in the hull. Jakarta is said to have destroyed over 170 illegal fishing boats. The government should stop its kid-glove response. After the Friday incident, it called in a Chinese consul general to lodge a protest. The presidential office went out of its way and expressed its regret over the incident. So far, as before, it is all talk, no action. Obviously, relations with China have contributed to Seoul's vacillation. The world's second largest economy is Korea's biggest trading partner with its tourists accounting for the largest number of all foreign visitors. Korea's weak-kneed response is related to China's role in resolving North Korea's nuclear brinkmanship. Already, China has flexed its muscles by reducing K-pop events when Korea decided to deploy a U.S. missile interceptor against North Korean missiles, ignoring Beijing's pleas. This summer Chinese illegal fishing in the West Sea crested and the government called in the Navy to work with maritime police but their joint operations ended up as a half-hearted demonstration to ease angry public opinion. It's time to get bold and discipline the bull in the china shop. In their fishing talks, Beijing failed to promise concrete efforts on fishing piracy, claiming that they had little to do with it. If the Chinese can't, we ought to do it. These are our waters and a failure to act promptly and forcibly can be seen as a dereliction of duty by us to protect our sovereignty. The Friday incident also captures a dangerous evolution of China's illegal fishing against Korea's law enforcement. Two maritime ships were dispatched to the area 7.2km inside our EEZ and 80km south of Socheong Island at 2:10 p.m. Friday. Two fast boats were launched from one ship. Eight of nine policemen on board one boat climbed onto one Chinese fishing boat. Then, a Chinese boat hit the boat from behind and sank it. One left on board was rescued by the other boat, which also retrieved the eight before fleeing back to its mother ship. "A 100-ton Chinese boat hit our boat that weighs four tons 10 meters from behind," a boat crew member was quoted as saying. "It's nothing less than attempted murder." These law officers should be given greater freedom to use lethal weapons in self-protective measures at least. The government should also positively consider the formation of a special unit to uproot illegal Chinese fishing once and for all. If these efforts fail, we also should consider the Indonesian option as well. Kang Nam-hoon, Korea Energy Agency CEO By Lee Hyo-sik A former bureaucrat has been appointed as the new CEO of the state-run Korea Energy Agency (KEA) effective Monday, replacing outgoing Byun Jong-rip who headed the agency for three years. Kang, who retired as knowledge economy senior presidential secretary at Cheong Wa Dae in 2013, has pledged to transform KEA into a globally competitive energy research institute by fostering innovation, transparent management and open communication among employees. Prior to the latest appointment, Kang has headed Korea Industrial Complex Corp. for the last three years. The CEO, who earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Seoul National University, passed the civil service exam in 1982. He received a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Michigan in 1995. He has served key posts at the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy throughout his 30-year career. "I am glad to be part of the organization, which has been at the forefront of Korea's efforts to improve its energy efficiency and promote the use of renewable energy," Kang said during an inaugural ceremony at KEA headquarters in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Monday. "We will expand the scope of our work to help the country more proactively cope with the rapidly changing global energy market," he said. "KEA will ensure that the energy industry continues to play a critical role in driving economic growth and bolstering energy welfare for the people. We will emerge as a top global energy agency." The CEO said he will embed innovation and creativity in KEA's corporate culture, stressing that all employees should spend more time in the field. "We will introduce a performance-based evaluation system to encourage workers to hone their professional skills and reach their full potential. We will also promote transparent management and integrity to turn KEA into a more trusted public enterprise." By Park Jae-hyuk Gangdong-gu Office in southeastern Seoul hosted the 21st Prehistoric Culture Festival at the Amsa prehistoric settlement site, from Friday to Sunday. Visitors to the annual event experienced prehistoric life and saw real-size replicas of mammoths and other Neolithic creatures there. The only prehistoric-themed festival in Seoul, which has been held since 1996, featured parades, performing arts, fireworks and K-pop performances. The festival organizers held an international conference at Korea Press Center in central Seoul, Friday, seeking ways to register the Amsa-dong Prehistoric Settlement Site on the UNESCO World Heritage list. Scholars from various countries, including the U.S. and Australia, gave lectures on prehistoric sites in other countries and compared them to the Amsa site. With the Cultural Heritage Administration (CHA) and Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG), the district office has been working to register the site with UNESCO since 2014. The office has promoted the site with its residents and held a signature-seeking campaign as well. Gangdong-gu Office head Lee Hae-sik pledged to "continue to promote the value of the Amsa Settlement Site to the world and prepare for World Heritage registration." By Lee Min-hyung Samsung Electronics has temporarily suspended production of its flagship Galaxy Note 7 smartphone amid mounting pressure over continuing reports that replacement devices are also catching fire. "The company made the decision following discussions with regulators in Korea, the United States and China," said an official from a partnering company of Samsung Electronics, Monday. "The production suspension affects its manufacturing facility in Vietnam which is responsible for global shipments of the new handset." Samsung Electronics has yet to announce its official position on the issue. The company has been mired in a months-long controversy over reports that the Note 7 smartphone catches fire while charging. Amid mounting safety concerns, the company decided last month to recall the first batch of handsets and exchange them for new ones without any battery defects. But Samsung continued to grapple with problems of apparent manufacturing defects in the replacement phones, following reports that a U.S. flight was evacuated after a passenger's replacement Note 7 caught fire on the airplane, last week. When the U.S. report went viral, the country's major mobile carriers including AT&T and T-Mobile announced that they had halted sales of the Samsung smartphone and will exchange replacement Note 7 devices with different models, citing customer safety. In home's televisions, one can see most South Korean soap operas, radios and MTV's are dominated by K-Pops. Even the way young people dress, comb and style their hair South Korean influence can be found. It seems Indonesia is conquered by South Korea through music, fashion and drama. Just recently, a K-Pop competition is held in a Central Jakarta shopping mall many Indonesians who fell in love with Korean style join while others enjoyed watching. A certain Arthur Perdana, 20 and one of the performers wore South Korea all over his body, from a bowl-style haircut with a light orange shade and green contact lenses. He told ABC News before taking the stage that he loved well the culture of South Korea and he showed much interest about South Korean language. "I just like to learn about their culture, I will take what is good and leave out what is bad." This is how Arthur showed interest in South Korea. Interestingly, his South Korean fondness does not just end in music, fashion, drama, culture and language but also in foods. "First of all I like the music and then I love the drama also and the K-pop stars and everything actually. And the food I also like." The most significant statistics that show the Indonesian Korea-love is the fact that 220,000 Indonesians as based on record travelled to South Korea as tourists. Well it is still increasing. As far as South Korean television drama is concerned, Irma Maulida, an Indonesian woman from the Korean Tourism organization said, "Indonesians have all fallen in love with Korean television drama". Compared to Indonesian drama, Irma added, "Korean drama has very good packaging and then there's the music, and the Koreans always looks so cute". One example of a Korean television series that is well loved by people in Indonesia is the Descendants of the Sun. A former glamour model who was listed on an Islamic State watchlist has been arrested by anti-terrorism police in the United Kingdom. Kimberley Miners was arrested on suspicion of possessing material likely to be useful for committing or preparing an act of terrorism. The 27-year-old, who posed topless for The Sun newspaper, converted to Islam in 2010 after the death of her father. She used Facebook to communicate with a British fighter in Syria, a man known as Abu Usamah al-Britani, and allegedly shared violent Isis propaganda material on social media. Miners was arrested on Friday and released on Saturday, the report said. She was previously warned about communicating with extremists online. Police also searched her home in Bradford, Yorkshire. The Independent reported Miners denied having any links to terrorism and she has previously said she did not want to be a jihadi bride but she was interested in travelling to Syria. A spokeswoman for the North East Counter Terrorism Unit said a 27-year-old Bradford woman was arrested as part of an ongoing investigation. Social media accounts believed to have been used by Miners have links to suspected extremists, and included videos of Isis training. Miners turned to Islam after her father died in a freak accident in 2010, when he fell head first into a frozen lake. Miners has previously said converted to Islam for peaceful reasons. Ive gone from glamour model to something completely different. Anti-terror police were reportedly concerned she was being groomed and would eventually leave the UK for Syria. She had previously visited camps in Turkey near the border with Syria. Follow Us on Facebook @LadunLiadi; Instagram @LadunLiadi; Twitter @LadunLiadi; Youtube @LadunLiadiTV for updates The SLFP does not condone the continuation of the Emergency Regulations (The Public Security Ordinance) more than a day necessary Read more Palm Springs police officers Jose Gilbert Vega and Lesley Zerebny died on duty Saturday. See more below. Our occasional column of media and politics notes, with other news and observations. From multiple sources and the LA Observed inbox. At the top Trump's very bad week: The candidate's week began with AP interviewing 20 former crew members, editors and contestants on "The Apprentice" who said that Trump had repeatedly demeaned women with sexist language, rated contestants by their breast size and talked about which he would like to have sex with. On Friday, David A. Fahrenthold of the Washington Post got a tip and a leak and posted a story based on a tape of Trump and Billy Bush talking graphically about "pussy" and a woman who Trump wanted to fuck. He also told tales of using his celebrity status to get women this all while married... Trump's team hunkered down for hours before he finally posted a mea culpa of sorts, saying that was then (he was 59 at the time) and he is a changed man now: Ive said and done things I regret and the words released today on this more than a decade old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me knows these words dont reflect who I am. I said it, I was wrong, and I apologize. No matter: Among prominent Republicans pulling their support or rebuking Trump are John McCain, talk radio host Hugh Hewitt and Arnold Schwarzenegger, who posted on Saturday that he won't vote for Trump, the first time since be became a citizen that he won't vote for the Republican presidential candidate... Some media outlets used the graphic language and some didn't... WashPost media columnist Margaret Sullivan asks: "Is there now a news-side reporting team at NBC going through all of the networks Trump recordings and trying to get access to its own networks Apprentice recordings? Before Sunday night's debate, Trump doubled down on the sleaze. He held a presser with three women who accuse Bill Clinton of sexual assault: Juanita Broaddrick, Kathleen Willey, and Paula Jones... Broaddrick told media that Breitbart News paid her way to the debate... In the debate Trump said that Bill Clinton has done and said worse than him... The candidates did not shake hands at the start, there was mutual unease on the stage, and Trump was audibly sniffing again. NYT fact checks, LAT fact checks Baquet on Trump coverage and the future: In a long interview with Ken Doctor, New York Times executive editor Dean Baquet, now 60, talks about the challenges including "what he wishes he knew when he headed the L.A. Times." Its not just his outrageous stuff[Trump] says things that are just demonstrably false. I think that hes challenged our language. He will have changed journalism, he really will have. I was either editor or managing editor of the L.A. Times during the Swift Boat incident....We didnt know how to write the paragraph that said, This is just false. Palm Springs police officers: The two officers (top) killed Saturday when they answered a family disturbance call were Jose Vega, 63, a father of 8 who was within weeks of retirement, and Lesley Zerebny, 27, the mother of 4 month-old girl. Zerebny's husband is a deputy sheriff. The suspect was arrested after a many-hour standoff in his parents' home. Very emotional weekend in Palm Springs. Warner Music makes the leap: It's now confirmed that Warner Music will move its offices from Burbank and the Westside to 7th Street and Santa Fe Avenue in the Arts District. The renovated Ford Factory complex is at the foot of the 7th Street Bridge, across Santa Fe from Bread Lounge, Stumptown Coffee and Bestia. There's a 13-year lease with move-in in 2018. LA Times Vertical city: These are some of the new skyscraper projects in the works for downtown LA: A 57 story condo-hotel tower beside Perch across from Pershing Square, a 30-story condo tower on the site of the LA Times employee parking garage at 2nd and Spring, and most improbably a pair of 58-story condo towers in the industrial section at 6th and Alameda. Those latter towers would be the tallest buildings in Los Angeles outside of the downtown core, and would loom over the low-rise Arts District. New editor at Heyday Books: Heyday publisher and executive director Steve Wasserman named Narda Zacchino as executive editor. She will be based in Los Angeles. Zacchino is a former senior editor at the Los Angeles Times and San Francisco Chronicle. She and Wasserman worked together to found the LA Times Festival of Books and go way back. Her latest book is "California Comeback: How a 'Failed State' Became a Model for the Nation." Columbus Day: It's today. Schools and state officials are open. City, county and federal offices and superior courts are closed. There will be no mail delivery, and the city of LA picks up trash. Media notes On Saturday front pages, the Trump tapes story led the Washington Post and New York Times and was on page 1 of the Wall Street Journal and the OC Register but ran inside on page 10 of the Saturday LA Times. LAT apologists blame early deadlines and say the paper focused on getting the web report right, but so did everybody else. Management and remember the editor is now the publisher too and completely in charge of this has set extra early Friday deadlines and got burned for it on this story. Readers notice: See the tweet down at the bottom... NBC has suspended Billy Bush from the "Today" show, after staying silent for a couple of days. Bush did apologize promptly for his language, but not for sitting on the bombshell for 11 years... Mark Burnett, producer of "The Apprentice" and a Trump ally, has let employees know he will sue if any outtakes or other material damaging to Trump are disclosed... Former Apprentice producer Bill Pruitt tweets : "I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse... As Trump falters, CNN Republican commentator Ana Navarro , pictured above, is drawing raves and having the last word... Trump-stroking Breitbart News Network influences the middle of the country from the Westside of Los Angeles, in the LA Business Journal ... LA Weekly asks , What's Up With That L.A. Times Poll Showing Trump Winning? Trump-free zone: Former New Times poobah Mike Lacey is on the lam and sending people money to ex-colleagues out of the blue... Daniel Hernandez, ex-LA Times and LA Weekly reporter, is a correspondent and producer for VICE News Tonight, which debuts Monday on HBO... George Ramos, the late LA Times reporter and columnist, will be inducted into the Cal Poly San Luis Obispo hall of fame... What could happen to local journalism in LA and elsewhere if Gannett buys Tronc and does its usual cutting? Overly rosy take, I'd say... The LA bureau of the Wall Street Journal has finally moved to 5900 Wilshire, the office tower across from LACMA that is home to Los Angeles Magazine, the New York Times bureau and others... Rhonda Heth, a former attorney for the LA Times, died Sept. 30 at age 62. Politics notes Andrew Naylor squats on the web domain names for California's numbered ballot props and makes a profit doing so... The LA police commission is considering significant changes in the way the LAPD handles the release of information on shootings by officers... The city of Pasadena put a temporary hold on plans to start taxing Netflix use and other streaming services as utility ... Measure M supporters are running new TV spots claiming the transit tax will ease traffic congestion 15 percent a day, and former LA Weekly politics reporter Gene Maddaus isn't a fan of the hyperbole: "Patently ridiculous," he tweets ... Measure M advocates have raised more than $4.5 million , "more than three-quarters of that amount from developers, organized labor, engineering firms and other groups that could see financial gains from the Southern California infrastructure building boom that Measure M would create."... The LA Times editorial page endorsed Rep. Janice Hahn for the Board of Supervisors, but admitted that mustering enthusiasm remains difficult ... KCET is offering 1-minute web explainers on the state ballot propositions. Join 23,765 LA Observed followers on Twitter People are talking about... A gathering of white nationalist leaders who see their revolution beginning with the election of Donald Trump met recently for lunch at Taix in Echo Park : "Its not every day that a brown journalist gets to sit in on a white-nationalist strategy meeting. But these are strange times"... KTLA's Sam Rubin went public with complaints about the limits put on journalists covering the junket for the new Ben Affleck movie "The Accountant"... The magic backyard sound of a spinning Wiffle Ball, by Will Leitch in the NYT Opinion pages... Architect Dion Neutra, the son of modernist architect Richard Neutra, turned 90 on Saturday and will be honored as Silver Lake's "oldest living resident" by City Hall on Oct. 18. He still works 70-80 hours a week, the LABJ says. No comment: A press release sent to LA Observed about a parking app for Rams games got off on the wrong foot. Opening line: "Hi Davan." Books and authors How did Mercedes Lambert, once among L.A.s most promising contemporary writers, and a successful lawyer, teacher, and novelist, end up at the Alexandria Hotel, and later homeless on the streets, before dying at age 55? Los Angeles Magazine ... The Los Angeles Review of Books launched LARB LIT , a new page for original fiction... The SoCal bestsellers this week in fiction are "Commonwealth" by Ann Patchett and "Razor Girl" by Carl Hiaasen. The nonfiction bestsellers are "Born to Run" by Bruce Springsteen and "Killing the Rising Sun" by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard... Writers Bloc has added author Jonathan Lethem in conversation with David Ulin on Oct. 24 at New Roads... Live Talks LA has Bryan Cranston and Jay Roach on Oct. 13 at Santa Monica High School's Barnum Hall. Place On Saturday night, the four Music Center theaters Mark Taper Forum, Ahmanson Theatre, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and Walt Disney Concert Hall and the Kirk Douglas Theatre in Culver City dimmed the lights in honor of Gordon Davidson. The founding director of Center Theatre Group died last week Termite fumigation tents on homes are "a bizarre, colorful California rite of passage," says the NYT T Magazine... The NYT also appreciates Art Deco LA in the Sunday Travel section. In-N-Out Drive Thru Lines Are a Public Menace, and Heres How They Can Be Stopped. Los Angeles Magazine Mount Wilson Observatory has completely run out of water. Curbed LA The La Kretz Innovation Campus in the Arts District is open. Huffington Post Data: University of Phoenix Southern California is the largest private education company in the region, per a list from the LA Business Journal. Next are DeVry University, FIDM, Los Angeles Film School in Hollywood and the New York Film Academy in Burbank. A Tour of Ventura Boulevard Eats From Valley Veteran Aaron Robins. LA Weekly Recently on LA Observed Selected tweets I have spent 30 years covering American government and politics, and I have never seen a candidate do worse than Trump tonight. Jim Newton (@newton_jim) October 10, 2016 One American presidential nominee just told the world he'd jail the other. Every moment a new first for the modern era. David Folkenflik (@davidfolkenflik) October 10, 2016 This somehow evokes Sonny and Cher singing "I Got You Babe." pic.twitter.com/1pWqyaua4j Karen Tumulty (@ktumulty) October 10, 2016 I'm a Muslim, and I would like to report a crazy man threatening a woman on a stage in Missouri. #debate Moustafa Bayoumi (@BayoumiMoustafa) October 10, 2016 In August, when severe flooding brought disaster to Louisiana, we observed that the event demonstrated the folly of Louisiana senators and congressmen who had voted against aid to the victims of Superstorm Sandy in 2013. Now they were in the position of explaining why the residents of New Jersey and New York didnt deserve federal help, but their constituents did. Hurricane Matthew, which has largely completed its destructive tour of coastal Florida, Georgia and the Carolinas, has vastly expanded the ranks of federal politicians facing a hypocritical moment of truth. Florida, good luck with no more hurricanes....Who are you going to come to when you have these things? Rep. Frank LoBiondo, R-N.J., to GOP colleagues who voted against Sandy aid in 2013 Advertisement Of the congressmen currently representing the most seriously affected coastal zones of Florida, Georgia, and North and South Carolina, 10 were in office on Jan. 15, 2013, when the $50.5-billion relief package for victims of Sandy came to the floor, and passed. Five, all Republicans, voted against the package including one representative of Jacksonville, Fla., and one from St. Augustine, Fla., communities that suffered extensive damage from Matthew. Two Republicans didnt cast a vote. Three, all Democrats, voted in favor. As Henry Grabar of Slate observed, the Florida Republicans voting against the Sandy bill included Bill Posey, whose district stretches from Vero Beach to north of Cape Canaveral, and Ron DeSantis, who represents Daytona Beach and St. Augustine. DeSantis even voted against a smaller, less contentious Sandy bill that eventually was folded into the full measure. On the Senate side, where the Sandy bill passed on Jan. 28, 2013, six current senators from those four states were present and voting. Five, all Republicans, voted it down. The roster includes Floridas Marco Rubio, who was last heard from urging President Obama to approve Gov. Rick Scotts request for an emergency declaration on Thursday even before Matthew arrived. (Obama did so.) The entire hurricane-hit region will benefit from emergency spending by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, or FEMA. But its almost certain that residents of the coastal zone will also need supplemental assistance to rebuild their homes and businesses in the wake of the storm, and that local governments will need help restoring destroyed infrastructure. Thats the kind of aid these politicians rejected when the Sandy bill came up for votes. Preliminary estimates by insurance authorities place the damage from Matthew at $6 billion, but thats likely to be conservative. The point isnt merely that logrolling is an important element of legislating, though it is. Experienced senators and representatives have had that burned into their neurons, and history underscores the truth of it. After the Mississippi River burst its banks and displaced more than 600,000 residents of the Delta in 1927, a congressional delegation toured the devastated region led by Rep. Phil Swing of California. Why him? Because he was pushing for a flood control project for his home district, the Imperial Valley, in return for sponsoring a Delta restoration bill, which got passed in 1928. That same year, Congress obliged Swing by approving his project, which we know of today as Hoover Dam. It should go without saying that the residents of both regions, and indeed the entire nation, benefited greatly from those bills a classic win-win. Its also important to observe that two ideologies drove the Republican hostility to Sandy aid. One was the elevation of the balanced budget to an article of faith. Lawmakers who opposed the Sandy bill have claimed ever since that they did so because the appropriation wasnt counterbalanced by spending cutbacks elsewhere in the budget, though they were seldom specific about where. Some Republicans warned their recalcitrant colleagues that they were being dangerously shortsighted. Florida, good luck with no more hurricanes, Rep. Frank LoBiondo, (R-N.J.), called to GOP holdouts. California, congratulations, did you get rid of the Andreas fault? The Mississippis in a drought. Do you think youre not going to have a flood again? Who are you going to come to when you have these things? These are good questions, and they wont be answered until a relief bill for Matthew comes to the floor, as it almost inevitably will. The other ideology is climate change denial. Virtually every lawmaker who voted against the Sandy aid has also denied or expressed extreme skepticism about this well-established phenomenon, even though its likely to have magnified the impact of harsh weather on their own low-lying districts. Tying climate change to specific weather events is difficult, but climatologists say that among the likely consequences of climate change is an increase in the frequency of Category 4 and 5 storms like Matthew. Sea level increases also will intensify the impact of storm surges such as those that struck the coast. Yet the coastal delegation continues to turn a blind eye to the phenomenon in front of them. The only member who has shown even a modicum of good sense on climate change is Sen. Lindsey Graham, (R-S.C.), though he remains resistant to solutions that may cost money. Ive talked to the climatologists of the world, and 90% of them are telling me that the greenhouse gas effect is real, he said during a GOP presidential candidates debate last year. I just want a solution that would be good for the economy that doesnt destroy it. He then had to fend off criticism that his position made him sound like a Democrat. 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. Theres less love these days for Tony the Tiger, Capn Crunch and Lucky the Leprechaun. U.S. sales of breakfast cereals have turned as flat as soggy corn flakes amid heightened concerns among consumers about cereals nutrition and lack of convenience. For the record: An earlier version of this article said General Mills on the go snack versions of its cereals included Honey Grahams. The snack is called Golden Grahams. Sales of cold and hot cereals combined are expected to total $10.6 billion this year, down 17% from $12.7 billion in 2009, the research firm IBISWorld estimates. The firm also sees sales hardly budging for the next few years and totaling $10.4 billion in 2020. Advertisement The cereal category has undoubtedly had a challenging few years, said Craig Bahner, president of U.S. morning foods at Kellogg Co. Thats forced Kellogg and the industrys other big players, including General Mills Inc. and Post Holdings Inc., to roll out new products and bolster their marketing while also paring their operating costs in order to increase sales and profits. Todays consumer is changing quickly, so were putting all our effort towards understanding and responding to these changes, General Mills Chairman Kendall Powell said at an investor conference in July. The changes are coming on two main fronts: Many consumers increasingly want healthier choices for breakfast and they want foods they can carry out the door instead of taking the time to pour cereal into a bowl at the breakfast table, analysts said. On the health side, theres nothing new about cereal being attacked as less than nutritious and too high in calories. Critics for years have complained about some cereals being laced with too much sugar, with the likes of Kelloggs Honey Smacks and Posts Golden Crisp being favorite targets. But consumers push for healthier cereals now goes much further. Shoppers are looking for high protein and fiber content and natural ingredients, the research firm Mintel Group Ltd. said in a report. Consumers today believe cereal is overly processed and doesnt contain enough nutrients. That means cereal faces steeper competition from fresh fruit, yogurt, breakfast bars, protein-rich bars and drinks, sandwiches and even all-day breakfast options at McDonalds Corp. and other fast-food chains. Consumers are increasingly seeking products that match their personal definition of real food, and that can mean foods that are less processed and have simple labels with recognizable ingredients, Powell told the investors. These consumers are looking for transparency from manufacturers, so they can know how their food was sourced, produced and delivered to them, he said. The cereal makers have responded by reformulating many of their brands, boosting the protein and whole-grain content while lowering or eliminating sugar, gluten, sodium, carbohydrates and artificial flavors. Jim Murphy, president of General Mills cereal division, said those steps are starting to pay off. One example: Sales of gluten-free Cheerios were up 2% in the companys fiscal first quarter ended Aug. 28, he said. Kellogg recently rolled out two new versions of its mainstay Raisin Bran that include clusters of granola. General Mills introduced Tiny Toast thats flavored with real strawberries and blueberries and contains no artificial colors or sweeteners. Tiny Toast, in fact, was General Mills first new cereal in 15 years, and Murphy acknowledged that one factor behind the industrys sales downturn was not enough innovation from the branded manufacturers. But Murphy contended that new products and stronger marketing have led to improvement in the cereal category this year and General Mills expects this will continue. How consumers eat breakfast is the industrys other big challenge, with the emphasis now on satisfying time-squeezed lifestyles, especially those of harried parents. Americans dont necessarily have the time to enjoy a sit-down breakfast anymore and theyre looking for portability, said Amanda Topper, food analyst at Mintel. Convenience is more important to parents with lifestyle shifts and hectic day-to-day schedules. In addition, people see eating cereal as time-consuming because its not something you can do on the go, like eating a protein bar, said Rory Masterson, who tracks the industry for IBISWorld. The desire for convenience seems to be especially pronounced among millennials, the generation aged 18 to 34. When Mintel surveyed consumers about cereal a year ago, 39% of millennials said cereal was inconvenient because you have to clean a dish afterward. Millennials want something quick and simple in the morning, and they love variety, Kelloggs Bahner said. In response, the cereal makers are adding more portable options. Kellogg promotes its new granola Raisin Bran as a snack or sit-down cereal, and it sells a Special K egg, spinach and cheese breakfast sandwich. Kellogg also has a variety of breakfast and protein bars. General Mills sells on the go snack versions of its Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Golden Grahams and Fruity Cheerios cereals. The company two years ago also bought Annies Homegrown, a maker of organic snacks and cereals based in Berkeley. Post last year introduced breakfast biscuits made with its popular Honey Bunches of Oats cereal, along with its first breakfast shake called Post Goodness-to-Go. Theres also the issue of price. Brand-name cereal prices jumped after the financial crisis in 2008, owing largely to higher prices for grains and other ingredients, but prices have stabilized in the last two years. If you think about a box of cereal, most boxes have about nine servings to 10 servings in them, and they retail for $3 to $4 each, Kellogg Chairman John Bryant told an investor conference last month. So [thats] roughly 30 cents to 40 cents per occasion. Even so, spending $4 on a box of cereal can be onerous for some families with limited grocery budgets, which is why lesser-priced generic and grocery store brands remain strong competition for Kellogg and the others. But the cereal makers and industry analysts said that if the companies can keep adapting to changing consumer needs, especially among millennials, the business can grow again. While millennials may look at breakfast differently, they are still eating a lot of cereal, just not always for breakfast, Murphy said. According to Nielsen data, ready-to-eat cereal is in 90% of all households and nearly 94% of millennial households, he said. For this group, cereal is more than just a breakfast item, it is also a popular snack option. Or, as IBISWorlds Masterson put it: There will always be a place for cereal at the table. james.peltz@latimes.com For more business news, follow James F. Peltz on Twitter: @PeltzLATimes To read the article in Spanish, click here ALSO How Wells Fargos rivals make it harder for employees to create fake accounts Warner Music leaving Burbank, Westside for downtown L.A.'s Arts District Report: Samsung halts Galaxy Note 7 production after problems with replacement phones Samsung Electronics has temporarily halted production of its Galaxy Note 7 smartphones, South Koreas Yonhap news agency reported Monday, after reports that replacements for the fire-prone phones were also overheating. Citing an unnamed official at a Samsung supplier, Yonhap said the tech giant took the unprecedented measure for the sake of consumer safety. The move follows decisions by U.S. phone retailers AT&T and T-Mobile to stop giving new Note 7 smartphones to consumers to replace older models while investigations of the replacement devices are underway. Advertisement Samsungs troubles with the Galaxy Note 7, which was recalled last month after reports of its batteries catching fire, appear not to be over. Samsung Electronics did not respond to a request seeking confirmation of the Yonhap report. The Note 7 recall is Samsungs first smartphone recall and its biggest crisis in years. The premium phone was hailed by critics as one of the best Android phones when it made its debut in August. Two months later, some consumers called the expensive device the Death Note after reports that dozens of the smartphones overheated or caught fire, in some cases damaging property or causing injuries. Samsung seemed to have the trouble under control when it swiftly announced a global recall two weeks after the phones launch. It promised to replace the earlier phones with new Note 7s showing a green battery icon to indicate they are safe to use. But consumers have reported that even the new Note 7 phones with the green battery icon were catching fire. Last week, authorities had to evacuate a Southwest Airlines flight in Kentucky when a replacement phone began emitting smoke. Passenger Brian Green, 43, said the device was a Galaxy Note 7 he had picked up from an authorized AT&T retailer Sept. 21 as a replacement for another Note 7 phone he returned when the global recall was announced. Samsung had promised that the replacement models were safe. The Consumer Product Safety Commission is still investigating the incident and had no further information as of Friday. See the most-read stories in Business this hour Some U.S. mobile carriers have opted to stop selling the new Note 7 phones. AT&T, one of the largest phone retailers in the U.S., stopped giving consumers replacement Note 7s and encouraged customers with Note 7 phones to exchange them for other devices. T-Mobile said on its website Sunday that it is temporarily suspending all sales of the new Note7 and exchanges for replacement Note 7 devices while Samsung investigates multiple reports. In response to those reports of replacement phones catching fire, Samsung said on its website Friday that it understands the concern of our carriers and consumers. We continue to move quickly to investigate the reported case to determine the cause and will share findings as soon as possible, it said. If we conclude a safety issue exists, we will work with the CPSC to take immediate steps to address the situation. ALSO Frontier Airlines continues to grow, goes on a hiring spree Warner Music leaving Burbank, Westside for downtown L.A.'s Arts District Steven Spielbergs Amblin Partners and Chinese billionaires firm announce global production deal UPDATES: 9:36 p.m.: This article was updated with news that there is a report Samsung has stopped production. This article was originally published at 4:20 p.m. Theyre known for bouncing around jobs, delaying marriage and holing up in their parents basements. Dubbed recently as the children of the Great Recession by Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, millennials are the best educated and most diverse population of young people in U.S. history. They are also perhaps the most coddled, some would say spoiled. As they emerge this year as the United States largest demographic group some 75 million strong millennials are taking up the mantle as the most impactful generation since the baby boomers. Advertisement Their influence has started slowly, due largely to the economic instability that has left many struggling to find good-paying jobs and saddled with staggering student loan debt. But millennials adults under 35 are certain to shape the economy for decades to come. And their coming of age in the midst of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression has bred distinct traits that could pose special challenges for the nations future growth and prosperity. For starters, millennials are not big spenders, at least not in the traditional sense. Millennials tend to prefer experiences over buying things and accumulating stuff. To them, an impressive selfie capturing a memorable moment is, in some sense, as enviable as a new car or fancy watch was to their parents. Neil Howe, an economist and demographer who coined the term millennials with co-author William Strauss, sees it as part of a redefining of American conspicuous consumption. Instead of material wealth, millennials show off through their travels, hobbies and even meals, which get photographed and posted on Facebook, Instagram and other social media. If youre a foodie, you can go out and have some incredible dining experience, and then you can curate it almost as if it were a thing, Howe said. Millennials are one reason restaurants have been doing well and hiring so many workers. Dominick Ardis, 29, typifies his generation. In between jobs this year, the Tallahassee, Fla., resident scrounged money from family and friends so he could immerse himself in Hebrew studies this summer at Middlebury College in Vermont. Last year it was the art of glass-blowing. And before that he was getting voice lessons. Music is such an emotional and experiential event, he said. Ardis is interested in his career and making money, too. Its just that hes got other things on his mind, like taking a trip to Cuba next year. Such priorities may well give Ardis and his fellow millennials a more fulfilling, well-balanced life than, say, workaholic boomers. But that may not be great for a U.S. economy driven by consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of the nations gross domestic product. I do sense that public service, community service is in their DNA. John Della Volpe, director of polling at Harvard Universityas Institute of Politics Young Americans are unusually optimistic, which could propel purchases and economic growth as their disposable income increases. But theyre still not likely to have as much left over because so much is going for skyrocketing rents and education expenses. The low home-buying rate of young adults already has been a big factor in the slow housing market. The homeownership rate for those under 35 slipped to a low of 34% this year, compared with around 40% for young adults in the prior three decades. And people today are getting married and having children later, which will weigh on home sales in the future. I dont believe theyre going to catch up, said John Burns, an Irvine-based national real estate consultant. Like other millennials, Summer Lollie is keenly interested in having her own place. She wants something close to her parents two-story, four-bedroom house in the Dallas suburb of Mesquite where she grew up and currently lives, she says. But the 27-year-old community organizer cant imagine how she will be able to save up for a down payment and afford a mortgage. While Lollies parents never finished college, she graduated from Washington and Lee University, a well-regarded school in Lexington, Va. But with more than $35,000 in student debt and a car loan to boot, she has struggled to make ends meet. She moved back with Mom and Dad in April 2015, paying a little rent to them. Theres more than economics behind the living-at-home phenomenon, however. Lollie doesnt mind the arrangement at all because she likes being with her parents something more common among millennials than people of their age in previous generations. Experts think that reflects their protective upbringing and more-frequent exchanges, thanks in part to the rise of texting and social media. I have loving parents here, Lollie said. Another key difference with their predecessors, particularly Generation X, is that millennials are not big risk takers. That seems especially true when it comes to starting businesses. Four consequences of a $15 minimum wage The rate of new start-ups is higher today than 10 or 20 years ago for every major age group except those between 20 and 34 years old, according to the Kauffman Foundations latest annual study of entrepreneurship. The result is that the composition of new business formation, already turning grayer with the aging of baby boomers, has shifted even more sharply to older adults in recent years. Two decades ago, a little more than 34% of all new entrepreneurs in the U.S. were younger than 34 years old. Today its just 25%. This could be really troubling, says Arnobio Morelix, a senior research analyst at Kauffman. Start-ups represent dynamism in the economy. New and young businesses have long created the bulk of new jobs in America, and are critical for productivity growth, too. Morelix believes some would-be entrepreneurs are being held back by their heavy student debt load. Nonetheless, he finds it puzzling that there seems to be relatively less entrepreneurial zeal among millennials, particularly since they grew up in an era when people like Facebook founder and millennial Mark Zuckerberg, 32, have been celebrated in business schools and popular culture. In fact, however, theres evidence that young adults today would rather work for big companies than take their chances at budding firms or in their own garages. Compared to boomers, millennials are more interested in having the same job through most of their life, says Jean Twenge, a San Diego State University psychologist and author of Generation Me. Their relative risk-aversion may have something to do with the protective environment that parents and schools created for millennials, emphasizing participation over winning. Said Twenge: Everybody got a trophy. Partly because of such pampering, Twenge argues, millennials are more self-absorbed than prior generations, even narcissistic. But at the same time, research suggests that young adults today are also very community-minded. If baby boomers were known as the me generation, millennials might be called the we generation. Surveys have found that millennials, while less interested in traditional politics, care deeply about their communities and are volunteering more than earlier generations of young people. I do sense that public service, community service is in their DNA, said John Della Volpe, director of polling at Harvard Universitys Institute of Politics. He thinks thats partly because many high schools, starting in the 1990s, mandated community service hours before graduation. Millennials also came of age in a more racially diverse and economically stratified America, which has made them more sensitive to social issues and things like gender and income inequality. Gay rights are a given. Back in 1990, whites made up 73% of young adults age 18 to 34. That share dropped to 63% in 2000, when millennials were just entering adulthood, and its now down to 55.8%, according to William Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer. Increasingly, the face of prime-age workers in the U.S. are people like Lionel Mares of the Sun Valley neighborhood of Los Angeles. A second-generation Mexican American who grew up watching news of school shootings and inner-city violence, the 30-year-old pursued a degree in sociology from Cal State Northridge. Mares, too, has struggled to find a good job, and in recent months has been volunteering at a local legal aid center. His heroes arent Zuckerberg or athletes like Michael Phelps. He gets inspiration from people like Eleanor Roosevelt, the first lady known for her social reform work and spirit of volunteerism. Mares is the first in his family to graduate from college; his dad was a handyman, his mom a seamstress. He plans a career in the public sector. I want to give back to the community, Mares said. Millennials are more conservative than Boomers or Gen Xers were at their age, study finds Their emphasis on community and social causes is starting to be felt on Wall Street, too. Beyond their outsized participation in the Occupy Wall Street movement a couple of years ago, millennials already are overrepresented in investments focusing on so-called environmental, social and governance issues, said Amy OBrien, managing director and head of responsible investment at TIAA Global Asset Management. She notes that many millennials were in high school and college when the financial crisis struck, and thats had a lasting influence. They put a large value on business ethics, OBrien said. Their sense of community has also made millennials more progressive when it comes to public assistance programs, from Obamacare to student debt relief. And far from the antigovernment spending mantra espoused by many of their parents, millennials have largely embraced liberal ideals about government, explaining why Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton (and her former rival Sen. Bernie Sanders) have put forward programs to subsidize college tuition and raise the federal minimum wage. They actually trust big institutions like government more than older people [do], said Howe, the generational trends expert. They believe we could put in a strong set of community and national organizations that would assume a high degree of dependence on these institutions . We would all give more to the community and the community would give us back in an equitable way. don.lee@latimes.com Follow me at @dleelatimes ALSO Reality check: Manufacturers returning to U.S. may mean jobs for robots, not people Obamas tougher approach to corporate America may reshape his presidency Trumps businesses would create unprecedented challenges in the White House As Yahoos embattled email service suffers through a slew of bad news, some users are finding it hard to leave. Automatic email forwarding was disabled at the beginning of the month, several users said. Although those who have set up forwarding in the past are unaffected, some who want to leave over recent hacking and surveillance revelations are struggling to switch to rival services. This is all extremely suspicious timing, said Jason Danner, who runs an information technology business in Auckland, New Zealand, and is trying to quit Yahoo after 18 years with the email provider. Advertisement Yahoo Inc. declined to comment on the recent change beyond pointing to a three-line notice on Yahoos help site that says the Sunnyvale, Calif., company temporarily disabled the feature while we work to improve it. Like forwarding postal mail, email forwarding makes sure users dont miss important messages as they swap one address for another. The feature has been a basic concept for 15 years for just about every email provider out there, said Brian McIntosh, who owns a small technology business and first alerted the Associated Press to the issue. All of a sudden its under development, McIntosh said in a telephone interview. And only at Yahoo. Yahoos users have been hit by a one-two punch of disclosures. In September the company revealed that hackers stole personal information associated with half a billion user accounts in 2014, a theft that appears to have gone undiscovered for some two years. More recent revelations concern reports that Yahoo opened its users emails to government surveillance. Although its unclear whether either issue will lead to a real exodus from Yahoo, several people said they were leaving or had already left the service because of the negative headlines. Being an American, I think theres a certain amount of expectation that some surveillance goes behind the scenes all the time, said Merissa Silk, an expatriate mobile product manager living in Sydney, Australia. But providing the U.S. government unrestricted access that really, really violates our privacy. Silk has skipped the email forwarding, instead leaving an out-of-office message on her Yahoo account that provides her new address and reads in part: Following recent data and privacy breaches, I will be discontinuing use of Yahoo Mail. For those seeking more than an out-of-office message to manage their old inbox, Yahoos decision to disable email forwarding is a source of frustration. McIntosh said his business, which is in Canada Lake, N.Y., would have to delay a clients planned transition to a Microsoft email provider. Danner said Yahoos sudden decision to do away with such a basic function left him dumbfounded. That all this has ceased to function when theyve been getting a lot of press seems extremely dubious to me, he said in a phone call. ALSO Why Americans are eating less cold cereal for breakfast Harvard and MIT professors win Nobel Prize in economics Millennials arent big spenders or risk takers, and thatll reshape the economy Three years ago, theater artist Aaron Posner had a postmodern field day updating Chekhov in his frisky comedy with the unprintable title that weve taken to politely calling Stupid Bird. It turned out that the navel-gazing characters from The Seagull and other masterpieces from the Russian playwright had utterly recognizable contemporary equivalents. In District Merchants, Posners latest act of insouciant reconstruction, the source of dramatic inspiration is Shakespeares The Merchant of Venice. The result, however, is a far less congenial mix of sensibilities. Shakespeare seems more distant in this adaptation, while Posners cutting-edge techniques come off as recycled and even a little dated. The characters, belonging neither fully to Shakespeares world nor Posners, are left stranded between Elizabethan comedy and hyperactive 21st century meta-theater. Advertisement The work, now at South Coast Repertory, leaves the impression of a graduate school project part thesis, part creative writing exercise. Directed by Michael Michetti, who staged Stupid Bird with such fizzy exuberance at Pasadenas Boston Court Performing Arts Center, this plucky production isnt able to transform District Merchants into a functional play. Part of the difficulty is the match-up. Posner overlays Shakespeares controversial romantic comedy, in which anti-Semitism rears its ugly head in the treatment of the moneylender Shylock, with the complex story of race in America after the Civil War. District Merchants is set in Washington, D.C., and Belmont, Mass., in the period of Reconstruction a far cry from magical, mercantile, money-obsessed Venice and Portias enchanted island. Shylock (Matthew Boston) is an immigrant who fled pogroms in Ukraine. Antoine DuPre (Montae Russell), modeled on Antonio, the title character of Shakespeares play, is a freeborn black man who borrows money from Shylock to help his financially strapped friend Benjamin Bassanio (Chris Butler) win Portias heart and fortune. Like most of the characters in Shakespeares original, Bassanio can be seen as both sincere and mercenary. He is at once a romantic who has finally found true love and a gold-digger who knows hes hit the lottery. He retains these contradictory characteristics in District Merchants, but Posner complicates his quest by transforming him into a character whos trying to pass as a white man. Portia (Helen Sage Howard Simpson) is often held up as the heroine of The Merchant of Venice, the fetching mastermind who saves Antonio from Shylocks revenge with her shrewd courtroom maneuvering, but she is a more slippery figure than her oft-quoted Quality of Mercy speech suggests. Posners Portia, like Shakespeares, isnt always able to live up to her high-minded ideals. She makes unthinkingly racist comments to Nessa (Kristy Johnson), her challengingly clever waiting woman (whose mother was a slave until bought by Portias free-thinking father) and confesses that shes not quite progressive enough to fall in love with a black man, though that is what she has unwittingly done. The lead-up to Bassanio and Portias crisis is clumsily handled. The first half dispenses exposition in a cumbersome manner. Time is spent setting up the historical period and the locales and introducing the various characters, who narrate their dilemmas for us in language that often makes them sound like the playwright. The plots are turned into a stew. Posner dawdles on the elopement of Finneus (Matthew Grondin), an Irish version of Shakespeares party-boy Lorenzo, and Jessica (Rachel Esther Tate), Shylocks daughter whos in cahoots with her fathers impish servant, Lancelot (Akeem Davis). Im not sure which is more distracting, the departures from Shakespeares tale or the points of overlap; the excerpts of famous speeches that are recited (Shylocks Hath not a Jew eyes, Portias paean to mercy) seem like borrowed glory. Similar to Stupid Bird, the characters of District Merchants routinely step away from the action to directly address the audience. This breaching of the fourth wall doesnt always come naturally to them. The accents that are employed Yiddish for Shylock, a brogue for Finneus have a cartoonish quality, but it hardly matters because the words they speak all have the generic ring of annotation. These arent characters so much as commentaries on characters. Posner has plenty of experience with Shakespeare. (District Merchants was commissioned and originally produced by the Folger Theatre at the Folger Shakespeare Library.) I wasnt all that impressed with the glitzy production of The Tempest that he adapted and directed with Teller (of Penn & Teller), which I first saw at Las Vegas Smith Center for the Performing Arts and later at South Coast Rep. But its clear that Posner has thought hard about the competing value systems in The Merchant of Venice the way the hypocritical force of money drives communities together and tears them apart. Shakespeare isnt the only influence here; District Merchants also seems indebted to An Octoroon, Branden Jacobs-Jenkins audacious reworking of the Dion Boucicault melodrama. But Posners source material, being of a much finer grain, isnt as easy to horse around with. Not only isnt his deconstruction as stylishly pulled off as Jacobs-Jenkins, but Shakespeares genius also overshadows Posners efforts. Daniel Conways busy pile of a set suggesting an arcade, a courthouse and a construction site is as unsettling as the hectic script. Its only in the productions second half, when the narrative pace slows and Bassanio and Portia are given time to dissect their conflicted feelings for each other, that Posners ostentatiously artificial play finds its poise. District Merchants Where: South Coast Repertory, 655 Town Center Drive, Costa Mesa When: 7:45 p.m. Tuesdays-Fridays, 2 and 7:45 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays. Ends Oct. 23 Tickets: $30-$79 Contact: www.scr.org or (714) 708-5555 Running time: 2 hours, 30 minutes SIGN UP for the free Essential Arts & Culture newsletter charles.mcnulty@latimes.com Follow me @charlesmcnulty Turkey isolates itself culturally. Further controversy over an art show in St. Louis. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is about to be the subject of a show in Los Angeles. Plus: Rosa Parks home, Samoan tattoos and that sublime point where Donald Trump and the world of architecture criticism intersect. Turkey is exiting the European Unions Creative Europe program, which funds arts and culture programming over a dispute about how the Armenian genocide is described. This could be devastating to the countrys smaller arts organizations. Variety, Artforum The Wildenstein tax fraud trial, now in its second week in Paris, reveals the art dealing familys web of offshore trusts. It also reveals a bit of chaos in the courtroom. Artnet Advertisement More than 20 artists have withdrawn from open studios organized by the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis after a racially charged exhibit there generated controversy. St. Louis Post-Dispatch The mobster who may know where the art stolen from Bostons Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum in 1990 is may be near death. The Guardian An artist is transporting Rosa Parks former Detroit home to Germany. The Guardian The Portland Art Museum has unveiled plans for a new pavilion in honor of Mark Rothko, who moved to the city from Latvia at the age of 10. New York Times The Skirball Cultural Center is organizing an exhibition about Ruth Bader Ginsburg for 2018. And it will contain memes. Huffington Post A Brooklyn gallery that rented space to the artists of a pro-Trump art show says that the exhibitions organizers were dishonest about its true purpose. Artnet Speaking of Trump: Architecture critic Blair Kamin writes about the Trump mail he has received over the years. Chicago Tribune A man walks in front of the Trump Tower in Chicago last week. (Nova Safo / AFP/Getty Images ) Related: That time in the 80s that the legendary critic Ada Louise Huxtable wrote about being misquoted by Trump. New York Times Magazine (via @BlairKamin) And since were on the subject of our election, Mexican artist Pedro Reyes has created a massive haunted house in New York City inspired by politics. Its called Doomocracy. Sounds about right. New York Times The estate of artist Dash Snow is suing McDonalds for using a graffito by the artist to decorate one of its restaurants. Hyperallergic How 17th century painter Artemisia Gentileschi revealed her own painful past in her violent works. The Guardian The picture book that Otto Dix painted for his 5-year-old stepdaughter goes on public view in Dusseldorf for the first time. The Art Newspaper Photos by artist Daniel Shea from the debut Amtrak photography residency. Weber represents How the role of museums in cities has evolved. The Guardian The Taj Mahal is getting a mudpack. Yahoo News Children play in front of the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, last month. (Chandan Khanna / AFP Photo ) Samoan tattoos in O.C. KPCC How Gillo Pontecorvos 1966 film, The Battle of Algiers, influenced Rage Against the Machine and a group of L.A. Chicano artists. LA Weekly And last but not least, things that are a total necessity: Best places to escape the art world. Artillery Sign up for our weekly Essential Arts & Culture newsletter Find me on Twitter @cmonstah. Actress and activist Shailene Woodley was arrested in North Dakota on Monday in the aftermath of a protest opposing the construction of the Dakota Access pipeline. Morton County Sheriff's Department spokesperson Rob Keller confirmed Woodleys arrest at a protest site one mile south of St. Anthony in south-central North Dakota, where construction of the pipeline was taking place. Woodley is charged, along with 26 others, with criminal trespassing. Protesters are targeting the planned 1,172-mile pipeline that would carry 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day from production regions in North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa before reaching an existing pipeline in Patoka, Ill. The Dakota Access pipeline has faced resistance from both environmental groups lobbying for decreased dependence on nonrenewable resources and Native American groups, specifically the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, who would be most directly affected and argue that the construction of the pipeline disrupts sacred sites. Protesters were dealt a blow Monday morning when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the Standing Rock Sioux Tribes request for an injunction to halt construction. Woodley, who was in the midst of a two-hour Facebook livestream (some language used in the video may be deemed NSFW), was leaving the protest site (1:55:00 on video) after an order to disperse from law enforcement. As she neared her RV she was approached by Morton County Sheriffs officers and informed that she was being arrested for criminal trespass. The actress then handed her phone to her mother to continue streaming. I was just told that the cops are following me, Woodley told her livestream, as a helicopter circles above. Send some prayers. (1:56:46) I was just walking back to my RV, which is right there, so we can go back to camp peacefully and they grabbed me by my jacket and told me I wasnt allowed to continue and they had giant guns and batons and zip ties and theyre not letting me go, Woodley said, looking into the camera, the wind whipping her scarf across her face. (1:59:56) When informed shes being placed under arrest, Woodley questions why shes being arrested and not other protesters. Is it because Im famous? Is it because people know who I am? The response from an off-screen officer is that she was trespassing, to which she responds, So did hundreds of people, we all did. At that point, two of the three officers tasked with arresting Woodley stated, You were identified. (2:00:46) As she was taken away by officers, Woodley turned back to her mother, who was still filming and said, I hope youre watching, mainstream media. (2:01:40) Woodley was then transferred to Morton County Jail in Mandan, 16 miles north of the protest site. See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour libby.hill@latimes.com Twitter: @midwestspitfire ALSO The $3.7-billion pipeline that became a rallying cry for tribes across America Billy Bush, embroiled in Trump tape scandal, is suspended from 'Today' show Has Donald Trump broken the media? UPDATES: 5:47 p.m.: This post was updated with more context about the output of the pipeline. This post was originally published at 12:35 p.m. on Oct. 10, 2016 From Santa Monica to the San Gabriel Valley, a new wave of brewery tasting rooms has opened. Here are four to keep an eye on. Santa Monica Brew Works Located just two miles from the Santa Monica Pier (and only a couple of blocks from an Expo Line train station), Santa Monica Brew Works is the first craft brewery tasting room in Santa Monica, and with room for more than 100 visitors, the spacious expansion to the production brewery is a welcome addition to the neighborhood. Ten beers were available on a recent visit to the tasting room, which opened in mid-September: the five core SMBC brews, and five seasonal and one-offs (including a light and refreshing saison). If youve got a sweet tooth, dont miss the PCH golden porter thats chocolatey and nutty theres also a version with coffee that balances the sweetness. Food trucks park in the lot on the weekend, and while growler fills are not yet available (they are coming soon), you can get cans of a few SMBW brews to go. 1920 Colorado Ave., Unit C, Santa Monica, (310) 828-7629, santamonicabrewworks.com. Advertisement FrogTown Brewing The new brewery and tasting room in the Elysian Valley neighborhood known as Frogtown, located just a few hundred feet from the Los Angeles River Greenway Trail, opened Oct. 1. . Long communal tables, lots of reclaimed wood and an eclectic collection of pieces from local artists fill the space. The highlight of the four beers left on tap after the grand opening celebration was the bright and hoppy Feather It In session IPA. There is also a home brew supply shop attached to the brewery and tasting room in case you need some ingredients or equipment for cooking up brews at home. 2931 Gilroy St., Los Angeles, (323) 452-2739, frogtownbrewery.com. Torrance Cosmic Brewery If Cosmic Brewery sounds familiar, its because the company isnt new, but the Torrance brewery is. Cosmic Brewerys Hell Hound Brown and Cosmonaut California Blonde Ale have been available in bottles for a while. Cosmic Brewerys co-founder and brewer Christopher Briles was a gypsy brewer who contracted with established brewers to make his brands beer. Now, Briles has a brewery of his own, right in the middle of L.A.s thriving South Bay beer scene. And the Cosmic Brewery tasting room is just yards away form two Torrance favorites: Smog City Brewing and Monkish. 20316 Gramercy Place, Torrance, (424) 259-2337, www.cosmicbrewery.com. Progress Brewing The newest brewery tasting room in the San Gabriel Valley, Progress Brewing in South El Monte already offers more than a dozen brews ranging from a blond ale to sour beers and a trio of fresh-hopped IPAs. Many brews are available for growler and crowler fills, and the tasting room is proudly dog- and kid-friendly. 1822 Chico Ave., South El Monte, (626) 552-9603, www.progress-brewing.com. ALSO: Farmers market report: Pomegranates are in season 5 great L.A. pizzas you havent been eating enough of The new Los Angeles beers you should be drinking for fall Its been called the forgotten war a punishing campaign of airstrikes by a Saudi Arabia-led coalition that over the last 18 months has destroyed schools and homes, hospitals and crowded marketplaces in Yemen, the Arab worlds poorest nation. Now a single devastating attack that left at least 140 mourners dead at a funeral hall in Yemens capital, Sana, may push the Obama administration to reconsider its support of the air war spearheaded by Riyadh, and could spark a reappraisal of Western arms sales to Saudi Arabia. Saudi Arabia has announced an inquiry into Saturdays grisly bombardment of the crowded funeral hall, which was widely blamed on the coalition, although the Saudis have not accepted responsibility. And the Obama administration said it was reviewing its role in the coalition in light of Saturdays attack and a string of similar incidents. Advertisement On Monday, the United Nations human rights chief, Zeid Raad Hussein, cited a climate of impunity surrounding the air war, which has killed at least 4,125 civilians by U.N. estimates and benefited the extremists of Al Qaeda and Islamic State. The campaign of airstrikes began six months after Houthi rebels surged out of their northern strongholds and seized Sana in September 2014, putting the internationally recognized president, Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi, under house arrest. He subsequently retreated to the southern port city of Aden and later took shelter in Riyadh, the Saudi capital, before returning to Aden. But the Yemen conflict is essentially a proxy fight, replete with bitter sectarian overtones, between the two powerhouses of the Persian Gulf region Sunni Muslim Saudi Arabia, which supports Hadi, and Shiite Iran, which backs the Houthis but denies arming them. Because of Yemens strategic location alongside key oil-shipping lanes, fighting there has spurred worries about a potential widening of the war. On Sunday, suspected Houthi forces fired a pair of missiles toward the Mason, a U.S. guided-missile destroyer sailing in international waters off the Yemeni coast. The Pentagon said the projectiles fell harmlessly into the water, causing no injuries or damage, but the episode heightened concerns about security of shipping in the Bab al Mandab, a narrow strait through which millions of barrels of oil pass weekly. Last week, a vessel from the United Arab Emirates came under fire from Yemen near the crucial waterway. A man is hospitalized with injuries from an Oct. 8 airstrike that hit a funeral hall in Sana, Yemen. (Hani Mohammed / Associated Press ) Even before Saturdays bombing, the growing civilian toll in Yemen had galvanized opposition in the U.S. and Britain to lucrative Saudi arms deals. But the Senate last month voted down a bipartisan measure to block a $1.5-billion sale of weaponry to the Saudis. This bombing campaign would not be possible without U.S. targeting, U.S. bombs, U.S. refueling, Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), said in a recent interview. We are full and total participants in this bombing campaign, and it seems ludicrous to try to absolve ourselves from these casualties. In Sana, thousands marched Sunday to protest the funeral hall airstrike, one of the wars single deadliest episodes. Rescuers described a scene of unremitting carnage, with a welter of charred bodies and body parts. The U.N., which provided the death toll, also said more than 500 people were hurt. Angry protesters who took to the streets of the capital blamed not only the Saudi-led coalition, but also the U.N., for failing to stem the bloodshed, and the United States, Riyadhs ally, which has provided logistical and intelligence support for the air campaign. That support was reportedly scaled back over the summer, amid a rising outcry over civilian casualties in Yemen, when some U.S. military personnel were diverted from a task force aiding the coalition. But the Saudis have previously weathered international denunciations over the conduct of the air war, including a wave of opprobrium in August after a deadly airstrike on a hospital in the Houthi-held northern province of Hajjah that was supported by the Paris-based Doctors Without Borders. The attack, which killed at least 19 people, was the fourth such strike on a medical facility backed by the group. In response, Doctors Without Borders pulled its staff out of six hospitals in the north, citing indiscriminate bombardment. Human rights groups, which have exhaustively documented strikes on medical facilities, residential areas and civilian targets such as a potato-chip factory, renewed calls for an end to the air campaign after Saturdays attack even while voicing frustration that previous appeals have gone unheeded. International concern was mounting, however. Germanys foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, on Monday called the funeral hall strike a cruel act that threatened to pull in other regional actors. Iran, which has denied arming the Houthi rebels, denounced the Saudi-led air campaign as tragic and horrific and sought U.N. intercession for Iran to send in humanitarian supplies and airlift wounded victims out. In Washington, there were growing signs of the conflicts unpopularity. On Sunday, citing a series of attacks that have killed or maimed civilians, National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said American cooperation with the Saudi-led coalition was not a blank check. Aside from the bombardments direct toll, civilian suffering has intensified in recent months, after the breakdown of U.N.-brokered talks over the summer in Kuwait. A cholera outbreak is raging in Sana, UNICEF reported last week, and food and medical supplies are scarce. Parents in Sana take to social media to describe their childrens terror at the nightly roar of airstrikes. In Yemens complex tribal society, Saturdays attack also had what may be lasting political repercussions. The hundreds of mourners at the funeral hall included dozens of influential tribal leaders who were there to pay tribute to the late patriarch of a powerful clan. Saudi Arabia, which has often responded dismissively to past criticism of the air campaign, conveyed deep regret over the bombing in a letter to the U.N. Security Council and sought to strike a conciliatory note over the funeral hall attack, promising transparency in the investigation it says it has launched. The kingdom is already the target of concerted criticism over its human rights record. The U.N. has called on Saudi Arabia to repeal laws allowing punishments including stoning, amputation and flogging, and groups including Human Rights Watch have demanded that Saudi Arabia be suspended from the U.N.s Geneva-based Human Rights Council. The kingdom has aggressively worked to counter formal expressions of international condemnation, such as attempts to place the Saudi-led coalition on a list of violators of childrens rights, and has largely prevailed. But the political climate surrounding the Yemen conflict may be changing. U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who issued a strongly worded statement Sunday condemning the funeral hall bombing, suggested that the world body might yet seek to hold Saudi officials accountable for the ever-rising tide of destruction and death in Yemen. Those responsible, he said, must be brought to justice. ALSO Missiles fired from rebel-held Yemen land near U.S. warship Thousands in Yemen protest airstrike that hit funeral hall and killed more than 140 Syrian refugees capture terrorism suspect and hand him over to German police The Los Angeles school district and a well-known charter school have quietly resolved a conflict in a way that will help a group of employees but deepen the districts long-term budget deficit. L.A. Unified has agreed to pay lifetime health benefits for 10 employees who worked at El Camino Real Charter High School through last year. The employees formerly had worked at L.A. Unified, but left the district when the Woodland Hills school became an independent charter. The employees including eight teachers then returned to L.A. Unified just long enough to file for retirement and thus qualify for the districts lifetime benefits. Advertisement El Camino Real Charter is in charge of its own funding and manages its own benefits under a board of directors. Six months ago, when senior officials learned of the employees intentions, L.A. Unified refused to provide the benefits, which will cost the district and taxpayers $2.5 million to $3 million over the life of the retirees, according to actuarial estimates. Nearly 50 charter teachers had done the same in the past without opposition from L.A. Unified. But this time, district officials came under scrutiny after The Times inquired about the practice. And they disliked that El Camino paid bonuses as high as $30,000 apiece if the employees took their retirement costs away from El Camino. Last week, district officials reversed themselves. We are going to honor our commitments to provide lifetime benefits to their employees, said L.A. Unified General Counsel David Holmquist. The reversal ultimately was based on direction from the elected L.A. Board of Education, which met in closed session over the issue. The board was not legally obligated to report any action that it took, Holmquist said, because the matter related to a formal and confidential employee grievance. The seven-member board includes both charter-school proponents and union allies. Most charters are not unionized, and unions and charters are typically at odds. But El Camino is that rare union charter, and the union wanted to protect its members entitlements. California has more than 1,000 school districts. L.A. Unified is among about 70 that provide some form of post-retirement health benefits, which can be earned through long service. L.A. Unifieds package is among the most generous. Its also far from fully funded, contributing to an estimated future debt of $13.6 billion. The districts own chief financial officer called that financial obligation scary. It is one key factor threatening the long-term solvency of the school system. And paying it down means less money left for classrooms and for the salaries of current workers. But the district declined to stand its ground after United Teachers Los Angeles, which represents the El Camino teachers, filed a grievance. Although grievance proceedings are confidential, multiple sources confirmed that the union asserted the districts contractual obligation. According to that contract, El Camino teachers had up to five years to return to L.A. Unified after the school left district control in 2011 and would retain their previous rights if they did. For some, the union asserted, these rights included lifetime benefits, even if they retired without working another day in the district. LAUSD was obligated to take this action because of the collective-bargaining agreement, said union President Alex Caputo-Pearl. We ensured that the agreement was enforced and our members rights were upheld. In a statement, El Camino said it was extremely pleased, adding that the charter has always supported the best interests of our teachers and staff because of their exemplary service. L.A. school board members on Friday did not respond to requests for comment. Although board members have talked repeatedly about the districts dire budget situation, they have been reluctant to tamper with benefits and in some instances have expanded them. In late August, the board approved health benefits for 4,200 part-time workers who were not among the thousands of part-time workers already covered under L.A. Unified plans. L.A. Unified still offers the potential of lifetime benefits for new employees, but its much harder to earn them. Most would need to work for L.A. Unified for 25 consecutive years before retirement. And their age and years of service would need to equal at least 85 when added together. El Camino, one of L.A.s largest public schools, remains on the hook for potential lifetime benefits for most of its employees, who have a labor contract similar to the districts. And that is not even its most pressing challenge. The school announced this week that it is parting ways with chief business officer Marshall Mayotte and that executive director David Fehte would see an unspecified reduction in his reported base pay of $221,475. The school is trying to stave off a takeover from L.A. Unified following allegations of poor financial management practices and misspending by Fehte. howard.blume@latimes.com Twitter: @howardblume To read the article in Spanish, click here ALSO El Camino charter makes changes to avoid possible L.A. Unified takeover If Proposition 55 passes, the state budget will rely even more on Californias highest earners Few are paying attention to Californias Senate contest because it may be putting them to sleep An 88-year-old San Jose woman who was brutally beaten during a home invasion robbery last month died early Saturday from injuries she suffered in the attack, according to the Santa Clara County Sheriffs Office. Flo Douglas, who was known as Miss Flo in her small community, was pronounced dead around 1:50 a.m. at a hospital, according to Sgt. Richard Glennon, a sheriffs spokesman. Douglas had been in the intensive care unit since the Sept. 12 attack. Advertisement To get the news this morning was heartbreaking, Glennon said. Douglas death comes more than two weeks after prosecutors charged 19-year-old Zachary Cuen with premeditated attempted murder, first-degree robbery, first-degree burglary and elder abuse. There are also enhancing allegations that Cuen personally inflicted great bodily injury on a person over 65. Now that Douglas has died, Cuen will soon be charged with murder, according to the Sheriffs Office. Cuen has not made a formal plea on the charges . The violent attack was reported by a neighbor shortly before 8 p.m. in the 200 block of North Cragmont Avenue in East San Jose. Glennon said the neighbor went to check on Douglas after seeing her car parked down the street and not in the driveway where its normally parked. He said the neighbor peered through a window and saw Douglas on the ground bleeding. Before Douglas was transported to the hospital by paramedics, she told deputies that she believed two men had attacked her. However, during the course of the investigation everything pointed to Mr. Cuen, Glennon said. Were still investigating it, but he seems to be the one responsible for it. Disturbing details of the violence that took place inside the house that night were laid out in a statement of facts by Santa Clara Sheriffs Sgt. James Cardenas, who was assigned to investigate the case. According to Cardenas, a man entered Douglas home and threatened to kill her if she didnt give him money. When she told him she didnt have any money the man began to punch and kick her. Douglas fell to the floor and the male kicked her head and body several times, Cardenas said. He said the man left but returned to demand money and kick her again. Douglas suffered several fractured bones, internal hemorrhaging in the eyes and brain as a result of his attack, Cardenas said. After beating Douglas, the man began to ransack the home and stole items. The man then fled in Douglas car, which was found down the street. Investigators found a latent print inside the home that they said led them to Cuen, who lived several blocks from Douglas home. Investigators arrested Cuen Sept. 15. The Mercury News reported that Cuen was on probation in connection with a February vehicle theft and hit-and-run. Cuen had also been arrested last year in an attempted burglary case that involved an 85-year-old woman. The victim in that case also lived within a few blocks of Cuen, the paper reported. Glennon said the Sept. 12 attack on Douglas has rocked the neighborhood to the core. He said Douglas was a prominent figure in her community. It was someone on the block that everybody knew, he said. Days after the attack, Jocelyn Wallace Lewis created a GoFundMe account to help pay for her grandmothers medical expenses. St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, which Douglas attended, also held a candlelight vigil and a fundraiser to support Douglas family. Lewis could not be reached for comment. Church officials declined to comment for the story. On a recent court hearing, Douglas family told TV reporters they were shocked about what had happened to their relative and demanded justice. My heart is so heavy, Bridget Vaughn, a niece, said. This is unbelievable. I cant believe that our family is here right now. ruben.vives@latimes.com For more Southern California news, follow @latvives on Twitter. ALSO Hiker rushed to hospital after bear attack in Sierra Madre Adult son pushed elderly mother out of a window and killed her, police say Pasadena police release names of officers involved in deadly struggle with Reginald Thomas Jr. A hiker was hospitalized Monday after he encountered two bears and one of the animals attacked him in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains near Sierra Madre, authorities said. The hiker was attacked about 10:45 a.m. about two miles north of Bailey Canyon Wilderness Park, near Georges Cabin, the state Department of Fish and Wildlife said. UPDATE: Hiker might have triggered bear attack by interrupting mating session, official says Advertisement The hiker, who was described as a 53-year-old man, returned home and called authorities. He was later taken to a hospital in Arcadia, where he remains with injuries that are not life-threatening, Sierra Madre police Chief Larry Giannone said at a news conference. He sustained what we would know as a pretty good bear attack, Giannone said, adding that the attacking bear was likely between 200 to 300 pounds. The city of Sierra Madre said in a statement that both the Bailey Canyon and Mt. Wilson trails were closed until further notice. The hiker was alone when he said a bear appeared ahead of him in the middle of the trail and stood on its hind legs, DFW spokesman Andrew Hughan said. The hiker told authorities the bear was taller than him, meaning it was a full grown adult, Hughan said. A few seconds after the bear stood up, the hiker was surprised to see a second animal. He did not see a second bear off to his left who came up and started attacking him, Giannone said. The attack lasted a few seconds. But Im sure it felt a lot longer, Hughan said. The man fought off the bear. Both bears then ran away, and the man got up to return to the trailhead. The hiker suffered several cuts and scratches and possible puncture wounds, Hughan said. Two game wardens were in the area searching for the bear. If authorities find the animal and determine it is the bear responsible for the attack, it will be euthanized in accordance with department policy, officials said. The park as well as the hiking trails leading to the site of the attack were closed, authorities said. The park, which is part of a small nature-study area with trails and oak trees, is surrounded by quiet residential streets and sits near a sprawling Catholic retreat center. An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 black bears live in California, though the animals are more commonly seen in Central and Northern California. The larger and more bellicose grizzly bear was wiped out in the state more than 90 years ago, although in recent years there has been a modest campaign to reintroduce the animal here. In Southern Californias foothill communities, sprawling development and the effect of drought have made bear encounters or sightings an occasional event. Residents have reported spotting bears taking a dip in backyard pools or rummaging through trash bins. But wildlife officials emphasize that bear attacks are rare. Chief Giannone said officers often see bears and usually dont spot aggressive behavior. Police typically shoo them back up into the foothills, he said. In June, a 120-pound black bear was euthanized after it injured a man who was camping above Altadena in the Angeles National Forest. A bear scavenging for food on the outskirts of Yosemite National Park attacked a 67-year-old man last summer. The man survived but suffered numerous cuts to his arms, legs and body, as well as defensive wounds to his hands, DFW Lt. Chris Stoots said. joseph.serna@latimes.com Twitter: @JosephSerna matt.hamilton@latimes.com Twitter: @MattHjourno ALSO Adult son pushed elderly mother out of a window and killed her, police say Pasadena police release names of officers involved in deadly struggle with Reginald Thomas Jr. Elderly woman dies from injuries sustained in home invasion robbery in San Jose UPDATES: 9:10 p.m.: This article was updated with additional details about the injuries sustained by the victim and background information. 2:30 p.m.: This article was updated with new details of the bear attack and the hiker. This article was originally published at 1:35 p.m. Sikh community leaders are urging that hate crime charges be filed against two men who were arrested on suspicion of severely beating a Sikh man in Richmond, Ca., last month and cutting off some of his hair. Maan Singh Khalsa, 41, was attacked in what Sikh leaders say was a hate-motivated assaulted directed at Khalsas religious beliefs and ethnicity. Khalsa wears a turban and maintains his hair and beard unshorn as part of his Sikh faith. During the Sept. 25 attack, Sikh leaders said, Khalsas attackers yelled, Cut his hair, cut his [expletive] hair, then used a knife to chop off a fistful of his mane. He hadnt done anything wrong, said Harsimran Kaur, legal director for the Sikh Coalition. Advertisement Dustin Albarado, 25, of Ponchatoula, La., and Chase Little, 31, of Beaumont, Texas, were arrested after the attack, according to Richmond Police Lt. Felix Tan. The Sikh Coalition sent a letter to police and the Contra Costa County District Attorney asking that they investigate the incident as a hate crime. Sikh leaders asked that police arrest and file hate crime charges against a third man, who was also allegedly involved in the attack. Targeting a Sikhs turban and hair is analogous to targeting a Jews yarmulke or a Muslims hijab, the coalition wrote. The district attorneys office is investigating Khalsas case, and no charges have been filed against men. The Richmond Police Department is following leads regarding [additional] participants, who witnessed events and/or were directly involved, Deputy Dist. Atty. Simon OConnell said. A decision on charges could be made by Wednesday, he said. Khalsa, who is of South Asian ancestry, was driving home on the night of the attack and stopped at a red light in Richmond, about half a mile from his home, according to the letter. A man in a white Ford F-150, which was occupied by at least five other men, allegedly threw a beer can at his car. Khalsa rolled down his window to talk to the man, but truck passengers responded with profanity, the coalition said. The men exited the truck and walked toward Khalsa, who then drove out of the intersection just as the light turned green. Khalsa called 911 to report the attack. But his window was still partially rolled down. At the next red light, the men got out of the truck and attacked him through the window, the coalition said. The men knocked off his turban, hit his face several times, pulled his head out of the window and cut his hair, the coalition said. According to the coalition, the men could be heard shouting Cut his hair on a 911 recording. Khalsa managed to drive to a gas station, where he waited for police. Although Mr. Khalsa explained that he believed his attackers were motivated by bias, the officers appeared dubious, the coalition wrote in its letter. Khalsa suffered a swollen black eye, dental damage and cuts, and his finger was injured to point of infection and may require amputation, Kaur said. He will also require root canal surgeries, she said. The attackers caused physical injuries and deep harm when they targeted my Sikh faith, Khalsa said in a statement. I urge a thorough investigation so we can address the tide of violence and bigotry in this country. Khalsa, who is a U.S. citizen, has been living with his family in Contra Costa County for seven years. He works as an Information technology specialist for the Social Security Administration as a well as a certified caregiver for the elderly. The attack and other assaults across the U.S. have sparked fear within the large Sikh community in Richmond. In 2012, six Sikh worshipers were killed when a neo-Nazi walked into a temple in Oak Creek, Wis., and opened fire No one should be targeted, Kaur said. No community should be targeted. It certainly adds fear for the broader community. veronica.rocha@latimes.com For breaking news in California, follow VeronicaRochaLA on Twitter. ALSO Hiker rushed to hospital after bear attack in Sierra Madre Adult son pushed elderly mother out of a window and killed her, police say Pasadena police release names of officers involved in deadly struggle with Reginald Thomas Jr. Los Angeles police are searching for a man and woman who fled a Hollywood nightclub where a man was shot and injured early Monday, authorities said. Police received a call at about 1:40 a.m. about the shooting outside a nightclub called Tiffanys On Vine near the intersection of Vine Street and Hollywood Boulevard, said Officer Norma Eisenman, a spokeswoman for the Los Angeles Police Department. The incident began as an argument between two women around closing time, Eisenman said. A man is believed to have gotten involved in the dispute, two weapons were drawn and one was fired, striking a man, she said. Advertisement It was unclear Monday morning who fired the weapon and whether the man who was shot was involved in the dispute, Eisenman said. The injured man was transported in stable condition to a hospital, Eisenman said. Two suspects, a male and a female, fled the scene, she said. The shooting remains under investigation. hailey.branson@latimes.com Twitter: @haileybranson Lesley Zerebny returned to work early to help out after giving birth to her daughter, now 4 months old. Shed been an officer with the citys Police Department for just 1 years. Officer Jose Gil Vega had submitted his paperwork to retire in December after a 35-year career with the department. Vega, the father of eight children, wasnt scheduled to work Saturday but had picked up an overtime shift. For the record: An earlier version of this article reported that the shooting suspect lived on Cypress Avenue. John Felix lived in the 2700 block of Cypress Road. Zerebny, 27, and Vega, 63, were killed Saturday in a shooting that has drawn an outpouring of support from this desert community and shaken a small Police Department that hadnt lost an officer in the line of duty in more than five decades. The gunman was arrested early Sunday. Advertisement Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes voice quavered at a news conference hours later as he described watching Zerebnys husband, a Riverside County sheriffs deputy, say goodbye to his wife. To see her lying there with her eyes open, and to witness her husband, in full Riverside sheriffs uniform, kiss her on the forehead for the last time, its tough, Reyes said. Many questions about the incident that led to the officers deaths remain unanswered. Police responded to a domestic disturbance call shortly after noon at the suspects home in the 2700 block of Cypress Road, and called for backup just 10 minutes later, Reyes said. Zerebny and Vega were killed and another officer was wounded, but he is expected to recover, authorities said. The shooting suspect, John Felix, remained in the home until early Sunday morning, when officers used chemical agents to coax him out, said Riverside County Sheriffs Chief Deputy Ray Wood. When he emerged, he was wearing soft body armor and he had a number of high-capacity magazines on his person, Wood said. Felix was not armed. Felix, 26, was arrested and is expected to be charged with two counts of first degree murder with the special circumstances of multiple murder and murder of a police officer in the line of duty, authorities said. Riverside County Dist. Atty. Michael Hestrin said his office would decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Felix. I consider the brutal murder of a police officer to be a very heinous crime, so I will leave it at that, he said. Reyes, who became police chief in February and oversees a department of 98 sworn officers, seemed to speak for the entire community when he talked about the loss of his officers. Im awake in a nightmare right now, said a shaken Reyes just hours after the shooting. If theres ever a time to pray for Palm Springs PD, its now. Im awake in a nightmare right now. Palm Springs Police Chief Bryan Reyes Asked Sunday how the families of the victims were holding up, the chief said, thats a tough question. Everybody has their moment. Some are strong one second, some are broken the next. Reyes described Zerebny as a wonderful, young, dedicated female officer that pressed forward every day to make it better for everybody else. She gave her all, he said. Reyes said that Vega chose to continue working even when hed done so for 30 years, the time when many cops retire. This year, the department needed a training officer and he stepped up, Reyes said. Here he is 35 years in, still pushing a patrol car for our community to make it better, Reyes said. When officers responded to the incident that would turn fatal on Saturday, Vega was the first one at the door, Reyes said. Felix, the man suspected of shooting the three officers, has a history of violence, records show. Felix was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon after an initial charge of attempted murder in 2009. Prosecutors at the time accused him of being a member of a criminal gang. He was sentenced to two years in prison. In 2013, he was accused of resisting arrest with Palm Springs police on the same street where Saturdays shooting occurred. He pleaded guilty to a count of malicious noise. Officials said the Palm Springs Police Department has turned the shooting investigation over to the Riverside County Sheriffs Department. Outside the Police Department onSunday, people stopped by to add to the growing tribute of flowers, American flags and candles left for the fallen officers. Among them was Mike Donovan, a retired officer whod worked with Vega. I cant think of a better cop, Donovan said. He described Vega as the kind of officer who always thought of others before himself, especially in emergency situations. He said that officers try not to think about the risk thats a part of their jobs. You dont let it occupy your mind as youre working, but you try to prepare yourself for it and your loved ones and when it does happen, we all come together. He remarked on how long it had been since the department had lost an officer. Officer Gale Gene Eldridge was killed in the line of duty in January 1961, and Officer Lyle Wayne Larrabee was killed in January 1962. Near the makeshift memorial, two men held up signs to passing motorists that read, Law Enforcement Lives Matter. Police chaplains waited outside the department, preparing to speak with officers about their fallen colleagues. Steve Ballinger, lead chaplain for Riverside police, said he was among those who were asked to help. Our hearts are broken, he said. This is happening way too much. Ive been doing this for years. And it never gets easier. Theres no words that Im going to be able to share with them thats going to take away their pain and their hurt, Ballinger said. But its that presence just to let them know theyre not in it alone. Gov. Jerry Brown issued a statement, saying that the officers were killed doing what they do every day protecting their community. We grieve with the family members, friends and fellow officers coping with this senseless tragedy, Brown said. Anne and I join all Californians in offering our heartfelt condolences. On Sunday evening, hundreds of community members gathered for a candlelight vigil outside the Palm Springs Police Department. Some wore T-shirts that read In Honor of Gil Vega End of Watch October 8, 2016" and included a photo of the officer. One woman wore a shirt that said Back the Blue. On one side of the podium was a photo of Vega, on the other a photo of Zerebny both of them smiling. Nearby balloons bore the words RIP Gil and RIP Lesley. At 5 p.m., attendees bowed their heads as they listened to the invocation of prayer to start the vigil. Chief Reyes spoke afterward. Very difficult times for us all. It goes without saying, he said. I was broke this morning ... But Im healing. Im healing now because of what I see out here ... Its this community outreach thats going to get us through it. Times staff writer Matt Stevens contributed to this report. ruben.vives@latimes.com brittny.mejia@latimes.com soumya.karlamangla@latimes.com ALSO Suspect in Palm Springs police killings had body armor and high-capacity magazines, authorities say He has a gun. Hes ready to shoot all the police. Fateful screams before 2 officers killed in Palm Springs I cant think of a better cop. Palm Springs officer killed three months before retirement Polands leading filmmaker Andrzej Wajda, whose career maneuvering between a repressive communist government and an audience yearning for freedom won him international recognition and an honorary Oscar, has died. He was 90. Wajda had recently been hospitalized and died Sunday night, his colleague, film director Jacek Bromski, told the Associated Press. Wajda trod on ground controlled by communist-era censors with Man of Marble, which looked at the roots of worker discontent in communist Poland in the 1950s, and Man of Iron on the rise of the Solidarity movement. Advertisement In 2000, he was awarded an honorary Oscar for lifetime achievement. By that time, four of his films, including Man of Iron and Katyn, had been nominated in the foreign film category. He was considered one of the worlds great filmmakers. Wajda was witness to war and turbulent decades in his homeland. At the age of 16, he joined the Resistance in World War II. He did so after his father, a cavalry officer, was killed. After the war, he first studied art and then, in 1950, enrolled in Lodzs famous film school. His World War II trilogy A Generation (1954), Kanal (1957) and, most notably, Ashes and Diamonds (1958) brought him international acclaim. In an interview with The Times in 2000, just before accepting the Oscar, Wajda said be believed a real director is worth only as much as his latest film, and every latest film may be his last. Im so happy with my life and with all the opportunities given me, he went on to add. If you were to ask me what I am most proud of, I would say it is because I am here to receive this honor. I live in a distant land and create in an unknown language, and here I am, talking to you, getting recognition and getting an Oscar. There is no greater satisfaction than being honored by so many famous American filmmakers. Perhaps there is a universal language in film after all. Wajdas last movie Afterimage, a biopic about an avant-garde artist, was recently chosen as Polands official entry for the 2016 Oscar for best foreign language film. Donald Trump has repeatedly claimed over the past week that Bill Clinton torched the Affordable Care Act when the former president brought up the health law during a campaign rally for Hillary Clinton in Michigan on Monday. Trump was asked about his comments again again during Sundays debate. His claims are, at best, misleading. The former president did note that some people are still struggling to afford healthcare, despite the 2010 law, often called Obamacare. Advertisement And Clinton observed that under the current system, those who fare best are those who qualify for government health programs, such as Medicaid for the poor and Medicare for the elderly and disabled. Here are Clintons exact words: The current system works fine if youre eligible for Medicaid, if youre a lower-income working person, if youre already on Medicare, or if you get enough subsidies on a modest income that you can afford your healthcare. But the people that are getting killed in this deal are small-business people and individuals who make just a little too much to get any of these subsidies. Why? Because theyre not organized, they dont have any bargaining power with insurance companies, and theyre getting whacked. So youve got this crazy system where all of a sudden, 25 million more people have healthcare and then the people that are out there busting it sometimes 60 hours a week wind up with their premiums doubled and their coverage cut in half. Its the craziest thing in the world. Clinton went on to suggest that people who are caught in the middle should be allowed to buy into a government program such as Medicare. Far from repudiating the current law or his wifes healthcare platform, Clinton was actually making the same case that she and President Obama have made repeatedly about the need to build on the current law to help more people. Hillary Clinton, among other things, has proposed allowing people ages 55-64 to buy into Medicare to provide them with another affordable health coverage option. And she has advocated additional tax credits for people with high medical costs. We have more work to do to finish our long fight to provide universal, quality, affordable healthcare to everyone in America, she notes on her campaign website. Obama on numerous occasions has urged Congress and the next president to revisit the law and make further improvements. Despite this progress, too many Americans still strain to pay for their physician visits and prescriptions, cover their deductibles, or pay their monthly insurance bills; struggle to navigate a complex, sometimes bewildering system; and remain uninsured, the president wrote in the Journal of the American Medical Assn. over the summer. More work to reform the healthcare system is necessary. Twitter: @noamlevey The states with the biggest Obamacare struggles spent years undermining the law So you think Obamacare is a disaster? Heres how California is proving you wrong The mass shooting in San Bernardino in 2015 became a topic of the second presidential debate Sunday when Donald Trump repeated the false claim that several witnesses saw explosives at the home of the attackers but neglected to alert law enforcement. After a Muslim woman asked the Republican candidate how he would help millions of Muslims in the U.S. overcome the stereotype that they pose a threat, Trump referred to the Dec. 2 mass shooting and attempted bombing that left 14 people dead and seriously injured 22 others. In San Bernardino, many people saw the bombs all over the apartment of the two people that killed 14 and wounded many, many people, Trump said. Muslims have to report the problems when they see them, he later added. Advertisement Trump and his supporters have repeated variations of the claim before, but there is no evidence that witnesses saw weapons in the Redlands townhouse of Syed Rizwan Farook and Tashfeen Malik. Trumps response to question on islamophobia by falsely claiming people saw bombs in the house of the San Bernardino shooters. The FBI has said it had not been watching Farook and Malik prior to the massacre and did not receive advance warning that they were dangerous. Friends, family and co-workers have said publicly that they did not know Farook and his wife had been plotting the attack. The notion that Muslims should police each other for suspicious behavior sparked a viral hashtag on social media, #MuslimsReportStuff, with debate viewers offering humorous takes on Trumps comments about Muslims. "Falafel" actually means "kill all the infidels". We've kept that a secret all this time. #MuslimsReportStuff hend amry (@LibyaLiberty) October 10, 2016 "Hello, yes. Muslim here. I am eating ice cream now. Safe to proceed? Ok...ok, thanks." #MuslimsReportStuff #debate A. David Lewis (@adlewis) October 10, 2016 The hashtag quickly became a vehicle to criticize Trumps political platform and comment on the broader view of Muslims in American society. Hello, Id like to report a dangerous racist misogynist demagogue on my TV yes, Ill hold, Zainab Chaudary wrote. Where is the call to all white people to report white terrorists? Amelia Noor-Oshiro wrote on Twitter, later adding, White terrorists kill far more than any other group! After the San Bernardino attack, investigators found a cache of weapons in the assailants townhouse, including thousands of rounds of ammunition and a dozen pipe bombs. The house also had a workshop used to make explosive devices. The claims about missed opportunities to avert the attack appear to originate in a second-hand account from one of the couples neighbors. Aaron Elswick told KTLA-TV Channel 5 that a friend of his who lived near Farook and Malik had spotted suspicious activity at the home, including the delivery of numerous packages. The couple also seemed to work in their garage at strange hours, he told the news station. The friend apparently did not report it out of fear of racial profiling, he said. The identity of the friend was not reported. Trump laid blame on the Muslim American community for a failure to report Farook and Maliks terrorist ambitions, and cited recent attacks in Orlando, San Bernardino and Paris to support his assertion. Muslims have to report the problems when they see them, and you know, theres always a reason for everything, Trump said, later adding, If they dont do that, its a very difficult situation for our country. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie made a similar claim during a Republican primary debate in January, stating that neighbors were aware of Farook and Maliks violent aims. These folks had weapons, they knew that they were talking about trying to take our country and attack it, Christie said, according to the fact-checking website PolitiFact. That debates moderator, Megyn Kelly, replied that the neighbors were not aware that the couple would launch an attack. They knew they were talking about attacking people, Christie said. As the investigation into the San Bernardino attack unfolded, investigators learned that Farook and his former neighbor and childhood friend, Enrique Marquez Jr., had plotted in 2011 and 2012 to carry out attacks at Riverside City College and on the 91 Freeway. Marquez is accused of buying two rifles for Farook as they prepared to carry out those attacks, as well as smokeless powder that was used to make pipe bombs that were left by Farook in the San Bernardino conference room where the attack occurred. Marquez was working at a Wal-Mart on the day of the attack. The next day, he called 911 and told an operator that Farook had used his gun. How do you know its your gun? the 911 operator asked. Marquez said, They can trace all the guns back to me. Prosecutors filed federal charges against Marquez in the unrealized terrorist plot. He is also charged with unlawfully handing over the weapons to Farook. He has pleaded not guilty, and is awaiting trial. Assistant U.S. Atty. Christopher Grigg has said there was no evidence that Marquez participated in the attack at the Inland Regional Center. matt.hamilton@latimes.com ALSO All the fact-checking from both presidential debates and the vice presidential debate Transcript: The most important exchanges of the first presidential debate, annotated Our judges score the town hall debate UPDATES: 10:20 p.m.: The story was updated with information about the #MuslimsReportStuff hashtag. This story was originally published at 8:55 p.m. Trump shows little remorse in his return to the trail after controversy over leaked remarks Donald Trump at a rally in Wilkes-Barre, Pa. (Jessica Kourkounis / Getty Images) A contrite Donald Trump? Thats so yesterday. Trump, returning to the campaign trail for the first time after his past disparaging comments about women were revealed in a leaked recording, seemed hardly chastened Monday by the battering his campaign has withstood. In a pair of rallies in Pennsylvania, Trump was playful, defiant and unabashed in his appeal to his base, doubling down on his threats to prosecute Hillary Clinton should he be elected and signaling more attacks on her husbands infidelities. The leaked comments in which he lewdly boasted of pursuing women without consent have dominated the political world and unleashed an unprecedented civil war within the Republican Party. But they went barely mentioned in Trumps public remarks. At his first rally, in the western Pennsylvania town of Ambridge, he briefly acknowledged being beaten up for 72 hours for locker room talk, but did not apologize for those comments, as he did on Friday after the tape was leaked. He did not refer to the remarks later at a rally in Wilkes-Barre. His opener, former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, said he would save a salty comment about the Clinton Foundation for the locker room. The mention drew loud cheers from the crowd. Trump lobbed ceaseless attacks at Clinton, homing in on leaked excerpts of her speeches to Wall Street audiences in which she called for a globalized trade policy. The GOP nominee also warned his audience of the election possibly being stolen, a charge with implicit racial undertones. In Ambridge, he told the predominantly white crowd to watch other communities to make sure no fraud was being committed. In Wilkes-Barre, he raised the specter of horror shows of stolen elections in Philadelphia, which has sizable black and Latino populations. Oct. 9, 2016, 7:27 p.m. reporting from st. louis Is Russia attempting to influence the election? The Obama administration says it is Hillary Clinton said the Russians are trying to influence the presidential election to get Donald Trump elected to the White House. We have never in the history of our country been in a situation [where] a foreign power is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election, and believe me, theyre not doing it to get me elected, she said. Maybe its because he praised [Russian President Vladimir] Putin. Trump responded by saying that he does not know Putin and that Clinton did not know who was breaching Democratic emails. She doesnt know if its the Russians doing the hacking, Trump said. The federal government on Friday officially accused the Kremlin of trying to influence the elections by hacking the emails of Democratic groups. Earlier this year, Trump invited the Russians to hack Clintons emails. He later said he was being sarcastic. What we know about Ken Bone, Karl Becker and the rest of the town hall debate questioners James Carter asks a question during the debate. (Paul J. Richards / AFP/Getty Images) Eight audience members asked questions of the nominees Sunday night. By nights end, some had been declared the winners of the chaotic town hall debate and at least one audience member inspired a fake Twitter account and a song. Here are the questions and everything we know about the questioners: 1. Patrice Brock: The last debate could have been rated as MA, mature audiences, per TV parental guidelines.... Do you feel youre modeling appropriate and positive behavior for todays youth? Ken Karpowicz asks a question during the town hall debate. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images) 2. Ken Karpowicz: Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, it is not affordable...What will you do to bring the cost down and make coverage better? A Facebook profile identified by several of Karpowiczs high school classmates says he is a foreman at a sheet metal company and graduated from high school in Illinois. 3. Gorbah Hamed: There are 3.3 million Muslims in the United States, and Im one of them. ...With Islamophobia on the rise, how will you help people like me deal with the consequences of being labeled as a threat to the country after the election is over? 4. Spencer Maass: What specific tax provisions will you change to ensure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share in taxes? According to a LinkedIn profile that appears to belong to Maass, he is a credit analyst at a bank in Missouri. Maass is a recent graduate of the University of Missouri where he studied finance, the LinkedIn page says, was a member of Sigma Nu fraternity and was involved in student government. 5. James Carter: Do you believe you can be a devoted president to all Americans? 6. Beth Miller: What would you prioritize as the most important aspect of selecting a Supreme Court justice? 7. Kenneth Bone: What steps will your energy policy take to meet our energy needs, while at the same time remaining environmentally friendly and minimizing job loss for fossil power plant workers? Bone was clearly the social media favorite of the town hall participants. His cameo, and his apparent use of a disposable camera after the debate, quickly spawned memes and a parody Twitter handle. More than an hour after the debate ended, Ken Bone continued to be a trending topic on Twitter. The REAL star of #debatenight? Kenneth Bone, uncommitted voter pic.twitter.com/hmqWggkdr7 Ron Sullivan (@CornerPubRon) October 10, 2016 America, meet Ken Bone pic.twitter.com/KHeCshT2Dh BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) October 10, 2016 8. Karl Becker: Regardless of the current rhetoric, would each of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another? Becker is a sales executive at an auto parts distributor in St. Louis, according to a LinkedIn page that appears to belong to him. After Becker was declared the nights winner by several users on social media, a woman who said she is his daughter responded to the praise: Fact-check No, ICE, a federal agency, has not endorsed Trump Donald Trump, as he did in the first debate, said that he had won the endorsement of ICE -- Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Heres the fact-check we did the first time around: Thats not true. A government agency would not endorse a presidential candidate. Trump is probably referring to the endorsement of the National Immigration and Customs Enforcement Council, a union representing 5,000 immigration officers. His campaign announced the backing Monday morning, noting it was the first time the group had endorsed a presidential candidate. Chris Crane, president of the union, said in a statement released by Trumps campaign that Hillary Clinton won only 5% of the vote of union members. Another union representing border agents, the National Border Patrol Council, also endorsed Trump in March -- a decision not without controversy, as Richard Marosi reported. Oct. 9, 2016, 7:10 p.m. Trump says he opposed Iraq war from the start. He did not. Donald Trump stated falsely in Sunday nights debate that he opposed the Iraq war from the start. He supported it. Months before the 2003 U.S. invasion, Trump told shock-jock Howard Stern that he supported the invasion. Yeah, I guess so, Trump responded, when asked in September 2002 whether he supported invading Iraq. I wish the first time it was done correctly. Trump has stated that he said privately to Fox News anchor Sean Hannity, one of his most staunch supporters, that he opposed the war, but produced no evidence of that. Trump has also said that he was among the first and chief critics of the war, another claim that is not substantiated. The public record shows that he grew increasingly critical of the war as it unfolded, as did broader public opinion. Jeff Johnson served in the military for six years and then moved to Washington, D.C., where he found work in the construction industry. After suffering serious injuries in a robbery, however, he lost his job and became homeless. Johnson applied for many entry-level positions without success, and he now suspects why: There was a telltale black mark on his paperwork. If employers saw the address of a [homeless] shelter, they would say I am on drugs or have a mental illness, he said. A lot of people look down at people like myself. So I gave up hope. Johnsons plight is not unusual, as countless homeless people across the nation find themselves shut out of the workforce when potential employers spot their address or the lack of one. At least theres a simple solution: Employers could just stop asking for this information in the early stages of the application process. Advertisement A 2014 survey showed 70.4% of homeless respondents felt that they had been discriminated against by private businesses based on housing status. As part of a recent study, I reviewed the online application forms for 40 of the nations largest low-wage employers, including Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Starbucks Corp. and Target Corp. Each requires applicants to provide an address, and prevents them from proceeding to the next step without registering one. I also conducted dozens of detailed interviews with homeless individuals and, in collaboration with Trisha Matthieu of Feeding America, surveyed 2,339 people living in poverty across the country. While the homeless face many challenges, respondents frequently referred to discrimination based on homeless status as a significant hardship. One homeless job applicant in New Haven commented, Everyone uses the shelter address but the moment [employers] see that . . . there is a red flag .... No ... there is a black flag on your resume. Other surveys have reported similar results. Veterans in one study identified the requirement of a permanent address and employers distrust of people residing in temporary shelters as a considerable barrier to attaining self-sufficiency. The National Coalition for the Homeless reported in 2014 that 70.4% of homeless respondents felt that they had been discriminated against by private businesses based on housing status. And these are more than mere suspicions. Once employers find out that a job applicant lives in a homeless shelter, so many have told me that they cant hire them, said Glynn Coleman, an employment specialist at the Union Rescue Mission in Los Angeles. Several employers refuse to engage with our residents if they dont have an address or reside on skid row. Employers of course deserve to know where their workers live, if only to find them in an emergency or conduct background checks. But theres no good reason for them to require an address on initial applications. Employers rarely send applicants paperwork or contact them with an urgent matter before they hire them. Besides, employers almost always contact applicants through email. Nor do employers need an address to make sure applicants could feasibly arrive at work on time. Applicants who apply for jobs from which they can be fired at will know that they must be prompt, regardless of where they reside. Even without an address, employers can contact former managers to assess the applicants reliability and stability. Employers might also believe that homelessness is a proxy for a host of negative qualities, like addiction to banned substances. But research consistently indicates that the leading causes of homelessness include lack of affordable housing and domestic violence (hardly reasons to rule out an applicant). And employers can specify on applications, as many already do, that employment is contingent upon passing a drug test or background check. Its now a progressive goal to help criminal offenders re-enter society through so-called Ban the Box policies. (Thats a reference to the box applicants are asked to check if they have been convicted of a crime.) Employers, the theory goes, should let applicants demonstrate their qualifications before asking about their records. Shouldnt homeless applicants likewise have a chance to prove themselves before revealing their lack of address? Ban the Address would encourage homeless individuals to search for work without the threat of automatic disqualification. Employers might now be ignoring the best candidates. People who have lost their homes are often conscientious and reliable employees, and even the chronically homeless can excel at work with appropriate support and training. By hiring homeless individuals, employers can also show that they are part of the solution to a pressing social problem. When Target and Wal-Mart eliminated inquiries about criminal record history from initial job applications, other businesses followed suit. A similar push to Ban the Address would give homeless job applicants like Jeff Johnson hope of obtaining employment and getting off the streets an outcome that businesses should support by making an eminently simple change. Sarah Golabek-Goldman is a recent JD-MBA graduate of Yale Law School and the Yale School of Management. She will publish an article on this subject, Ban the Address Combating Employment Discrimination Against the Homeless, in the spring edition of the Yale Law Journal. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook In May, I took a flight from Los Angeles to North Carolina for a law conference. My seatmates were two elderly white sisters from small-town North Carolina, both incredibly friendly. They chatted warmly about their visit to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library and Museum and their admiration for the late president and their disappointment with the GOP today. I intuited that their reasons for disappointment with the Republican Party platform likely differed from mine. They smiled, but undoubtedly expected to hear me, a black woman, list all of Reagans transgressions against the black community. Imagine their surprise, however, when I let them know that, although I disagreed with some of Reagans policies, there was one for which I would always be grateful. My family had been undocumented immigrants, and it was the Reagan amnesty program that allowed us to exit the shadows. Advertisement Immigration reform...starts by seeing undocumented immigrants for who they really are, as opposed to who we fear they could be. I was born in Nigeria but came with my parents as a toddler to the United States in the 1980s while my father pursued an engineering degree at the University of Texas at Austin. The stories he recounted about how hard he worked to attain the education and skills in Nigerias oil industry so hed be admitted to UT were awe-inspiring. After the expiration of my fathers student visa, my parents decided to stay here. They believed with hard work, they could build the American dream for our family. Life in the States, however, was by no means easy. Both my parents worked various service jobs to pay tuition and to provide for me and my three siblings. They were so happy to have an opportunity to work and learn. They never complained about disparaging remarks others made about their service jobs. They knew what they were working for: a life for themselves and their children that would be almost impossible elsewhere. Hearing this, the women sitting next to me on the plane marveled at my parents struggle. They were impressed, too, that I had graduated from and taught at some of the nations top universities. They agreed there is a distinct beauty in our American dream and the fact that the American story is an immigrant story. How sad it is, I told them, that my story cant be replicated today because so many Republicans refuse to even consider a path to citizenship for undocumented residents. The sisters were quiet for the rest of the flight. Like my family, nearly half of the nations suspected 11 million undocumented immigrants arrived in the United States legally with temporary, non-immigrant visas. These werent people who used criminal connections or secretive behavior to sneak over borders in the dead of night. Rather, these were people who stood in line, who worked hard to achieve something in their home country that led the U.S. government to grant them a visa. Despite their legal arrival and contribution to the American economy, however, barriers impede nearly all paths to citizenship. For parents, an undocumented life is risky but a better option than returning to a country they know will not provide a healthy and fulfilling life for themselves or their children. The life I live I graduated from the University of Texas and Stanford Law School, I taught law at UCLA and now at UC Davis is drastically different than the life Id have had without the amnesty program. The same is true for my siblings: One is a microbiologist, another is a pharmacist and my brother, although he has an intellectual disability, is constantly improving because of American research and programs available here for the disabled. Today, as a law professor, I help students discover the power of laws to truly change lives. I encourage them to think through the complex problems plaguing our criminal justice system and propose new theories for improvement. I too contribute to the conversation about how it will be better for everyone if we shift away from emphasizing retribution for the perceived faults of offenders, and instead make efforts to more fully integrate marginalized people into our communities. Immigration reform needs that same sort of reimagining. Perhaps it starts by seeing undocumented immigrants for who they really are, as opposed to who we fear they could be. After my flight landed in North Carolina, the two sisters did say something else to me. They said I had changed their vision of undocumented immigrants. As someone who owes a debt to Reagan and the Republican Party of the 1980s, it was the least I could do. Irene Oritseweyinmi Joe is a law professor at UC Davis. Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook Times journalists are annotating these excerpts weve selected as the most important exchanges of the townhall. If you see a passage highlighted in yellow, you can click on it to see what we have to say about it. You can also highlight passages and leave your own comments. On the Trump tape MODERATOR ANDERSON COOPER: The question from Patrice was about are you both modeling positive and appropriate behavior for today's youth? We received a lot of questions online, Mr. Trump, about the tape that was released on Friday, as you can imagine. You called what you said locker room banter. You described kissing women without consent, grabbing their genitals. That is sexual assault. You bragged that you have sexually assaulted women. Do you understand that? TRUMP: No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understood what was -- this was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people. Certainly I'm not proud of it. But this is locker room talk. You know, when we have a world where you have ISIS chopping off heads, where you have -- and, frankly, drowning people in steel cages, where you have wars and horrible, horrible sights all over, where you have so many bad things happening, this is like medieval times. We haven't seen anything like this, the carnage all over the world. And they look and they see. Can you imagine the people that are, frankly, doing so well against us with ISIS? And they look at our country and they see what's going on. Yes, I'm very embarrassed by it. I hate it. But it's locker room talk, and it's one of those things. I will knock the hell out of ISIS. We're going to defeat ISIS. ISIS happened a number of years ago in a vacuum that was left because of bad judgment. And I will tell you, I will take care of ISIS. COOPER: So, Mr. Trump TRUMP: And we should get on to much more important things and much bigger things. COOPER: Just for the record, though, are you saying that what you said on that bus 11 years ago that you did not actually kiss women without consent or grope women without consent? TRUMP: I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do. COOPER: So, for the record, you're saying you never did that? TRUMP: I've said things that, frankly, you hear these things I said. And I was embarrassed by it. But I have tremendous respect for women. COOPER: Have you ever done those things? TRUMP: And women have respect for me. And I will tell you: No, I have not. And I will tell you that I'm going to make our country safe. We're going to have borders in our country, which we don't have now. People are pouring into our country, and they're coming in from the Middle East and other places. We're going to make America safe again. We're going to make America great again, but we're going to make America safe again. And we're going to make America wealthy again, because if you don't do that, it just -- it sounds harsh to say, but we have to build up the wealth of our nation. COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. TRUMP: Right now, other nations are taking our jobs and they're taking our wealth. COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. TRUMP: And that's what I want to talk about. COOPER: Secretary Clinton, do you want to respond? Fact-checking the debates CLINTON: Well, like everyone else, I've spent a lot of time thinking over the last 48 hours about what we heard and saw. You know, with prior Republican nominees for president, I disagreed with them on politics, policies, principles, but I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump is different. I said starting back in June that he was not fit to be president and commander-in-chief. And many Republicans and independents have said the same thing. What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women, what he thinks about women, what he does to women. And he has said that the video doesn't represent who he is. But I think it's clear to anyone who heard it that it represents exactly who he is. Because we've seen this throughout the campaign. We have seen him insult women. We've seen him rate women on their appearance, ranking them from one to ten. We've seen him embarrass women on TV and on Twitter. We saw him after the first debate spend nearly a week denigrating a former Miss Universe in the harshest, most personal terms.So, yes, this is who Donald Trump is. But it's not only women, and it's not only this video that raises questions about his fitness to be our president, because he has also targeted immigrants, African- Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others. So this is who Donald Trump is. And the question for us, the question our country must answer is that this is not who we are. That's why -- to go back to your question -- I want to send a message -- we all should -- to every boy and girl and, indeed, to the entire world that America already is great, but we are great because we are good, and we will respect one another, and we will work with one another, and we will celebrate our diversity. CLINTON: These are very important values to me, because this is the America that I know and love. And I can pledge to you tonight that this is the America that I will serve if I'm so fortunate enough to become your president. RADDATZ: And we want to get to some questions from online TRUMP: Am I allowed to respond to that? I assume I am. (Win McNamee / Getty Images) RADDATZ: Yes, you can respond to that. TRUMP: It's just words, folks. It's just words. Those words, I've been hearing them for many years. I heard them when they were running for the Senate in New York, where Hillary was going to bring back jobs to upstate New York and she failed. I've heard them where Hillary is constantly talking about the inner cities of our country, which are a disaster education-wise, jobwise, safety-wise, in every way possible. I'm going to help the African-Americans. I'm going to help the Latinos, Hispanics. I am going to help the inner cities. She's done a terrible job for the African-Americans. She wants their vote, and she does nothing, and then she comes back four years later. We saw that firsthand when she was United States senator. She campaigned where the primary part of her campaign RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump -- I want to get to audience questions and online questions. TRUMP: So, she's allowed to do that, but I'm not allowed to respond? RADDATZ: You're going to have -- you're going to get to respond right now. TRUMP: Sounds fair. RADDATZ: This tape is generating intense interest. In just 48 hours, it's become the single most talked about story of the entire 2016 election on Facebook, with millions and millions of people discussing it on the social network. As we said a moment ago, we do want to bring in questions from voters around country via social media, and our first stays on this topic. Jeff from Ohio asks on Facebook, "Trump says the campaign has changed him. When did that happen?" So, Mr. Trump, let me add to that. When you walked off that bus at age 59, were you a different man or did that behavior continue until just recently? And you have two minutes for this. On Bill Clinton TRUMP: It was locker room talk, as I told you. That was locker room talk. I'm not proud of it. I am a person who has great respect for people, for my family, for the people of this country. And certainly, I'm not proud of it. But that was something that happened. If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine are words, and his was action. His was what he's done to women. There's never been anybody in the history politics in this nation that's been so abusive to women. So you can say any way you want to say it, but Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously. Four of them here tonight. One of the women, who is a wonderful woman, at 12 years old, was raped at 12. Her client she represented got him off, and she's seen laughing on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped. Kathy Shelton, that young woman is here with us tonight.So don't tell me about words. I am absolutely -- I apologize for those words. But it is things that people say. But what President Clinton did, he was impeached, he lost his license to practice law. He had to pay an $850,000 fine to one of the women. Paula Jones, who's also here tonight. And I will tell you that when Hillary brings up a point like that and she talks about words that I said 11 years ago, I think it's disgraceful, and I think she should be ashamed of herself, if you want to know the truth. (APPLAUSE) RADDATZ: Can we please hold the applause? Secretary Clinton, you have two minutes. CLINTON: Well, first, let me start by saying that so much of what he's just said is not right, but he gets to run his campaign any way he chooses. He gets to decide what he wants to talk about. Instead of answering people's questions, talking about our agenda, laying out the plans that we have that we think can make a better life and a better country, that's his choice. When I hear something like that, I am reminded of what my friend, Michelle Obama, advised us all: When they go low, you go high. And, look, if this were just about one video, maybe what he's saying tonight would be understandable, but everyone can draw their own conclusions at this point about whether or not the man in the video or the man on the stage respects women. But he never apologizes for anything to anyone. (John Locher / Associated Press) Full debate coverage On apologizing CLINTON: He never apologized to Mr. and Mrs. Khan, the Gold Star family whose son, Captain Khan, died in the line of duty in Iraq. And Donald insulted and attacked them for weeks over their religion. He never apologized to the distinguished federal judge who was born in Indiana, but Donald said he couldn't be trusted to be a judge because his parents were, quote, "Mexican." He never apologized to the reporter that he mimicked and mocked on national television and our children were watching. And he never apologized for the racist lie that President Obama was not born in the United States of America. He owes the president an apology, he owes our country an apology, and he needs to take responsibility for his actions and his words. TRUMP: Well, you owe the president an apology, because as you know very well, your campaign, Sidney Blumenthal -- he's another real winner that you have -- and he's the one that got this started, along with your campaign manager, and they were on television just two weeks ago, she was, saying exactly that. So you really owe him an apology. You're the one that sent the pictures around your campaign, sent the pictures around with President Obama in a certain garb. That was long before I was ever involved, so you actually owe an apology. Number two, Michelle Obama. I've gotten to see the commercials that they did on you. And I've gotten to see some of the most vicious commercials I've ever seen of Michelle Obama talking about you, Hillary. So, you talk about friend? Go back and take a look at those commercials, a race where you lost fair and square, unlike the Bernie Sanders race, where you won, but not fair and square, in my opinion. On Sanders and WikiLeaks And all you have to do is take a look at WikiLeaks and just see what they say about Bernie Sanders and see what Deborah Wasserman Schultz had in mind, because Bernie Sanders, between super-delegates and Deborah Wasserman Schultz, he never had a chance. And I was so surprised to see him sign on with the devil. But when you talk about apology, I think the one that you should really be apologizing for and the thing that you should be apologizing for are the 33,000 e-mails that you deleted, and that you acid washed, and then the two boxes of e-mails and other things last week that were taken from an office and are now missing. And I'll tell you what. I didn't think I'd say this, but I'm going to say it, and I hate to say it. But if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it, and we're going to have a special prosecutor. When I speak, I go out and speak, the people of this country are furious. In my opinion, the people that have been long-term workers at the FBI are furious. There has never been anything like this, where e-mails -- and you get a subpoena, you get a subpoena, and after getting the subpoena, you delete 33,000 e-mails, and then you acid wash them or bleach them, as you would say, very expensive process. So we're going to get a special prosecutor, and we're going to look into it, because you know what? People have been -- their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you've done. And it's a disgrace. And honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself. RADDATZ: Secretary Clinton, I want to follow up on that. (CROSSTALK) RADDATZ: I'm going to let you talk about e-mails. CLINTON: ... because everything he just said is absolutely false, but I'm not surprised. TRUMP: Oh, really? CLINTON: In the first debate (LAUGHTER) RADDATZ: And really, the audience needs to calm down here. CLINTON: ... I told people that it would be impossible to be fact-checking Donald all the time. I'd never get to talk about anything I want to do and how we're going to really make lives better for people. So, once again, go to HillaryClinton.com. We have literally Trump -- you can fact check him in real time. Last time at the first debate, we had millions of people fact checking, so I expect we'll have millions more fact checking, because, you know, it is -- it's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country. TRUMP: Because you'd be in jail. (APPLAUSE) RADDATZ: Secretary Clinton COOPER: We want to remind the audience to please not talk out loud. Please do not applaud. You're just wasting time. On Clintons emails RADDATZ: And, Secretary Clinton, I do want to follow up on e- mails. You've said your handing of your e-mails was a mistake. You disagreed with FBI Director James Comey, calling your handling of classified information, quote, "extremely careless." The FBI said that there were 110 classified e-mails that were exchanged, eight of which were top secret, and that it was possible hostile actors did gain access to those e-mails. You don't call that extremely careless? CLINTON: Well, Martha, first, let me say -- and I've said before, but I'll repeat it, because I want everyone to hear it -- that was a mistake, and I take responsibility for using a personal e-mail account. Obviously, if I were to do it over again, I would not. I'm not making any excuses. It was a mistake. And I am very sorry about that. But I think it's also important to point out where there are some misleading accusations from critics and others. After a year-long investigation, there is no evidence that anyone hacked the server I was using and there is no evidence that anyone can point to at all -- anyone who says otherwise has no basis -- that any classified material ended up in the wrong hands. I take classified materials very seriously and always have. When I was on the Senate Armed Services Committee, I was privy to a lot of classified material. Obviously, as secretary of state, I had some of the most important secrets that we possess, such as going after bin Laden. So I am very committed to taking classified information seriously. And as I said, there is no evidence that any classified information ended up in the wrong hands. RADDATZ: OK, we're going to move on. TRUMP: And yet she didn't know the word -- the letter C on a document. Right? She didn't even know what that word -- what that letter meant. You know, it's amazing. I'm watching Hillary go over facts. And she's going after fact after fact, and she's lying again, because she said she -- you know, what she did with the e-mail was fine. You think it was fine to delete 33,000 e-mails? I don't think so. She said the 33,000 e-mails had to do with her daughter's wedding, number one, and a yoga class. Well, maybe we'll give three or three or four or five or something. 33,000 e-mails deleted, and now she's saying there wasn't anything wrong.And more importantly, that was after getting a subpoena. That wasn't before. That was after. She got it from the United States Congress. And I'll be honest, I am so disappointed in congressmen, including Republicans, for allowing this to happen. Our Justice Department, where our husband goes on to the back of a airplane for 39 minutes, talks to the attorney general days before a ruling is going to be made on her case. But for you to say that there was nothing wrong with you deleting 39,000 e-mails, again, you should be ashamed of yourself. What you did -- and this is after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress. COOPER: We have to move on. TRUMP: You did that. Wait a minute. One second. COOPER: Secretary Clinton, you can respond, and then we got to move on. RADDATZ: We want to give the audience a chance. TRUMP: If you did that in the private sector, you'd be put in jail, let alone after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress. COOPER: Secretary Clinton, you can respond. Then we have to move on to an audience question. CLINTON: Look, it's just not true. And so please, go to TRUMP: Oh, you didn't delete them? COOPER: Allow her to respond, please. CLINTON: It was personal e-mails, not official. TRUMP: Oh, 33,000? Yeah. CLINTON: Not -- well, we turned over 35,000, so TRUMP: Oh, yeah. What about the other 15,000? COOPER: Please allow her to respond. She didn't talk while you talked. CLINTON: Yes, that's true, I didn't. TRUMP: Because you have nothing to say. CLINTON: I didn't in the first debate, and I'm going to try not to in this debate, because I'd like to get to the questions that the people have brought here tonight to talk to us about. TRUMP: Get off this question. CLINTON: OK, Donald. I know you're into big diversion tonight, anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it's exploding and the way Republicans are leaving you. But let's at least focus TRUMP: Let's see what happens (CROSSTALK) COOPER: Allow her to respond. CLINTON: ... on some of the issues that people care about tonight. Let's get to their questions. COOPER: We have a question here from Ken Karpowicz. He has a question about health care. Ken? TRUMP: I'd like to know, Anderson, why aren't you bringing up the e-mails? I'd like to know. Why aren't you bringing... COOPER: We brought up the e-mails. TRUMP: No, it hasn't. It hasn't. And it hasn't been finished at all. COOPER: Ken Karpowicz has a question. TRUMP: It's nice to -- one on three. On health care QUESTION: Thank you. Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare, it is not affordable. Premiums have gone up. Deductibles have gone up. Copays have gone up. Prescriptions have gone up. And the coverage has gone down. What will you do to bring the cost down and make coverage better? COOPER: That first one goes to Secretary Clinton, because you started out the last one to the audience. (Jim Bourg / AFP / Getty Images) Keep up with coverage from the campaign trail CLINTON: If he wants to start, he can start. No, go ahead, Donald. TRUMP: No, I'm a gentlemen, Hillary. Go ahead. (LAUGHTER) COOPER: Secretary Clinton? CLINTON: Well, I think Donald was about to say he's going to solve it by repealing it and getting rid of the Affordable Care Act. And I'm going to fix it, because I agree with you. ... So I want very much to save what works and is good about the Affordable Care Act. But we've got to get costs down. We've got to provide additional help to small businesses so that they can afford to provide health insurance. But if we repeal it, as Donald has proposed, and start over again, all of those benefits I just mentioned are lost to everybody, not just people who get their health insurance on the exchange. And then we would have to start all over again. Right now, we are at 90 percent health insurance coverage. That's the highest we've ever been in our country. COOPER: Secretary Clinton, your time is up. CLINTON: So I want us to get to 100 percent, but get costs down and keep quality up. COOPER: Mr. Trump, you have two minutes. TRUMP: It is such a great question and it's maybe the question I get almost more than anything else, outside of defense. Obamacare is a disaster. You know it. We all know it. It's going up at numbers that nobody's ever seen worldwide. Nobody's ever seen numbers like this for health care. It's only getting worse. In '17, it implodes by itself. Their method of fixing it is to go back and ask Congress for more money, more and more money. We have right now almost $20 trillion in debt. Obamacare will never work. It's very bad, very bad health insurance. Far too expensive. And not only expensive for the person that has it, unbelievably expensive for our country. It's going to be one of the biggest line items very shortly. We have to repeal it and replace it with something absolutely much less expensive and something that works, where your plan can actually be tailored. We have to get rid of the lines around the state, artificial lines, where we stop insurance companies from coming in and competing, because they want -- and President Obama and whoever was working on it -- they want to leave those lines, because that gives the insurance companies essentially monopolies. We want competition. You will have the finest health care plan there is. She wants to go to a single-payer plan, which would be a disaster, somewhat similar to Canada. And if you haven't noticed the Canadians, when they need a big operation, when something happens, they come into the United States in many cases because their system is so slow. It's catastrophic in certain ways. But she wants to go to single payer, which means the government basically rules everything. Hillary Clinton has been after this for years. Obamacare was the first step. Obamacare is a total disaster. And not only are your rates going up by numbers that nobody's ever believed, but your deductibles are going up, so that unless you get hit by a truck, you're never going to be able to use it. COOPER: Mr. Trump, your time TRUMP: It is a disastrous plan, and it has to be repealed and replaced. COOPER: Secretary Clinton, let me follow up with you. Your husband called Obamacare, quote, "the craziest thing in the world," saying that small-business owners are getting killed as premiums double, coverage is cut in half. Was he mistaken or was the mistake simply telling the truth? CLINTON: No, I mean, he clarified what he meant. And it's very clear. Look, we are in a situation in our country where if we were to start all over again, we might come up with a different system. But we have an employer-based system. That's where the vast majority of people get their health care. And the Affordable Care Act was meant to try to fill the gap between people who were too poor and couldn't put together any resources to afford health care, namely people on Medicaid. Obviously, Medicare, which is a single-payer system, which takes care of our elderly and does a great job doing it, by the way, and then all of the people who were employed, but people who were working but didn't have the money to afford insurance and didn't have anybody, an employer or anybody else, to help them. That was the slot that the Obamacare approach was to take. And like I say, 20 million people now have health insurance. So if we just rip it up and throw it away, what Donald's not telling you is we just turn it back to the insurance companies the way it used to be, and that means the insurance companies COOPER: Secretary Clinton CLINTON: ... get to do pretty much whatever they want, including saying, look, I'm sorry, you've got diabetes, you had cancer, your child has asthma COOPER: Your time is up. CLINTON: ... you may not be able to have insurance because you can't afford it. So let's fix what's broken about it, but let's not throw it away and give it all back to the insurance companies and the drug companies. That's not going to work. COOPER: Mr. Trump, let me follow up on this. TRUMP: Well, I just want -- just one thing. First of all, Hillary, everything's broken about it. Everything. Number two, Bernie Sanders said that Hillary Clinton has very bad judgment. This is a perfect example of it, trying to save Obamacare, which is a disaster. COOPER: You've said you want to end Obamacare TRUMP: By the way COOPER: You've said you want to end Obamacare. You've also said you want to make coverage accessible for people with pre-existing conditions. How do you force insurance companies to do that if you're no longer mandating that every American get insurance? TRUMP: We're going to be able to. You're going to have plans COOPER: What does that mean? TRUMP: Well, I'll tell you what it means. You're going to have plans that are so good, because we're going to have so much competition in the insurance industry. Once we break out -- once we break out the lines and allow the competition to come COOPER: Are you going -- are you going to have a mandate that Americans have to have health insurance? TRUMP: President Obama -- Anderson, excuse me. President Obama, by keeping those lines, the boundary lines around each state, it was almost gone until just very toward the end of the passage of Obamacare, which, by the way, was a fraud. You know that, because Jonathan Gruber, the architect of Obamacare, was said -- he said it was a great lie, it was a big lie. President Obama said you keep your doctor, you keep your plan. The whole thing was a fraud, and it doesn't work. But when we get rid of those lines, you will have competition, and we will be able to keep pre-existing, we'll also be able to help people that can't get -- don't have money because we are going to have people protected. And Republicans feel this way, believe it or not, and strongly this way. We're going to block grant into the states. We're going to block grant into Medicaid into the states COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. TRUMP: ... so that we will be able to take care of people without the necessary funds to take care of themselves. COOPER: Thank you, Mr. Trump. On Trumps comments about Muslims RADDATZ: We now go to Gorbah Hamed with a question for both candidates. QUESTION: Hi. There are 3.3 million Muslims in the United States, and I'm one of them. You've mentioned working with Muslim nations, but with Islamophobia on the rise, how will you help people like me deal with the consequences of being labeled as a threat to the country after the election is over? RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, you're first. TRUMP: Well, you're right about Islamophobia, and that's a shame. But one thing we have to do is we have to make sure that -- because there is a problem. I mean, whether we like it or not, and we could be very politically correct, but whether we like it or not, there is a problem. And we have to be sure that Muslims come in and report when they see something going on. When they see hatred going on, they have to report it. As an example, in San Bernardino, many people saw the bombs all over the apartment of the two people that killed 14 and wounded many, many people. Horribly wounded. They'll never be the same. Muslims have to report the problems when they see them. And, you know, there's always a reason for everything. If they don't do that, it's a very difficult situation for our country, because you look at Orlando and you look at San Bernardino and you look at the World Trade Center. Go outside. Look at Paris. Look at that horrible -- these are radical Islamic terrorists. And she won't even mention the word and nor will President Obama. He won't use the term "radical Islamic terrorism." Now, to solve a problem, you have to be able to state what the problem is or at least say the name. She won't say the name and President Obama won't say the name. But the name is there. It's radical Islamic terror. And before you solve it, you have to say the name. RADDATZ: Secretary Clinton? CLINTON: Well, thank you for asking your question. And I've heard this question from a lot of Muslim-Americans across our country, because, unfortunately, there's been a lot of very divisive, dark things said about Muslims. And even someone like Captain Khan, the young man who sacrificed himself defending our country in the United States Army, has been subject to attack by Donald. I want to say just a couple of things. First, we've had Muslims in America since George Washington. And we've had many successful Muslims. We just lost a particular well-known one with Muhammad Ali. (John Locher / Associated Press) (John Locher / Associated Press ) CLINTON: My vision of America is an America where everyone has a place, if you're willing to work hard, you do your part, you contribute to the community. That's what America is. That's what we want America to be for our children and our grandchildren. It's also very short-sighted and even dangerous to be engaging in the kind of demagogic rhetoric that Donald has about Muslims. We need American Muslims to be part of our eyes and ears on our front lines. I've worked with a lot of different Muslim groups around America. I've met with a lot of them, and I've heard how important it is for them to feel that they are wanted and included and part of our country, part of our homeland security, and that's what I want to see. It's also important I intend to defeat ISIS, to do so in a coalition with majority Muslim nations. Right now, a lot of those nations are hearing what Donald says and wondering, why should we cooperate with the Americans? And this is a gift to ISIS and the terrorists, violent jihadist terrorists. We are not at war with Islam. And it is a mistake and it plays into the hands of the terrorists to act as though we are. So I want a country where citizens like you and your family are just as welcome as anyone else. RADDATZ: Thank you, Secretary Clinton. Mr. Trump, in December, you said this. "Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what the hell is going on. We have no choice. We have no choice." Your running mate said this week that the Muslim ban is no longer your position. Is that correct? And if it is, was it a mistake to have a religious test? TRUMP: First of all, Captain Khan is an American hero, and if I were president at that time, he would be alive today, because unlike her, who voted for the war without knowing what she was doing, I would not have had our people in Iraq. Iraq was disaster. So he would have been alive today. The Muslim ban is something that in some form has morphed into a extreme vetting from certain areas of the world. Hillary Clinton wants to allow hundreds of thousands -- excuse me. Excuse me.. RADDATZ: And why did it morph into that? No, did you -- no, answer the question. Do you still believe... TRUMP: Why don't you interrupt her? You interrupt me all the time. RADDATZ: I do. TRUMP: Why don't you interrupt her? RADDATZ: Would you please explain whether or not the Muslim ban still stands? TRUMP: It's called extreme vetting. We are going to areas like Syria where they're coming in by the tens of thousands because of Barack Obama. And Hillary Clinton wants to allow a 550 percent increase over Obama. People are coming into our country like we have no idea who they are, where they are from, what their feelings about our country is, and she wants 550 percent more. This is going to be the great Trojan horse of all time. We have enough problems in this country. I believe in building safe zones. I believe in having other people pay for them, as an example, the Gulf states, who are not carrying their weight, but they have nothing but money, and take care of people. But I don't want to have, with all the problems this country has and all of the problems that you see going on, hundreds of thousands of people coming in from Syria when we know nothing about them. We know nothing about their values and we know nothing about their love for our country. On Syrian refugees RADDATZ: And, Secretary Clinton, let me ask you about that, because you have asked for an increase from 10,000 to 65,000 Syrian refugees. We know you want tougher vetting. That's not a perfect system. So why take the risk of having those refugees come into the country? CLINTON: Well, first of all, I will not let anyone into our country that I think poses a risk to us. But there are a lot of refugees, women and children -- think of that picture we all saw of that 4-year-old boy with the blood on his forehead because he'd been bombed by the Russian and Syrian air forces. Times judges: Clinton won There are children suffering in this catastrophic war, largely, I believe, because of Russian aggression. And we need to do our part. We by no means are carrying anywhere near the load that Europe and others are. But we will have vetting that is as tough as it needs to be from our professionals, our intelligence experts and others. But it is important for us as a policy, you know, not to say, as Donald has said, we're going to ban people based on a religion. How do you do that? We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty. How do we do what he has advocated without causing great distress within our own county? Are we going to have religious tests when people fly into our country? And how do we expect to be able to implement those? So I thought that what he said was extremely unwise and even dangerous. And indeed, you can look at the propaganda on a lot of the terrorists sites, and what Donald Trump says about Muslims is used to recruit fighters, because they want to create a war between us. And the final thing I would say, this is the 10th or 12th time that he's denied being for the war in Iraq. We have it on tape. The entire press corps has looked at it. It's been debunked, but it never stops him from saying whatever he wants to say. TRUMP: That's not been debunked. CLINTON: So, please TRUMP: That has not been debunked. CLINTON: ... go to HillaryClinton.com and you can see it. TRUMP: I was against -- I was against the war in Iraq. Has not been debunked. And you voted for it. And you shouldn't have. Well, I just want to say RADDATZ: There's been lots of fact-checking on that. I'd like to move on to an online question TRUMP: Excuse me. She just went about 25 seconds over her time. RADDATZ: She did not. TRUMP: Could I just respond to this, please? RADDATZ: Very quickly, please. TRUMP: Hillary Clinton, in terms of having people come into our country, we have many criminal illegal aliens. When we want to send them back to their country, their country says we don't want them. In some cases, they're murderers, drug lords, drug problems. And they don't want them. And Hillary Clinton, when she was secretary of state, said that's OK, we can't force it into their country. Let me tell you, I'm going to force them right back into their country. They're murderers and some very bad people. And I will tell you very strongly, when Bernie Sanders said she had bad judgment, she has really bad judgment, because we are letting people into this country that are going to cause problems and crime like you've never seen. We're also letting drugs pour through our southern border at a record clip. At a record clip. And it shouldn't be allowed to happen. ICE just endorsed me. They've never endorsed a presidential candidate. The Border Patrol agents, 16,500, just recently endorsed me, and they endorsed me because I understand the border. She doesn't. She wants amnesty for everybody. Come right in. Come right over. It's a horrible thing she's doing. She's got bad judgment, and honestly, so bad that she should never be president of the United States. That I can tell you. (Scott Olson / Getty Images) On two-faced politicians RADDATZ: Thank you, Mr. Trump. I want to move on. This next question from the public through the Bipartisan Open Debate Coalition's online forum, where Americans submitted questions that generated millions of votes. This question involves WikiLeaks release of purported excerpts of Secretary Clinton's paid speeches, which she has refused to release, and one line in particular, in which you, Secretary Clinton, purportedly say you need both a public and private position on certain issues. So, Tu (ph), from Virginia asks, is it OK for politicians to be two-faced? Is it acceptable for a politician to have a private stance on issues? Secretary Clinton, your two minutes. CLINTON: Well, right. As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie called "Lincoln." It was a master class watching President Lincoln get the Congress to approve the 13th Amendment. It was principled, and it was strategic. And I was making the point that it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want to do and you have to keep working at it. And, yes, President Lincoln was trying to convince some people, he used some arguments, convincing other people, he used other arguments. That was a great -- I thought a great display of presidential leadership. But, you know, let's talk about what's really going on here, Martha, because our intelligence community just came out and said in the last few days that the Kremlin, meaning Putin and the Russian government, are directing the attacks, the hacking on American accounts to influence our election. And WikiLeaks is part of that, as are other sites where the Russians hack information, we don't even know if it's accurate information, and then they put it out. We have never in the history of our country been in a situation where an adversary, a foreign power, is working so hard to influence the outcome of the election. And believe me, they're not doing it to get me elected. They're doing it to try to influence the election for Donald Trump. CLINTON: Now, maybe because he has praised Putin, maybe because he says he agrees with a lot of what Putin wants to do, maybe because he wants to do business in Moscow, I don't know the reasons. But we deserve answers. And we should demand that Donald release all of his tax returns so that people can see what are the entanglements and the financial relationships that he has RADDATZ: We're going to get to that later. Secretary Clinton, you're out of time. CLINTON: ... with the Russians and other foreign powers. RADDATZ: Mr. Trump? TRUMP: Well, I think I should respond, because -- so ridiculous. Look, now she's blaming -- she got caught in a total lie. Her papers went out to all her friends at the banks, Goldman Sachs and everybody else, and she said things -- WikiLeaks that just came out. And she lied. Now she's blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln. That's one that I haven't (LAUGHTER) OK, Honest Abe, Honest Abe never lied. That's the good thing. That's the big difference between Abraham Lincoln and you. That's a big, big difference. We're talking about some difference. But as far as other elements of what she was saying, I don't know Putin. I think it would be great if we got along with Russia because we could fight ISIS together, as an example. But I don't know Putin. But I notice, anytime anything wrong happens, they like to say the Russians are -- she doesn't know if it's the Russians doing the hacking. Maybe there is no hacking. But they always blame Russia. And the reason they blame Russia because they think they're trying to tarnish me with Russia. I know nothing about Russia. I know -- I know about Russia, but I know nothing about the inner workings of Russia. I don't deal there. I have no businesses there. I have no loans from Russia. I have a very, very great balance sheet, so great that when I did the Old Post Office on Pennsylvania Avenue, the United States government, because of my balance sheet, which they actually know very well, chose me to do the Old Post Office, between the White House and Congress, chose me to do the Old Post Office. One of the primary area things, in fact, perhaps the primary thing was balance sheet. But I have no loans with Russia. You could go to the United States government, and they would probably tell you that, because they know my sheet very well in order to get that development I had to have. Now, the taxes are a very simple thing. As soon as I have -- first of all, I pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. Many of her friends took bigger deductions. Warren Buffett took a massive deduction. Soros, who's a friend of hers, took a massive deduction. Many of the people that are giving her all this money that she can do many more commercials than me gave her -- took massive deductions. I pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes. But -- but as soon as my routine audit is finished, I'll release my returns. I'll be very proud to. They're actually quite great. On Trumps taxes COOPER: Secretary Clinton, you have two minutes. The question was, what specific tax provisions will you change to ensure the wealthiest Americans pay their fair share of taxes? CLINTON: Well, everything you've heard just now from Donald is not true. I'm sorry I have to keep saying this, but he lives in an alternative reality. And it is sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasn't paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he's going to do. ... COOPER: Thank you. I want to give you -- Mr. Trump, I want to give you the chance to respond. I just wanted to tell our viewers what she's referring to. In the last month, taxes were the number-one issue on Facebook for the first time in the campaign. The New York Times published three pages of your 1995 tax returns. They show you claimed a $916 million loss, which means you could have avoided paying personal federal income taxes for years. You've said you pay state taxes, employee taxes, real estate taxes, property taxes. You have not answered, though, a simple question. Did you use that $916 million loss to avoid paying personal federal income taxes for years? TRUMP: Of course I do. Of course I do. And so do all of her donors, or most of her donors. I know many of her donors. Her donors took massive tax write-offs. COOPER: So have you (inaudible) personal federal income tax? TRUMP: A lot of my -- excuse me, Anderson -- a lot of my write- off was depreciation and other things that Hillary as a senator allowed. And she'll always allow it, because the people that give her all this money, they want it. That's why. See, I understand the tax code better than anybody that's ever run for president. Hillary Clinton -- and it's extremely complex -- Hillary Clinton has friends that want all of these provisions, including they want the carried interest provision, which is very important to Wall Street people. But they really want the carried interest provision, which I believe Hillary's leaving. Very interesting why she's leaving carried interest. But I will tell you that, number one, I pay tremendous numbers of taxes. I absolutely used it. And so did Warren Buffett and so did George Soros and so did many of the other people that Hillary is getting money from. Now, I won't mention their names, because they're rich, but they're not famous. So we won't make them famous. COOPER: So can you -- can you say how many years you have avoided paying personal federal income taxes? TRUMP: No, but I pay tax, and I pay federal tax, too. But I have a write-off, a lot of it's depreciation, which is a wonderful charge. I love depreciation. You know, she's given it to us. Hey, if she had a problem -- for 30 years she's been doing this, Anderson. I say it all the time. She talks about health care. Why didn't she do something about it? She talks about taxes. Why didn't she do something about it? She doesn't do anything about anything other than talk. With her, it's all talk and no action. COOPER: In the past TRUMP: And, again, Bernie Sanders, it's really bad judgment. She has made bad judgment not only on taxes. She's made bad judgments on Libya, on Syria, on Iraq. I mean, her and Obama, whether you like it or not, the way they got out of Iraq, the vacuum they've left, that's why ISIS formed in the first place. They started from that little area, and now they're in 32 different nations, Hillary. Congratulations. Great job. COOPER: Secretary -- I want you to be able to respond, Secretary Clinton. CLINTON: Well, here we go again. I've been in favor of getting rid of carried interest for years, starting when I was a senator from New York. But that's not the point here. TRUMP: Why didn't you do it? Why didn't you do it? COOPER: Allow her to respond. CLINTON: Because I was a senator with a Republican president. TRUMP: Oh, really? CLINTON: I will be the president and we will get it done. That's exactly right. TRUMP: You could have done it, if you were an effective -- if you were an effective senator, you could have done it. If you were an effective senator, you could have done it. But you were not an effective senator. COOPER: Please allow her to respond. She didn't interrupt you. CLINTON: You know, under our Constitution, presidents have something called veto power. RADDATZ: We're going to move on to Syria. Both of you have mentioned that. TRUMP: She said a lot of things that were false. I mean, I think we should be allowed to maybe RADDATZ: No, we can -- no, Mr. Trump, we're going to go on. This is about the audience. TRUMP: Excuse me. Because she has been a disaster as a senator. A disaster. More on Syria RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, we're going to move on. The heart-breaking video of a 5-year-old Syrian boy named Omran sitting in an ambulance after being pulled from the rubble after an air strike in Aleppo focused the world's attention on the horrors of the war in Syria, with 136 million views on Facebook alone. But there are much worse images coming out of Aleppo every day now, where in the past few weeks alone, 400 people have been killed, at least 100 of them children. Just days ago, the State Department called for a war crimes investigation of the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad and its ally, Russia, for their bombardment of Aleppo. So this next question comes through social media through Facebook. Diane from Pennsylvania asks, if you were president, what would you do about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo? Isn't it a lot like the Holocaust when the U.S. waited too long before we helped? Secretary Clinton, we will begin with your two minutes. CLINTON: Well, the situation in Syria is catastrophic. And every day that goes by, we see the results of the regime by Assad in partnership with the Iranians on the ground, the Russians in the air, bombarding places, in particular Aleppo, where there are hundreds of thousands of people, probably about 250,000 still left. And there is a determined effort by the Russian air force to destroy Aleppo in order to eliminate the last of the Syrian rebels who are really holding out against the Assad regime. Russia hasn't paid any attention to ISIS. They're interested in keeping Assad in power. So I, when I was secretary of state, advocated and I advocate today a no-fly zone and safe zones. We need some leverage with the Russians, because they are not going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution, unless there is some leverage over them. And we have to work more closely with our partners and allies on the ground. But I want to emphasize that what is at stake here is the ambitions and the aggressiveness of Russia. Russia has decided that it's all in, in Syria. And they've also decided who they want to see become president of the United States, too, and it's not me. I've stood up to Russia. I've taken on Putin and others, and I would do that as president. I think wherever we can cooperate with Russia, that's fine. And I did as secretary of state. That's how we got a treaty reducing nuclear weapons. It's how we got the sanctions on Iran that put a lid on the Iranian nuclear program without firing a single shot. So I would go to the negotiating table with more leverage than we have now. But I do support the effort to investigate for crimes, war crimes committed by the Syrians and the Russians and try to hold them accountable. RADDATZ: Thank you, Secretary Clinton. Mr. Trump? TRUMP: First of all, she was there as secretary of state with the so-called line in the sand, which... CLINTON: No, I wasn't. I was gone. I hate to interrupt you, but at some point TRUMP: OK. But you were in contact -- excuse me. You were CLINTON: At some point, we need to do some fact-checking here. TRUMP: You were in total contact with the White House, and perhaps, sadly, Obama probably still listened to you. I don't think he would be listening to you very much anymore. Obama draws the line in the sand. It was laughed at all over the world what happened. Now, with that being said, she talks tough against Russia. But our nuclear program has fallen way behind, and they've gone wild with their nuclear program. Not good. Our government shouldn't have allowed that to happen. Russia is new in terms of nuclear. We are old. We're tired. We're exhausted in terms of nuclear. A very bad thing. Now, she talks tough, she talks really tough against Putin and against Assad. She talks in favor of the rebels. She doesn't even know who the rebels are. You know, every time we take rebels, whether it's in Iraq or anywhere else, we're arming people. And you know what happens? They end up being worse than the people. Look at what she did in Libya with Gadhafi. Gadhafi's out. It's a mess. And, by the way, ISIS has a good chunk of their oil. I'm sure you probably have heard that. It was a disaster. Because the fact is, almost everything she's done in foreign policy has been a mistake and it's been a disaster. But if you look at Russia, just take a look at Russia, and look at what they did this week, where I agree, she wasn't there, but possibly she's consulted. We sign a peace treaty. Everyone's all excited. Well, what Russia did with Assad and, by the way, with Iran, who you made very powerful with the dumbest deal perhaps I've ever seen in the history of deal-making, the Iran deal, with the $150 billion, with the $1.7 billion in cash, which is enough to fill up this room. But look at that deal. Iran now and Russia are now against us. So she wants to fight. She wants to fight for rebels. There's only one problem. You don't even know who the rebels are. So what's the purpose? RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, Mr. Trump, your two minutes is up. TRUMP: And one thing I have to say. RADDATZ: Your two minutes is up. TRUMP: I don't like Assad at all, but Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS. And Iran is killing ISIS. And those three have now lined up because of our weak foreign policy. RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, let me repeat the question. If you were president...(LAUGHTER)... what would you do about Syria and the humanitarian crisis in Aleppo? And I want to remind you what your running mate said. He said provocations by Russia need to be met with American strength and that if Russia continues to be involved in air strikes along with the Syrian government forces of Assad, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike the military targets of the Assad regime. TRUMP: OK. He and I haven't spoken, and I disagree. I disagree. RADDATZ: You disagree with your running mate? TRUMP: I think you have to knock out ISIS. Right now, Syria is fighting ISIS. We have people that want to fight both at the same time. But Syria is no longer Syria. Syria is Russia and it's Iran, who she made strong and Kerry and Obama made into a very powerful nation and a very rich nation, very, very quickly, very, very quickly. I believe we have to get ISIS. We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved. She had a chance to do something with Syria. They had a chance. And that was the line. And she didn't. Trump disagrees with his running mate RADDATZ: What do you think will happen if Aleppo falls? TRUMP: I think Aleppo is a disaster, humanitarian-wise. RADDATZ: What do you think will happen if it falls? TRUMP: I think that it basically has fallen. OK? It basically has fallen. Let me tell you something. You take a look at Mosul. The biggest problem I have with the stupidity of our foreign policy, we have Mosul. They think a lot of the ISIS leaders are in Mosul. So we have announcements coming out of Washington and coming out of Iraq, we will be attacking Mosul in three weeks or four weeks. Well, all of these bad leaders from ISIS are leaving Mosul. Why can't they do it quietly? Why can't they do the attack, make it a sneak attack, and after the attack is made, inform the American public that we've knocked out the leaders, we've had a tremendous success? People leave. Why do they have to say we're going to be attacking Mosul within the next four to six weeks, which is what they're saying? How stupid is our country? RADDATZ: There are sometimes reasons the military does that. Psychological warfare. TRUMP: I can't think of any. I can't think of any. And I'm pretty good at it. RADDATZ: It might be to help get civilians out. TRUMP: And we have General Flynn. And we have -- look, I have 200 generals and admirals who endorsed me. I have 21 Congressional Medal of Honor recipients who endorsed me. We talk about it all the time. They understand, why can't they do something secretively, where they go in and they knock out the leadership? How -- why would these people stay there? I've been reading now... On fighting ISIS RADDATZ: Tell me what your strategy is. TRUMP: ... for weeks -- I've been reading now for weeks about Mosul, that it's the harbor of where -- you know, between Raqqa and Mosul, this is where they think the ISIS leaders are. Why would they be saying -- they're not staying there anymore. They're gone. Because everybody's talking about how Iraq, which is us with our leadership, goes in to fight Mosul. Now, with these 200 admirals and generals, they can't believe it. All I say is this. General George Patton, General Douglas MacArthur are spinning in their grave at the stupidity of what we're doing in the Middle East. RADDATZ: I'm going to go to Secretary Clinton. Secretary Clinton, you want Assad to go. You advocated arming rebels, but it looks like that may be too late for Aleppo. You talk about diplomatic efforts. Those have failed. Cease-fires have failed. Would you introduce the threat of U.S. military force beyond a no-fly zone against the Assad regime to back up diplomacy? CLINTON: I would not use American ground forces in Syria. I think that would be a very serious mistake. I don't think American troops should be holding territory, which is what they would have to do as an occupying force. I don't think that is a smart strategy. I do think the use of special forces, which we're using, the use of enablers and trainers in Iraq, which has had some positive effects, are very much in our interests, and so I do support what is happening, but let me just RADDATZ: But what would you do differently than President Obama is doing? CLINTON: Well, Martha, I hope that by the time I -- if I'm fortunate TRUMP: Everything. CLINTON: I hope by the time I am president that we will have pushed ISIS out of Iraq. I do think that there is a good chance that we can take Mosul. And, you know, Donald says he knows more about ISIS than the generals. No, he doesn't. There are a lot of very important planning going on, and some of it is to signal to the Sunnis in the area, as well as Kurdish Peshmerga fighters, that we all need to be in this. And that takes a lot of planning and preparation. I would go after Baghdadi. I would specifically target Baghdadi, because I think our targeting of Al Qaida leaders -- and I was involved in a lot of those operations, highly classified ones -- made a difference. So I think that could help. I would also consider arming the Kurds. The Kurds have been our best partners in Syria, as well as Iraq. And I know there's a lot of concern about that in some circles, but I think they should have the equipment they need so that Kurdish and Arab fighters on the ground are the principal way that we take Raqqa after pushing ISIS out of Iraq. RADDATZ: Thank you very much. We're going to move on TRUMP: You know what's funny? She went over a minute over, and you don't stop her. When I go one second over, it's like a big deal. RADDATZ: You had many answers. TRUMP: It's really -- it's really very interesting. About deplorables COOPER: I want to follow up on something that Donald Trump actually said to you, a comment you made last month. You said that half of Donald Trump's supporters are, quote, "deplorables, racist, sexist, homophobic, xenophobic, Islamophobic." You later said you regretted saying half. You didn't express regret for using the term "deplorables." To Mr. Carter's question, how can you unite a country if you've written off tens of millions of Americans? CLINTON: Well, within hours I said that I was sorry about the way I talked about that, because my argument is not with his supporters. It's with him and with the hateful and divisive campaign that he has run, and the inciting of violence at his rallies, and the very brutal kinds of comments about not just women, but all Americans, all kinds of Americans. And what he has said about African-Americans and Latinos, about Muslims, about POWs, about immigrants, about people with disabilities, he's never apologized for. And so I do think that a lot of the tone and tenor that he has said -- I'm proud of the campaign that Bernie Sanders and I ran. We ran a campaign based on issues, not insults. And he is supporting me 100 percent. COOPER: Thank you. CLINTON: Because we talked about what we wanted to do. We might have had some differences, and we had a lot of debates COOPER: Thank you, Secretary. TRUMP: ... but we believed that we could make the country better. And I was proud of that. COOPER: I want to give you a minute to respond. TRUMP: We have a divided nation. We have a very divided nation. You look at Charlotte. You look at Baltimore. You look at the violence that's taking place in the inner cities, Chicago, you take a look at Washington, D.C. We have an increase in murder within our cities, the biggest in 45 years. We have a divided nation, because people like her -- and believe me, she has tremendous hate in her heart. And when she said deplorables, she meant it. And when she said irredeemable, they're irredeemable, you didn't mention that, but when she said they're irredeemable, to me that might have been even worse. COOPER: She said some of them are irredeemable. TRUMP: She's got tremendous -- she's got tremendous hatred. And this country cannot take another four years of Barack Obama, and that's what you're getting with her. COOPER: Mr. Trump, let me follow up with you. In 2008, you wrote in one of your books that the most important characteristic of a good leader is discipline. You said, if a leader doesn't have it, quote, "he or she won't be one for very long." In the days after the first debate, you sent out a series of tweets from 3 a.m. to 5 a.m., including one that told people to check out a sex tape. Is that the discipline of a good leader? TRUMP: No, there wasn't check out a sex tape. It was just take a look at the person that she built up to be this wonderful Girl Scout who was no Girl Scout. COOPER: You mentioned sex tape. TRUMP: By the way, just so you understand, when she said 3 o'clock in the morning, take a look at Benghazi. She said who is going to answer the call at 3 o'clock in the morning? Guess what? She didn't answer it, because when Ambassador Stevens COOPER: The question is, is that the discipline of a good leader? TRUMP: ... 600 -- wait a minute, Anderson, 600 times. Well, she said she was awake at 3 o'clock in the morning, and she also sent a tweet out at 3 o'clock in the morning, but I won't even mention that. But she said she'll be awake. Who's going -- the famous thing, we're going to answer our call at 3 o'clock in the morning. Guess what happened? Ambassador Stevens -- Ambassador Stevens sent 600 requests for help. And the only one she talked to was Sidney Blumenthal, who's her friend and not a good guy, by the way. So, you know, she shouldn't be talking about that. Now, tweeting happens to be a modern day form of communication. I mean, you can like it or not like it. I have, between Facebook and Twitter, I have almost 25 million people. It's a very effective way of communication. So you can put it down, but it is a very effective form of communication. I'm not un-proud of it, to be honest with you. COOPER: Secretary Clinton, does Mr. Trump have the discipline to be a good leader? CLINTON: No. TRUMP: I'm shocked to hear that. ... On the Supreme Court (LAUGHTER) We have another audience question. Beth Miller has a question for both candidates. QUESTION: Good evening. Perhaps the most important aspect of this election is the Supreme Court justice. What would you prioritize as the most important aspect of selecting a Supreme Court justice? RADDATZ: We begin with your two minutes, Secretary Clinton. CLINTON: Thank you. Well, you're right. This is one of the most important issues in this election. I want to appoint Supreme Court justices who understand the way the world really works, who have real-life experience, who have not just been in a big law firm and maybe clerked for a judge and then gotten on the bench, but, you know, maybe they tried some more cases, they actually understand what people are up against.Because I think the current court has gone in the wrong direction. And so I would want to see the Supreme Court reverse Citizens United and get dark, unaccountable money out of our politics. Donald doesn't agree with that. I would like the Supreme Court to understand that voting rights are still a big problem in many parts of our country, that we don't always do everything we can to make it possible for people of color and older people and young people to be able to exercise their franchise. I want a Supreme Court that will stick with Roe v. Wade and a woman's right to choose, and I want a Supreme Court that will stick with marriage equality. Now, Donald has put forth the names of some people that he would consider. And among the ones that he has suggested are people who would reverse Roe v. Wade and reverse marriage equality. I think that would be a terrible mistake and would take us backwards. I want a Supreme Court that doesn't always side with corporate interests. I want a Supreme Court that understands because you're wealthy and you can give more money to something doesn't mean you have any more rights or should have any more rights than anybody else. So I have very clear views about what I want to see to kind of change the balance on the Supreme Court. And I regret deeply that the Senate has not done its job and they have not permitted a vote on the person that President Obama, a highly qualified person, they've not given him a vote to be able to be have the full complement of nine Supreme Court justices. I think that was a dereliction of duty. I hope that they will see their way to doing it, but if I am so fortunate enough as to be president, I will immediately move to make sure that we fill that, we have nine justices that get to work on behalf of our people. RADDATZ: Thank you, Secretary Clinton. Thank you. You're out of time. Mr. Trump? TRUMP: Justice Scalia, great judge, died recently. And we have a vacancy. I am looking to appoint judges very much in the mold of Justice Scalia. I'm looking for judges -- and I've actually picked 20 of them so that people would see, highly respected, highly thought of, and actually very beautifully reviewed by just about everybody. But people that will respect the Constitution of the United States. And I think that this is so important. Also, the Second Amendment, which is totally under siege by people like Hillary Clinton. They'll respect the Second Amendment and what it stands for, what it represents. So important to me. Now, Hillary mentioned something about contributions just so you understand. So I will have in my race more than $100 million put in -- of my money, meaning I'm not taking all of this big money from all of these different corporations like she's doing. What I ask is this. So I'm putting in more than -- by the time it's finished, I'll have more than $100 million invested. Pretty much self-funding money. We're raising money for the Republican Party, and we're doing tremendously on the small donations, $61 average or so. I ask Hillary, why doesn't -- she made $250 million by being in office. She used the power of her office to make a lot of money. Why isn't she funding, not for $100 million, but why don't you put $10 million or $20 million or $25 million or $30 million into your own campaign? It's $30 million less for special interests that will tell you exactly what to do and it would really, I think, be a nice sign to the American public. Why aren't you putting some money in? You have a lot of it. You've made a lot of it because of the fact that you've been in office. Made a lot of it while you were secretary of state, actually. So why aren't you putting money into your own campaign? I'm just curious. CLINTON: Well (CROSSTALK) RADDATZ: Thank you very much. We're going to get on to one more question. CLINTON: The question was about the Supreme Court. And I just want to quickly say, I respect the Second Amendment. But I believe there should be comprehensive background checks, and we should close the gun show loophole, and close the online loophole. RADDATZ: We've sneaked in one more question, and it comes from Karl Becker. On respecting each other QUESTION: Good evening. My question to both of you is, regardless of the current rhetoric, would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another? (APPLAUSE) RADDATZ: Mr. Trump, would you like to go first? CLINTON: Well, I certainly will, because I think that's a very fair and important question. Look, I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don't agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that. And I think that is something that as a mother and a grandmother is very important to me. So I believe that this election has become in part so -- so conflict-oriented, so intense because there's a lot at stake. This is not an ordinary time, and this is not an ordinary election. We are going to be choosing a president who will set policy for not just four or eight years, but because of some of the important decisions we have to make here at home and around the world, from the Supreme Court to energy and so much else, and so there is a lot at stake. It's one of the most consequential elections that we've had. And that's why I've tried to put forth specific policies and plans, trying to get it off of the personal and put it on to what it is I want to do as president. And that's why I hope people will check on that for themselves so that they can see that, yes, I've spent 30 years, actually maybe a little more, working to help kids and families. And I want to take all that experience to the White House and do that every single day. RADDATZ: Mr. Trump? TRUMP: Well, I consider her statement about my children to be a very nice compliment. I don't know if it was meant to be a compliment, but it is a great -- I'm very proud of my children. And they've done a wonderful job, and they've been wonderful, wonderful kids. So I consider that a compliment. I will say this about Hillary. She doesn't quit. She doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter. I disagree with much of what she's fighting for. I do disagree with her judgment in many cases. But she does fight hard, and she doesn't quit, and she doesn't give up. And I consider that to be a very good trait. @latimespolitics ALSO Our judges score the town hall debate Fact-checking the debates, from start to finish Video highlights from the debate Transcript: The most important exchanges of the first presidential debate, annotated Vice presidential debate transcript, annotated Our judges score the vice presidential debate Round-by-round, our analysts say Clinton out-punched Trump in first debate What we learned in the first presidential debate Live coverage from the campaign trail With election day less than a month off, Republicans faced an extraordinary breach in party ranks Monday as House Speaker Paul D. Ryan declared he would no longer defend presidential nominee Donald Trump and instead focus on preserving the GOPs majority in Congress. Without formally withdrawing his endorsement, Ryan nonetheless delivered a stinging blow to Trump, urging Republican lawmakers in a conference call to do whatever they needed to win Nov. 8 even if it meant cutting loose from the partys national standard-bearer. Ryans statements drew an immediate backlash, on Capitol Hill and at the partys grass roots, as loyalists were stunned the top elected Republican in the country would abandon Trump at a time party leaders would normally be ramping up efforts to take back the White House. Advertisement Trump responded with a slap on Twitter. Paul Ryan should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee, Trump wrote. Supporters, including some lawmakers who scolded Ryan during the private call, were equally aggrieved. Whats going on is our leadership panicked when there was a massive disclosure of a private conversation that Trump had 11 years ago in which he was grotesquely sexual and egotistical, said Rep. Dana Rohrabacher of Huntington Beach, who called Ryans move cowardly. So, OK. Thats something of significance, Rohrabacher said, sharing his account of the conversation in an interview afterward. But not, he went on, as significant as the real issues that separate Hillary and Donald. For us to try to undo what the Republican voters did in the primaries would be a betrayal to the Republican voters who made their choice, Rohrabacher said. The backbiting, a day after Trump and his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton waged a searing, insult-filled debate, underscored the bind facing the GOP and its leaders, who had come around to Trumps candidacy with varying degrees of enthusiasm. The choice amounts to rejecting the candidate selected by voters and risk the partys base staying home out of pique, or continuing to embrace Trump overlooking his offensive behavior and possibly alienate women and other swing voters who can make a difference in close House and Senate contests. Republicans made a deal with the devil, and when you make a deal with the devil you end up in hell, said Rob Stutzman, a Republican strategist in Sacramento and longtime Trump critic. Seeking to clamp down on speculation that the Republican National Committee was also primed to walk away from Trump, Chairman Reince Priebus told members the organization would continue to stand behind and work on behalf of the nominee through its Victory program, which aims to boost Republicans up and down the ticket. Priebus offered his assurance in a private conference call Monday afternoon, according to two participants who asked not to be identified discussing internal party business. The get-out-the-vote support is crucial to Trump, who has ignored the fundamentals of campaign building and is counting almost entirely on the RNC and local parties to register voters and ensure they cast their ballots. The move by Ryan, who has kept his distance from Trump throughout his candidacy, reflected a growing sense of panic among Republicans that their nominee was not only fated to lose the presidential race but could face the kind of landslide that would drag many GOP candidates down with him. Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Sign up for the newsletter |The race to 270 A NBC News/Wall Street Journal survey conducted over the weekend, before Sunday nights debate, showed Clinton pulling out to a 52%-38% lead over Trump. In a four-way match-up including Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and the Green Partys Jill Stein, Clinton led by 11 percentage points. The survey was in line with other polls that suggested support for Trump was slipping even before a 2005 video surfaced Friday, showing him boasting that his celebrity allows him to grope and kiss women against their will. More worrisome on Capitol Hill, likely voters sided with Democrats, 49% to 42%, when asked which party they would prefer in control of Congress. The result is up from a 3-point Democratic advantage last month. Democrats could retake control of the Senate if Clinton is elected and they gain four seats, a goal that seems well within reach. (Her vice presidential running mate, Tim Kaine, would be positioned to break a 50-50 tie.) If Trump is elected, Democrats would need to gain five seats. Democrats must pick up 30 House seats to take control, a number that has seemed far beyond their capacity until civil war broke out within the GOP. Dozens of party leaders and elected officials either rescinded their endorsement of Trump or said they would not vote for him after the tawdry video surfaced. At Sunday nights debate, Trump apologized for his remarks and characterized them as locker room talk that belied his true feelings. Ryan cut his ties to Trump in a Monday morning conference call with GOP lawmakers, telling Republicans they should do whats best for you in your district, according to a participant who was granted anonymity to discuss the private session. The Wisconsin lawmaker said he would not defend Trump or campaign with him for the remainder of the election. About a dozen members spoke up on the call, and most disagreed with the speaker. The best way to ensure a Republican majority in the House is to make Donald Trump the most successful candidate we can make him, one of the participants, Rep. Kevin Cramer of North Dakota, said in an interview afterward. The idea that running from him strengthens that, I dont buy that strategy. Kellyanne Conway, Trumps campaign manager, accused GOP lawmakers of hypocrisy. I would talk to some of the members of Congress out there, when I was younger and prettier, them rubbing up against girls, sticking their tongues down womens throats, she said on MSNBC. Some of them, by the way, are on the list of people who wont support Donald Trump because they all ride around on a high horse. Trump also received a firm vote of support from his vice presidential running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, hours after the presidential hopeful took a swipe during the debate. Making the rounds on cable TV, Pence insisted he was fully behind Trump after initially refusing to defend his sexually aggressive and predatory comments. It is absolutely false to think at any time we considered dropping off this ticket, Pence said on CNN. I look forward to campaigning shoulder to shoulder with Donald Trump. He said he accepted Trumps explanation that talk of forcing himself on women and grabbing their genitals was only talk. He said it is not something he has done, Pence said. He made it clear last night. Pence also waved away Trumps statement during the debate dismissing Pence and repudiating his position on the civil war in Syria a potential U.S. military response to Russias involvement by blaming the discrepancy on the way the question was asked. Pence said both support establishing safe zones in Syria to protect civilians and using military resources for that effort. Some Trump supporters suggested they might punish Republicans who abandon the GOP nominee at this late stage. Gary Burgess, a 65-year-old engineer, who came to see Pence at a rally in Charlotte, N.C., said those walking away from Trump were putting their own interests first. A lot of the politicians are trying to protect their future of getting elected, Burgess said, and not necessarily protecting the future of the United States. Barabak reported from San Francisco and Mascaro from Washington. Times staff writers Noah Bierman in Charlotte, Michael Finnegan in Los Angeles, Evan Halper in Washington and Melanie Mason in Ambridge, Pa., contributed to this report. mark.barabak@latimes.com | Twitter: @markzbarabak lisa.mascaro@latimes.com | Twitter: @LisaMascaro ALSO After a mediocre debate performance, Trump still faces an uphill climb 5 key takeaways from the second presidential debate After a mediocre debate performance, Trump still faces an uphill climb UPDATES: 6:20 p.m.: This article was updated with additional comments by Republicans, strategists and Trump campaign officials. This article was originally published at 1 p.m. Donald Trumps murky finances and his refusal to make public his personal tax returns breaking decades of tradition by presidential candidates have dogged his campaign for months. And the bombshell revelation that Trump reported a $916-million loss in 1995 that may have enabled him to pay no income taxes for 20 years has only intensified the pressure on the GOP nominee to shed light on his business ventures and explain the true nature of his finances and tax liabilities. Trump did not dispute the speculation Sunday, but he blamed it on Hillary Clinton. Advertisement She complains that Donald Trump took advantage of the tax code well why didnt you change it when you were senator? Trump said. The reason you dont is that all your friends take the advantage that I do, he said. All of these people give you the money so you can take negative ads on Donald Trump. Trumps tax plan promises to lower individual income tax rates to two brackets, 35% and 15%, and also bring down corporate rates. But outside groups have said lowering rates would increase the federal deficit if they are not offset with spending cuts. They dispute Trumps promise of massive economic growth that will cover costs. Trump said Clinton would be raising your taxes, really high. But Clintons proposed new taxes are largely on the wealthiest Americans those who earn more than $250,000 a year, which are the top sliver of earners. Clinton reminded the audience that she voted in the Senate to close many of the loopholes Trump and other wealthy individuals use to lower their taxes. And she said Trumps tax plan would be a greater windfall for the wealthy and corporations than for ordinary Americans. The new taxes she proposes include a surcharge on incomes above $5 million. Its sort of amusing to hear somebody who hasnt paid federal income taxes in maybe 20 years talking about what he is going to do, she said. Donald always takes care of Donald, and people like Donald, and this would be a massive gift. Trumps 1995 state tax returns showed that the massive loss reported that year could have allowed him to avoid paying federal taxes for many years. Whether he did or didnt isnt known for sure because only a small portion of that years records was leaked to the New York Times, and his income and losses in subsequent years have not been disclosed. But the $916-million loss and the likelihood that it did reduce or eliminate Trumps tax liability for up to two decades has raised fresh questions about the real estate developers business acumen and principles, however legal the tax practice may be. Hes kind of stuck between a rock and a hard place, said Lawrence Zelenak, a tax law expert at Duke Law School. Either Im exploiting the heck out of the tax system, or I really lost a bunch of money. Neither of those sounds good. Although what was leaked made it impossible to know what caused the loss in 1995, Zelenak said it likely represented real as well as paper losses, which Trump could legally take under the federal tax code. The early 1990s was a difficult period for Trump as some of his Atlantic City casinos and other ventures ended up insolvent. A write-down of debts as part of bankruptcy settlements could have accounted for a part of the large loss in 1995. Trump initially reacted to the 1995 tax disclosures by suggesting that it provided further proof of his astute business skills a veritable genius, some of his supporters called him. But the Tax Foundations Kyle Pomerleau noted that the practice of offsetting taxable profits in one year with losses from another was hardly anything special, as it is a very ordinary part of the tax code. Tax experts widely accept the principle of offsetting, or loss carry-forward, as a reasonable practice to make the tax system fairer by allowing filers to smooth out income over time that can sometimes straddle two tax periods. Pomerleau said it is a common feature in industrialized countries, with some extending it well beyond the 20 years allowed in the U.S. At the same time, Trumps tax returns spotlight a tax system that gives some special benefits to real estate business people. More than people in other professions, real estate investors can take advantage of depreciation. One of the most egregious loopholes, for example, would have allowed Trump to deduct business losses that were absorbed by banks, even if the lenders never got the money back. Congress lays out a variety of tax breaks and there are opportunities for clever people, and people who have influence to get what they want, to take advantage of them, said Steve Rosenthal, a senior fellow at the Tax Policy Center. Thats our system, he added, and that may be the best argument that Trump has: that what he did was entirely lawful. In his defense, Trump has said he had a fiduciary responsibility to minimize his taxes, but virtually every tax expert agrees that argument doesnt hold water. Trumps business is set up, for tax purposes, to be reported as individual income and not as a corporation. If it were a corporation, he would have a fiduciary duty to represent the interests of shareholders. Trump also has argued that the tax revelations show that the nations tax laws that he took advantage of are unfair and that as someone who knows the system, he is the best person to fix it. Maybe that would have been a decent argument, said Zelenak, the Duke professor, but when you became interested in putting a hand to it only after the leak, then that seems a little less compelling. Also, in his tax plan for the nation, Trump hasnt proposed any changes that would address such loopholes or benefits to real estate investors specifically. The Tax Foundation estimates that Trumps plan would cut taxes by about $6 trillion over 10 years, with high-income filers benefiting more than those in the middle-and lower-income brackets. Experts say Trump could, of course, put an end to all the speculation about his business and taxes, including questions about how much he gives to charitable organizations, by releasing his tax returns. But he has repeatedly said he would make public his taxes only after the governments audit is completed. Many have pointed out, however, that there is no prohibition that prevents him from sharing his tax returns while being audited. And Trump could certainly open up tax information from years that are not covered by the ongoing IRS audit. Trumps businesses are not publicly listed. He has disclosed some business and wealth information in a filing with federal election officials, but the 104-page statement doesnt break down profits and losses, nor does it contain precise figures on assets over $50 million. Trump has often claimed he has a net worth of $10 billion, but outside estimates have put his personal fortune at less than half that. Behind shrinking middle-class jobs: A surge in outsourcing don.lee@latimes.com Follow me at @dleelatimes Less than two hours before tonights presidential debate, Donald Trump appeared alongside three women who have previously accused former President Bill Clinton of rape or unwanted sexual advances. A fourth woman was the victim in a sexual assault case when she was a child in which the accused perpetrator was defended by Hillary Clinton, who was appointed to the case by the court. The unexpected event Sunday came as Trumps presidential bid is reeling after the release of a recording of him speaking in vulgar terms about women. Trump had telegraphed before the debate that he planned to bring up Bill Clintons sexual history. He has also blamed Hillary Clinton for enabling her husband and said she attacked the women who made claims against her husband. Here is a look at the four women Trump appeared with Sunday evening in an event that was streamed live on Facebook: Advertisement Juanita Broaddrick: In 1999, after Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about his affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, Broaddrick said the president had raped her when he was Arkansas attorney general in 1978. A handful of confidantes said she had told them about the incident when it occurred. Clinton denied the claim through his attorney, and he was never charged. Some argued that Broaddrick was not credible because she waited 21 years to make the allegation and because she had earlier signed an affidavit denying non-consensual sex or advances by Clinton. Election 2016 | Live coverage on Trail Guide | Sign up for the newsletter |The race to 270 Paula Jones: Jones accused Bill Clinton of sexually propositioning her and exposing himself to her while he was governor of Arkansas. She filed a sexual harassment suit against him that was dismissed and still under appeal when Bill Clinton settled with Jones for $850,000 and made no admission of wrongdoing. Kathleen Willey: The White House aide claimed that Bill Clinton groped her in 1993. The president denied it, and an independent prosecutor found the evidence inconclusive. She first made her allegations on a 60 Minutes segment in 1999. Kathy Shelton: Shelton was 12 when a man was accused of raping her. Hillary Clinton, an attorney, was assigned by a judge to defend him. The case against the accused rapist fell apart and the charges were reduced to fondling a child. In her 2003 biography, Clinton wrote that she was reluctant to take the case but had been reminded by the prosecutor who had recommended her for the assignment that she was obligated to not refuse the judges request. ALSO Trump and his campaigns record of controversy involving women: A brief history Tonights debate is now an even bigger test for Trump amid GOP division over leaked recording Dump Trump? Hundreds of thousands of votes have already been cast with his name on the ballot If we tried to fit everything that happened over the weekend into this newsletter, wed be here all day. Im Christina Bellantoni. Welcome to the post-debate edition of Essential Politics. Lets start with the things we know: Donald Trump performed better Sunday night than he did during his first debate with Hillary Clinton. He got laughs and applause from an audience that had been instructed to stay silent, and he forcefully challenged Clinton on her own vulnerabilities in a way he hadnt on Sept. 26. Advertisement He heads into the final four weeks of the campaign dramatically weakened thanks to the bombshell release of a videotape revealing explicit sexual comments. (Did you somehow miss that news? Weve got you covered here and here.) Clinton, for her part, remains confident both about her debate and about how she is faring right now among voters. Our judges gave her a win Sunday. Hundreds of thousands of people have already voted. Trump still seemed to have the sniffles. The debate made history with statements like Youd be in jail and You bragged that you sexually assaulted women. (Heres our annotated transcript.) Things we dont know: What will the GOP do next? Establishment figures and congressional Republicans are huddling Monday to determine what to do, after Trump suffered a mass exodus of support over the weekend thanks to the tape. There are genuine concerns the party could lose the Senate and suffer major losses in the House. What else is out there? Numerous outlets are speculating about more Trump tapes to be released. Could anything be as damaging as the video he repeatedly dismissed from the debate stage as locker room talk? DEBATE HEADLINES Meet the women Trump trotted out as Clinton accusers, and read what the women said in St. Louis. Trump complained Clinton got more debate time. Thats not accurate. Trumps claim about people seeing bombs in the homes of the San Bernardino shooters? Not true. We fact-checked the debate live. Seema Mehta reported from the spin room. Among the highlights, Rudy Giuliani saying the debate would shift momentum toward Trump like that. The photos from the evening tell their own story, and heres possibly the best image of the night. Watch the full debate. Heres what Clinton and Trump say they respect about each other. Eight audience members got their 15 seconds of fame Sunday night as they took turns asking questions of the presidential nominees. Some of the fame lasted longer than 15 seconds, though, particularly for social media star Ken Bone, whose appearance spawned a fake Twitter account and a folk ditty on the acoustic guitar. Christine Mai-Duc and Kurtis Lee report on what we know about the town hall participants and what they asked. They didnt shake hands before the debate. The uncovered Access Hollywood video of Trump making lewd comments was the latest in a growing list of controversies he and his campaign have had with women. Heres a brief history from Colleen Shalby. CALIFORNIA REPUBLICANS DISTANCE THEMSELVES FROM TRUMP In some of the tightest races in the state, Republicans were quick to denounce Trump this weekend. Sarah Wire has more here and here. CLINTON SEEKS REPUBLICAN SUPPORT Despite Trumps shaky ground with the GOP establishment, its clear that Clinton is having trouble convincing many of their voters to cross the aisle and support her. She has been making a concerted effort to win over Republicans disillusioned with Trump, but there has been no sign of a mass defection so far, despite a laundry list of endorsements. Clintons campaign points to some signs that Trump has less support from within his party than Clinton does among Democrats, and theyre winning to settle for even marginal shifts to help put her over the top. CLINTONS TRANSCRIPTS EMERGE When WikiLeaks released another batch of hacked emails, included in a message sent among Clinton campaign staffers were excerpts from paid speeches she delivered to major banks. Clinton had refused to release the transcripts during the primary, and her rival Bernie Sanders had used the issue to paint Clinton as too sympathetic to Wall Street. As Chris Megerian reports, Trumps campaign is trying to transform the excerpts into a political headache for Clinton, pointing to her comment that she favors open trade and open borders. In the final stretch, you can get the latest from the campaign trail on Trail Guide. Make sure also to follow @latimespolitics. Check our daily USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times tracking poll at the top of the politics page. KAMALA HARRIS IS ON A ROLL As election day fast approaches, state Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris U.S. Senate campaign continues to pick up steam. Phil Willon reports on new momentum from the endorsements of both of Californias senators after her measured performance during the Senate debate Wednesday against her rival, Rep. Loretta Sanchez. For the first time, Harris showed aggression toward Sanchez, shedding the cautious approach that has been the mark of her Senate bid. Harris on Monday rolls out her first ad of the general election. In the bitmoji inspired animated ad, which will run on digital platforms and social media, Harris stars as a political hero who took on for-profit colleges. Shes wearing her customary dark grey suit, but not a cape. George Skelton looks at the fact California voters arent paying attention to the Senate race. Given the sleepy pace of last weeks debate, its easy to see why they might not be, he writes in his Monday column. A LITTLE DABLL DO YA Sanchezs whimsical dab at the end of Wednesdays Senate debate was inspired by the 9-year-old daughter of the congressmans make-up artist, her campaign says. The young girl, Jamieson Deacy of Anaheim Hills, is a dancer and aspiring actress and told Sanchez the dance move would make a great finale. NRA NOT FULLY LOADED AGAINST CALIFORNIA BALLOT MEASURE The National Rifle Assn. has poured $4 million into fighting a Nevada initiative that would require background checks for gun buyers but has put just $145,000 into battling a gun control measure in California. Patrick McGreevy reports that gun owners and supporters of Proposition 63 have noticed the difference. POLITICAL ROADMAP: EYES ON A SUPERMAJORITY Sacramento bureau chief John Myers examines the chances of Democrats winning a supermajority in Californias Legislature on Nov. 8. And if it happens, what would they do with the power? HOW MUCH CALIFORNIAS BUDGET RELIES ON THE RICH Four years ago, Californians passed Proposition 30, which increased income taxes for the states wealthiest. Today, just 1.5% of taxpayers finance roughly a third of Californias day-to-day budget through their personal income taxes. That will continue if voters approve Proposition 55, which would extend the higher income tax rates through 2030. Liam Dillon talked to some of the 1.5% and found them upset at the states continued reliance on income taxes and bothered that the 2012 tax hikes, which were promised to be temporary, might turn out to be around for a while. PREACHING TO THE CHOIR Supporters of Proposition 59 are hoping California voters will pass their measure instructing members of Congress to work toward overturning the Supreme Courts 2010 Citizens United decision that allowed corporations to spend what they want on U.S. elections. Well, it turns out two-thirds of Californias congressional delegation already support campaign finance reform or want to amend the Constitution to stop corporations from spending in political races. Sarah Wire spoke with members to see who supports it, who doesnt and who doesnt plan to follow voters instructions if Proposition 59 passes. For all things California politics, keep an eye on our Essential Politics news feed. REAGAN AND TRUMP HAVE ONE SIMILARITY Skelton has a pop quiz: Whats one thing Trump and the late President Ronald Reagan have in common? Both dodged paying income taxes. Other than their mutual tax avoidance, Skelton writes, Trump and Reagan are as similar as night and day. UNDERSTANDING THE PENSION CRISIS In case you missed it, we published two new installments in our series looking at Californias pension system. Myers explains how a political fight 25 years ago boosted the power of the public pension system and Jack Dolan has a primer on CalPERS and the people behind the rules on pensions. TODAYS ESSENTIALS Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom and other elected leaders called on California voters to legalize recreational use of marijuana, saying the current laws are unfairly entangling minorities more than white users. Billionaire Tom Steyer is upping his profile by appearing in a new television advertisement promoting Proposition 56, which would raise the cigarette tax by $2 a pack. Steyer said the issue is personal for him, because his mother died of lung cancer. Hes now donated $5.5 million to the campaign after dumping in another $2 million on Thursday. Having a hard time getting through that massive voter guide? Fear not: The California Voter Foundation has you covered with The Proposition Song, a folksy tune that summarizes all 17 ballot initiatives for you. Kim Alexander, president of the foundation, said it took her about a week to write the lyrics. She recorded the song with Sacramento-area musicians and is featured on vocals and ukelele. Know what Californias new laws are about? Heres a poem to help you figure it out. A new radio ad in support of Proposition 58 stresses the importance of learning more than one language. Rep. Doris Matsui was injured in a car accident in Washington last week. She was released from the hospital Friday after surgery to stop internal bleeding and cannot travel for several weeks. Assemblywoman Cheryl Brown (D-San Bernardino) got a boost from San Bernardino Police Chief Jarrod Burguan when he endorsed her in her re-election fight against Democrat Eloise Reyes. Burguan, who was placed in the national spotlight after last years terrorist attacks, said Brown has a deep understanding of the many issues facing our city. On Thursday, the California Highway Patrol removed a suspicious package from the lawn on the north side of the Capitol building. The area was closed to pedestrians and cars while officers detonated a device that caused a loud popping noise and smoke by the Capitol steps. The procedure rendered the package safe so officers could remove it, according to the CHP. Who will win the November election? Give our Electoral College map a spin. For the record: Thursdays newsletter misquoted Gov. Jerry Brown. At the 10th anniversary celebration for a landmark climate law, he said the issue of climate change is about human existence, not human resistance. LOGISTICS Did someone forward you this? Sign up here to get Essential Politics in your inbox daily. And keep an eye on our politics page throughout the day for the latest and greatest. And are you following us on Twitter at @latimespolitics? Please send thoughts, concerns and news tips to politics@latimes.com. Paul Taybi is part of the 1.5%. The 59-year-old retired founder of a data analysis company from El Cerrito is among that percentage of the wealthiest Californians paying the higher income tax rates that voters approved four years ago. For the record: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Paul Taybi owned four Bay Area apartment complexes. The rentals are single-family residences. Now, with those rates set to expire, a coalition of teacher and service worker unions, medical groups and others are pushing Proposition 55, a ballot measure that would extend these higher taxes on the the highest earners through 2030. Taybi isnt happy about it. He said he plans to raise rents in the four Bay Area properties his family owns and ultimately move out of state in the coming years if the measure passes. Advertisement I have no problem paying more taxes than a poor person does, Taybi said. But weve reached the point where my behavior has changed. It will change more. And a lot of people like me will say, Thats the straw that broke the camels back. If voters approve Proposition 55, the state will continue depending on Taybi and other wealthy Californians to fund a significant portion of schools, parks, road repairs, police, prisons and many other government services. Those paying the higher rates, which kick in for single and joint filers making more than $263,000 and $526,000 a year respectively, contributed almost $34 billion in income taxes in 2014, roughly a third of all state general fund revenue. Californias reliance on the wealthiest taxpayers means the state is especially vulnerable to their bottom lines. When presenting this years revised budget plan in May, Gov. Jerry Brown carried with him a chart titled, Unpredictable Capital Gains, noting how the states revenues were highly dependent on booms and busts in the economy. Californias finances, he said, are a zig-zag reality. In order to manage this budget, Brown said, its like riding a tiger. In the same presentation, Brown estimated that if Proposition 55 didnt pass, the state would have a budget deficit in the next three years, which could lead to a new round of cuts in education, health and social services programs. Updates from Sacramento Though much more muted than before, the basic message is the same as it was in 2012. Back then, the state remained at the height of a prolonged budget crisis. Brown and other proponents warned of massive cuts unless voters passed Proposition 30. The measure primarily raised income tax rates by 1% to 3% for the wealthiest taxpayers. Under Proposition 30, the current tax rate is 10.3% for single filers earning between $263,000 and $316,000 in annual taxable income, 11.3% for those between $316,000 and $526,000, 12.3% for those between $526,000 and $1 million and 13.3% for those earning $1 million or more. The final 1% at the highest tax rate goes toward a mental-health fund thats been recently retooled to pay for a $2-billion bond to help house the homeless. Brown and other supporters pitched Proposition 30 as a Band-aid to carry the state through the worst of its financial calamities. Those higher income tax rates are set to expire in 2018. If Proposition 55 passes, the higher rates would be in place for 18 years. The governor hasnt taken a formal position on Proposition 55 and maintains he could balance the budget with or without it. I said it was temporary when I started, when I got Prop. 30 passed I helped to pass it and I think Ill leave it there, Brown said at the May budget presentation. Some high earners who voted for Proposition 30 now say theyre opposed to the new measure because they were promised that the tax hikes would expire. Im just incensed because I feel like a sucker, said Martin Schwartz, 63, an electronics repair store owner in Chatsworth, who has paid the higher rates. But supporters of the measure argue that the states still shaky revenues justify continuing to tax those in the top income brackets at higher rates. Have we stopped bleeding since 2012? Yes, but the problem still exists, said Shay Lohman, president of the teachers union in the Rowland Unified School District in Los Angeles County. The wound is still there. Increased tax revenues have also brought significant benefits. Since Proposition 30 passed, Lohmans district brought back an elementary school music program that had been cut during the recession and is planning to start a dual-language Mandarin-English program next year, he said. Money has allowed something like that to happen, Lohman said. Though the income tax provisions are the same, Proposition 55 has some differences from Proposition 30. The new initiative does not extend a quarter-cent sales tax hike set to expire at the end of the year. It directs more of the money to the states Medi-Cal healthcare program for low-income residents. The measure will raise $4 billion to $9 billion a year, depending on the economy and stock market, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analysts Office. The campaigns for Propositions 30 and 55 are different as well. Four years ago, business and taxpayer groups mounted a robust effort, spending millions, including running television advertisements, to oppose the tax and support a second, unrelated ballot measure. This time, opponents have only raised $3,000, according to the state campaign finance reports, while supporters have collected almost $53 million, primarily from the California Assn. of Hospitals and California Teachers Assn. In pro-Proposition 55 television advertisements, advocates including state Controller Betty Yee argue the measure will prevent education cuts without raising taxes. A USC Dornsife/Los Angeles Times poll last month found 57% of registered voters were in favor of the measure. The poll even found support from a majority of those making more than $100,000 a year. liam.dillon@latimes.com Follow me at @dillonliam on Twitter ALSO Can Gov. Jerry Brown keep the promises he made with Proposition 30? Gov. Jerry Brown sends lawmakers revised California budget with less money to spend on new programs Voters will likely be asked for 12 more years of higher income taxes on the wealthy If youre feeling sick and you want to know whats wrong with you, theres an app for that. But the diagnosis wont be as accurate as the one youd get from a doctor not by a long shot. In a head-to-head comparison, real human physicians outperformed a collection of 23 symptom-checker apps and websites by a margin of more than 2 to 1, according to a report published Monday in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine. Even when the contestants got three chances to figure out what ailed a hypothetical patient, the diagnostic software lagged far behind actual doctors. Indeed, the apps and websites suggested the right diagnosis only slightly more than half of the time, the report says. Advertisement The research team from Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Womens Hospital in Boston and the Human Diagnosis Project in Washington, D.C. asked 234 physicians to read through a selection of 45 clinical vignettes to see how they would handle these hypothetical patients. Each vignette included the medical history of the patient but no results from a physical exam, blood test or other kind of lab work. Most of the doctors were trained in internal medicine, though the group included some pediatricians and family practice physicians too. About half of them were in residency or fellowship, so their training was not yet complete. Even so, of the 1,105 vignettes they considered, they listed the correct diagnosis first 72% of the time, according to the study. The 23 symptom checkers evaluated a total of 770 vignettes in an earlier study by some of the same researchers. The apps and websites (including several from professional medical organizations, such as the American Academy of Physicians, the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Dutch College of General Practitioners) listed the correct diagnosis first just 34% of the time. Both the doctors and the computer programs were able to include more than one ailment in their differential diagnosis. So the researchers also compared how often the correct diagnosis was among the top three responses. For the doctors, that happened 84% of the time. For the symptom checkers, it was 51% of the time. Though the humans trounced the computers across the board, there were situations in which doctors did a particularly good job of naming the correct diagnosis first. For instance, their margin in cases with common conditions was 70% to 38%. In cases with uncommon conditions, it grew to 76% to 28%. The seriousness of the malady made a difference too. In cases with low acuity, doctors bested software by 65% to 41%. But in cases with high acuity, that gap widened to 79% to 24%. Physicians vastly outperformed computer algorithms in diagnostic accuracy, the researchers concluded. Full disclosure: Three of the study authors are doctors, and none are apps. karen.kaplan@latimes.com Follow me on Twitter @LATkarenkaplan and like Los Angeles Times Science & Health on Facebook. MORE IN SCIENCE How Goldilocks fires can give rise to vibrant bird communities years after a forest blaze After Rosettas amazing close-ups of a speeding comet, Kepler gives us the long view Apes prove it: You dont have to be human to understand what someone else is thinking I am running to represent the 37th state Senate District because I know that the challenges California faces require thoughtful solutions. I am a scientist and an educator specializing in architectural engineering and psychology. I know that reducing greenhouse gas emissions is good for our environment, health and economy, and creates good jobs. A true leader sees connections and opportunities in challenges. Unfortunately, incumbent Sen. John Moorlach (R-Costa Mesa) seems incapable of making important connections. Moorlach opposed Senate Bill 32, which requires California reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Moorlach dismissed greenhouse gas emissions, writing in the Orange County Register that the states global impact is next to nothing. Moorlach fails to understand that the greenhouse gases produced in California affect the health of our communities before they spread around the world. Moorlach is also wrong when he proclaims that dealing with greenhouse gases will hurt our economy. Here is the reality: California should invest in and lead the world in the manufacturing and use of green technologies. We should be the Silicon Valley of green technologies. Green technology presents an opportunity for innovation and creation of new businesses and will create the good-paying jobs we need to keep our economy strong. Smog once plagued Southern California, but our air quality is improving. We need to work to ensure we always have clean air, sanitary water and safe food. Sea levels are rising and even modest storms cause flooding on Balboa Island in Newport Beach. Within a generation, many of Californias beaches will be eroded and gone. The cost of relocating homes, businesses, and the infrastructure could easily be tens of billions of dollars. Moorlach lacks the vision of a leader. A leader knows what theyre costing us is as important as what youre saving us. We simply cant afford Moorlach; hes costing us too dearly. Laguna Beach resident ARI GRAYSON is a candidate for the 37th state Senate District. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventions strongly worded alerts about the dangers of the Zika virus mean that having travel insurance should allow you to cancel a trip to an affected destination, right? Or in the case of norovirus, which causes digestive woes, should let you cancel your cruise, correct? Or an outbreak of yellow fever in southwest Africa should mean its OK to cancel that trip, yes? Advertisement Wrong. Wrong. And wrong. At least if youre hoping to be recoup your money. Travelers have long had to worry about contracting diseases that at best cause inconvenient symptoms, or at worst require evacuation mid-vacation to a hospital. But fear, worrys companion, usually isnt a covered reason in the insurance world, at least not in most standard insurance policies. Unless, that is, you have cancel- for-any-reason coverage, an upgrade that can increase the price of a policy by about 40%, according to Squaremouth.com, an online travel insurance comparison site. Cancel-for-any-reason coverage this month for a $4,000 trip for two to Brazil ranged from $116 to $386, which included medical and evacuation expenses from zero to $1 million, according to Squaremouth. Policies usually require that travelers insure every bit of their prepaid, non-refundable trip costs, such as flights, tours, deposits or penalties, to receive back up to 75% of those costs. For the most part, travel insurance policies do not appear to cover cancellation due to a government warning about travel to a particular area, said Megan Freedman, executive director of the U.S. Travel Insurance Assn. However some plans may cover pregnancy that occurs after the policy is purchased, and of course, cancel-for-any-reason plans allow the customer to cancel if they choose to do so. Though such policies sound like no-strings-attached deals, many are time-sensitive and may require purchase within 14 to 30 days of your first booking or deposit date. The policies also may require cancellation at least two or three days before your planned departure date, said Rachael Taft, a spokeswoman for Squaremouth. Zika is of special concern because, according to the CDC, there is no vaccine to prevent or medicine to treat the virus. Not only can the Zika virus spread from mother to unborn child and through mosquito bites, it also can be sexually transmitted even by people who arent showing symptoms. When uninfected mosquitoes bite an already infected person, they become carriers that can spread the virus. Zika infection during pregnancy is linked to an increase in babies born with abnormally small heads, a condition known as microcephaly, often because the brain did not grow properly. The CDC urges travelers to practice enhanced precautions such as preventing mosquito bites by wearing long sleeves and pants, taking refuge under mosquito nets and using EPA-registered insect repellent. The agency hasnt yet issued warnings to avoid all nonessential travel to affected regions. The CDC has issued travel notices across vast areas stretching from South Florida to South America to Singapore; 3,625 locally acquired or travel-associated cases have been reported in the continental U.S. so far this year. Outbreaks in Puerto Rico have spread the virus to more than 21,000 people, according to the CDC. The specter of massive Zika infections in Brazil hung over the 2016 Summer Olympics in August and the Paralympic Games in September. In early June, the CDC advised women who were pregnant or trying to become pregnant to avoid the Summer Olympics or take extreme caution. Although most people who are infected with Zika dont get sick (or their symptoms are so mild they dont know they are sick), investigators are studying a possible link to Guillain-Barre syndrome, a disorder that can lead to paralysis. Its not just Zika that can cause a problem. In the last few years, there have been health scares concerning chikungunya (a rarely fatal but very painful disease that was found in many Caribbean countries), avian flu, Ebola, dengue fever and Middle East respiratory syndrome, or MERS. Are you covered? Your best precaution is to read the fine print of your travel insurance policy or call and chat with an agent so you understand your coverage and reimbursement options. travel@latimes.com Youre in a foreign country and the unthinkable happens. Youve lost your passport and all your money. Or youre injured. Or you have been arrested. Or youve run into visa problems. Trouble with a capital T, as Professor Harold Hill said in The Music Man. What do you do? A recent conversation with Karen Christensen, deputy assistant secretary for Overseas Citizen Services for the U.S. State Department, brought new and surprising issues to light. Issue: My passport is missing. The most common difficulty is a lost or stolen passport, Christensen said. Steps to take before trouble occurs: Carry a color copy of your passport. Why color? Its more accurate, Christensen said. And it means youll have your passport number at hand. You can email yourself a copy, carry one with you or both. Advertisement Where to look for help: www.travel.state.gov. Go to Country Specific Information and type in the name of the country. Youll see a box called Assistance for U.S. citizens with contact information for embassies and consulates. You may also find a link to the U.S. Embassys home page, which will provide additional information about services in-country. If youre a fretful traveler: Print out all this info or put it on a thumb drive. And dont keep it near your passport. Carry an extra credit card and stash some cash, also well away from your passport. What the State Department can do: You usually can get an emergency passport from the embassy or consulate. It costs the same as a new passport but is good only for a year. You can turn it in for a passport thats valid for 10 years (for adults). The State Department also can help you contact friends or relatives if youve lost all your money and, in some instances, arrange a loan. Little land mines: U.S. embassies and consulates observe U.S. holidays and often the host countrys holidays. If your problem occurs at such a time, help with a passport reissue may not be available immediately. Issue: You are or your traveling companion is ill or injured. Travel insurance is really important for a lot of travelers, Christensen said. Steps to take before trouble occurs: Your everyday health insurance may cover you when youre traveling abroad, but Medicare does not cover you outside of the United States. Travel insurance with medical is rarely a bad idea, especially if it comes with medical evacuation coverage. Where to look for help: The embassy or consulate can help with a list of English-speaking doctors. Many travel insurers also provide this benefit. Learn more about navigating travel insurance. If youre a fretful traveler: Or even if youre not, you should have your insurance policy info on that thumb drive or printout. What the State Department can do: If the injury or illness results in death, it can advise you on procedures for repatriation of remains. In many cases, so can your travel insurer. Little land mines: Its a good idea to have a credit card with lots of available credit or access to cash, or both, in case you wind up in a hospital that demands immediate payment. Issue: You run afoul of local laws. It doesnt have to be something major; for example, you may get tripped up by laws about being drunk in public. If youre a young traveler, be especially wary. Alcohol is a big problem with that age group, Christensen said. Steps to take before trouble occurs: Read up on local laws (under Local Laws and Special Circumstances on country-specific information on U.S. Department of State Travel page). You can get into trouble in innocuous ways (taking pictures of certain buildings or authorities, for instance, or trying to bring home antiquities without proper documentation). If youre a fretful traveler: Maybe youve watched Brokedown Palace one time too many. (The 1999 film is based on a true story about two young women arrested for carrying a package that turns out to contain drugs.) Beware anyone who asks you to carry anything. Christensen said older travelers are increasingly being targeted by such scammers. Where to look for help: If youre arrested, the Vienna Convention mandates that the U.S. Embassy or consulate be notified. Also, if youre traveling with friends or family, make sure they also contact the embassy or consulate on your behalf. What the State Department can do: Among the services it can render according to the Arrest or Detention of U.S. Citizens Abroad website: provide lists of local attorneys and information about that countrys criminal justice system, arrange visits by a clergy member and create a fund so the person has access to some money. Little land mines: Some countries are extraordinarily strict about things you might not think are issues. I stumbled across this on the Japan page, and it gave me great pause: In Japan, you may be taken in for questioning if you dont have your passport or Japanese residence card to show your identity and visa status. You must carry your U.S. passport or Japanese residence card (zairyu kado) with you at all times so that if questioned by local officials, you can prove your identity, citizenship and immigration status. Under Japanese law, the police may stop any person on the street at any time and demand to see identification. If you do not have with you either a passport or valid Japanese residence card, you are subject to arrest. Carrying my passport scares the daylights out of me, and I thought I could get away with carrying just a copy. Not so. If youre in a country where you must carry your document with you, carry it securely. My method: a pouch worn under my clothing or a tank top with a secret compartment (the latter from CleverTravelCompanion.com). Issue: Your visa is invalid. This happened to Christensen when she was an 18-year-old traveling in Europe. She didnt have the proper visa and was removed from a train in the middle of the night. I was pretty scared, she said. Steps to take before trouble occurs: Know the visa requirements and follow them to the letter. You can find that information under country-specific information with U.S. State Department Travel. And check your passport to make sure you have the proper stamps arriving and departing. Where to look for help: This is more like where not to look for help. The State Department does not generally get involved in visa issues, as our stories about lacking an exit stamp in Turkey and an expired visa in India demonstrate. On the Turkey page, for instance. it says, chillingly, The U.S. Embassy is unable to assist with Turkish immigration and visa related matters. Here is what State says about overstaying your Indian visa. Generally you will be fined and, in some cases, may be jailed for months until deportation can be arranged. If youre a fretful traveler: Do not assume you can figure it out while youre there. Know before you go. What the State Department can do: It can provide a list of attorneys or others who can help you with legal issues. It also can provide information, Christensen said, to help to help you understand what that [visa] process is. Little land mines: Visa issues can be a costly problem. It is always a good idea to have access to funds somehow, somewhere, in case the worst happens. Have a travel dilemma? Write to travel@latimes.com. We regret we cannot answer every inquiry. "Where's your other passport?" the border agent at Istanbul's Sabiha Gokcen airport snapped as he waved my U.S. passport. He was annoyed, but so was I. I didnt have another passport. The one in his hand was it. "You came to Istanbul, you didn't exit and now you are re-entering, he said slowly, his tone serious. Where were you?" But I had exited. Eleven days earlier, I had sailed from the citys Karakoy port with a group of college friends on a Mediterranean cruise bound for Rome, I told him. He shook my passport again and said, "Show me! Where does it say that?" I looked in vain at the pages as he kept hold of my precious U.S. passport. He was right. I didnt see any stamp that showed I had left Istanbul. I didnt understand how this had happened, but he did or at least he thought he did: He decided I had a second, secret passport that I was hiding. But I didnt. There was something so comical about this that I almost started laughing. But that was before I realized how much trouble I was in, before I was locked in a detainment room at the airport, before I spent hours questioning my every move the last few weeks. I didnt understand how this had happened Mary Forgione And it was well before I realized that no one not my husband, Tom, not my colleagues and, most of all, not the U.S. Embassy could help me fix a problem I didnt create. The start of it all On June 15, 2015, I flew to Istanbul with a valid $20 tourist visa, purchased before I left the U.S. I spent a few days in Cappadocia, then returned to Istanbul to meet up with my group at the port. Our cruise itinerary would take us to the Greek island of Mykonos, where we would visit the landmark windmills and browse jewelry stores and admire stunning, hand-made pieces; to Sicily, where we would hike around the base of Mt. Etna; and to Italys Amalfi Coast, where we would dine on handmade pasta and gelato in achingly picturesque towns before returning to Rome. In India, an expired visa means a lot of days of frustration, nights fretting about getting home Once aboard, we caught up on our lives, recounted the usual embarrassing college memories (again!), danced at ABBA night and enjoyed the easy fun that comes with friends you have kept close for more than three decades. After we disembarked, we toured Rome together for a few days, then said our goodbyes. On July 1, I flew back to Istanbul, where I would change airports and fly home to L.A. early the next day before the start of the Independence Day weekend. Instead of spending the night in my already reserved hotel room, I was taking a side trip to Kafka-ville. Plucked from the passport control line, I was taken to a stuffy airport office for questioning. I couldnt prove I had been on a cruise because my ship pass and other papers were in my checked luggage, which I wasnt allowed to touch. No amount of explanation satisfied the border agent that this was a mere clerical error. To him, it appeared as if I were trying to game the system and enter a country already overwhelmed by refugees, many here illegally. He quietly filled out some documents and directed me to sign them. I did so without reading them (one was in Turkish), because I didnt think I had a choice. I just wanted to go home, preferably on the flight I had booked for the following day, but that was beginning to seem increasingly unlikely. If I couldnt enter Turkey so I could fly out of Turkey, how would I return to the States? I didnt know. But he did. I was going back to Rome, not back home. How would I get there? What would they do with me in the interim? And just how long would that interim last? Hours? Days? Weeks? My annoyance over what I thought was a bureaucratic snafu now blossomed into full-blown fear. A uniformed woman led me to a large, windowless room that held half a dozen chairs that folded out into little beds, the kind you sleep on at Grandmas when youre a kid. There was a clean bathroom with toilets, sinks and shower stalls. She motioned me into the room, pulled the door shut and locked it. As my mind raced, panic set in. No one knew where I was. I didnt understand what I had just signed. Had the bureaucrat really said Rome or was I imagining that? What happened to my exit visa? Why didnt I have one? What did I do wrong? Why was I here? And how the hell was I ever going to get out? I pounded on the thick metal door. No one came. Im an ardent hiker and backpacker who leads treks up Mt. Whitney at least once a year. Im no stranger to trouble on the trail broken bones, rattlesnakes, obnoxious group members who wont follow directions. Now it was time to draw on those survival skills and craft a different kind of rescue plan. Airport officials had kept my suitcase, but they let me keep my backpack. It contained my smartphone, its charger and two credit cards. I called the U.S. Embassy in Istanbul and, after being placed on hold and then cut off, I tweeted: "I'm an American citizen being exiled from turkey. Called u but no response. Need help." My jangled nerves, I later realized, caused me to misspell the embassy's Twitter handle so staff there likely never saw it. https://twitter.com/maryforgione/status/616288219349434368 But a colleague saw it and passed it along to my editor at the L.A. Times, who thought my Twitter account had been hacked. No, I said, I really was stuck in Turkey. When the phone rang, I almost wept at the sound of her voice as she asked how she could help. I explained my situation. She said The Times would contact the State Department on my behalf. She also called the cruise line hoping to get proof that I had been on that cruise. Next, I called my husband and asked him to go to our congresswomans office. Maybe she could help. Then I posted a photo of the detention room on Facebook so people would know where I was. I just wanted to go home Mary Forgione Comments poured in, some helpful (phone numbers for various U.S. embassies, words of support), others not (a link to the 1978 film "Midnight Express," the true story of a drug smuggler caught in Istanbuls airport and sentenced to 30 years in prison). When I finally got through to the the U.S. Embassy by phone, I spoke with a consular officer who told me to stay put and "let things play out." What? Why wasn't he coming to help me? How long would I be held? He didnt know, but he was in Ankara about five hours away. He wouldnt be coming to Istanbul. In a second call, he explained that the U.S. couldn't intervene in my case. Securing borders was a big problem for the Turks, especially the border with Syria where refugees were pouring in. He repeated the let-things-play-out advice and sounded upbeat about my chances of being freed. I wasn't. I was scared, and I also knew that everything in the U.S. would soon be shutting down for the long Fourth of July weekend. I focused on doing what I could to help myself. I called my mobile service provider to upgrade my phone/data plan. "Stay safe!" the cheery customer service person told me when I burbled out my tale. When I realized that I wouldnt make my original flight the next day, I called the airline to change my ticket. The airline could re-route me to fly home from Rome with a stop in Paris, a change that would cost an additional $1,500 on top of the $1,000 I had paid for my round-trip L.A.-Istanbul ticket. Around 11 p.m., the door opened. I was jubilant. They were going to let me go! Instead a sobbing woman was led in. Her name was Fahib. She was from Syria. French passport, she said over and over in English. I thought back to my cruise. Several times during our days at sea, we had spotted coast guard ships from various countries hauling in refugees from tiny boats. They were desperate to escape, risking everything to get away from their homeland. All I wanted to do was get back to mine. I slept fitfully. They were desperate to escape, risking everything to get away from their homeland. All I wanted to do was get back to mine. Mary Forgione Leaving Turkey About 10 the next morning, the door opened and a Turkish Airlines rep gestured for me. I gathered my things and was escorted to the boarding area for a flight to Rome. I calmly asked for my passport back. Request denied. It was to be kept with airline personnel until I could be handed over to the Italian authorities. The thought of another minute of detention crushed me, and I began to cry, large, hiccuping sobs that I couldnt seem to stop even as the Turkish rep and a flight attendant escorted me down the planes aisle to the last seat in the last row. I was sure everyone thought I was an ax murderer. Home, finally Two and a half hours later, the plane landed at Rome's Fiumicino Airport. An Italian policeman boarded the plane, escorted me off and put me in a waiting car. At a small airport office, I was told to take a seat and wait for an agent. Again I had no idea how long I would be held. About an hour later, my name was called, and I took my place across the desk from yet another passport control agent. He had one question: What happened in Turkey? I explained that I had failed to receive a proper exit stamp at the port in Istanbul. I didnt bother to say that the ships personnel had failed to direct me to go through passport control before I handed over my passport to them for what they termed safekeeping. The Italian agent fluttered through the pages of my passport. He stamped my document and handed it to me. I was free to go. Tom was waiting for me at LAX when my flight landed 16 hours later. No grand dramatic reunion. We were drained. A week after I returned to the U.S., I received a copy of a letter from the U.S. Embassy in Ankara that had been sent to Janice Hahn, my congresswoman. It read, in part, We are pleased to inform you that Ms. Forgione received assistance to enable her to fly to the United States where she currently is. I did receive assistance, but not from the U.S. Embassy, and not from the cruise line. Even my Times colleagues couldnt seem to get answers about what I should do. The cruise line ultimately acknowledged its error and covered all my expenses phone bill, hotel room that went unused, the whopping airfare change fee and gave me a credit for the cruise. I plan to use it next summer. But I wont be going back to Turkey any time soon, not because I harbor ill will but because Ive been barred for three years. I plan to appeal this with the Turkish Consulate in Los Angeles. On a recent trip to Britain, I made sure to keep my phone and charger close. I also made sure I had a charge card with enough credit to buy a plane ticket, and I checked my passport for the proper stamps. And if I ever again run into a visa problem while traveling overseas, Ill know not to turn to the State Department, which usually doesnt help with such issues. For information on what you can and cannot expect from the U.S. State Department, see On the Spot. I didnt know that, but I do now, just as I now know what it means to truly travel alone. travel@latimes.com ALSO In India, an expired visa means a lot of days of frustration, nights fretting about getting home Amtrak rolls out train-side check-in for bicycles on its L.A.-Seattle route Celine Dion, who just notched 1,000 Las Vegas shows, adds 24 new concerts in 2017 A Syrian refugee suspected of planning a terrorist attack in Germany on behalf of Islamic State was captured by police early Monday in the eastern city of Leipzig after another Syrian lured him to an apartment, tied him up with the help of other refugees and turned him over to police. Jaber Albakr, a 22-year-old refugee, had been on the run and the subject of a nationwide manhunt since Saturday, when he fled an apartment in Chemnitz, near the Czech border, just as police stormed it. Authorities said they found a cache of explosives and other bomb-making material inside the apartment. For the record: Syrian suspect: Two articles in Section A on Oct. 11 and Oct. 13 about the arrest and subsequent death of a Syrian refugee in Germany who was suspected of plotting terrorism misidentified the explosive believed to have been found in his apartment. It is known as TATP (triacetone triperoxide), not TAPT. Albakr was taken to Dresden, the capital of Saxony state, and charged with being an accomplice in preparations for a major act of violence. Advertisement The actions of the suspect point towards an IS connection, Joerg Michaelis, president of the Saxony state crime office, said at a news conference. Were all relieved that hes been caught now. Michaelis said the suspect had approached a fellow Syrian at the Leipzig train station shortly before 1 a.m. Monday and asked whether the latter could shelter him. The fellow refugee agreed but quickly recognized him as a wanted man from police photographs circulated in the German media over the weekend. Michaelis said the Syrians tied up Albakr, took his photograph and then took the cellphone picture to a local police station. Police found materials in the Chemnitz apartment that they believe to be TAPT the explosive used in Islamic State attacks in Paris last year and Brussels this year, Michaelis added. Albakr was registered as a refugee in Munich in February and was granted a permit in June to stay for three years, Michaelis said. German news media reported that authorities received the tip about Albakr, who arrived in Germany in late 2015, from foreign intelligence agencies that picked up Internet chatter between the suspect and others discussing how to make bombs. More than 1 million refugees have arrived in Germany over the last two years, many fleeing the war in Syria or violence in Iraq and Afghanistan. German Chancellor Angela Merkels open-door policy on refugees was initially cheered by most Germans, but support has dwindled over the last 10 months after several terrorism incidents, including a pair of bungled Islamic State-inspired attacks by two lone wolves in which the suspects were the only people killed. There have also been reports of assaults on women by refugees from northern Africa. Political scientists and foreign diplomats worry that public support for Merkel could evaporate if there were a major terrorist attack in Germany before Septembers federal election, when Merkel is expected to run for a fourth four-year term. Merkel expressed her thanks to the Syrian refugee who led police to the suspect. We recognize and are grateful to the man from Syria who informed the police of his whereabouts and helped police arrest him, said Merkel spokeswoman Ulrike Demmer. Kirschbaum is a special correspondent. ALSO Killings rise anew in Tijuana, a city haunted by years of violence Missiles fired from rebel-held Yemen land near U.S. warship India and Pakistan are clashing again over Kashmir. Heres what you need to know Jordan is willing to allow regular aid drops by crane from its territory to tens of thousands of Syrians stranded at the sealed desert border between the two countries, the government spokesman said Monday. The comments by Mohammed Momani signaled an apparent shift in Jordans position in talks with international aid agencies over access to the displaced. However, two aid officials said nothing has been finalized. They spoke on condition of anonymity because talks are ongoing. Advertisement The pro-Western kingdom sealed its border with war-torn Syria in June, after a deadly cross-border attack claimed by Islamic State extremists killed seven members of the Jordanian security forces. This has left more than 75,000 Syrians stuck between a war zone and a sealed border, without regular access to food, water and medicine. The displaced live in two makeshift tent camps in an area where the frontier is marked by two parallel low earthen walls, or berms. Conditions have become increasingly dire, with aid officials reporting the spread of disease, including whooping cough and hepatitis. Before the border closure, aid was sent from Jordanian soil. In August, Jordan permitted an aid drop by crane, in what was described at the time as a one-off shipment. U.N. agencies have since proposed setting up an aid distribution center three to four miles west of the largest encampment, known as Rukban, within the strip marked by the two berms, an aid official said. This would presumably have drawn the Syrians away from a Jordanian military base that is close to Rukban. However, Momani told the Associated Press on Monday that this is no longer being considered. The new mechanism will be delivering aid on the berm through cranes, and the aid will be given to community leaders of groups of Syrians so they can distribute it accordingly, he said, adding it would be up to the aid agencies to decide on the pace of shipments. Momani said the border will remain sealed, citing an ongoing security threat to Jordan. The camps at the berm have been infiltrated by criminals, smugglers and extremists, he said. You can describe part of it as a Daesh enclave, he said, referring to the extremist Islamic State group by its Arabic acronym. The two aid officials said nothing has been agreed on. One of the officials, who has direct access to the talks, said he was not aware of an emerging agreement on crane drops. He said another meeting was set for Tuesday. The suffering at the berm has caused some friction between Jordan and the international community. Aid agencies have been pressing for a resumption of aid from the Jordanian side. Jordan has said the international community needs to take responsibility for those stranded at the berm, and that the kingdom has already done more than its share in taking in Syrian refugees. In the past, Jordan has argued that this aid needs to come from Syrian territory, not Jordan. Momani said Jordan has taken the moral high ground by offering to help. Close to 5 million Syrians fled civil war in their country since 2011, including close to 660,000 who settled in Jordan. Meanwhile, the international medical aid agency Doctors Without Borders is pleading for access to treat the wounded in the eastern, rebel-held parts of Syrias Aleppo even as government forces press on with their offensive to retake that part of the city. The agency, which supports eight hospitals in Aleppos besieged eastern quarters, says only 35 doctors are left serving in eastern Aleppo, amid an estimated population of 275,000. The organization, which also goes by its French acronym MSF, said on Monday that the medical workers in Aleppo are exhausted and that facilities are overstretched and facing an impending fuel shortage. Syrian government forces and their allies have kept eastern Aleppo under siege since July. The U.N. has warned that the Aleppo bombardment by Syrian and Russian warplanes could leave thousands dead by the years end. All material is subject to strictly enforced copyright terms & conditions and cannot be repurposed or reproduced. 19882022 Latin American Financial Publications Inc. The announcement by The Department of Tourism that the Philippines will host the next 2016 Miss Universe pageant in January 30, 2017 . In the recent news many in the tourism sector believe thatwould be another great year for the tourism industry in Philippines. As an organizer of a major international event, the Philippines will definitely set up a platform in their country for booming tourism industry. Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo, has assured that under her leadership the department is ready to take the challenge .In a press conference, Wando Tulfo said her predecessor Secretary Ramon Jimenez's set up the program and slogan "It's More Fun in the Philippines." The highly popular event is watched all over the world by millions of people and is considered as a potential tourist attraction to the Philippines. It is expected that during the event itself, six Philippine destinations will be assured of getting worldwide exposure: Davao City, hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte; Cagayan de Oro, hometown of Miss Universe 2016 Pia Wurtzbach; Boracay and Cebu in the Visayas; Vigan and Palawan in Mindanao.The finals will be held in Manila, capital city of the Philippines,reported by INQUIRER.NET In order to increase awareness among the viewers, Philippines Tourism Department has reached limited markets in Europe ,North America and Asia with their slogans "it's More Fun in the Philippines." For organized Miss Universe Pageant, the Philippine Tourism industry is very excited over the opportunities that is open for them. Tourism stakeholders should take advantage of the media coverage that will promote the Philippine as an exciting tourist destination. According to a news report, Secretary Teo gave assurance to Filipinos that all $11 million funding will be volunteered by private firm. Various Department of Tourism Offices all over the world will have an unprecedented efforts in promoting Philippines as a top tourist destinations. Tourism Secretary is hoping the Philippines will be the top most tourist destination with the help of government and the private partnership. An Allentown man tossed a pistol as he was chased by officers near Lehigh University, a coffee shop and three local bars, police said. Charged is Ivan Reyes Jr., 25, of the 800 block of Saul Street. An undercover Bethlehem police officer shortly after 2 a.m. Saturday was stationed in an unmarked cruiser in the parking lot of CVS, next to Broadway Social at 217 Broadway. A group of 10 males emerged near the parking lot, arguing and then pushing and punching one another, according to police. When the officer loudly identified himself, the crowd dispersed with a handful fleeing into a parked silver vehicle, police said. Two witnesses told backup officers that Reyes -- now seated inside the vehicle -- showed a handgun hidden in his pants just before the fight. Officers approached the vehicle and drew weapons, telling all occupants to place their hands on the car. Police said all occupants cooperated, except Reyes, who got out and ran east on the 200 block of West Fourth Street. Officers chased Reyes, commanding him to stop, and watched as he threw the handgun onto the street, police said. Reyes allegedly was found hiding behind a car and was arrested. Police said at the time the handgun was thrown, three area bars were bustling with patrons, as well as Lehigh University and Dunkin' Donuts in the vicinity. Police said they later learned the handgun was stolen out of Palmerton, Carbon County. Reyes also has a criminal background, convicted in the past for conspiracy to commit burglary, manufacturing a controlled substance and criminal conspiracy to manufacture a controlled substance, police said. Those convictions make it illegal for Reyes to carry a firearm. In Saturday's crime, Reyes is charged with persons not to possess firearms, firearms being carried without a license, receiving stolen property, reckless endangerment and escape. He was arraigned before District Judge Douglas Schlegel, who set bail at \10 percent of $50,000. In lieu of bail, Reyes was taken to Northampton County Prison. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. UPDATE: Bus driver faces lewdness charge 20 years after 'Shadgate' A bus driver was caught on camera fondling himself outside Liberty High School, according to Bethlehem police. Douglas Leon Siska, 60, was caught masturbating in a vehicle outside the Klein Classroom Center at Liberty High School while waiting to pick up a student for the East Stroudsburg Area School District, police said. A teacher and several students saw him in the vehicle at 2:30 p.m. last Monday, Oct. 3, police said. The teacher shot a video of Siska before he fled. The teacher turned over the video to the school resource officer, police said. "I hope this person is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law for such outrageous behavior on Bethlehem Area School District school grounds," said Bethlehem Area School District Superintendent Joseph Roy. He said the student being picked up lives in another district but attends a program run by Colonial Intermediate Unit 20 that's housed at Liberty High School. Siska is not a Bethlehem Area district employee, Roy said. "I thank all of the various organizations as well as the Bethlehem Police Department for their close cooperation in quickly identifying and arresting the alleged perpetrator," Roy said. East Stroudsburg Area Superintendent William Riker didn't immediately respond to a message asking for comment. Siska, of the 100 block of Ridge Rock Lane in Dingmans Ferry, Pike County, was charged with indecent exposure and open lewdness. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Nov. 9 before District Judge Roy A. Manwaring II. The charges carry a maximum prison sentence of up to six years. Rudy Miller may be reached at rmiller@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow him on Twitter @RudyMillerLV. Find Easton area news on Facebook. An Allentown woman left her three small children inside a car unattended while she gambled at Sands Casino Resort Bethlehem for nearly an hour, police said. Charged is Shatari Allie Winston, 27, of the 600 block of North 11th Street. Sands security officers shortly before 3 p.m. Friday found the children inside a 2004 Chrysler Town and County parked in the lot of the casino, 77 Sands Blvd. The children are 1-year-old twin boys and a 10-year-old girl. Police said the key was in the ignition, but the air conditioning was not on inside the SUV and the windows were all the way up. The vehicle's engine compartment was cold, meaning the vehicle was parked for an extended period of time, according to police. Sands security found Winston seated at a gaming table inside the casino. Casino video surveillance footage showed Winston arriving at the parking garage at 1:53 p.m. and she left the vehicle by 2:06 p.m. Winston is charged with three counts child endangerment. She was arraigned before District Judge Douglas Schlegel, who set bail at $10,000. In lieu of bail, Winston was taken to Northampton County Prison. Pamela Sroka-Holzmann may be reached at pholzmann@lehighvalleylive.com. Follow her on Twitter @pamholzmann. Find lehighvalleylive.com on Facebook. A man who took his landladys bank card and stole 2,800 from her account has been sentenced to 12 months in prison. Before last weeks district court was Michael Maughan (44), Belcamp Lane, Coolock, Dublin 17, charged with thefts between May 18 and May 21, 2015. Inspector Aidan Farrelly gave evidence that the accused was renting a property from the injured party at Geashill, Co, Offaly, and got possession of his landladys debit card and PIN, which was posted to that address. He subsequently withdrew 700 on a number of occasions from the Bank of Ireland in Mountmellick, to a total of 2,800. The injured party, who had moved to Spain, never received any compensation, from either the accused or the bank. Insp Farrelly told the court that the bank said the woman was at fault, as she had provided the bank with the address to which the correspondence was sent. There were separate road traffic charges against the accused. Insp Farrelly said that the accused was stopped driving at Pattison Estate in Mountmnellick on May 18, 2015, and discovered to have no insurance, licence or tax, and was driving while disqualified. Maughan had over 31 previous convictions, including a number of thefts, handling stolen property, and making gain by deception. Defence for Maughan admitted the accused had a rather chequered past. Defence said that the bank card came in the post, then a second letter arrived with the PIN, which led to this opportunistic crime. At the time, the accused was living with his wife and three children and as he was unemployed he was under financial pressure. He was also drinking heavily. The court heard that Maughan was one of nine children, five of whom had died due to alcohol abuse under the age of 40. Hes struggled with alcohol abuse, but its under control now, said defence. Defence went on to say that his client had work lined up and if given time would like to pay compensation to the injured party. Judge Aeneas Joseph McCarthy imposed a total of 12 months in prison on the accused. He also imposed three months in prison, concurrent, for driving without insurance, and disqualified Maughan from driving for ten years. For no licence, Maughan was convicted and fined 150, and the charge of driving without tax was taken into consideration. The charge of driving while disqualified was struck out. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal. A Mountmellick man who challenged a drink driving charge on a number of technicalities has been fined and put off the road for three years. Garda Niall Byrne said that at 1.55am on the morning of July 10 this year, he observed a car on Main Street Portlaoise outside Mezza Pizza. The car reversed into a parked car, then drove forward into another parked vehicle. The first struck vehicle suffered no damage, but the second car was damaged on the front drivers side wing. The driver of the car then attempted to continue on, but Garda Byrne blocked his path with the patrol car. When he spoke to the driver, Thomas Blake (44), Acragar, Mountmellick, Garda Byrne said he got a strong smell of alcohol and the accuseds words were slurred. Garda Byrne told the court that Blake said he had drunk approximately ten pints of Carlsberg. A reading at Portlaoise Garda Station showed he had 76mg of alcohol per 100ml of breath. Garda Ian Doolan, who operated the intoxilyzer at the garda station, gave evidence that after the machine printed out two copies of the section 13 statements containing the breath reading, he signed both and handed them to the accused to sign. However, defence, Mr David Staunton BL, said that in the gardas original statement, Garda Doolan had said he handed the section 13s to the accused first, and then the garda signed them. Garda Doolan accepted that he had made a mistake in his original statement. Mr Staunton then made a submission to the court, saying that the law states the section 13 statement must be signed by the garda first. He said the court could not be satisfied that proper procedure had been followed. He also made submission on the requirement to print out the section 13s in English or Irish, and questioned a delay in the accuseds detention on the night, suggesting there had been a breakdown in communication between the gardai. Judge Aeneas McCarthy ruled against Mr Stauntons submissions, and convicted the accused. Blake was fined 300 and disqualified from driving for three years. Recognisance was fixed in the event of an appeal. ST. LOUIS In a debate brimming with tension, Hillary Clinton declared Donald Trump's aggressively vulgar comments about women revealed "exactly who he is" and clearly demonstrated his unsuitability to be president. Firing back, Trump accused Clinton of attacking women involved in her husband's extramarital affairs and declared she would "be in jail" if he were president. Trump entered Sunday night's debate desperate to steady his floundering campaign. He unleashed a barrage of attacks and insults, and continually interrupted Clinton. He repeatedly called her a "liar," labeled her the "devil" and contended she had "tremendous hate in her heart." Trump acknowledged for the first time that he had paid no federal income taxes for many years. The debate was the culmination of a stunning stretch in the race for the White House, which began with the release of a new video in which Trump is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. Many Republicans rushed to revoke their support, with some calling for him to drop out of the race. Answering for his words for the first time, Trump denied that he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely "locker room talk" and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton's abuse of women. "She should be ashamed of herself," Trump declared. Ahead of the debate, the businessman met with three women who accused the former president of sexual harassment and even rape, then invited them to sit in the debate hall. Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment. On the debate stage, Clinton did not respond directly to Trump's accusations about her husband or her own role, but was blistering in her condemnation of his predatory comments about women in the tape released Friday. "I think it's clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is," she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the "fitness to serve" as commander in chief. The second debate was a town hall format, with several undecided voters sitting on stage with the candidates. The voters, all from the St. Louis area, were selected by Gallup. The tension between Trump and Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate, the second time they have faced off in the presidential campaign. They did not shake hands as they met at center stage. Trump, who is several inches taller than Clinton, stood close behind her as she answered questions from the voters. At other times, he paced the stage, repeatedly interrupting her and criticizing the moderators. The businessman opened the debate with a flood of insults aimed at Clinton, accusing her of having "lied about a lot of things" and insinuating she was the "devil." He struggled to articulate detailed policy proposals, repeatedly dancing around questions about how he would replace President Barack Obama's health care law, a measure he has vowed to replace. Trump made clear that he did not agree with running mate Mike Pence on how to deal with war-torn Syria. Last week, Pence said that the U.S. military should be ready to strike Syrian military targets that are under the command of President Bashar Assad. The threat of military action against the Russia-backed Assad government marks a departure from Trump's preference for a focus on Islamic State targets. Said Trump: "He and I haven't spoken and I disagree." Trump's campaign was already struggling before the new video was released, due in part to his uneven performance in the first presidential debate. Many Republicans saw Sunday's showdown as his last best chance to salvage his campaign. It was unclear whether Trump's performance did anything to expand his support beyond his core backers. He did repeatedly cast Clinton as a career politician who had accomplished little during her years in Washington and would be incapable of bringing about change, one of his strongest argument in a campaign that has highlighted American's deep frustration. "With her, it's all talk and no action," Trump said. The new revelations about Trump overshadowed potentially damaging revelations about Clinton's paid speeches to Wall Street firms. Emails released by Wikileaks last week showed Clinton told a group that it's acceptable for a president to project differing positions in public and private. Asked in the debate whether that's "two-faced," Clinton pointed to Abraham Lincoln, saying he did whatever he could to get the 13th Amendment passed, allowing emancipation of the slaves, by lawmakers who did not support African-American equality. "I was making the point it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want them to do. That was a great display of presidential leadership." Rolling his eyes, Trump said, "Now she's blaming the late, great Abraham Lincoln." The political firestorm that preceded the debate was sparked by a video obtained and released Friday by The Washington Post and NBC News. In the video, Trump, who was married to his current wife at the time, is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also brags to Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood" about women letting him kiss them and grab their genitals because he is famous. NBC said Sunday that it had indefinitely suspended Bush, now a "Today" show personality, for his role in the crude conversation with Trump. Trump used the revelations as an opening to make good on his repeated promises to throw Bill Clinton's sexual history into the center of his campaign against his wife. Less than two hours before the debate, he brazenly met publicly with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances and even rape. Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about his own aggressive sexual remarks about women during the meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons. "Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me," Broaddrick said. "I don't think there's any comparison." Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations. Please allow ads as they help fund our trusted local news content. Kindly add us to your ad blocker whitelist. If you want further access to Ireland's best local journalism, consider contributing and/or subscribing to our free daily Newsletter . Support our mission and join our community now. A national newspaper has asked if the Minister for Health Simon Harris will show some backbone and implement a plan which would see the downgrade of Portlaoise hospital. An article in The Sunday Business Post by its health editor Suzanne Mitchell also suggests that Laois TD and Minister Harris's cabinet colleague, Charlie Flanagan is influencing the decision making process to prevent downgrade. Is it a case of one rule for John Halligan and another for Charlie Flanagan headlined the article. The paper says that when the spat erupted over cardiac services at University Hospital Waterford, Minister for Health Simon Harris stressed he would be guided by expert clinical opinion. A review from an independent expert Dr Niall Herity, who recommended against a second cath lab in Waterford. Consultants working in Waterford and the clinical director of the hospital group in the south have said this is the wrong call. The Sunday Business Post says the Minister stood by the findings. Harris said he would be guided by independent clinical advice He has stood over the Herity report and its recommendations despite coming under huge pressure from his Cabinet colleague John Halligan. Halligan is a Waterford TD and member of the Independent Alliance. Halligan threatened to pull his support from the government, but the government held firm. The article contrast the outcome for Halligan and Waterford with Portlaoise and Minster Flanagan. It will be interesting to see what Harris will do with proposals that concern the home turf of his Fine Gael party colleague, Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan. In June, the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group submitted a plan to the Department of Health that proposed replacing the emergency department at Portlaoise Hospital with a minor injuries unit. The plan for the hospital also proposed removing maternity care and paediatric services from Portlaoise Hospital. The Sunday Business Post points out that senior clinicians at the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group which includes hospitals in Tallaght, Tullamore, Naas as well as St Jamess Hospital in Dublin believe this is the right move. They believe it will ensure patients are given better care in the right facility. National clinical leads across the health service support this plan. However the article points out that it is ominous that nothing has happented since. Will it be a case of one rule for Halligan and a different one for Flanagan? The article points out that Hiqa (Health Information and Quality Authority) published a major investigation into Portlaoise last year following the deaths of a number of babies at the hospital. It says this comprehensive review highlighted the low volumes of complex patients as a key concern. Hiqas report was highly critical of the failure to resource the level of services provided in the hospital, including its 24-hour emergency care. Emergency department staff need to be able to access specialists in relevant specialities, including critical care, coronary care, as well as trauma and orthopaedic care to provide optimum treatment. This is not available at Portlaoise. Ms Mitchell says Portlaoise has escaped cuts before claiming also that politics played a part. Portlaoise Hospital was one of ten hospitals chosen by the HSE to have their 24/7 emergency departments downgraded in 2011. Health sources said there was significant political interference by the last government, with the HSE forced to remove the hospital from the list. And yet, here we are in 2016 and the hospital is still trying to provide a 24/7 emergency department. Politicians are reacting as follows. The article says Minister for Foreign Affairs Charlie Flanagan said he would not support the proposed plans to downgrade while Fianna Fail TD for Laois Sean Fleming said that Fianna Fail would not support it. The article concludes by drawing parallels with Waterford. RTE broadcaster Sean ORourke interviewed Fine Gael TD John Deasy on Wednesday. Waterford is Deasys constituency. ORourke asked Deasy whether he supported the report on cardiac services that was carried out by Dr Niall Herity. You accept the review? asked ORourke. How could you not? Deasy replied. Will Harris show the same backbone when it comes to Portlaoise? Or will this plan simply be kicked to touch? http://www.businesspost.ie/comment-harris-must-show-backbone-when-it-comes-to-portlaoise-hospital/ The second Clinton/Trump took place early this morning. This time it was Town Hall style with questions from audience members. It started without the traditional handshake (which has one precedent in the shape of one of the Nixon/Kennedy debates) but finished with a brief one. Some of the subjects covered were: the leaked video-tape of Trump, Bill Clintons misdemeanours, taxes, the Clinton emails, the character needed to be President, ISIS, Syria, Supreme Court judges, energy and healthcare. Donald Trump stalked the stage, sniffing frequently, petulantly arguing with the moderators, continuously interrupting. His answers were rambling and contained much bragging. Hillary Clinton perched neatly on her seat during Trumps answers and was focussed in her speaking. Donald Trump seemed to take a tactic from Mike Pence, used at the Vice-Presidential debate. When his own words were quoted back to him, he simply denied saying them. For example, when his 3am tweet check out sex tape was mentioned, he simply denied he wrote sex tape. More Trump alternative reality. Hillary Clinton made sure she addressed the questioners, such as Mr Carter, which was a good tactic. On the accusation that Trump has paid no federal taxes for x years, Trump repeatedly said that Hillary Clinton did nothing to close the loophole he has used when she was a US Senator. Clinton retorted saying that she did vote to close the loophole. Trump interrupted to ask why she wasnt effective in closing the loophole. She then patiently explained that there was a Republican President at the time and something called the Presidential veto. There was a telling question at the end when a member of the audience asked each candidate if they could say something nice about the other. Clinton complimented Trumps children and said they were a credit to him. Trump said: Shes a fightershe doesnt quit. Trump did some work to shore up his support but I doubt he won over many new voters. There were no knock-out blows. It was a draw. Democrats should be happy, because Trump did enough to avoid having to quit to let Mike Pence run instead (which couldnt happen in all states anyway its too late). That would be the nightmare scenario for Democrats. Heres a few words of snap verdict from Taegan Goddard of Political Wire: Sometime over the last week probably after the release of the video showing him bragging about sexual assault Donald Trump realized he wasnt going to win this election. Hes now moved on to Plan B. Trumps pivot starting with his apology video late Friday night was to go full Breitbart. Hes now speaking only to the audience for a speculated media venture. Considering that backdrop, Clinton did a decent job. She was very smart to stick to audience questions and try to understand their concerns. Rather than needle Trump as she did in the first debate, she mostly tried to ignore him. Clinton wasnt perfect. Her answer on her emails was extremely weak. She left many of Trumps attacks unanswered. But theres only one candidate seriously running for president at this point. She won the debate hands down. Its hard to imagine Trump won over even a single voter tonight. Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper were also excellent moderators. If you ever need a moderator for a dumpster fire, theyre the ones to choose. * Paul Walter is a Liberal Democrat activist and member of the Liberal Democrat Voice team. He blogs at Liberal Burblings. Yesterday on the Sunday Politics, Tim Farron and Iain Duncan Smith went head to head. The former Tory leader is no longer the quiet man. He spent much of the interview muttering over Tim, telling him he was talking utter rubbish. It was the sort of aggressive sneering that would be more at home at a Trump rally. Despite all that, Tim did really well. He made his point that it would be a massive mistake to leave the single market. He said that it was vital that the eventual deal was put to the British people and cited Lord Kerrs backing of that position. You cant, he said, start off a process with democracy and end it with a stitch up. We didnt vote to leave the single market. He added that the Government had chosen to listen to the siren voices of English nationalism in the Tory Party and not the pragmatic wishes of business, accusing them of theft of the result to impose a hard brexit that nobody voted for. Andrew Neil confronted him with the news that former Liberal Democrat peer Zahida Manzoor had joined the Conservatives. Tim said that he found her decision peculiar but pointed to our 18 council gains and 20,000 members since June as evidence that the party was recovering. He could have gone to town on that decision a bit more. It actually goes to show the need to be a great deal more careful about who gets peerages and whether they actually share our values. It is incredible that someone who sat on our benches can feel comfortable joining the party that came out with that nasty display of xenophobic nationalism at their conference last week. I doubt well get much chance in the foreseeable future to put anyone else in the Lords but we do need to learn lessons from this. There has to be some level of party approval and accountability. You can watch the whole 11 minute exchange here on the Sunday Politics website. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings Our future trade relations are the major battleground in the Brexit process. Unfortunately the public debate on trade remains poor, fuelled by the Brexiteers misleading, if not self-delusional, narrative of how the global world trading system works. Brexiteers tell us the EU is more dependent upon us because we import their cars, cheeses and wines so we shall secure a good deal. When Brexiteers are reminded about our large trade deficit, International Trade Minister Fox blames our fat and lazy businessmen. Brexiteers argue we shall be free to conclude our own trade deals. However, a free trade deal with the EU will afford less market access than what we enjoy now as part of the Single European Market. It is no wonder why business organisations have responded with an open letter asking the Government to ensure we retain full Single Market access. The UK will not have the upper hand in trade negotiations because 44% of our trade is with the EU whereas we account for only 17% of EU trade. With only 2% of world GDP compared with the EUs 22% of world GDP, it is no wonder why US Trade Representative Mike Froman stated in the Financial Times on 30th October 2015: Washington is not particularly in the market for a trade agreement with a single nation like the UK it is absolutely clear that Britain has a greater voice at the trade table being part of the EU (and) part of a larger economic entity. The Brexiteers free trade narrative appears deliberately reminiscent of schoolbooks. However, tariffs are hardly the issue they were before 1948 as they are now largely eliminated on goods. Today trade liberalisation efforts centre on approximating domestic regulatory rules which are equivalent up to 30% of deliverable costs (OECD). Instead of 28 different sets of national rules, the EU, spearheaded by an UK initiative, provides a single framework making it easier and cheaper for us to export throughout the EU. EU laws ensure the quality and safety of the products, food and services we purchase. The same supposedly onerous EU regulations have not held back Germanys successful export economy or even our own. Yet instead of acknowledging the Single Markets contribution to our greater prosperity, Brexiteers misleadingly portray the Single Market as rules imposed by Brussels. It is astonishing that any country would want to turn its back on its major export market. Outside the Single Market, supply chains for our large and small businesses alike will be disrupted. Business and consumer prices will rise. Leaving also creates considerable uncertainty. As Boris Johnson argued in the Daily Telegraph on 7 February this year: leaving would mean embroiling the Government for several years in a fiddly process of negotiating new arrangements (thus) diverting energy from the real problems of this country. No country will conclude a trade deal with us until our new relationship with the EU is finalised. President Obama stated early this year (the UK) would go to the back of the queue. Canadas CETA deal with the EU has so far taken 7 years to negotiate and could still be vetoed by a Belgian regional parliament. The UK outside the EU risks a similar fate, unless we settle for a bad deal. The much-heralded Commonwealth is not a unified trading bloc. Its members, such as Australia, constitute only 1% of UK trade, so their market will not make much difference. Australia is focused on high growth Asian markets and in Europe it too will give priority to trade relations with the EU 27. Canada is similarly focused on big markets, notably the US and EU. Whilst we take a decade finalising new trade deals, we risk losing export markets which will become even harder to enter as global protectionist sentiment grows. Brexiteers erroneously champion regaining our World Trade Organisation (WTO) seat. Yet having one of the WTOs 164 seats doesnt count for much other than granting Most Favoured Trading Nation (MFN) status (often referred to as least favoured nation). WTO rules largely cover trade in goods while its rules on services, which account for 80% of our economy, are relatively weak. Furthermore, rejoining the WTO is not a certainty, as just one of its members could block us. The fewer trade barriers a country wants, the more it has to accept budget contributions, and supranational arrangements such as those of the EU, WTO and NAFTA. We have the best British trade deal as part of the Single European Market. Are we really going to trash our trade on the altar of reduced immigration? Brexiteers already admit leaving the EU will not reduce overall immigration substantially, so whats the point? As the feasibility of Brexit unravels, we should not hesitate to expose the serious threat this Brexit Government poses to our trade relations and economic prosperity. * Nick Hopkinson is chair of the Liberal Democrat European Group (LDEG) and former Director, Wilton Park, Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Today is World Mental Health Day organised by the World Health Organisation. This years theme is around offering support to those in psychological distress mental health first aid. Norman Lamb has written for the Guardian arguing that there should be parity between physical and mental health in the workplace with employers being required to provide mental health first aid. He said that he had recently done a training course in mental health first aid. Employers could find that investing in mental health support saves them money given that mental ill health accounts for 70 million days of sickness absence every year. How can we possibly justify leaving the law as it is? So far as the NHS is concerned the government has committed to the principle of parity of esteem between physical and mental illness. Surely they must apply the same logic to the workplace. Put simply, this is a call for every workplace to have trained mental health first-aiders just like they have physical first-aiders. A number of employers are taking action. WHSmith has committed to match the number of staff that are physical first-aiders with mental health first-aiders over the next 12 months. Theres a growing momentum for change, and hundreds more businesses across a range of sectors are implementing mental health training for staff from Unilever and Crossrail to Channel 4. Employers have a duty of care to their workforce, and with the scale of mental issues in this country much more needs to be done. The government must act now to ensure every employee has access to mental health support at work. In a tweet, Tim Farron called for the NHS to be given the resources it needs to tackle mental ill health: Today is #WorldMentalHealthDay. We must end the stigma and raise awareness. The NHS must also be given necessary funding for vital services. Tim Farron (@timfarron) October 10, 2016 In Scotland, mental health services are way behind England as we havent had the excellent understanding of the issues and the vision of a Norman Lamb in charge. Alex Cole-Hamilton called on the SNP to buck up their ideas: He was speaking as a new survey from SAMH revealed that more than a quarter of Scots dont take time to look after their mental health. These latest data follow recent reports that children who need specialist mental health care have been left on waiting lists for more than two years. Attitudes towards mental ill health have changed for the better in recent years but this survey shows that we still have a long way to go and the fact remains that vulnerable people who need care are still waiting far longer than they should for treatment. Children who need specialist mental health care have been forced to wait more than two years for treatment. Others in the north of Scotland have had to travel hundreds of miles just to see a specialist. Tens of millions of pounds of funding has been left sitting in government bank accounts because the SNP let Scotlands mental health strategy expire. The Scottish Government have talked about their commitment to mental health services now we need to see urgent action to boost support for NHS staff and patients. This World Mental Health Day the Scottish Government must demonstrate that they are serious about delivering a step change in mental health services in Scotland. * Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings We're sorry that the ministry you were looking for is no longer available on LightSource.com. However, below are some great ministries that offer related content. Enjoy the inspiration, encouragement, and Biblical challenge from these LightSource.com ministry partners! A JUDGE has expressed concerns about a legal loophole which means a small number of licensed premises in County Limerick are not subjected to routine fire safety inspections or conditions. The anomaly emerged during the recent Annual Licensing Court when Judge Marian OLeary sought clarification relating to the application of one premises in the south of the county which was seeking the renewal of its Public Music and Singing Licence. The judge was told by a solicitor representing the applicant that the local superintendent and fire officer had been notified of the application but that the premises had not been inspected and that no conditions were being sought by the fire officer. There was no objection to the application from An Garda Siochana. Solicitor Pat McHugh, representing Limerick City and County Council, confirmed the fire officer was aware of the application but indicated he has no input when it comes to any premises which are located outside of the general city area to which the judge replied: What if we had a fire? The application was granted after the court was assured the premises, which has been licenced for several years, is very well run and that there have been no difficulties in the past. Responding to a query from this newspaper, a spokesperson for Limerick City and County Council said Public Music and Singing licences are governed by legislation which dates back to 1890. He said the requirements contained in the legislation were previously adopted by the urban authority but were never adopted by Limerick County Council. Although it often received notice (of applications), the County Council did not inspect (premises) as it did not have the statutory basis to impose conditions, said the spokesperson. While Limerick City Council and Limerick County Council formally amalgamated in 2014, the two regulations are still in force. While the fire officer has no specific powers under the provisions of the Public Health Act 1890 in relation to premises in County Limerick which hold a Public Music and Singing Licence, a spokesperson for the local authority says the fire authority will continue to enforce fire safety in places of public assembly in accordance with its statutory powers. The Limerick Leader understands that while there are only a handful of premises in County Limerick which currently hold a Public Music and Singing Licence, there is no prohibition on new applications being made before the disrict court. Similar difficulties have arisen in relation to the 1890 Act in other courts across the country. A POLISH man who lost 30% of his left hand while working on the excavation of the Limerick Tunnel in 2008 has been awarded 158,000 by the High Court in damages. Antoni Jamroziewicz, 52, of Caherdavin, took a case against ONeill Brennan Ltd and Strabag International GMBH. He came to Ireland in 2007 after being recruited in Poland to work as a carpenter on the construction of the Limerick Tunnel. His hand was injured when he was employed by ONeill Brenndan Ltd to work on behalf of Strabag at a site under its control during the excavation of the Shannon Tunnel, later known as the Limerick Tunnel. The accident occurred at around 4.30pm on April 23, 2008 while he was using an electric saw to cut wood. It resulted in him losing half of his first finger, a third of his ring finger and some lesser damage and scarring to his middle finger and his little finger. His doctor, Michael OShaughnessy, a consultant plastic and hand surgeon, described the overall effect of the accident as a loss of function of approximately 30% in the plaintiffs left hand. There was no eye witness evidence given regarding the incident. The injured party maintained that the state of the ground was wavy, as concrete had been laid on the bed of the River Shannon, before the river was drained. It was asserted that concrete when it sets in the vicinity of water can be wavy or uneven as a result of the movement of the water, unlike concrete which is set in dry conditions. Based on the evidence available, the Court concluded that, on the balance of probabilities, he was standing beside the saw, rather than walking towards it, when he lost his balance in some way because of the uneven ground. The court found that the defendants were negligent for failing to provide a safe place of work for the plaintiff. But is also found the plaintiff guilty of 25% contributory negligence and so the following awards are subject to a 25% deduction. He will be awarded a total sum of 158,655. This includes general damages of 75,000 (100,000 reduced by 25%) and special damages of 83,655 ( 111,540 reduced by 25%). Costs were awarded to the plaintiff against both defendants, including costs of discovery and any reserved costs. Rashbam (Shemos 4:10): It is inconceivable that a prophet who spoke with G d face to face and received the Torah from Him should have a sp... Shemos Rabbah (52:03) The story is told of R. Simeon b. Halafta, that he once came home just before the Sabbath and found that he had no fo... Important!! email - yadmoshe@gmail.com We and our partners use cookies to Store and/or access information on a device. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. To view the purposes they believe they have legitimate interest for, or to object to this data processing use the vendor list link below. The consent submitted will only be used for data processing originating from this website. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page. : , FIR Along with millions of other Americans, many people around the Parkland gathered around their television sets or sat in front of computer screens on Sunday night to watch the town hall-style presidential debate in St. Louis between Republican candidate Donald Trump and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton. Several area residents were asked about their opinions and perspectives after the debate ended. Not surprisingly, their responses varied across the political spectrum. Ste. Genevieve resident Bob Nugent shared his observations on the candidates general performance during the debate. Trump did a lot better than he did at the first one, but I still think he talks about stuff that really shouldnt be in a debate and I dont think he has a knowledge of what needs to be done. I think he just talks in general terms. When Hillary talks about issues and solutions, she gives details. Overall, I think Hillary did OK but she seemed kinda shook up when (Trump) started talking about Bill Clinton (and his past marital transgressions) That sort of thing really doesnt have a place in a debate. Farmington resident Joshua Barrett, a Trump supporter, thought the second debate was an improvement over the first because they talked more on the issues rather than going tit-for-tat. Although he said he didnt think there was a clear-cut winner of this debate, Barrett thought that Trump better represented what is important to the majority of Americans. I think he highlighted some of the issues that we are facing as a country better than she did. I didnt believe that her answers were truthful. They just didnt resonate with whats going on in the current climate. I felt that he was representing more of what the average American truly believes that Washington is part of the problem. St. Francois County Assessor Dan Ward offered his overall impression of the debate. I thought it was a better debate this time to a certain extent. I think she won the last one, to my mind. This one was quite aggressive, from both of them. It seemed like she was rather calm while he paced the floor a lot. I think thats his mode of operation. He was all over the place while she tried to stay on message more than he did. Iron County resident JoAnn Morey also noticed that Trump was constantly in motion and found it to be an unpleasant distraction. I liked the chairs provided for the debaters, but didn't like Donald Trump avoiding them, walking around while Hillary was speaking, she said. Park Hills resident Mike McClanahan isnt impressed with either candidate and maintains his allegiance to former Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders. I really dont feel any better about either one of the candidates, he said. As far as Donald Trump, he pretty much doesnt make any sense. I cant follow what hes saying. Im not sure he knows what hes talking about. And then Hillary just looks slimy like always. Shell tug at your heartstrings to manipulate you and then make some backroom deal. We spent a lot of money supporting Bernie Sanders and we pretty much had our hearts broken. Park Hills resident and 11-year Army veteran John Hagerty also wasnt very impressed with Sunday nights debate candidates. If these two people are the best that we can come up with, then our future doesnt look very good at all, he said. That being said, I truly believe that the lesser of the evils is Donald Trump because the Democrats have made no bones about it that they wanna change our constitution. The constitution that this great country was founded on, built upon and prayed upon. The final question of the debate from a man in the audience who asked the candidates to tell everyone something that they like or admire about each other sparked a positive response from Parkland debate watchers. With all the conflict, bitter feelings and name-calling surrounding this presidential election, Mr. Becker's final question mandated an impromptu honest assessment of each other and it was a breath of fresh air, said Morey. Nugent agreed, saying, I thought that was a pretty good question. She did a good job answering it and I really think he did, too. But I think he reinforced that shes a strong person and wouldnt give up. Barrett said, I thought that was the best question of the night. That gives me hope that, no matter who wins or loses, theres still hope for the American public. Among the approximately 150 people who came out Saturday morning to Columbia Park in support of the Parkland Pregnancy Resource Centers annual Walk For Life fundraiser were two friends who decided to participate in the walk for the first time in memory of a PPRC volunteer who died unexpectedly in June. Prior to the start of the walk, Tara Nash of Desloge, and her friend, Lisa Siegenchaler of Park Hills, were standing near the T-shirt table holding signs with the name and photo of Catherine Marler, who died four months ago the age of 36. Catherine used to work as a volunteer for the PPRC, Nash said. I'm Lisa's best friend and I grew up with her. Catherine was special to me and of course my best friend, Lisa, is special to me, too. Nash explained that, even though Catherine never had children of her own, she loved taking care of the babies at the center. "We both believe that Cat is up in heaven taking care of the babies whose lives were taken away too soon, she said with a smile. Siegenchaler nodded her head in agreement and said, Catherine would come home and she'd talk about the PPRC. It's a great cause and I was always very proud of her for volunteering down there. She would always come home with her bottles and ask, 'Does anybody have any change?' So, I think this is something she would really appreciate. She loved getting to spend time with the kids. Nash admitted there was another reason she and Siegenchaler decided to make their inaugural appearance at this years Walk For Life. We are also here today because we choose life, she said. We're very pro-life. From the moment of conception that baby is alive. The heartbeat is there. It means something special. I've always supported the center through our church, Open Arms Full Gospel. When Catherine passed, I hadn't realized she had volunteered so much at the PPRC. Of course, with Lisa being my best friend, we got together and I said, 'You know, we need to walk in Catherine's memory. We need to be there that day.'" Nash revealed that neither Lisa or herself had been able to have children and seeing those who are making the effort to keep their babies is a special blessing to them. That's one thing I love about PPRC they're helping out, she said. There's some girls out there who don't know what to do or where to go and they can go there plus it's faith-based. Siegenchaler added that she was appreciative to have PPRC in the area. In this society, if you have an unplanned pregnancy your only choice is to abort. The resource center says, 'No, that's not your only choice. I think a lot of people need to know that they have support. Abortion is not a choice they have to make. According to PPRC Director of Development Shannon Stewart, the walk went well, despite participation in the event being slightly less than last year. I did notice we had a drop in the number of people who walked, but this is a really busy time of year for everybody, she said. Stewart recognized several churches for their efforts in helping to make the Walk For Life a success. Esther Baptist Church had the most number of youth participate in the 2015 walk; First Baptist Church of Desloge had the most number of youth participate this year; and the young people of Farmingtons Washita Baptist Church were honored for being the youth group that raised the most money for Walk For Life in both 2015 and 2016. Were still counting the money weve raised and are expecting additional funds to come in, Stewart said. Im not sure what our total will be by the end of the week, but were thankful for what has been raised already. She added that donations are still welcome from those unable to participate in the walk and noted that receipts are given for donations between $25 and $99. Checks should be made out to Parkland Pregnancy Resource Center. We are interested in helping all families succeed, Stewart said. It's not based on income it's for all families in St. Francois County and the surrounding area. Rather than families having to worry about how they are going to provide children's clothes and baby items, we want them to know PPRC can help. They can come to the center to learn parenting skills and if we can provide them items to help them worry less, then that's a good thing. In all reality, there is no way for me to fully express my thanks to the community because just saying thank you isn't enough. They are the reason we are able to do all that we do in this community. It's not just me going out there as director of development doing presentations and putting the Walk For Life together. They are part of the team with us and all that we do because of their support. I would love to thank each and every one of them personally, but in all reality just saying thank you isn't quite enough. PPRC, located at 815 E. Main St. in Park Hills, is a Christian-based, non-profit center that provides services to pregnant women such as free pregnancy tests, first-semester ultrasounds, maternity and new mom clothes, cribs, diapers, wipes and other baby items. The center has a 24-hour crisis hotline: 573-431-6001 or 800-395-4357. All services are free and confidential. The center has also started a Hope class, a womens support group for those who have experienced sexual trauma. PPRC serves the residents of St. Francois, Ste. Genevieve, Washington, Wayne, Reynolds, Iron and Madison counties. Monday Desloge Board of Aldermen The Desloge Board of Aldermen meets in regular session at 7 p.m. in city hall, located at 300 N. Lincoln St. The meeting is open to the public. Iron Mountain Lake City Council Iron Mountain Lake City Council will meet in regular session at 7 p.m. at city hall, located at 591 N. Lakeshore Drive. The meeting is open to the public. Tuesday Leadington Board of Aldermen The Leadington Board of Aldermen meets in regular session at 6 p.m. in city hall, located at 12 Weir St. The meeting is open to the public. Park Hills City Council The Park Hills City Council meets tonight at 6 p.m. for a regular session in the municipal court chambers at city hall, located at 9 Bennett St. The meeting is open to the public. Wednesday SFC 911 Board The St. Francois County 911 Board meets in regular session at 10 a.m. in Desloge City Hall, located at 300 N. Lincoln. The meeting is open to the public. Thursday MAC Board of Trustees The Mineral Area College Board of Trustees meets in regular session at 2 p.m. in the boardroom on the school's Park Hills campus. The meeting is open to the public. Bismarck Board of Aldermen The Bismarck Board of Aldermen meets in regular session at 7 p.m. at the old train depot. The meeting is open to the public. Farmington City Council The Farmington City Council meets in regular session at 6:30 p.m. in council chambers, located at 110 W. Columbia St. The meeting is open to the public. Being a Good Parent A father and son bond over kite-flying. (opens in new tab) , Shutterstock (opens in new tab) ) (Image credit: Sergej Khakimullin There are many ways to raise happy, well-adjusted kids, but science has a few tips for making sure they turn out okay. From keeping it fun to letting them leave the nest, here are 10 research-based tips for good parenting. Don't be fooled by their height (Image credit: Dreamstime) No matter how tall they get or how grown-up they look, your kids are still just that kids. And parents of older children especially need to remember this fact, according to Sara Johnson, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. The developmental period known as adolescence lasts about 10 years from ages 11 to 19 and it's regarded as a critical time for brain development. So it's important to keep in mind that, even as kids grow into young adults, "they are still in a developmental period that will affect the rest of their life," Johnson told Live Science in March 2016. Support the shy ones (Image credit: altanaka/Shutterstock.com) A little bashfulness is one thing, but kids with behavioral inhibition a trait that refers to shyness and also extreme caution in the face of new situations may be at higher risk of developing anxiety disorders, according to researchers. And parents who shelter kids demonstrating behavioral inhibition (in effect, encouraging this inhibition) may actually make the situation worse. So how do you support shy kids? The key is to get them out of their comfort zones without trying to change their nature, said Sandee McClowry, a psychologist at New York University. Why not just break them of their shy habbits? Research has shown that shyness is a part of some children's character and a very difficult trait to change. In other words, it's better to work with shyness than against it. "That acceptance of the child is a huge, huge thing," McClowry told Live Science in September 2016. Live in the moment (Image credit: szefei/Shutterstock.com) Adults tend to constantly think about the future, but kids especially preschool-age kids (ages 2 to 5) live in the here and now, scientists say. To get on a kid's level, parents need to learn how to live in the moment, too, said Tovah Klein, director of the Barnard College Center for Toddler Development in New York City. This is especially true when it comes to communicating verbally with a young child, said Klein, who is also the author of "How Toddlers Thrive" (Touchstone, 2014). Instead of telling a 3 year old that it's time to get ready for some future action, like going to school, parents should give their child a set of instructions, Klein told Live Science in August 2016. Replace ambiguous statements like "it's almost time for school" with clear, simple explanations and directions, such as, "We need to leave for school. It's time to get your coat." Tell them how they feel (Image credit: Alena Ozerova/Shutterstock.com) While older kids are widely regarded as the kings and queens of self-expression, young children often lack the vocabulary to properly label their own emotions, according to researchers who study child development. Kids ages 2 to 5 are just starting to understand emotions like fear, frustration or disappointment, according to Klein. You can help your kid express herself by calling out such emotions when you see them. For example, a parent might say, "It's disappointing that it's raining outside, and you can't go out to play," Klein said. Slow down (Image credit: Soloviova Liudmyla/Shutterstock.com) The hectic schedule of adulthood doesn't always vibe with the relaxed pace of childhood, according to Klein. "Children move at a slower rate," and parents should try to match that pace, Klein said. By scheduling extra time for the little things, like a bedtime routine or a trip to the grocery store, parents can turn hectic chores into more meaningful time with their children, she said. Limit distractions (Image credit: NotarYES/Shutterstock.com) Do you check emails or scroll through your social media feeds while spending quality time with your kids? Because you shouldn't, Klein said. It's hard to be really engaged with your kids if you're distracted by a bunch of other things. And this distracted presence can take a toll on children, who might feel like you're not really there for them when you're attention is divided, Klein said "Children don't need their parents attention 24/7 and 100 percent of the time," she said. But when your kids do need your full attention, you should give it to them without any caveats. Be polite (Image credit: Oshvintsev Alexander/Shutterstock.com) Want to raise polite children? Try adding the words "please" and "thank you" to your own vocabulary. Kids learn how to interact with others mainly by observing how grown-ups do it and then modeling that behavior themselves, according to Klein. So if you treat everyone from cashiers and bus drivers to teachers and family members with respect and politeness, chances are your kids will, as well. Remember, teenage tantrums are real (Image credit: Sabphoto/Shutterstock.com) Just when the tantrums of your child's toddler years seem like ancient history, you can expect such emotional outbursts to make another appearance. Adolescent kids (ages 11 to 19) deal with a lot of social, emotional and mental stress that they don't yet have the ability to process or cope with, according to Johns Hopkins' Sara Johnson. This can result in some serious tantrums, which might surprise the unwary parent. In such situations, parents should stay calm and listen to their children, said Sheryl Feinstein, author of "Inside the Teenage Brain: Parenting a Work in Progress" (Rowman and Littlefield, 2009.) Modeling levelheaded behavior is a good way to teach your teen the proper way to deal with all that stress. The golden rule Using harsh words with teens may actually lead to worse behavior, a new study finds. (opens in new tab) via Shutterstock) (Image credit: Dad and teen photo via Shutterstock) We'll keep this one short and simple: Thou shalt not yell at your teenager. Seriously, just don't do it. The more you yell at a teen, the worse they're likely to behave, according to a study published in 2013 in the journal Child Development. Stick to the basics (Image credit: Vasilyev Alexandr/Shutterstock.com) "There are a lot of different ways to raise kids, and there's not one formula that works for every kid," said Amy Bohnert, a psychologist who researches child development at Loyola University Chicago. But surely there's some kind of recipe for success when it comes to parenting, right? Kind of: Bonhert said the first basic rule of being a good parent is fostering a secure and warm attachment with your kids. That way they know their needs will be met and that they'll have a place to go when they need comfort. And as they get older, kids need freedom to explore their own identities and make mistakes, but in a safe and age-appropriate way, Bonhert told Live Science in 2011. Henry Fuseli's "The Nightmare" may have been inspired by the chest-crushing sensation and hallucinations of sleep paralysis. An unusual condition called sleep paralysis has been frightening people for centuries, and now a new review sums up the many creepy stories from different cultures that try to explain the episodes of waking up and being unable to move. Cultural explanations that try to account for the terrifying experience of waking up feeling paralyzed range from alien abductions to strange demons creeping into people's bedrooms and sitting on their chests, according to the review, published in September in the journal Frontiers in Psychology. Together, the stories show how a single biological phenomenon can be interpreted differently by societies, the researchers, led by Jose F. R. de Sa of the Jungian Institute of Bahia in Brazil, wrote in their review. The biological explanation of sleep paralysis is that two aspects of REM sleep dreaming and paralysis are occuring while a person is awake, said Brian Sharpless, an associate professor of clinical psychology at Argosy University in Washington, D.C., who was not involved with the review. Sleep paralysis occurs more often than most people think, and it is more likely to occur when a person is waking up than during other parts of sleep, he said. [Top 10 Spooky Sleep Disorders] During REM, or rapid eye movement sleep, dreaming takes place and the brainstem paralyzes the body by inhibiting motor neurons, Sharpless told Live Science. But normally, dreaming and paralysis occur when people are unconscious, said Sharpless, who is also the author of "Sleep Paralysis: Historical, Psychological and Medical Perspectives" (Oxford University Press, 2015). When someone experiences sleep paralysis, these two things occur while a person is conscious, with his or her eyes open, Sharpless said. This means that the dreams are technically hallucinations, and they're just as vivid as anything you'd see when you're awake, he said. In addition, the dreams can be "multisensorial," meaning a person may not only see things, but hear and, in some cases, feel them too, he said. Sleep paralysis around the world The sense of touch is very often highlighted in explanations of sleep paralysis around the world. Many cultures refer to a weight on the chest, according to the review. In certain parts of Brazil, for example, there are folkloric tales of a creature with long fingernails that lurks on people's rooftops during the night. The creature, called "Pisadeira," comes into a person's house and tramples on the chests of those who sleep, according to the review. [7 Mind-Bending Facts About Dreams] Catalonia, a region in Spain, has the tale of the "Pesanta," a black animal, often a dog or a cat, that invades people's homes and sits on their chests while they are asleep, making it difficult to breathe and causing nightmares, the authors wrote. In Newfoundland, Canada, it's the "Old Hag" that comes and sits on a sleeping person. And among an ethnic group in Vietnam and Laos, a "pressing spirit" sits on sleepers' chests and tries to asphyxiate them, the researchers found. The idea of a weight holding someone down is also reflected in the terminology used in Mexico to describe sleep paralysis, according to the review. Translated from Spanish, the phrase means "a dead body climbed on top of me." Some cultures use tales of spells cast by shamans or summoners to explain sleep paralysis. In Inuit culture, for example, people tell of shamans who can cast a spell when a person is sleeping, causing an experience called "uqumangirniq," during which a person can't move, talk or scream and is visited by a shapeless or faceless presence, according to the review. And Japanese folklore refers to a summoner who calls upon a vengeful spirit to suffocate enemies through a phenomenon called the "kanashibari," which is "the state of being totally bound, as if constrained by metal chains," the review found. In other cultures, ghosts or supernatural beings are the perpetrators. In a study of Cambodian refugees from the 1970s, researchers found that many patients referred to something called "khmaoch sangkat" or "the ghost that pushes you down." In Thailand, a ghost called "phi am" haunts people when they are half asleep and unable to move. And in some traditional Chinese cultures, "ghost oppression" caused sleep paralysis, the researchers wrote. The researchers noted that the purpose of the review was not to belittle the various spiritual explanations for sleep paralysis but rather to "enrich the knowledge about these experiences and their psychological and cultural aspects," they wrote. Originally published on Live Science. This scroll fragment preserves parts of the Book of Leviticus, in which God promises to reward the people of Israel if they observe the Sabbath and obey the 10 commandments. More than 25 previously unpublished "Dead Sea Scroll" fragments, dating back 2,000 years and holding text from the Hebrew Bible, have been brought to light, their contents detailed in two new books. The various scroll fragments record parts of the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Samuel, Ruth, Kings, Micah, Nehemiah, Jeremiah, Joel, Joshua, Judges, Proverbs, Numbers, Psalms, Ezekiel and Jonah. The Qumran caves where the Dead Sea Scrolls were first discovered had yet to yield any fragments from the Book of Nehemiah; if this newly revealed fragment is authenticated it would be the first. Scholars have expressed concerns that some of the fragments are forgeries. [See Photos of the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments] These 25 newly published fragments are just the tip of the iceberg. A scholar told Live Science that around 70 newly discovered fragments have appeared on the antiquities market since 2002. Additionally, the cabinet minister in charge of the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA), along with a number of scholars, believes that there are undiscovered scrolls that are being found by looters in caves in the Judean Desert. The IAA is sponsoring a new series of scientific surveys and excavations to find these scrolls before looters do. The Dead Sea Scrolls The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered between 1947 and 1956 in a series of 11 caves by the archaeological site of Qumran in the Judean Desert, near the Dead Sea. During that time, archaeologists and local Bedouins unearthed thousands of fragments from nearly 900 manuscripts. Some of the Bedouin sold their scrolls in Bethlehem through an antiquities dealer named Khalil Iskander Shahin, who went by the name "Kando." Shahin died in 1993 and his son William Kando now runs his business and estate. Many scholars believe that the Dead Sea Scrolls were hidden in the Qumran caves around A.D. 70, during a Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire. They may have been written by a Jewish sect known as the Essenes. Qumran and its caves are located in the West Bank, a territory captured by Israel from Jordan during the Six-Day War in 1967. Jordan at times has asserted that the Dead Sea Scrolls belong to them. Although the term Dead Sea Scrolls usually refers to the scrolls found at Qumran, there have been scrolls found in caves at other sites in the Judean Desert that are considered Dead Sea Scrolls. Collecting scrolls The 25 newly published scroll fragments were purchased by two separate collectors. [Gallery of Dead Sea Scrolls: A Glimpse of the Past] Between 2009 and 2014, Steve Green, the owner of Hobby Lobby, a chain of arts and crafts stores, purchased 13 of the fragments, which he has donated, along with thousands of other artifacts, to the Museum of the Bible. Green is helping to fund construction of the museum, scheduled to open in Washington, D.C., next fall. (A fly-through of the museum can be seen on YouTube). A team of scholars has published details of these donated fragments in the book volume "Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments in the Museum Collection" (Brill, 2016). The provenance of this batch of scrolls is not certain. "Some of these fragments must have come from Qumran, probably Cave 4, while the others may have derived from other sites in the Judean Desert," wrote Emanuel Tov, a professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in the book volume. "Unfortunately, little is known about the provenance of these fragments because most sellers did not provide such information at the time of the sale." Antiquities dealer William Kando told Live Science that he doesn't know where the donated fragments originated. Scientists are conducting tests on the donated fragments to help determine if any are forgeries, said Michael Holmes, executive director of the Museum of the Bible Scholars Initiative, in a statement sent to Live Science. The results will be combined with an analysis of the writing to help determine what the chances are of the different fragments being forgeries. "The results will be incorporated in our future museum exhibits, inviting visitors to grasp and engage with issues involved with assessing authenticity," Holmes said. Biblical manuscripts Martin Schyen, a collector from Norway, owns the other batch of the recently revealed Dead Sea Scrolls. The texts from those fragments are detailed in the book "Gleanings from the Caves: Dead Sea Scrolls and Artefacts from The Schyen Collection" (Bloomsbury, 2016). Also detailed in the book are other artifacts related to the scrolls, including a linen wrapper in which one of the Dead Sea Scrolls was found. [Photos: Who 'Penned' the Dead Sea Scrolls?] Schyen, who has a vast collection of antiquities, began collecting biblical manuscripts in 1986. "The ultimate challenge had become to acquire a fragment of the Dead Sea Scrolls with a biblical text," Schyen wrote in the book. "It was for me a 'Mission: Impossible.'" His determination paid off as, gradually, he was able to track down scroll fragments that were for sale by a number of sources. He bought several from a family collection that is now in in Zurich (the name was not published) and several more from the descendants of tourists or collectors who had purchased scrolls from Shahin's shop in Bethlehem in the 1950s. He also purchased a few fragments that were once owned by two scholars who had worked in the Qumran caves as students in 1948 (the students got the fragments as gifts from a bishop who supported the work). "The quest that started as a 'Mission: Impossible' in 1986, gradually proceeded to become a collection of [about] 115 fragments from around 27 different scrolls," Schyen said. He added that some of the fragments in his collection come from caves 1, 4 and 11 at Qumran, while some come from other caves in the Judean Desert. Nehemiah A highlight from the newly published Museum of the Bible collection is a fragment from the Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:13-16). The fragment tells of a man named Nehemiah who lived during the fifth century B.C., at a time after Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. The Persian Empire had taken over Babylon's territory and the Jews, who had been forced to leave Israel by the Babylonians, were allowed to return home. The fragment records Nehemiah's visit to a ruined Jerusalem, finding that its gates had been "consumed by fire." According to the fragment text, he inspects the remains of the walls before starting work on rebuilding them. Scholars have noted in previous studies that archaeologists hadn't found any copies of the Book of Nehemiah in the Qumran caves. How this fragment came to America is unknown, and scholars say they can't be sure it's from Qumran. "It is assumed to come from Cave 4 [at Qumran], but in the final analysis it must be said that the provenance of the fragment remains unknown," wrote Martin G. Abegg Jr., a professor at Trinity Western University who led the team that analyzed the fragment, in the book "Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments in the Museum Collection." Leviticus A highlight from the Schyen Collection is a fragment containing part of the Book of Leviticus. In the fragment text, God promises that if the Sabbath is observed and the Ten Commandments are obeyed, the people of Israel will be rewarded. "If you walk according to my laws, and keep my commandments and implement them, then I will grant your rains in their season, so that the earth shall yield its produce and the trees of the field their fruit," part of the fragment reads (translation by Torleif Elgvin). "I will grant peace in the land, and you shall lie down untroubled by anyone; and I will exterminate vicious beasts from the land, and no sword shall cross your land," the fragment continues. "I will look with favour upon you, and make you fertile and multiply you." Schyen published a note from William Kando saying that the Leviticus scroll fragment was once owned by his father who got it from Bedouin in 1952 or 1953 and it was sold, along with other fragments, to a customer in Zurich in 1956. Original article on Live Science. DEAR HARRIETTE: My fiancee and I are finally moving in together. This is my first time in a while living with someone other than my children, and the same goes for her. I have a very minimalistic approach to how a house should be decorated, while she loves to make a house into a home. I've been struggling with how to incorporate both of our decorating styles into a shared living space. She loves earthy tones, while I love modern, sleek furniture. Is there any way each of us can win without clashing? -- Mix & Match, Indianapolis DEAR MIX & MATCH: Here's where creativity needs to step in, along with a healthy dose of patience. What many couples do -- if they have the space -- is to let each partner have a room that they can decorate any way they want. This gives you complete freedom of expression in at least one area. The rest is a negotiation. The idea of making the house a home is a great one, which you should acknowledge. Move from there to discussing how to incorporate dashes of color into her earthy palette. Get some interiors magazines to give you ideas. Look at some of the decorating shows on HGTV. Watch together and talk through design ideas and solutions. If you get into the project together, you will have a better chance of developing a shared visual identity that will make you both comfortable. Just remember that compromise is the key to happiness! DEAR HARRIETTE: I have a newfound love for entering contests. I love the possibility of winning something for free. Although I've entered over two dozen contests (for a free bike, free vacation, free fitness classes, etc.), I've never won. I am disappointed, but I keep going because I know my day will come. My friends say this is the beginning of an addiction, but it's all free! No harm if I'm not spending money, right? -- Love Freebies, Minneapolis DEAR LOVE FREEBIES: I hate to break it to you, but the saying is largely true: Nothing in life is actually free. What do I mean? Even if or when you do receive a gift from one of these offers, what have you given in exchange? Usually, you have given up lots of personal information that marketers use to bombard you with promotions, hoping to lure you into buying something from them. The amount of time that you invest in trying to get something for free could be better focused on getting yourself closer to a big goal that you have. Rethink how you spend your time and what you really want. And think through the free offers. For example, if you win a free vacation, how will you get there? Do you have the disposable income to enjoy yourself once you go? The swirl of energy that makes these offers so enticing usually fizzles out fast when you face reality. I vote for keeping your eyes on your own dreams rather than a random freebie that just keeps you hyped up. DEAR HARRIETTE: My family has a history of breast cancer, and I am nearing an age where my rate of developing cancer is getting higher. I have been considering getting a preventive double mastectomy. Although this is not necessary for me right now, I want the closest thing to 100 percent certainty that I will see my grandchildren get married. I have spoken to my doctor, and he recommends waiting on the mastectomy, provided I get frequent checkups to see if I develop something. However, he does note that I should do whatever I am most comfortable with. My husband has told the rest of my family about my medical dilemma, and now I am getting opinions from all sides. I want my medical opinions coming from my doctor only. -- Risky Business, Washington, D.C. DEAR RISKY BUSINESS: It is understandable that you would be nervous about your health, given your family history. But it is also wise for you to consult with your doctor -- and to get a second opinion. Consult another cancer specialist, and have that doctor review your medical history to give you a second recommendation. I have spoken to many women who have a family history of breast cancer who have made a range of choices based upon medical input and their own instincts. There now are a host of tests that can help to pinpoint the likelihood of you getting cancer. Take advantage of the new technology before taking extreme action. By all means, stay on top of your health. DEAR HARRIETTE: Upon moving into my house, my landlord said utilities were included in my rent. After a month of living here, I received an electricity bill and called my landlord. He didn't pick up, but texted me that it was my responsibility. His statement about utilities wasn't in the lease, but he made a verbal promise to me. Is there any way I could make him honor his promise now that he's trying to make me foot the bill? -- Lights Off, Jackson, Mississippi DEAR LIGHTS OFF: This is why you must read the fine print. It is your word against your landlord's, and your rental agreement does not support your word. If at all possible, try again to have a direct conversation with your landlord. Appeal to his humanity. Tell him that you created a tight monthly budget based upon numbers that are now changing because he has changed his terms. Ask him to help you out. Remind him how much you enjoy living in this house, but you really need his help by honoring the verbal agreement he made with you. If you cannot get to him in person, you can try having this conversation via text. If you get him to admit that he did verbally agree to paying the utilities, you could take him to court. But it is likely that you are going to have to pay this utility bill. You will have to balance out whether the headache, time and possible cost of attempting to get your landlord to honor his word is worth it. DEAR HARRIETTE: There was a horrible explosion in my neighborhood recently, and many people got displaced. I feel so bad for them, even though I didnt know any of them. I want to help in some way, but I have limited funds. What can I do to help people who have lost everything? Wanting to Help, Harlem, N.Y. DEAR WANTING TO HELP: For those who dont know, the tragedy in question was an explosion that destroyed two apartment buildings, killed eight people and injured many more. Investigations are continuing as we go to press. This is truly a sad story for many people. The good news is that contributions small and large are extremely helpful for those who lost loved ones, were injured or lost their homes. Several crowdsourcing sites have set up means to donate in any amount you might like. One site that has waived its fees is eastharlemexplosionfund. mydagsite.com. There are also Harlem-based businesses and churches that are collecting goods. You may want to donate clothing, canned food or even furniture to people who have lost everything. Go through your personal inventory to see what you can spare. Your items might be as good as dollars. One article that points to several ways to give is huffingtonpost. com/2014/03/18/harlem-explosionhelp_ n_4981153.html. DEAR HARRIETTE: I feel like every time I go out these days and Im talking to people, they stop mid-conversation to send a social media message out to who knows where. It is so annoying. I also feel a little paranoid that anything I might say or do will be instantly broadcast somewhere, and I just dont like it. Whatever happened to hanging out with friends and just having a good time without telling the whole world about the experience? Just the other day, this social media nonsense ended up hurting a friends feelings because she wasnt invited to a small gathering of mutual friends. It wasnt for any particular reason, just that a few of us got together. She saw pictures of us all having fun and told one of our friends how she felt left out. Obviously, you dont have to invite everyone to everything, but social media can make it impossible to protect peoples privacy. How can I get my friends to understand that? Feeling Exposed, Princeton, N.J. DEAR FEELING EXPOSED: Use the example of your friends hurt feelings when you approach your friend group. Ask them to be more sensitive about others when they post messages and photos. You can specifically ask them not to post photos of you. This may not always work, but it is worth the request. You should be mindful of what you say to others in general. Your words can be sourced anywhere. A person can quote you in the moment and post it to Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other locations. The Orwellian notion that Big Brother is watching you lives today. You would be wise to remember that. DEAR HARRIETTE: I was recently asked to be a member of my tenants association board. I thought that was really a nice honor until I realized how much work it is. I joined as the secretary, so I have to keep records of every meeting and present them at the next. It is fun in a way, but it is wearing me out. I do see the benefits of being in the know, though. I now understand a whole lot about my building and the laws and everything. Should I tell them I want to do this for only one year? My work is pretty intense, and Im always afraid that I am not going to get the minutes completed in time. Its pretty stressful as an almostsecond (unpaid) job. Unsure, Chicago DEAR UNSURE: Dont make a decision yet. You said that this is a recent appointment. Give yourself time to get accustomed to the rhythm of the role. Yes, it takes a lot to do a good job on a board as its secretary. But it is likely that you were selected because the other board members believe in your ability and commitment to get the job done. Stretch your limits for now. See how well you are able to fulfill your duties. You may discover in a years time that this added role is valuable to your life. If not, you can let them know before election time that you do not want to be in an official role moving forward. Give it time. DEAR HARRIETTE: Every time I see my grandmother every month she gives me a present. She is so sweet, and I really appreciate it. My question is should I be sending her a thank-you note every time? Since shes been doing this for years, I really havent been writing her notes. But then I had the thought the other day that she probably would appreciate a note from me and it might even spark her to write back. It would be awesome to have letters from my grandmother to hold onto. What do you think? Should I Write, Orlando, Fla. DEAR SHOULD I WRITE: Since you see your grandmother so frequently, which is a blessing, and she always gifts you, you may want to consider your note to her differently. Yes, you can say thank you for her gift, but more, share with her a few bits about your life. Tell her in regular notes about experiences you are having. Write in detail knowing that she will likely use your stories to brag to her friends about your experiences. Choose to relay positive stories that she can embrace. Hold on to your challenges and share them with your parents, friends or even a professional when needed. Older people tend to worry more, and you have no reason to give her something that will upset her. Whenever you find that you really benefited from something that your grandmother gave you, by all means, write to her and say so. You can also provide a window into your personal preferences simply by sharing little stories with her about your daily experiences. She will surely write back and then the two of you will have a new way of interacting with each other. DEAR HARRIETTE: Some time has passed since my uncle died, and I feel bad that I havent talked to his family more. He and I were close, but we didnt talk much. I talked to his children even less. I know they are still sad that he died. I want to be there for them in whatever way that I can. Do you think it will seem tacky to reach out now? It has been several months since we have spoken. Im not trying to create false expectations about what our relationship might be. I do want to stay in touch with them. Wanting to Connect, Paramus, N.J. DEAR WANTING TO CONNECT: Checking in on your family to see how they are doing is a wonderful thing, especially after a big loss. So what if you havent been extra attentive? Choose now to make it a priority to reach out to them from time to time. Grief is a process that can last a long time. Dont forget that you are grieving your uncle, too. When he or they come to mind, pick up the phone, send an email, send a letter or go to visit. Over time, you can cultivate a refreshed relationship with them if you choose to do so. DEAR HARRIETTE: My neighbors husband passed away last year, and everyone has been pitching in and trying to help her out. Recently we noticed that she has had a gentleman caller coming to visit her with some regularity. Some of the neighbors in the building have noticed and got pretty upset about it, since her husband hasnt been dead that long. They have taken to talking about her, which is really mean-spirited in my book. She deserves a second chance. Plus, who are we to even know what her life is like? I see her smiling, and she was so sad for so long. Her husband died of cancer, and it was a very sad experience. I want these people to leave her alone. Whenever I say that, they tell me to mind my own business. Well, thats what I think they should be doing. How can I defend my neighbor? Shut Your Mouth, Jackson, Miss. DEAR SHUT YOUR MOUTH: The best thing you can do in this situation is to stay out of it entirely. Dont participate in the gossip about your neighbor and her suitor. If you are friendly with the woman in question, remain friendly with her. Do not tell her that the others are talking about her. That will only hurt her feelings and make her uncomfortable. She deserves to have a chance at happiness. Being a good neighbor in this case means being supportive of her and unwilling to participate in judgment about her or anybody else. DEAR HARRIETTE: My wife is a big fan of going to the movies. She would like me to go with her more often, and therein lies the problem. I am not a big fan of going to the cinema. I know it would put a smile on my wifes face if I become more active in what she likes. How do I put on the happy face and try to have a good time when I go to the movies? Slow Motion Picture, Dallas DEAR SLOW MOTION PICTURE: Rather than making a blanket statement that you do not like going to the movies, do a little more investigating. What types of films interest you? There must be a subject or two that strike your fancy. Suggest that you go to the movies when that type of film comes to town. You can also offer to go with her once or twice a month given that she tends to go more frequently than that. What do you like to do that may not be of interest to her? Maybe you two can come to an agreement where you choose to do what she likes sometimes and she agrees to do the same for you. The art of compromise is important in marriage. Its natural that you and your spouse dont see eye to eye on everything, but doing what the other loves sometimes is thoughtful. Its also perfectly fine for you to invite friends to join you during activities that you dont prefer to do. You can agree to give each other permission to have fun without the other as well. Harriette Cole is a lifestylist and founder of DREAMLEAPERS, an initiative to help people access and activate their dreams. You can send questions to askharriette@harriettecole.com or c/o Universal Uclick, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106 The Dead Sea Scrolls are about 2,000 years old and hold text from the Hebrew Bible. Hundreds of fragments of the scrolls were first found between 1947 and 1956 in caves in Qumran in the Judean Desert. More recently, additional scroll fragments have come to light. Since 2002, around 70 Dead Sea Scrolls fragments have appeared on the antiquities market, said Eibert Tigchelaar, a professor at the University of Leuven in Belgium, in an interview with Live Science. Tigchelaar believes that some of the scroll fragments that have recently appeared are actually modern-day forgeries, while others are not from Qumran, but rather other caves in the Judean Desert, possibly ones that haven't been discovered by archaeologists. "I think what we have here is a mix of material that is authentic and of material that are forgeries," Tigchelaar told Live Science. One of his arguments supporting the forgery claim is that of the 70 fragments that have appeared only one or two seem to be part of the 900 manuscripts found in the Qumran caves. To have so many scroll fragments that are not part of the other manuscripts found at Qumran is "statistically impossible," Tigchelaar said. [25 New 'Dead Sea Scrolls' Revealed] Additionally, Tigchelaar has found that most of the 70 new scroll fragments are from books of the Hebrew Bible, whereas the manuscripts found at Qumran contain a wider mix of texts, including calendars, community rules and apocryphal (noncanonical) texts. Some of the new scroll fragments also contain oddities in their writing, such as small letters that appear to be crammed in at the edge of fragments (a fragment is supposed to be part of a manuscript that fell apart), Tigchelaar and other scholars have found. Some of the scrolls may be authentic but not from Qumran, Tigchelaar said noting that the sellers could claim the scrolls were found in Qumran in order to boost the sales price or to avoid legal problems related to provenance. After Israel took over the West Bank in 1967, laws were enacted that prohibited the selling of newly discovered scrolls. "If they [the new scroll fragments] were found after 1967, they [collectors and dealers] would not be allowed to own them or to sell them, but they would have to give them to the Israel Antiquities Authority," Tigchelaar said. He said that a close examination of the provenance of the new scroll fragments is needed. [See Photos of the Dead Sea Scrolls Fragments] Search for more Scrolls More undiscovered scrolls are likely hidden in the Judean Desert, the Israel Antiquities Authority (IAA) said, adding that looters are probably already finding them. Last year, the antiquities authority launched a series of surveys and excavations in the Judean desert to try to find caves that may contain undiscovered scrolls. "For years now our most important heritage and cultural assets have been excavated illicitly and plundered in the Judean Desert caves for reasons of greed," Miri Regev, Israel's Minister of Culture and Sports, said in a statement. "The goal of the national plan that we are advancing is to excavate and find all of the scrolls that remain in the caves, once and for all, so that they will be rescued and preserved by the state." A team led by Randall Price, a professor at Liberty University in Virginia, and Oren Gutfeld, a researcher with the Hebrew University Institute of Archaeology in Jerusalem, will lead an excavation of one cave in the Judean Desert, which is set to begin in December. That cave was partially excavated in the past, but "much remains to be excavated, including two wings of the cave at the back. There is always the possibility of finding scroll fragments because this cave, as well as others, shows signs of habitation from the time when the Qumran community who produced the scrolls was active," Price said. Even if no scrolls are discovered, the remains of any artifacts Price and the team find can help archaeologists learn more about life at the time the Dead Sea Scrolls were written, Price said. The Museum of the Bible has also formed an alliance with the IAA that will allow it to display artifacts from Israel's National Treasures, including discoveries that will be made in the future. "Because the Israel Antiquities Authority currently has 39 active archeological digs around Israel, some of the artifacts that might be displayed in [the] Museum of the Bible may not even have been discovered yet," the museum said in a statement in 2015. Original article on Live Science. Dead Sea Scroll fragments (Image credit: copyright The Schyen Collection, Oslo and London, MS 4611) Two new books reveal about 25 unpublished Dead Sea Scrolls fragments held in two separate collections. The scroll seen here preserves parts of the Book of Leviticus and is now in the Schyen Collection. In this fragment God promises that if the Sabbath is observed and the 10 commandments are obeyed the people of Israel will be rewarded. [Read more about the Dead Sea Scrolls finding] More recently, archaeologists discovered a previously unknown cave in Qumran that would have held fragments of Dead Sea Scrolls, one of which was found inside. Scorched by fire (Image credit: Image by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman and Marilyn J. Lundberg, West Semitic Research. Courtesy of Museum of the Bible.) This fragment preserves part of the Book of Nehemiah (Nehemiah 2:13-16) and is now in the Museum of the Bible, a 430,000-square-foot museum under construction near the Capitol in Washington, D.C. No copies of Nehemiah were found by archaeologists in the Qumran caves, making the origins of this fragment a mystery. The fragment describes the return of a man named Nehemiah to Jerusalem after the city had been sacked by the Babylonians. He finds that the city gates had been "scorched by fire." Book of Genesis (Image credit: Image by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman and Marilyn J. Lundberg, West Semitic Research. Courtesy of Museum of the Bible. ) This fragment, now in the Museum of the Bible Collection, preserves part of the Book of Genesis. It tells part of the story of Jacob, a patriarch who, according to legend, the Israeli people are descended from. [Read more about the Dead Sea Scrolls finding] Book of Micah (Image credit: Image by Bruce and Kenneth Zuckerman and Marilyn J. Lundberg, West Semitic Research. Courtesy of Museum of the Bible.) A fragment from the Book of Micah (Micah 1:46), which is now in the Museum of the Bible. It describes a punishment that will be inflicted on Judah for the sins of Jacob. Part of the text reads: "The valleys will split open, like wax before the fire; like water poured down a slope" Qumran caves (Image credit: EcoPrint / Shutterstock.com) The Dead Sea Scrolls were found by archaeologists and local Bedouin between 1947 and 1956 in caves near the site of Qumran in the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea. The origins of some of the new Dead Sea Scrolls are unknown. While the Bedouin sold some of the scrolls they found to private collectors its possible that some of the new fragments are from other caves in the Judean Desert or are modern day forgeries. This image shows some of the caves near Qumran. Judean Desert (Image credit: vvvita / Shutterstock.com) The Israel Antiquities Authority believes that new scrolls are being found by looters in caves in the Judean Desert. In response, a new initiative is being undertaken to search for and excavate any caves that may have scrolls in it to find these scrolls before the looters do. One dig will be starting in December 2016. This photo shows a mountainous area in the Judean Desert. [Read more about the Dead Sea Scrolls finding] Qumran Cave (Image credit: Oren Gutfeld & Ahiad Ovadia) Archaeologists also discovered another Qumran cave that likely held Dead Sea Scrolls, they said. The entrance to the cave near Qumran, Israel, that archaeologists recently discovered is seen, at left, in this image. Most of the scrolls in this cave had been robbed in the mid-20th century, said the researchers, who found modern-day pickaxe heads at the site. Blank Parchment (Image credit: Oren Gutfeld & Ahiad Ovadia) he only scroll found in the Qumran cave was blank, though archaeologists believe that in ancient times it was being prepared for writing. Scroll Jars (Image credit: Oren Gutfeld & Ahiad Ovadia) Fragments of jars, seen in this image, were found in the cave. Archaeologists believe that they contained scrolls that were robbed in the mid-20th century. Wrapping scrolls (Image credit: Oren Gutfeld & Ahiad Ovadia) The remains of cloth that archaeologists believe was once wrapped around a scroll were found in the Qumran cave. There are at least 35 documented cases of the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 bursting into flames. Update (Oct. 11 at 12:30 p.m. ET): Samsung is permanently ending production of the Galaxy Note 7 after continued battery malfunctions caused some of the smartphones to catch fire. On Tuesday (Oct. 11) Samsung filed a statement with the South Korean stock exchange declaring its "final decision" to stop production, reported the New York Times. A source told the newspaper that the company will no longer make or market the phones. A statement on Samsung's website (opens in new tab), also posted Tuesday, asked all Galaxy Note 7 consumers to "power down and stop using the device and take advantage of the remedies available." The company said it has also asked all carrier and retail partners globally to stop sales and exchanges of the smartphones. Original article published on Oct. 10, at 3:20 p.m. ET. Samsung has reportedly suspended production of the company's Galaxy Note 7 smartphone because the devices plagued by battery problems that were causing some phones to catch fire are still at risk of exploding. Last month, Samsung issued a global recall of the Galaxy Note 7 after several incidents in which the phone's lithium-ion battery caught fire. But now, reports have emerged that new devices sent out to replace the faulty phones face the same explosive problems. [9 Odd Ways Your Tech Device May Injure You] There are seven reports thus far of "safe" Galaxy Note 7s exploding, reported Ars Technica. One of the first reported incidents of a replacement phone catching fire was aboard a Southwest Airlines plane that was parked on the tarmac. The plane was evacuated, and no injuries were reported, a Southwest Airlines spokesperson told The Verge. Last week, a man in Kentucky went to the emergency room "vomiting black" after he woke up to find that his replacement phone had caught fire and his bedroom was filled with smoke. The owner of that Galaxy Note 7, Michael Klering, told a local CBS station that the phone "was just sitting there," not plugged in. "The phone is supposed to be the replacement, so you would have thought it would be safe," Klering told WKYT. In Minnesota on Oct. 7, a replacement phone melted in a 13-year-old girl's hand, an ABC affiliate reported. Though Samsung has not addressed what specifically is causing the phones to catch fire, a faulty lithium-ion battery can meet with fiery ends, Lloyd Gordon, the chief electrical safety officer at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, told Live Science last year. A faulty battery, for instance, can be overcharged. While well-made batteries stop charging automatically once full, a faulty battery's lithium ions can collect in one spot and be deposited as metallic lithium within the battery if left plugged in for too long, Gordon said. If this happens, the heat from the overcharging can cause oxygen bubbles, which are highly reactive with metallic lithium. If they combine, the reaction can lead to an explosion. Defective batteries can also be over-discharged, Gordon said. If the lithium-ion battery does not shut off when the power is too low, it can cause the phone to catch fire, he added. A Samsung spokesperson addressed the explosive replacement phones in a statement to The Verge: "We are working diligently with authorities and third-party experts and will share findings when we have completed the investigation. Even though there are a limited number of reports, we want to reassure customers that we are taking every report seriously. If we determine a product safety issue exists, Samsung will take immediate steps approved by the CPSC [Consumer Product Safety Commission] to resolve the situation." As a result of these battery malfunctions, Samsung has reportedly stopped production of the Galaxy Note 7. According to Yonhap News Agency in South Korea, an official at a supplier for Samsung said Monday (Oct. 10) that production has temporarily been suspended. The anonymous source told the news outlet that Samsung is cooperating with consumer safety regulators from South Korea, the United States and China. Samsung hasn't officially confirmed that it's halting production of the smartphone, but it did provide the following statement to Tom's Guide: "We are temporarily adjusting the Galaxy Note7 production schedule in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters." Original article on Live Science. Nestle is recalling several of its iconic Drumstick ice cream cone products because they could be contaminated with Listeria. But exactly how do these bacteria get into ice cream? The recall includes two Nestle Drumstick products: a "Variety Pack" with 16 ice cream cones, and a "Vanilla Pack" with 24 individually wrapped vanilla ice cream cones. The cones in the Vanilla Pack are meant to be sold individually at convenience stores, such as 7-Eleven, and other places, Nestle said on its website. All of the products were produced at the company's facility in Bakersfield, California, between Aug. 31 and Sept. 17, and have "Best Before" dates of June 2017. Listeria is found naturally in soil and water, and animals can carry the bacteria without appearing sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This means that animal products, including dairy products, can be contaminated with Listeria. From an animal product, Listeria may get into a food-processing factory, where it might contaminate equipment, according to the CDC. In the case of the Drumstick recall, Nestle found that a routine test of its equipment on a production line where the recalled products were made came back positive for Listeria. There was an error in logging the results of that test, so the products were inadvertently shipped to retailers, Nestle said. [Top 7 Germs in Food that Make You Sick] However, the Drumstick products themselves have not tested positive for Listeria, and so far there have been no reported cases of people getting sick after eating the recalled products, Nestle said. The recall is being made "out of an abundance of caution," due to the positive test result on the equipment, the company said. Unlike many other types of bacteria, Listeria can grow in the colder temperatures of refrigerators. "It's a pathogen that's particularly problematic in food-processing plants because it really likes cold, moist, dark environments," Benjamin Chapman, a food safety expert at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, told Live Science in a 2015 interview. Although the bacteria cannot grow at freezing temperatures, they can still survive at those temperatures. Listeria infections can be serious, and even deadly, particularly for certain groups of people, including young children, pregnant women, the elderly and people with weakened immune systems. The infection can cause fever, muscle aches and diarrhea, and in pregnant women, it may cause miscarriage or stillbirth, the CDC says. Although the Drumstick recall may seem reminiscent of the Blue Bell ice cream recall in 2015, there are a number of differences, according to Nestle. One of the biggest differences is that the Nestle recall is precautionary, meaning there haven't been any illnesses yet and it's not certain whether any of the recalled products are actually contaminated with bacteria. In contrast, in the Blue Bell recall, the products were already linked to illnesses and several deaths before the items were recalled. Original article on Live Science. 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Ireland United States Minor Outlying Islands United States of America Uruguay, Eastern Republic of Uzbekistan Vanuatu Venezuela, Bolivarian Republic of Viet Nam, Socialist Republic of Wallis and Futuna Islands Western Sahara Yemen Zambia, Republic of Zimbabwe Longford Chamber of Commerce and local Gardai have come together to relaunch the Business Watch initiative in Longford town. The scheme works on similar principles to the Neighbourhood Watch initiative but is primarily focused on preventing shoplifting and robberies. The scheme was re-launched in Longford Shopping Centre recently and Chamber President, Derek Scanlon, welcomed a much more pro-active and visible policing presence in the town. He also encouraged businesses to work with the local community policing team, who will visit premises and advise on improving security. To date a large number of local businesses are signed up to the Business Watch initiative but he encouraged all local businesses to contact the Chamber and get involved. Speaking at the launch, he said: Prevention is the best approach and as the means of countering crime has become increasingly sophisticated there is an even greater need to share intelligence and information. That is the real strength of the Business Watch scheme. If you wish to join the Business Watch scheme, then contact the Chamber through Lisa Brady at 087 7786834. Sixteen Longford town businesses were lauded for their age-friendly efforts last Wednesday at the launch of Longford Age Friendly Business Recognition Programme and Charter Presentation. Ulster Bank, AIB, Eugene Kenny Clothing, Cullens Shoes and Baxters Total Health Pharmacy on Main Street; The Baldy Sheep on New Street; The Courtyard Cafe on Hibernian Court; The Hair Trapp, Spirit Clothing and Spirit Kids on Dublin Street; Unique Boutique, Kanes Travel, Padraig Ward Pharmacy and Specsavers on Ballymahon Street and Loughreys Pharmacy, Dublin Street and Harbour Row were all presented with certificates and stickers, which attest to their actions in making the premises more accessible for older members of the community. Revealing that he turned fifty in May, Head of Local Enterprise, Michael Nevin shared his own experience with ageing, much to the amusement of the crowd gathered at Longford County Council. I got an insurance form, I think it was in July or August, and I had to tick a box on it and there were two categories on it. One was 35 - 49 and the next box was 50 - 64 and to think about the psychological impact of that he laughed, before highlighting the importance of the initiative. Its great that youre thinking about actions because were all growing older, weve a growing older consumer segment and its important that we cater for their needs, he added. Paying tribute to Co Librarian Mary Reynolds, Lisa Brady from Longford Chamber of Commerce and Janine Bartley, Longford Age Friendly County Programme, he then introduced Chief Executive of Longford County Council and the Chair of Longford Age Friendly Alliance, Paddy Mahon. Its just good and its refreshing and inspiring to see so many individual businesses and the Chamber of Commerce here to support and recognise not just the age friendly alliance and the strategy but the reality that there are so many businesses in Longford now that have achieved the age friendly business recognition, Mr Mahon said, alluding to the huge economic benefit that the initiative could hold. Those views were shared by President of Longford Chamber of Commerce Derek Scanlon, who admitted he was excited by its potential. Its high time that we were proud enough of what we do and how we do it to shout it from the rooftops: Longford is open for business, Longford wants your business and Longford is age friendly. Aisling Costello from Age Friendly Ireland gave examples of the actions taken by Longford businesses, including lowering the sound of music in store, making rails easier to reach and offering special rates before Cathaoirleach of Longford Co Council, Cllr Mick Cahill rounded up the evening ahead of the presentation of awards. Cllr Cahill began by acknowledging the contribution older people make to their communities, and congratulated local man, Andy ODowd for his achievements in the national Tidy Towns competition. Welcoming the initiative, and expressing his wish that it will spread to other towns throughout the county, Cllr Cahill concluded; Longford is a great county and together with both the local authority and all the local businesses we can make it a wonderful place to live and it can be a place we can be proud to live in. A judge has appointed a mediator to resolve a dispute between members of the Muslim community in Longford amid claims of a potential "sectarian" attack. Judge Seamus Hughes made the order at a special district court sitting on Thursday last, following an incident which occurred at the Longford Community Islamic Centre, Townspark Industrial Estate, Longford on August 21 last year. Six men, a father and his two sons together with three brothers, were all charged with assault and public order offences following the incident. Mohammad Tariq, 19 Cloverwell, Edgeworthstown, Longford and Muhammad Abid Hussain, 7 Cloverwell, Edgeworthstown, Longford were charged with assaulting Muhammad Asim contrary to Section 2 of the Non Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997. Muhammad Khalid, 11 Cloverwell, Edgeworthstown, Longford was also charged with assault and with two further Section 6 and Section 8 public order offences. Ghulam Rasool, 4 Cloverwell, Edgeworthstown, Longford was similarly charged with assaulting Mr Asim while his two sons, Ahsan Rasool and Quasim Rasool, both of the same address were also charged with assault. The latter named defendant was also charged under Section 6 and 8 of the Public Order Act. The court was told both gardai and the media were notified that an incident might arise, resulting in both attending the scene on the day in question. Garda Michael Belton said shortly after 2pm a disturbance inside the mosque broke out, culminating in an alleged assault being carried out on Mr Asim. I met the injured party once inside and noticed that he had received a number of blows to the head, he was bleeding and the robe he was wearing was ripped asunder, said Garda Belton. Garda Belton added that the atmosphere inside the mosque, which housed around 180 people, was quite hostile with at least two of the defendants appearing to cajole the crowd. Asked by Judge Hughes what may have prompted the row, Garda Belton said he believed it centred on a difference of opinion over the Muslim Centres Imam, or religious teacher. The court heard a number of individuals on the Mosques committee wanted a change which flew in the face of the wishes of other members. The Committee were terminating his contract or moving him on. They wanted him to leave and other people within the community didnt want him to leave, said the Garda. He was subsequently released from his duties and replaced by a new leader. Defence counsel, Niall Flynn, BL said none of his clients, including Ghulam Razool or Muhammad Tariq who were on the centres governing committee, were informed of the impending change. Dr Syed Ali, a witness for the prosecution and director of the Mosque said the committee had decided to replace the Imam on foot of fears groupings were being formed which were dividing the local Muslim community. He said both Mr Rasool and Mr Tariq refused to open talks with a view to solving the impasse and was instead informed a sectarian attack on the Muslim community would be carried out. By that I mean, someone is going to kill, he told the Judge. Dr Ali, who is also Mr Asim, the injured partys GP, said his client was still suffering psychologically from the incident. The fragility of the situation played out soon after when Dr Ali said he had been the committees elected chairman for the past two years. It was at that point, Inspector John Costello was forced to leave his position on the bench and warn onlookers of their behaviour. Judge Hughes asked the six defendants and their supporters who were sitting in the public gallery whether hostilities still remained. A spokesperson, Muhammad Hafiz, said some members of the Muslim Centre were not happy with how the Mosque was being administered. There is no structure, he argued, adding that certain figures were intent on running it as a dictatorship. In an attempt to resolve the lingering differences between both sides, Judge Hughes said he was keen to appoint an independent mediator despite Dr Ali saying he was not happy with the order. However, he warned the six defendants he would have no hesitation in handing out prison sentences if co-operation to the court-appointed mediator was not forthcoming. There is a lot of friction, I can see that. But if progress is not made and if this ill-will carries on I will have no choice but to sentence the six people. The reason I say that is to put wind in your sails, he told them. The case was adjourned pending the appointment of a mediator and is expected to return before a sitting of Longford District Court on January 10, 2017. Family & Parenting, Local News, Health & Wellness, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: October 10 2016 New York has significantly reduced the number of uninsured since the Marketplace opened in 2013. Open Enrollment to begin November 1st. Albany, NY - October 6, 2016 - NY State of Health, the states official health plan Marketplace, today announced the insurers offering health and dental plans to individuals and small business owners in 2017. New York has significantly reduced the number of uninsured since the Marketplace opened in 2013. The number of uninsured New Yorkers has declined by nearly 850,000. The rate of uninsured declined from 10 percent to 5 percent between 2013 and September 2015. Since its start three years ago, NY State of Health has had tremendous success, enrolling more than 2.8 million New Yorkers in affordable coverage through the Marketplace. said NY State of Health Executive Director, Donna Frescatore. We are pleased to announce the plans that will be offered in 2017, including a new option for consumers qualifying for Essential Plan coverage. Open enrollment for New Yorkers looking for affordable health coverage through Qualified Health Plans begins on November 1, 2016 and runs through January 31, 2017. Consumers are encouraged to shop for the best value. The amount of tax credits changes each year, and many individuals will find that they are eligible for increased federal financial assistance to help make coverage more affordable. The insurers that will offer Qualified Health Plans on the Individual Marketplace in 2017 are: Affinity Health Plan Capital District Physicians Health Plan CareConnect Insurance Company Empire BlueCross and Empire Blue Cross Blue Shield Excellus (Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Central NY and Univera in Western NY) Fidelis Care Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (EmblemHealth) Healthfirst New York HealthNow New York, Inc. (BlueShield of Northeastern NY; BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY) Independent Health MetroPlus Health Plan MVP Health Plan, Inc. Oscar Insurance Corporation United Healthcare of New York, Inc. The same plans are available to consumers in 2017 as in the current year, with the exception of Wellcare, which impacts fewer than 1,000 Qualified Health Plan enrollees. Wellcare will continue to offer Medicaid, Child Health Plus, and Essential Plan coverage through the Marketplace. Individuals have already been notified of this change and will also receive a renewal notice providing information about how to select another plan for 2017. NY State of Health Customer Service Center and in person enrollers will be available to assist Wellcare consumers with this transition to new coverage. As always, all consumers are encouraged to shop the Marketplace for the most affordable plan. All Qualified Health Plans offer the 10 essential health benefits, and some options offer additional services such as adult dental and vision coverage in 2017. Five insurers will offer options that cover a specific number of sick-doctor visits, not subject to a deductible. NY State of Healths Essential Plan designed for lower income New Yorkers launched in 2016 and has met with enormous success. The Essential Plan lowers premiums to $20 or less a month and provides comprehensive benefits with no annual deductibles, free preventive care, and low copayments. The insurers that will offer the Essential Plan in 2017 are: Affinity Health Plan Crystal Run Health Plan Excellus (Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Central NY and Univera in Western NY) Fidelis Care Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (EmblemHealth) Healthfirst HealthNow New York, Inc. (BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY) HealthPlus HP (Empire BlueCross BlueShield HealthPlus) Independent Health MetroPlus Health Plan MVP Health Care United Healthcare WellCare of New York YourCare Health Plan These are the same plans currently available, with the addition of HealthNow, which will offer Essential Plan coverage in western New York. NY State of Healths Small Business Marketplace offers flexible options for small businesses with 100 or fewer employees. Employers can select the amount they want to contribute toward the cost of their employees coverage and offer their employees a choice of health plan options without the administrative hassle. The insurers that will be offered on the Small Business Marketplace, or SHOP, in 2017 are: Capital District Physicians Health Plan, Inc. CareConnect Insurance Company Excellus (Excellus Blue Cross Blue Shield in Central NY and Univera in Western NY) Health Insurance Plan of Greater New York (EmblemHealth) HealthNow (BlueShield of Northeastern NY; BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY) Independent Health MetroPlus Health Plan MVP Health Plan, Inc. The Marketplace will also offer the following stand-alone dental plans: Delta Dental Insurance Company Dentcare Dentegra Insurance Company Empire BlueCross and Empire Blue Cross BlueShield Guardian (expanded to the Individual Marketplace in 2015) HealthNow New York, Inc. (BlueShield of Northeastern NY; BlueCross BlueShield of Western NY) Healthplex MetLife (offered on the Small Business Marketplace only) Solstice EmblemHealth previously offered a stand-alone dental plan, but in 2017 will instead offer pediatric dental as part of its Qualified Health Plan. Individuals who are currently enrolled in the Marketplace will receive information about renewing their coverage for 2017 directly from the Marketplace. Consumers who are new to the Marketplace will be able to enroll in coverage for 2017 when the open enrollment period begins on November 1, 2016. For additional information, visit the NY State of Health website. Interactive maps of the 2017 Health and Dental Plans are available here and here About NY State of Health New York opened its Health Plan Marketplace, NY State of Health, in October 2013. The Marketplaces one stop health insurance shopping experience offers high quality comprehensive health plans. NY State of Health is the only place where consumers can qualify to get help paying for coverage through premium discounts or tax credits. Eligible New Yorkers can also enroll in Medicaid, Child Health Plus and the Essential Plan through the Marketplace all year. For more information about the NY State of Health Marketplace, please visit: here or call Customer Service at 1-855-355-5777, TTY: 1.800.662.1220 or find an enrollment assistor. Family & Parenting, School & Education, Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases By Long Island News & PR Published: October 10 2016 Katie Schumacher, author & founder of the Dont Press Send campaign was at Oceanside High School to discuss the importance of creating a kinder, safer cyber community. Oceanside, NY - October 7, 2016 - Katie Schumacher, author and founder of the Dont Press Send campaign took stage at Oceanside High School in Long Island, New York to discuss the importance of creating a kinder, safer cyber community. The event, which was sponsored by NYS Senator Todd Kaminsky, was well-received by members of the audience which included a mix of students, parents, and educators. Dont Press Send is an initiative that was launched by Katie in 2012. The hour-long presentation, which was followed by audience questions, took place at the Oceanside High Schools Auditorium last evening and among the key takeaways included: Guidelines and strategies to navigate social media Creating a healthy balance with technology Using mindful techniques at home Protecting your child from engaging in illegal and/or dangerous online activities Tips for teaching technological responsibility Dont Press Send gives me the opportunity to spread a positive message that helps parents and children navigate the unregulated cyber landscape, shared Katie Schumacher, Author and Founder of Dont Press Send. It is my goal to help families by empowering parents and children with the tools that they need to tackle social media, both in my own community and around the nation. It is so important to make sure parents and children alike have the tools they need to be safe online, said Kaminsky. Understanding the power of our words and actions and the effect they have on others is key to creating a safe and positive cyber community. I am proud to partner with Katie to spread this message, and hope that parents and students walked away from tonights presentation empowered to safely navigate social media. To spread the impactful message beyond her local community, Katie published her first book this past summer. Titled Dont Press Send: A Mindful Approach to Social Media, An Education in Cyber Civics, the book provides insights for creating a clear, kind approach to using social media. To learn more about the campaign and book, please visit: here About Katie Schumacher Katie Schumacher has used her years as a teacher, her mindfulness training, and her on the job experience as the mother of three teens to develop the Dont Press Send campaign and the popular app by the same name. As a frequent lecturer, she has been able to spread the message of kind and careful communication to thousands of students, parents, and educators, inspiring them to incorporate a mindful approach to social media. In July 2016, Ms. Schumacher penned her first book, Dont Press Send: A Mindful Approach to Social Media, An Education in Cyber Civics, to give parents the tools and strategies they need to arm their children to create a better cyber community. For more information about the Dont Press Send book and initiative, please visit here. About Senator Todd Kaminsky Senator Todd Kaminsky has spent his career fighting for Long Island families and working to end government corruption. On April 19, the people of the South Shore elected him in a special election to continue that work in the State Senate. Todd has been a leader on issues important to Long Islanders, including property tax relief, government reform, assistance for Hurricane Sandy victims and a $20 million increase for South Shore school districts. Todd is also the statewide leader on access to diplomas for students with special needs, as well as fixing New Yorks broken standardized testing system for public school students. For more information on Senator Kaminsky, please visit here. Local News, Community, Charity & Cause, Press Releases, Seasonal & Current Events By Long Island News & PR Published: October 10 2016 The Village of Hempstead will be hosting its first-ever Nonpartisan Voter Education Workshop in Kennedy Park on Thursday, October 13, 2016 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. Hempstead, NY - October 7, 2016 - The Village of Hempstead will be hosting its first-ever Nonpartisan Voter Education Workshop in Kennedy Park on Thursday, October 13, 2016 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. The purpose of this event is to increase government accessibility by providing a practical, nonpartisan and educational forum while teaching the public about their voting rights and New York States electoral process. The event is free to the public, and attendees will be able to register to vote during the event. This free, nonpartisan workshop is an opportunity for residents who have questions about how to register to vote and other facets of the voting process to get answers, said Village of Hempstead Mayor Wayne J. Hall, Sr. Adam Gitlin will provide eligible voters with the knowledge they need heading into this crucial election season. Presenter Adam Gitlin, Esq., of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University School of Law, will be leading an interactive presentation instructing residents on how to register to vote, voting rights, documentation necessary on election day, how to use the ballot and how to obtain an absentee ballot leading up to election day. Following the presentation, Mr. Gitlin will answer all residents questions about the voting process during a question and answer session. Voting is one of our most cherished civil rights and participation in government is one of the great pillars of democracy, said Mr. Gitlin. Im honored to work with the Village of Hempstead to help residents navigate the voting registration process in order to ensure the communitys voices are heard. The League of Women Voters of Nassau County will be assisting to help voters register both in person and via www.vote411.org. Vote411 is a nonpartisan voters guide created by a unique partnership between The League of Women Voters of Nassau County and Google. Through the website, voters can see the candidates on their ballots, compare candidates positions side-by-side and print a ballot indicating preferences so voters can make informed decisions on Election Day. In todays constant, 24/7 media cycle of partisan news, our goal in helping share the vote411.org website is to give voters an educational, completely nonpartisan tool with which to make informed voting decisions, said Deputy Mayor Luis Figueroa. We are thrilled to partner with the League of Women Voters to increase accessibility of government and lift the shroud of mystery on the voting process. For more information, please call the Incorporated Village of Hempstead at 516.489.3400 or visit the website at www.villageofhempstead.org Looking to stay up to date about all of the news stories and local headlines that are important to Long Islanders? We've rounded up the top coverage for all of the important topics from multiple sources around Long Island, so you can be sure you've got the most recent update on the top stories for Long Island. Have an idea for a news story? Email us at news@longisland.com Columnists Press Releases Jund al Aqsa, an al Qaeda front group, has pledged allegiance to Jabhat Fath al Sham (JFS, or the Conquest of the Levant Front), al Qaedas rebranded branch in Syria. The move comes after tensions between Jund al Aqsa and other groups fighting Bashar al Assads regime boiled over in recent weeks. Ahrar al Sham, which models itself after the Taliban, has been at odds with Jund al Aqsa since last year. In October 2015, Jund al Aqsa withdrew from the Jaysh al Fath (Army of Conquest) alliance, which is jointly led by Ahrar al Sham and JFS (formerly known as Al Nusrah Front). At the time, Jund al Aqsa objected to some of Ahrar al Shams policies and tactics. Relations between the two sides seemed to improve earlier this year, but the situation was never fully resolved. Ahrar al Sham has recently accused Jund al Aqsa of having ties to the Islamic State and launched an offensive in areas controlled by the group. Numerous other opposition organizations rallied to Ahrar al Shams side, which created a crisis for Jund al Aqsa. By formally joining JFS, Jund al Aqsa and its allies are hoping to put an end to the rebel infighting. Dr. Abdallah Muhammad al Muhaysini, a highly influential al Qaeda-linked cleric in Syria, claimed on his Telegram page to have helped broker the deal. His involvement signals just how serious the matter is from the jihadists perspective. Jund al Aqsa has technically agreed to submit its forces to a common sharia (Islamic law) court that can adjudicate the matter. But it is too early to tell how the conflict will be resolved. Although Jund al Aqsas opponents accuse the group of serving Abu Bakr al Baghdadis Islamic State, its leaders have consistently expressed their loyalty to al Qaeda. In the past, Jund al Aqsa refused to fight Baghdadis men and it is likely that some factions within the organization are sympathetic to the self-declared caliphate. There are also rumors that the Islamic State infiltrated Jund al Aqsas ranks to launch attacks on Ahrar al Sham figures and others. But Jund al Aqsas general command, which oversees the organization, has repeatedly signaled its allegiance to al Qaeda. When Jund al Aqsa announced its withdrawal from the Jaysh al Fath alliance last year, for example, the groups statement referred to Ayman al Zawahiri as the sheikh of the mujahideen of today and his eminence. On July 31, Jund al Aqsa issued a statement praising Al Nusrah Fronts relaunch as JFS, saying that al Qaedas leaders must have determined it was in the best interest of both the people and the jihad in Syria. In so deciding, the groups general command wrote, Zawahiri and his subordinates have once again proven their sacrifice in service of the ummah (worldwide community of Muslims). The jihadists can [use] any name they want, the statement continued, so long as they stay true to the principles of the prestigious first generation of mujahideen and follow the Prophet Mohammeds methodology. In September, the State Department added Jund al Aqsa to the US governments list of designated terrorist organizations. Despite operating independently, State noted, the group is still openly aligned with Nusrah (JFS). The Long War Journal has repeatedly documented Jund al Aqsas ties to al Qaeda. [See LWJ reports: An al Qaeda front group in Syria, Jund al Aqsa leaders join Al Nusrah Front, and State Department adds al Qaeda front group in Syria to terror designation list.] Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The Islamic States Amaq News Agency claims that the group launched 53 martyrdom operations in Iraq and Syria during the month of September. The figure was first published on an Arabic infographic (seen above) that was released by Amaq on Oct. 6. Amaq has produced similar infographics for each of the prior months in 2016. Through the first nine months of the year, Amaq has claimed a total of 782 suicide bombings in Iraq, Syria and Libya, for an average of 87 per month. However, according to Amaqs figures, the Islamic State launched fewer suicide attacks in September than in any previous month this year. The prior low was in July, when 59 of the so-called caliphates martyrs blew themselves up. The high water mark came in May, when 119 martyrdom operations were purportedly carried out. Even though the number of suicide bombings dipped in September, the Islamic State has still claimed a historically high number of martyrdom attacks in 2016. The National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) maintains an unclassified event database compiled from information in open-source reports of terrorist attacks. The State Department relies upon the data each year in its Country Reports on Terrorism. According to START, all terrorist groups, including the Islamic State, carried out an average of 61 suicide bombings per month in 2015, which saw more suicide attacks than any previous year. That previous monthly high is significantly less than the average of 87 martyrdom operations per month claimed by the Islamic State during the current calendar year. Targets of the Islamic States martyrs from January through September 2016 Most of the Islamic States martyrdom operations during the first nine months of 2016, 463 of the 782 claimed (59 percent), have been carried out inside Iraq. According to Amaq News, 437 of the bombings targeted Iraqi government forces. The Islamic State launched 289 suicide attacks in Syria (37 percent of the total) during the same time frame. The infographics produced by Amaq indicate that 123 of these targeted the Syrian regime. (Seven of the suicide operatives struck Syrian regime forces in September, including three in the city of Tartus.) More than 100 of the martyrdom bombings in Syria since the beginning of the year struck the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) and 51 targeted Syrian Opposition groups.* The remaining 29 martyrdom operations took place in Libya.** Curiously, Amaqs infographic for September does not list any suicide bombings in Libya. The Islamic State has been engaged in heavy fighting against local Libyan forces, backed by American Special Forces and airstrikes, in the city of Sirte. In the month of August alone, Amaq claimed 12 martyrs gave themselves for the cause in the Libyan city. Vehicle-borne improvised explosive devices (VBIEDs) are used more often than individual bombers strapped with explosives, according to Amaq. The infographics count 530 VBIEDs used in suicide attacks (68 percent of the total) as compared to 239 bombings with explosive belts, jackets and vests. The remaining 13 are listed as dual operations. As The Long War Journal has reported in the past, Amaqs claims regarding the number of suicide attacks should not be accepted uncritically. The figures have not been independently verified. It is possible that some attacks are counted even if they failed. And the Islamic State has used children or adolescents in its bombings, meaning that some of the attackers are not truly willing martyrs. For more on the Islamic States claimed suicide operations, see LWJ reports: The Islamic States prolific martyrdom machine, Islamic State claims nearly 600 suicide attacks in first six months of 2016 and Islamic State claims more than 700 suicide attacks since beginning of the year. *Amaqs infographic for July included a single figure for suicide bombings against YPG and Peshmerga forces, making it difficult to determine the total number of bombings that struck solely the YPG. In all other months, the figures for attacks on the YPG and Peshmerga are broken out separately. **Amaqs infographics sum to 782 total martyrdom operations in Iraq, Syria and Libya. However, Amaqs country-specific data totals to 781. Thomas Joscelyn is a Senior Fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies and the Senior Editor for FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. The top commander and clerical representative of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) external operations wing, the Qods Force, recently delivered speeches in Tehran and Damascus commemorating the first anniversary of the death of Brigadier General Hossein Hamedani, the most senior IRGC commander killed in the Syrian civil war. IRGC-QF commander Major General Qassem Soleimani delivered a speech on Oct. 5 in Tehran. Senior IRGC commanders and Iranian government officials were in attendance. The problem of the enemies is the centrality of Syria in the resistance front and relations with the Islamic Republic, Soleimani said. We do not only defend Syria in this country, but we defend Islam and the Islamic Republic of Iran, as well, because DAESH [pejorative for the Islamic State] and takfiri groups were not formed for Syria, these were formed for Iran. Soleimanis statement underscores the strategic importance of Syria to Tehran. He and other senior officials justify their involvement in Syria by claiming that the fight there keeps Iran safe from threats like the Islamic State and Sunni extremists. Soleimani said he saw Hamedani a few hours prior to his death and suspected Hamedani sensed his demise. Hamedani, who was posthumously promoted to Major General, played an important role in the IRGCs Syria operations until his death on Oct. 7, 2015, in the vicinity of Aleppo. He was a top commander in the Iran-Iraq War and led the crackdown against Iranian protesters in Tehran during the 2009 post-election protests. Deploying to Syria in 2011 shortly after the protests broke out, Hamedani was in charge of organizing Syrian paramilitary forces based on Irans Basij model, and was also the senior field commander in charged of IRGC and non-Iranian Shiite militias in Syria. The culture of Imam Hussein has made us victorious, Soleimani said. [If a] DAESH government would have formed, God knows what disasters would have occurred in the world of Islam. The Islamic Republic of Iran has stood against this disaster with pride. The Syrian system has been able to tolerate five years of pressure and surrounding with Irans help, so the world confesses that these groups are terrorists If these groups were not stopped in Syria, today all of this region would be fighting DAESH. Soleimani then claimed the Islamic State is worse than the Khawarij, or the group that broke away from Imam Ali, who was the successor of Muhammad in the seventh century, point out to what they do with prisoners. The takfiris have been or are being defeated in all fronts today, Soleimani said. I believe that the Syrian people are undefeatable with the support of their government. Europe today pays a heavy security price, and the reason is their support of these terrorist groups. Martyr Hamedani had a valuable effect on these victories. We must trust the wisdom of our leader [Ali Khamenei], and know his value. Today if the Islamic Revolution has amazed the enemies it is because the wisdom of the leader We are proud that we are Shia, whose peak is higher than all religions. Meanwhile, in Damascus, the supreme leaders clerical representative in the Qods Force, Ali Shirazi, delivered remarks for a commemoration ceremony held for Hamedani in the Mosque of Sayeda Roqayyah in Damascus, Syria. The press reported that shrine defenders from Lebanon, Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Iran attended the ceremony. Iranian embassy staff in Syria including the ambassador were also in attendance. The governor of Irans Khorasan-e Razavi province, where the holy city of Mashhad is located, was also there. Hojjat al Eslam Ali Shirazi said if Muslim nations were not silent against their corrupt rulers, there would be no need today for all of these martyrs. The reason is that humans are silent against oppressors and the deviation of global community, Shirazi said. They neither have problem in the heart nor protest on the tongue. Jihad against the enemies continues until they cease hostility with Gods religion and all Islamic communities move according to Gods commandments. [Update: In the earlier version of this report, the name of the IRGC command post in Syria was listed as the Imam Hossein Base. This is unconfirmed. There is the a distinct Imam Hossein Base of the IRGC Basij paramilitary headquartered in Iran, which has deployed forces to Syria.] Amir Toumaj is a independent analyst and contributor to FDD's Long War Journal. Are you a dedicated reader of FDD's Long War Journal? Has our research benefitted you or your team over the years? Support our independent reporting and analysis today by considering a one-time or monthly donation. Thanks for reading! You can make a tax-deductible donation here. 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. Thank you for reading! To read this article and more, subscribe now for as little as $1.99. Successful design protection Nick Kounoupias, chief counsel of ACID, pulled no punches in a discussion on the Trunki case, saying the ruling "has shifted the law very much in favour of infringers" by giving "too narrow an interpretation of what a registered design protects". He added that the law on designs had become too complicated, with five different regimes in the UK alone: this is a burden to the majority of design companies that have only a small number of employees. Ruby Kakati, senior IP counsel of Lucozade Ribena Suntory, agreed that the Trunki decision has "narrowed the scope" of protection but said designs could still have a role to play in a diverse portfolio, particularly for the shape and outward appearance of products and packaging. Elizabeth Ferrill, a partner of Finnegan, compared European and US approaches to designs. She does not recommend filing CAD drawings at the USPTO, as protection will likely be narrower, and that it is important to include many drawings (often more than the seven views allowed for RCDs). Reflecting on the recent US accession to the Hague Agreement, she noted that usage is still low, partly due to the lack of harmonisation in practice: "You have shading and non-shading countries, for example." The panel, which was moderated by Philip Cupitt of Finnegan, also compared designs and trade dress, looking at case studies such as the Coca-Cola bottle. The recent Advocate General's opinion in the Rubik's Cube case came in for some criticism; the CJEU's judgment in that case is due on November 10. EU trade mark reform Steve Rowan Steve Rowan There will be minor differences between EUIPO practice and that of national offices until around January 2019, which is the deadline for EU member states to transpose the new Trade Mark Directive, said Steve Rowan, divisional director trade marks and designs at the UK IPO. He said the UK office will consult on changes necessary, in particular regarding the removal of the graphical representation requirement. This could include changes to filing requirements (for example, the UK does not at present accept sound files), IT systems and databases. Dirk Wieddekind, a partner of Taylor Wessing, discussed convergence initiatives and recent cases on issues including black-and-white/colour marks and figurative marks with a word element (such as the BioID case). He agreed with earlier speakers that EUIPO is now taking a more restrictive approach than it used to. Taylor Wessing partner Roland Mallinson moderated a wide-ranging discussion that covered over-long specifications of goods/services, disclaimers, harmonisation and new means of representing marks, such as fly-through animations. Antje Ehrlich, senior trade mark counsel of Merck Group, said the abolition of the graphical representation requirement might spur pharma companies to file more 3D marks, for goods such as laboratory equipment. Online enforcement Web monitoring, prioritisation, education, new gTLDs and blocking mechanisms such as the UK Section 97A orders were discussed by a panel of industry representatives, moderated by Anna Reid of D Young & Co. Leo Longauer, director of global IP enforcement at Swarovski, said his company started systemic monitoring last year and "we were hit by the numbers". The monitoring had led to categorising and "applying the right legal tactics" to each case, he added. Charlotte de Jouffroy, IP counsel of Pernod Ricard, highlighted the role played by investigators and educating the public, saying: "We did not dare talk publicly about counterfeiters. But we changed our approach - the consumer is also a victim and an ally." Simon Bourn, head of litigation, enforcement and anti-piracy at PRS for Music, said Section 97A orders were an important element of a "multi-pronged campaign" against music piracy, but that technological solutions to disrupt unlicensed services also have a role to play. For example, PRS has reported 250,000 sites to Google for de-listing: 92% of these have been successfully removed from search results and 130 sites have come down altogether. Daniel Bennett, CEO of Yellow Brand Protection, explained how technology can help filter sites based on the level of risk, and answered a question from the audience about the Chinese service WeChat. "It's roughly where eBay was 10 years ago," he said. Trade secrets grow Peter Koch, a director of Gowling WLG, introduced a discussion on trade secrets with a review of the EU Directive and some of the questions it raises, such as: what are "reasonable steps" to keep something secret? And how can you maintain secrecy during court proceedings? The panellists - Emily O'Neill, IP and litigation counsel at Spectris; Tony Thiaray, director of legal, London City Airport; Maria Lampert, information expert - IP, The British Library; and Stephen Robertson, head of IP strategy and valuation, Metis Partners - agreed that getting into a position where you need to enforce trade secrets is the "worst-case scenario" and emphasised the need to take steps to educate employees, control access to information and stick to a corporate policy. Trade dress, designs and copyright Overlapping IP rights Overlapping IP rights Overlapping IP rights was the subject of the post-lunch panel, and Michael Moore, partner of Keltie, provided an illustration of how brands could be protected under different IP systems. "It's more difficult to be a one-dimensional trade mark attorney!" he noted. The session was moderated by Ben Britter, a partner of Keltie. Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) provide a good example of a technology where different IP rights have a role to play, and Noam Shemtov, senior lecturer in IP at Queen Mary University of London, examined the merits of patents, trade marks, trade dress, unfair competition, registered designs and copyright in a discussion that covered cases including Apple's slide-to-unlock feature and the pending dispute Microsoft v Corel (over Microsoft Office) in the US. Duncan Hinnells, a solicitor with Aston Martin, gave a practical and lively presentation on enforcement of various rights noting that litigation involves choices: "Be clear what your case is. What are your goals? Which ones do you care about?" For example, in the UK unregistered designs might be more potent than registered design rights given the standard for infringement. He emphasised the importance of assembling evidence early, studying contracts carefully and going after the infringer's weakest link: "Think from the opponent's point of view!" Social media Social media selfie Social media selfie It was my pleasure to chair a session on social media featuring Alexia Willetts, chief operating officer of Wistla, and JoAnna Emery, IP manager of Williams grand Prix Engineering. In entertaining presentations, they covered topics including the IP practices and procedures of the main social media sites, the role of social media managers, tensions between IP protection and free speech and the role of hashtags. The recent controversy over the Olympics and Rule 40 was a particular focus. There were a number of interesting questions from the audience covering both trade mark and copyright issues, such as ownership of photos, how best to deal with infringers and appropriate corporate policies. Digital Single Market In the day's final session, Roya Ghafele of Oxfirst and Michael Loch of GSMA discussed injunctions in standard-essential patent cases under the EU Enforcement Directive, while Jane Hyndman - group general counsel of Compact Media - discussed copyright-related issues in the EU Digital Single Market agenda, including portability. The panel broadly agreed that one impact of all these changes is that "the future will see more economics in the courtroom". The Forum was attended by about 100 in-house counsel and other IP specialists, and was held at the Le Meridien Piccaddilly. For more information, see our dedicated page. Counsel at Red Lobster, Atlassian and two other companies say its hard to register descriptive terms, but that it can be worth the slog in some cases Chennai: A press release by the Chennai Apollo Hospital said that there is no improvement or deterioration in the health condition of the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa who has been undergoing treatment there for more than ten days. The Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan will visit Jayalalithaa at the hospital today at 11:30 a.m. The Puducherry Chief Minister V.Narayanaswamy and Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi had also visited her at the hospital earlier. Thiruvananthapuram: Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that the party was not aware of the appointment of Member of Parliament P.K Sreemathys daughter-in-law as a member of her personal staff. The CM added that party came to know of it only when the appointee was given a promotion which was then cancelled. The appointment made while Sreemathy teacher was a member of V.S Achuthananthan-led government had become controversial. But she had said in a Facebook post that it was made with the consent of Pinarayi Vijayan who was then the CPM state secretary. Fifteen Years Into the Afghan War, Do Americans Know the Truth? Last week marked the fifteenth anniversary of the US invasion of Afghanistan, the longest war in US history. There weren't any victory parades or photo-ops with Afghanistan's post-liberation leaders. That is because the war is ongoing. In fact, 15 years after launching a war against Afghanistan's Taliban government in retaliation for an attack by Saudi-backed al-Qaeda, the US-backed forces are steadily losing territory back to the Taliban. What President Obama called "the good war" before took office in 2008, has become the "forgotten war" some eight years later. How many Americans know that we still have nearly 10,000 US troops in Afghanistan? Do any Americans know that the Taliban was never defeated, but now holds more ground in Afghanistan than at any point since 2001? Do they know the Taliban overran the provincial capital of Kunduz last week for a second time in a year and they threaten several other provincial capitals? Do Americans know that we are still wasting billions on "reconstruction" and other projects in Afghanistan that are, at best, boondoggles? According to a recent audit by the independent US government body overseeing Afghan reconstruction, half a billion dollars was wasted on a contract for a US company to maintain Afghan military vehicles. The contractor "fail[ed] to meet program objectives," the audit found. Of course they still got paid, like thousands of others getting rich off of this failed war. Do Americans know that their government has spent at least $60 billion to train and equip Afghan security forces, yet these forces are still not capable of fighting on their own against the Taliban? We recently learned that an unknown but not insignificant number of those troops brought to the US for training have deserted and are living illegally somewhere in the US. In the recent Taliban attack on Kunduz, it was reported that thousands of Afghan security personnel fled without firing a shot. According to a recent study by Brown University, the direct costs of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars thus far are nearly five trillion dollars. The indirect costs are virtually incalculable. Perhaps Afghanistan is the "forgotten war" because to mention it would reveal how schizophrenic is US foreign policy. After all, we have been fighting for 15 years in Afghanistan in the name of defeating al-Qaeda, while we are directly and indirectly assisting a franchise of al-Qaeda to overthrow the Syrian government. How many Americans would applaud such a foreign policy? If they only knew, but thanks to a media only interested in promoting Washington's propaganda, far too many Americans don't know. I have written several of these columns on the various anniversaries of the Afghan (and Iraq) wars, pointing out that the wars are ongoing and that the result of the wars has been less stable countries, a less stable region, a devastated local population, and an increasing probability of more blowback. I would be very happy to never have to write one of these again. We should just march home. Buy Ron Paul's latest book, Swords into Plowshares, here. Dr. Ron Paul Project Freedom Congressman Ron Paul of Texas enjoys a national reputation as the premier advocate for liberty in politics today. Dr. Paul is the leading spokesman in Washington for limited constitutional government, low taxes, free markets, and a return to sound monetary policies based on commodity-backed currency. He is known among both his colleagues in Congress and his constituents for his consistent voting record in the House of Representatives: Dr. Paul never votes for legislation unless the proposed measure is expressly authorized by the Constitution. In the words of former Treasury Secretary William Simon, Dr. Paul is the "one exception to the Gang of 535" on Capitol Hill. Dr. Ron Paul Archive 2005-2019 http://www.MarketOracle.co.uk - The Market Oracle is a FREE Daily Financial Markets Analysis & Forecasting online publication. MARTINSVILLE The City Council on Tuesday will consider adopting a resolution urging state lawmakers to establish a regional transportation district for Southern Virginia. The idea is part of the city's continuing push to get the proposed Interstate 73 built. Other parts of the state, including Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads, have created regional transportation authorities that generated a lot of funding for highway projects through an add-on to their regional sales tax rates, City Manager Leon Towarnicki wrote in a report in the councils agenda packet. A specific proposed tax rate increase is not part of the resolution. If a transportation authority is established here, revenue that it helps to generate could be put toward various road projects, not just I-73, the report indicates. The proposed resolution is similar to one prepared by Roanoke officials. The region that will be most positively impacted and benefited by the development and construction of Interstate 73 must provide some funding in order for the Commonwealth Transportation Board to approve construction of the highway, the resolution states. Martinsville City Council will consider the resolution when it meets at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in its chambers on the second floor of the municipal building on West Church Street uptown. Other agenda items will include: @ Hearing an update on activities of the West Piedmont Workforce Investment Board. @ Considering a proclamation regarding Extra Mile Day 2016. @ Considering routine-type budget amendments. @ Hearing comments from Towarnicki and individual council members, as well as public comments from the floor, about city matters not on the agenda for discussion. This portion of the meeting will not be televised. At 7 p.m., the council will meet privately to consult with legal counsel and consider potential appointments to local boards and commissions. Mickey Powell reports for the Martinsville Bulletin. He can be reached at . Afghanistan is full of surprises. And what surprise could be bigger than the lightening advance of the Northern Alliance over the last seven days? In less than a week, Taliban forces have been swept from most of northern Afghanistan, including the key cities of Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kunduz, Taloqan, Bamiyan, Jalalabad and the capital Kabul. The question is: How did a force that only two months ago controlled most of Afghanistan get swept from the battlefield so quickly, and is the battle over? "When the leaders speak of peace, the common people know that war is coming." (Bertolt Brecht) Afghanistan is full of surprises. And what surprise could be bigger than the lightening advance of the Northern Alliance over the last seven days? In less than a week, Taliban forces have been swept from most of northern Afghanistan, including the key cities of Mazar-e-Sharif, Herat, Kunduz, Taloqan, Bamiyan, Jalalabad and the capital Kabul. The question is: How did a force that only two months ago controlled most of Afghanistan get swept from the battlefield so quickly, and is the battle over? As a matter of fact, the speed of the Northern Alliance's advance was not really surprising. Rapid advances are the norm in Afghanistan, as when the Taliban swept through the country as quickly in 1994 and 1995. A decade or so earlier, Russia's initial invasion of Afghanistan took only a few weeks. The reason for this phenomenon is partly the country's small population density. The rugged terrain means that most of it is uninhabited. Armies are usually small and mobile, with not much of a rear. So once the front line breaks, it usually ends in a rapid retreat. The national question also played a role. The Taliban troops in northern Afghanistan - overwhelmingly Pushtoon in composition (with volunteers from Pakistan and Saudi Arabia) were fighting among a population drawn from other ethnic groups: Tajiks, Uzbeks, Hazaras, who were viciously oppressed by the Taliban and hostile to them. It was thus relatively easy for the Northern Alliance to make rapid progress in this area, and more difficult for the Taliban to maintain themselves, once the grip of terror was removed. Another feature of wars in Afghanistan is the tendency of commanders to defect to the other side - and back again. Switching sides is common behaviour among Afghan groups. It is how the Taliban initially captured Mazar-e-Sharif in 1997 and how it was as swiftly driven from the city later that year. The factions comprising the Northern Alliance have fought one another as often as they have fought the Taliban. As the Taliban core withdrew from northern Afghanistan, the groups that had sided with it during its occupation quickly joined the advancing Northern Alliance. It is also important to bear in mind the following fact: the Russians occupied not just Kabul, but the whole country, quickly and (from their point of view) painlessly. But the problems started afterwards, when they found themselves faced with an intractable guerrilla war. The same was true in 1992, when the Mujahedeen (basically, the same people as the present Northern Alliance), occupied Kabul with surprising speed, only to be ejected again three years later. Finally, the Taliban themselves staged a lightening advance, as we have said, and dominated ninety percent of Afghanistan, until the position was completely reversed, as is happening before our eyes. From his hiding place, Mullah Omar says that the loss of Kabul and the other cities is "unimportant", and that he is preparing a counter-offensive. Can this be true? Or is it the expression of a deluded mind? The western media proclaim victory and the rout of the Taliban. But if one reads between the lines of the speeches of the leaders, a note of worry underlies the public triumphalism. Withdrawal or rout? Tony Blair - that most consummate and tireless propagandist of the cause of US imperialism - did not hesitate to characterise the recent events as a "rout" for the Taliban. He indignantly rejected any suggestion that it may have been a strategic withdrawal. However, as usual, the British prime minister was being "more papist than the Pope". Subsequent statements from US spokespersons put matters in an entirely different light, and admitted that the Taliban actions in abandoning Kabul without a fight may indeed have been a strategic withdrawal. The same point has been made by the serious strategists of Capital, who, unlike Tony Blair, understand the dangers that can arise when one starts to believe one's own propaganda. A Stratfor report, dated November 13 and entitled "Taliban Withdrawal Was Strategy, Not Rout" answers firmly: "On the surface," says Stratfor, "it appears a lightning offensive by the Northern Alliance - supported by US aerial bombardment - has shattered the Taliban army in a matter of days. But has the Taliban been defeated? An examination of the Taliban withdrawal suggests the group has intentionally surrendered territory in the interest of adopting tactics more amenable to its strengths. If the United States and its allies misread the Taliban withdrawal as a rout, they could quickly find themselves locked in a nasty guerrilla war in Afghanistan. Worse, that war is likely to spread beyond Afghanistan's borders, as the core of Taliban and al Qaeda forces in that country seek to secure their supply lines and capitalise on their strengths and their opponents' weaknesses." The most striking feature of the withdrawal of the Taliban is that it took place almost without a fight. Neither the US bombardment nor the Northern Alliance offensive are sufficient to explain this. The Taliban has a hardened army with many veterans of the war against the Soviet Union. The Americans themselves were forced to admit that the Taliban forces were tough combat troops and were putting up a surprisingly strong resistance. Therefore, it would seem inexplicable that they should just give up without a fight. Several western observers have pointed out that the Taliban forces withdrew from Kabul in good order under the cover of darkness, in order to avoid being bombed. The aim was clearly to avoid battle and preserve their forces intact. Stratfor, for example, points out that: "In most cases, the Taliban's retreat was premeditated and orderly. The fighting that occurred was a rear-guard action, often carried out by foreign troops." "So contrary to appearances, the withdrawal by the Taliban troops was intentional and orderly," concludes Stratfor. "They were not routed. They are now stripped to their ethnic and ideological core, intact, with most of their arms and equipment. They are also back in familiar territory and reinforced with the bulk of Osama Bin Laden's Afghan Arab volunteers. The Taliban are now prepared to adopt a strategy more amenable to their tactical strengths and resources." George Bush's "joy" The Americans did not welcome the occupation of Kabul by the Northern Alliance forces, but had no alternative but to accept it and publicly support it. Bush could not do otherwise. Coming after a month in which the US bombing campaign had failed to deliver any serious results, this was the biggest military breakthrough since the US mounted its campaign - in fact, it was the only breakthrough. President Bush declared their rapid advances to be "great progress" towards the goal of bringing al-Qaida terrorists to justice. But behind the scenes he is already manoeuvring against his "allies". The fact that Washington does not control the situation was starkly exposed by the conduct of the Northern Alliance. When the Northern Alliance troops moved into Kabul it was clear that they had ignored Mr Bush's plea on Saturday - made with Pervez Musharraf, the Pakistani leader, at his side - not to enter the capital. As late as Monday night the Northern Alliance was still promising that its forces would remain outside Kabul. But on Tuesday its troops swept into Kabul at dawn. In public, President George W. Bush welcomed the "wonderful, joyous" scenes of liberated cities in Afghanistan on Tuesday, after the Northern Alliance swept triumphantly into the capital Kabul. But in private, he is furious at the fact that the rebel fighters defied his earlier demands not to enter Kabul. This open defiance of the instructions from the American President was a warning to the West that the Northern Alliance was not prepared to be the puppet of America. This fact is pregnant with consequences for the future. The Northern Alliance claimed it had no choice but to establish a presence in Kabul following the night-time flight of Taliban forces. Many of its troops on Tuesday remained outside the city. But the lightening advance of the Northern Alliance, following the earlier capture of the key city of Mazar-e-Sharif, has not only shifted the military balance but also rewritten the diplomatic equation in Afghanistan. The stage is set for a future conflict between America and the Northern Alliance. Under the cloak of friendship and solidarity, the public statements of Alliance leaders shows a defiant attitude to Washington. Conflicts are inevitable. The US desires to shape a new coalition government for Afghanistan, which it would dominate. But the military successes of the Northern Alliance forces has given rise to the feeling among its soldiers and commanders that they are winning enough victories on the ground to claim political leadership of the country for themselves. "We didn't need US help to take Taloqan," one senior commander, Ras Mohammad Urya, was quoted as saying. "We don't need help from America to take Konduz. After that we will think," he said. Thus, the red light is flashing for the Americans in Kabul. That is why the Americans and British are urging the United Nations to intervene, allegedly for "humanitarian" reasons. Not accidentally, the most enthusiastic advocates of UN intervention are the Pakistani leaders. Pervez Musharraf, Pakistan's president, said on Tuesday that Kabul should be immediately demilitarised and that UN "blue turban" troops should be rapidly deployed to prevent a blood bath. "Events in Afghanistan are moving extremely fast, and we need to move faster than events," he said. "The more this vacuum lasts, the more danger there is of ethnic clashes." This is pure hypocrisy. The government of Islamabad was unconcerned about human rights and blood baths in Afghanistan as long as their allies - the Taliban - were carrying out the massacres. But now that their friends are on the receiving end, they demand that the United Nations intervene to save them. The problem for the Pakistani ruling clique is not that there is a power vacuum in Kabul, but that the vacuum is being filled by their mortal enemies, the Northern Alliance. This does not suit either Washington or Islamabad, but it is occurring anyway. Diplomatic manoeuvres Continuing to play out the diplomatic farce, the Northern Alliance leaders invited the United Nations to come to Kabul to help keep the peace. Abdullah Abdullah, the Alliance's foreign minister, also invited "all Afghan groups" - except the Taliban - to travel to Kabul for talks about the future government of Afghanistan. Lakhdar Brahimi, the UN special envoy on Afghanistan, outlined plans for a two-year transitional government, supported by a multinational security force. Speaking at a UN security council meeting, Mr Brahimi said he hoped for a meeting between ethnic leaders and the Northern Alliance "as early as humanly possible". Tony Blair, taking his cue from Washington and Islamabad, immediately urged the UN to move rapidly to fill the political vacuum in Afghanistan. "We need urgently to put in place the next political and humanitarian moves that the changing military situation now permits." Thus, the urgent dispatch of 4,000 British troops is said to be for humanitarian purposes: keeping order in Kabul and assisting the United Nations and humanitarian agencies. The units concerned include elements from 3 Commando and 16 Air Assault brigades, including 2nd Battalion, the Parachute regiment, and 45 Commando Royal Marines, backed up by RAF air transport, support helicopters, engineers, logistic teams and explosive ordnance disposal experts. None of these - it is alleged - will be used in offensive operations against Afghanistan's Taliban former rulers or Osama Bin Laden's al-Qaida network. A small number of UK special forces are, however, said to be on the ground assisting the US operation there, while the ministry said 40 Commando Royal Marines remained at a high state of readiness for "contingency operations." It should be observed that regiments such as the paratroops, commandos and Royal Marines are first-rate combat troops, whose principal purpose is not handing out blankets and sacks of flour. It is crystal clear that the urgent dispatch of such troops to Kabul is not connected with any humanitarian intentions, but has a much more serious aim. When we are told that they are not being sent to fight bin Laden and al-Qaida, we might accept it. When it is said that they are going to "keep order" in Kabul, we feel that we are getting closer to the truth. But wait a minute. Is the Northern Alliance not present in Kabul? Are they not supposed to be our allies? And are they not maintaining order in the capital? In order to prepare public opinion in the West for what will come next, the press is full of reports (mostly rumours) of supposed atrocities by the Northern Alliance. It is fairly certain that some Taliban prisoners have been killed, especially Pakistanis and Arabs. Washington has urged restraint on the Northern Alliance. But moral exhortations by foreign leaders will have little effect in Afghanistan. As the Financial Times points out: "it is unclear how the coalition could physically prevent further atrocities - especially given their scarce presence on the ground and their reluctance to deploy UN peacekeeping troops." Despite the dire predictions of the western media, the scale of these killings so far appears to be much less than on previous occasions, and certainly nothing in comparison to the massacres perpetrated by the Taliban in occupied territories in the north. There have been no confirmed reports of a breakdown in public order in Kabul. On the contrary, most Kabulis seem happy to see the back of the Taliban and - at least for the time being - to welcome the Northern Alliance. Therefore, what need is there to send 4,000 British combat troops to Kabul? It is sufficient to pose the question to get the answer. The British army is being sent to Kabul, not for humanitarian purposes, or to keep order, but to challenge the hegemony of the Northern Alliance and prevent it from installing itself in power. Once again, the British ruling establishment are falling over themselves to do the dirty work for the Americans. "A broad-based government"? The Financial Times, on November 14, warned: "But diplomats are also fretting that the political task of reconstructing Afghanistan may have just become immeasurably more difficult as the country is once again in danger of sliding back into anarchy." While the diplomats at the State Department fretted, the generals at the Pentagon - of whom President Truman once remarked that they were not capable of marching and chewing gum at the same time - celebrated, believing that the fall of Kabul would relieve them of the painful necessity of fighting on the ground. However, the elation of the Pentagon is premature, to say the least. The rapidly shifting military situation has frustrated the Americans' attempts to impose a political solution in Afghanistan favourable to themselves. As always, the decisive question is arms. With the withdrawal of the Taliban, the only armed force in Kabul is the Northern Alliance. The only way to keep the Northern Alliance under control and prevent them from seizing power is by counterposing to them the armed might of Britain and America. And the only way to do this is to deploy American and British troops on the ground as quickly as possible. Hence Tony Blair's indecent haste to send in the British army. However, as we have seen, this is a very risky option. They will be sending troops into an explosive environment which they do not control. The warring factions have not even declared a cease-fire. This is a dangerous situation in which to deploy UN troops. Which countries would volunteer to send troops on such a risky mission? Only the USA, and its foreign stooges - Britain and Turkey. Thus, it would not be a UN force at all, but an American force under a UN facade. The Americans talk about a broad based national unity government, but this is unreal in the present situation. The men with guns on the ground, and not the politicians sitting in Washington and Peshawar, are shaping the country's destiny. The Northern Alliance - at least for the moment - has turned itself into the arbiter of Afghanistan. But, given the restricted ethnic base of the Northern Alliance, this creates new problems. Diplomats are warning of a de facto partition of Afghanistan along ethnic lines. Everybody agrees that what is needed is a broad-based national unity government. The problem is "how broad" - and who will wield the real power? Pakistan and Pushtoon leaders such as Pir Syed Ahmed Gaillani, head of the National Islamic Front of Afghanistan, who last month called a meeting of Afghan tribal leaders to launch a new peace process, have also said that no faction should dominate: "Capturing an area by force has not brought peace to Afghanistan in the past. If there isn't a proper political formula, the problem will not be solved," says Gaillani. Kabul must be turned into a neutral city under the UN and the Organisation of Islamic Conference with "a government that represents all factions". And so on and so forth. Very nice in theory. But the problem is that at present only one faction holds power in Kabul, and has arms in its hands. That changes everything. We can predict in advance that, no matter who is in the government, the Northern Alliance will insist on controlling two ministries: defence and the interior - the army and the police. Since, as Lenin explained long ago, the state is armed bodies of men, the rest does not matter very much. Before capturing Kabul, the Northern Alliance had seemingly struck an outline power-sharing deal with Mohammad Zahir Shah, the former king. But on Tuesday the king's supporters expressed dismay that the alliance had reneged on its pledges not to move into the capital. Why could they not wait like gentlemen, until the politicians in Peshawar had time to put on a suit and tie and graciously place themselves at the head of the nation? These people evidently do not lack a sense of humour! The most controversial issue will be whether to include "moderate" Taliban leaders in any future government. Pakistan, which has been alarmed by the Northern Alliance's military success, is insisting that these "moderate" Taliban elements must be included in any future settlement. Naturally! What Islamabad wants is to smuggle its friends back into power through the back-door. But, having just taken Kabul by force of arms, and having fought a bloody war with the Taliban and their Pakistani backers for some years, the Northern Alliance is hardly likely to agree to this. The demand for the inclusion of some Taliban leaders in the new government may be popular in Islamabad, but not elsewhere. Moscow, one of the chief backers of the Northern Alliance, on Tuesday forcefully restated its position that the Taliban must be excluded from a new Afghan government. Russian diplomats have suggested that Afghanistan must be de-Talibanised much as Germany was de-Nazified. This is quite natural. Pakistan wants its stooges to rule the roost, and Russia wants the same thing. Unfortunately, both options are not possible. The stage is therefore set for a series of splits, as each of the interested foreign powers (there are several) backs its particular faction in Kabul. Thus, even if a "national unity" government is formed, it will not take long to disintegrate into a government of national dis-unity. Once again, matters will be resolved, not in the corridors of parliament, but in the streets and in the mountains. Like Pakistan and Russia Iran is an interested party in the affairs of Afghanistan. It is, in fact, the Northern Alliance's other chief supporter. It will back the Hazaras and other Shiite elements in the population. This will lead to a further deepening of the fault lines in Afghan society. The liberal Hayat-e-Nou newspaper has warned that the Northern Alliance might itself start to fragment after the capture of Kabul. This is quite correct. The Alliance is not likely to hold together. It is an unstable bloc of disparate forces that can break up at any time, plunging the country into bloody chaos. This is just what the western powers are afraid of. The National Alliance has already expressed its unwillingness to accept foreign troops on a long-term basis. They will not want to see Kabul occupied by foreigners. Thus, far from controlling the situation, the imperialists do not even have a firm foothold in Afghanistan. The terrain is treacherous and constantly changing. In this quicksand it is very easy to sink. In the meantime, the Taliban have not disappeared into thin air. The war continues The swiftness of the collapse of the Taliban's defence, and the ease with which the Northern Alliance entered Kabul, has led many to conclude that the war is over and that the Taliban are finished. This is a serious misreading of the situation. Tony Blair was quick to emphasise that "military campaign will continue". Donald Rumsfeld, US defence secretary, also warned on Tuesday that the war against terrorism was "far from over". He said US special operations forces were now working alongside rebel commanders in southern Afghanistan, seeking out the leaders of the Taliban regime and al-Qaida. In an article significantly entitled "A dangerous advance", the Financial Times (November 13) warned that the war with the Taliban is by no means over: "In spite of their apparent collapse across much of the north, the Taliban may remain a formidable fighting force for some time to come. One Taliban official told the al-Jazeera television station that their retreat from Kabul was part of a deliberate strategy. Rather than exposing themselves to sustained US bombing by remaining in fixed positions, Taliban fighters may take to the hills and continue to wage a mujahideen-style guerrilla war. "The rapidly changing military situation has certainly left the UN flat-footed as it seeks to find a political solution acceptable to all of Afghanistan's ethnic groups and the country's six neighbouring powers." These warnings are no accident. Having recovered from the shock of the capture of Kabul by the Northern Alliance, the western leaders have realised that the war has not yet been won. The main war aims of the USA have not been achieved. Bin Laden is still at liberty. The al Qaid organisation, despite the losses it has undoubtedly suffered, is still intact. Nor is the Taliban destroyed. On the contrary. It is true that the fall of Kabul presents the Americans potentially with a more favourable logistical context for pursuing their military operation. It has made the logistics of supplying and maintaining the military campaign far easier. However, the essential problem remains: in order to realise its objective, the US and its allies must send troops into the Pushtoon areas. This cannot be achieved painlessly. The enemy has been driven from the cities but not destroyed. The Taliban, having withdrawn from the cities, will regroup in the mountains and villages of the Pushtoon heartland. The swift collapse of the Taliban forces in the north was, in part, due to the fact that they were an overwhelmingly Pushtoon army fighting in a hostile environment. The north is mainly occupied by the national minorities: Tajiks, Uzbeks and Hazaras. The Northern Alliance was able to capture vast tracts of territory where they will have been received as liberators by these nationalities who were savagely oppressed by the Pushtoon-Taliban occupiers. The very weakness of the Taliban in these areas is the reason why they behaved with such inhuman ferocity in Mazar-e-Sharif and Bamiyan. The Hazaras in particular suffered dreadful atrocities at their hands, amounting to ethnic and cultural genocide. However, now the picture is changing. After the capture of Kabul, the Northern Alliance is entering the Pushtoon areas, where the attitude of the population will be different. The population of Kabul itself is mixed. Many of those who came out onto the street to welcome the Northern Alliance will have been members of the national minorities. But in the Pushtoon lands of the south, the population will see the Northern Alliance as foreign invaders. Here there is a hatred for America and the Taliban still have support. It is here that they will try to organise their resistance. The Afghan quagmire Despite the public self-congratulations, the Americans are still blundering around in the dark, groping for a way out. But no way out presents itself. Yet again, we see how the Americans have thought nothing out to the end. They imagined that once they had pushed the Taliban out of Kabul, the problem would be solved. But this is not at all the case. The fall of Kabul has taken place in a manner not of the Americans' choosing and even less to their liking. They see that the Alliance leaders are already installing themselves in the capital, and, once this occurs, it will not be easy to dislodge them. Washington does not trust the Alliance. They fear that, now the common enemy is removed, the "united front" will break up into its constituent parts. This is very likely. The result will be chaos and civil war. The Taliban have lost their grip on power, but not their potential for making war. They are very used to fighting a guerrilla war in the mountains. They did it before and can do it again. In the north, they were fighting in alien and hostile territory. But in the villages and mountains of the Pushtoon area, they are in their own homeland. The prospect opens up of a protracted guerrilla campaign which can go on for years. The first part of the allied war campaign was the easy bit. The second part will not be so easy. British and American troops will have to go into the Pushtoon areas on search and destroy missions, where they will be sitting targets for the guerrillas. Casualties will be inevitable. At a certain stage this will have an effect on public opinion in Britain and America. The Americans had hoped to be able to carry out a quick, surgical strike against bin Laden, relying mainly on air power. Instead, the conflict is becoming ever more complicated and difficult, and the prospect of an end is postponed almost indefinitely. They will have to keep troops stationed not only in Afghanistan but in Pakistan and other countries in order to prop them up. They cannot get out of this, and neither can the British, since Tony Blair has committed Britain to sending troops. The UK ministry of defence announced on Wednesday that it was placing several thousand troops on reduced notice to move - meaning they will be ready to move at 48 hours' notice - in the light of what the ministry called the fluid and rapidly changing situation in Afghanistan. As usual, Blair has acted with indecent haste to show his unstinting devotion to America's cause. But already there is growing unease at home with his obsessive preoccupation with the war and his role as a "great statesman" to the detriment of the problems of the British people. This criticism will grow to a crescendo when people in Britain realise the mess they have gotten themselves into in Afghanistan. In retrospect, the fall of Kabul will be seen to have been just one more episode in the bloody and long drawn-out crisis in Afghanistan. Between them, the Stalinists and imperialists have reduced this unhappy country to a shambles Now the chaos threatens to spread to the neighbouring states. Pakistan is worried that the war could spread through the Pushtoon lands to affect the rest of Pakistan. Musharraf is in a very uncomfortable position. He has no real support in any important section of Pakistan society. In fact, his only firm basis of support is America, which is compelled to prop him up for the lack of any viable alternative and fear of worse to come. This is a far worse and more dangerous position than the one in which the Americans found themselves on September 11. Washington will now be compelled to underwrite the bankrupt and unstable regime in Pakistan, as well as all the other "friendly" states in the region, which are being destabilised by its actions. If the aim of this exercise was to combat terrorism, they will find they have achieved the opposite. Before these events, the imperialists could afford to maintain a relatively safe distance from the convulsions and wars of this part of the world, but now they are completely entangled in it. By their actions since September 11, the USA and Britain has got themselves dragged into a quagmire, from which it will be difficult to extricate themselves. London, November 15, 2001 In Defence of Marxism is committed to safeguarding your privacy. At all times we aim to respect any personal data you share with us, or that we receive from other organisations, and keep it safe. 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We recommend that you check this Privacy Policy occasionally to ensure you remain happy with it. We may also notify you of changes to our privacy policy by email. Third party websites We link our website directly to other sites. This Privacy Policy does not cover external websites and we are not responsible for the privacy practices or content of those sites. We encourage you to read the privacy policies of any external websites you visit via links on our website. Updating information You can check the personal data we hold about you, and ask us to update it where necessary, by emailing us at webmaster@marxist.com Contact We are not required by law to have a Data Protection Officer however we have a Data Protection Manager. Please let us know if you have any queries or concerns whatsoever about the way in which your data is being processed by emailing the Data Protection Manager at webmaster@marxist.com What is money? Where does it come from? And what does it represent? The love of money, the Bible tells us, is the root of all kinds of evil (1 Timothy 6:10). After the financial crash of 2008 and the subsequent global economic crisis that continues to plague society today, it is hard not to empathise with these words from The Good Book. Similar language is repeated in The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, the early 20th century novel by Robert Tressell, which is often considered a modern-day bible for the labour movement. In this fictionalised account of the lives of the working class, the protagonist, a socialist called Frank Owen, asserts to his incredulous peers that, Money is the principal cause of poverty. (Robert Tressell, The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists, Wordsworth Classics edition, p175) Owen valiantly attempts to explain further to his fellow workers how, while the present Money System remains, it will be impossible to do away with poverty, for heaps in some places mean little or nothing in other places. Therefore while the money system lasts we are bound to have poverty and all the evils it brings in its train. (Ibid, p284) The present Money System prevents us from doing the necessary work, and consequently causes the majority of the population to go short of the things that can be made of work. They suffer want in the midst of the means of producing abundance. They remain idle because they are bound and fettered with a chain of gold. (Ibid, p286) This systematic robbery has been going on for generations, the value of the accumulated loot is enormous, and all of it, all the wealth at present in the possession of the rich, is rightly the property of the working class it has been stolen from them by the means of the Money Trick. (Ibid, p299) Money, then, as Tressell states through the medium of his hero Owen, appears to us a mystical force; a chain of gold that tethers the vast majority of the population to a life of toil and misery; a great trick that swindles the working class of the wealth that they have created. We see it all around us, ubiquitous and abundant; and yet, amidst this plenty we find universal want. Within this Money System, all our needs become relegated to the need for money in the words of the Bard, Thou common whore of mankind. (William Shakespeare, Timon of Athens, Act IV, Scene 3) Whether it is the monetary policies of central banks, such as the euphemistically named Quantitative Easing; the financial alchemy taking place inside the glass towers of Canary Wharf and the City of London; or the utopian alternatives offered by digital currencies such as Bitcoin: for most people, the workings of the modern Money System are shrouded in mystery. As with all such revered idols in class society, however, whether it be the gods and religion or the Law and the State, by applying the method of Marxism that is to say, a dialectical and materialist analysis of history and society we can understand and explain the origins, evolution, and development of money. In doing so, we can strip away the mysticism of this seemingly omnipotent power and understand the solution to removing its grip over us. Primitive communism Studying history, we see that money did not always exist, but is tied to the development of class society and, in particular, of commodities that is, of goods produced not for individual or common consumption, but for exchange. For Marx, the key to understanding the question of money therefore lay in analysing the historical development of commodity production and exchange. The riddle of the money fetish, Marx states in his magnum opus, Capital, is therefore the riddle of the commodity fetish, now become visible and dazzling to our eyes. (Karl Marx, Capital, Volume One, Penguin Classics edition, p187) Basing himself on the works of the pioneering 19th century American anthropologist Lewis H. Morgan, Friedrich Engels Marxs co-founder of the ideas of scientific socialism analysed the earliest forms of human society, demonstrating in his classic text the Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State how social classes of exploiters and the exploited had not always existed. Instead, Engels explained, early societies were generally based on gens, or tribes, within which there was communal ownership over the tools and products. Such communities, therefore, were a form of primitive communism, where there was no exchange between individuals, but rather production for the common good, and consumption on the basis of need. At the same time, this communism was primitive since it was on the basis of a general scarcity, resulting from a low level of productivity, technology, and culture. For example, in his recent book on Debt: the First 5,000 Years, David Graeber, the modern US anthropologist, cites the example given by his predecessor Morgan of the Iroquois gens, a group of Native American tribes whose societal structure Engels also drew upon in his works. By the mid-[19th] century, Graeber notes, Lewis Henry Morgans descriptionsmade clear that the main economic institution among the Iroquois nations were longhouses where most goods were stockpiled and then allocated by womens councils, and no one ever traded arrowheads for slabs of meat. (David Graeber, Debt: the First 5,000 Years, Melville House publishing, 2014 paperback edition, p29) Elsewhere, as the author Felix Martin notes in his book Money: the Unauthorised Biography, in the earliest known civilisations that developed around the Mesopotamian rivers of the Tigris and the Euphrates in what is modern-day Iraq money did not exist either. It was here in ancient Mesopotamia that the techniques of irrigation and agriculture were invented and in turn the formation of the first cities began, such as the great metropolis of Ur. By the beginning of the second millennium BC, Martin states, more than sixty thousand people lived within the city itselfthousands of hectares of land were under cultivationand hundreds more were devoted to dairy farming and sheep herding. (Felix Martin, Money: the Unauthorised Biography, Vintage publishing, 2014 paperback edition, p38) In such urban economies, Martin explains, in place of money we instead find a system of top-down planning and accounting, managed by a bureaucratic caste, in which all produce would be kept in the citys stores (often royal palaces and temples), with inscribed tablets used to keep records; a complex economy governed according to an elaborate system of economic planning that would be familiar to a manager in a modern multinational corporation. (Ibid, p44) Whether it be the primitive communism of the Iroquois gens or the bureaucratic planning seen in Mesopotamian cities, therefore, such examples clearly demonstrate how money and all its associated evils is not a timeless eternal truth. To understand what money is and where it has come from, we must analyse the qualitative transformation in the social relations that took place within society thousands of years ago. The rise of money Early Greek societies as described in the epic poems of Homer, such as the Iliad and the Odyssey were, like the Iroquois, based around gens, with common ownership over the productive forces and resultant products. Felix Martin describes how, For the provision of the most basic needs food, water, and clothingit was essentially an economy of self-sufficient households in which the individual tribesmen subsisted on the produce of his own estate. (Ibid, p35) In addition to this economy of individual subsistence, Martin continues, were three simple mechanisms for organising society in the absence of money the interlocking institutions of booty distribution, reciprocal gift-exchange, and the distribution of the sacrifice, which were far from unique to Dark Age Greece. Rather, modern research in anthropology and comparative history has shown them to be typical of the practices of small-scale, tribal societies. (Ibid, p36-37) The historical turning point, Engels explains in the Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, occurred with the development of private ownership over the means of production, and the associated conversion of communal products into commodities. The rise of private property in herds and articles of luxury led to exchange between individuals, to the transformation of products into commodities. And here lie the seeds of the whole subsequent upheaval. When the producers no longer directly consumed their product themselves, but let it pass out of their hands in the act of exchange, they lost control of it. They no longer knew what became of it; the possibility was there that one day it would be used against the producer to exploit and oppress him. For this reason no society can permanently retain the mastery of its own production and the control over the social effects of its process of production unless it abolishes exchange between individuals. But the Athenians were soon to learn how rapidly the product asserts its mastery over the producer when once exchange between individuals has begun and products have been transformed into commodities. (Friedrich Engels, The Origin of the Family, Private Property, and the State, chapter V) The process that Engels describes initially develops, not internally within the community, but at the fringes of a given society with the trade of surplus products between different tribes. Such trade, however, sets the wheels of commodity production exchange in motion, later rebounding to spread internally, reinforce private ownership, and accelerate the dissolution of communal bonds. With the development of commodity production and exchange came the expansion of trade; and with growing trade came the emergence of the money commodity a universal equivalent that could act as a means of exchange, facilitating trade over longer distances; a single commodity that acts as a yardstick of measurement, against which all others could be compared. Such a process does not come about consciously or in a planned manner, but arises out of the needs of society to expand trade and the market. The initial commodity that is elevated to the status of this universal equivalent is largely accidental, in a historical sense; nevertheless, it is rooted in the material needs of that society, and is generally in the earliest stages that which is considered the most important commodity to the particular society in question. As Marx notes in Capital, What appears to happen is not that a particular commodity becomes money because all other commodities express their values in it, but, on the contrary, that all other commodities universally express their values in a particular commodity because it is money. (Marx, op. cit., p187) For example, in the case of the Native American tribes, Engels explains, it was cattle that emerged as the money commodity: Originally tribes exchanged with tribe through the respective chiefs of the gens; but as the herds began to pass into private ownership, exchange between individuals became more common, and, finally, the only form. Now the chief article which the pastoral tribes exchanged with their neighbours was cattle; cattle became the commodity by which all other commodities were valued and which was everywhere willingly taken in exchange for them in short, cattle acquired a money function and already at this stage did the work of money. With such necessity and speed, even at the very beginning of commodity exchange, did the need for a money commodity develop. (Engels, op. cit., chapter IX) Ephesos coins from 620-600 BC - Photo: Classical Numismatic Group Inc. CC BY-SA 3.0The expansion and growth of trade in ancient Greece, however, led to the need for a money commodity that was portable over longer distances. For this reason, we see, beginning in Greece in the late-6th century BC, the emergence of coinage, with the use of precious metals such as gold and silver as money. The beneficial material properties of such metals for use as money are clear: they are generally homogeneous and uniform in their quality one lump of gold is much the same as any other; they are easily divisible (or combinable) into different amounts, and can thus be used to easily represent different quantities of value; they are durable and therefore do not deteriorate and lose value, thus enabling them to be a store of value; and, most importantly, they have a high density of value, with small amounts of precious metal being equivalent to a large quantity of other, less valuable, commodities. Gold, therefore, is money not because of its revered aesthetic qualities, but is considered to be aesthetical pleasing because it is money. The rise of money and coinage was, as Engels explains, associated also with the increasing division of labour within class society, and the emergence of a class which no longer concerns itself with production, but only with the exchange of the productsthe merchants. Now for the first time a class appears which, without in any way participating in production, captures the direction of production as a whole and economically subjugates the producers; which makes itself into an indispensable middleman between any two producers and exploits them both. Under the pretext that they save the producers the trouble and risk of exchange, extend the sale of their products to distant markets and are therefore the most useful class of the population, a class of parasites comes into being, genuine social ichneumons, who, as a reward for their actually very insignificant services, skim all the cream off production at home and abroad, rapidly amass enormous wealth and correspondingly social influence, and for that reason receive under civilization ever higher honours and ever greater control of production, until at last they also bring forth a product of their own the periodical trade crises. And with the formation of the merchant class came also the development of metallic money, the minted coin, a new instrument for the domination of the non-producer over the producer and his production. The commodity of commodities had been discovered, that which holds all other commodities hidden in itself, the magic power which can change at will into everything desirable and desired. The man who had it ruled the world of productionand who had more of it than anybody else? The merchant. The worship of money was safe in his hands. He took good care to make it clear that, in face of money, all commodities, and hence all producers of commodities, must prostrate themselves in adoration in the dust. He proved practically that all other forms of wealth fade into mere semblance beside this incarnation of wealth as such. (Ibid) Money then, as Engels explains, is the product of private ownership; the result of an emergent system of commodity production and exchange. Once called into existence, however, money develops its own logic, spreading through social interaction and asserting its cold, callous laws in one sphere of life after another. Money and usury, Engels stated, were the principal means for suppressing the common liberty, breaking apart the old communal bonds of the Greek gens, and reinforcing the inequalities and exploitation of the newly emerging class society of the Athenian state. From here the growing money economy penetrated like corrosive acid into the old traditional life of the rural communities founded on natural economy. The gentile constitution is absolutely irreconcilable with money economy[it] knew neither money nor advances of money nor debts in money. Hence the money rule of the aristocracy now in full flood of expansion also created a new customary law to secure the creditor against the debtor and to sanction the exploitation of the small peasant by the possessor of money With the coming of commodity production, individuals began to cultivate the soil on their own account, which soon led to individual ownership of land. Money followed, the general commodity with which all others were exchangeable. But when men invented money, they did not think that they were again creating a new social power, the one general power before which the whole of society must bow. And it was this new power, suddenly sprung to life without knowledge or will of its creators, which now, in all the brutality of its youth, gave the Athenians the first taste of its might. What was to be done? The old gentile constitution had not only shown itself powerless before the triumphal march of money; it was absolutely incapable of finding any place within its framework for such things as money, creditors, debtors, and forcible collection of debts. But the new social power was there; pious wishes, and yearning for the return of the good old days would not drive money and usury out of the world. (Ibid, chapter V) Credit money Image: Carlos LatuffAs Engels hints at above, with his reference to the yearning for the return of the good old days when money and usury did not exist, as long as there has been money there has been credit and debt; and as long as there has been usury, there has been the forcible collection of debts a new social powerbefore which the whole of society must bow. Some monetary theorists, however, try to emphasise that money is above all nothing but a system of credits and debts; a set of accounts and balances representing the distribution of societys wealth amongst its population. What we see in terms of the exchange of coin and currency are, within this framework of understand money, merely a means of settling accounts and making transfers between different balances money as a means of payment. Such ideas, which are known generally as the credit (or debt) theory of money, were most thoroughly put forward by the early-20th century British economist, Alfred Mitchell Innes, and are supported, according to David Graeber in his book Debt: the First 5,000 Years, by modern anthropological evidence. According to Innes and Graeber, our modern conception of money as outlined in academic textbooks is fundamentally based on a myth: the myth of barter, as Graeber describes it, which has spread into the popular imagination and consciousness as a result of the works of the classical political economists, such as Adam Smith and David Ricardo, and before them the theories of the English empiricist, John Locke, and even the ancient Greek philosopher, Aristotle. For the classical economists, money was primarily considered a means of exchange a single commodity that rises above all others to become universally accepted in order to facilitate trade. The use of a particular commodity as money, such as gold, lay in its own high value density. Before money, the story goes, there was no way of trading other than through barter. This clearly posed problems, since it would require both that individuals with mutually reciprocating needs crossed paths, and that traded goods be carried around, ready for exchange. Hence the invention of money, to overcome the barriers of barter, and extend both the variety of goods that could be exchanged and the distance over which they could be traded. The problem, Graeber notes, quoting the Cambridge anthropologist Caroline Humphrey, is that: No example of a barter economy, pure and simple, has ever been described, let alone the emergence from it of money; all available ethnography suggests that there never has been such a thing. (Graeber, op. cit., p29) It should be noted, however, that this anthropological narrative of the myth of barter is based on the search for a barter economy that is, for a community in which the internal exchange of goods through barter took place. But as Engels (and Marx also) noted, the development of commodity exchange through barter does not initially occur internally within the community, but externally, at the edges where different tribes interact. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that no example of a barter economy can be found historically. For those putting forward the credit / debt theory of money in contrast to the classical economists and their commodity theory of money the main role of money is not as a means of exchange, but as a unit of account. In this modern age of capitalism, with its highly developed credit system, fractional reserve banking, and electronic transfers, the idea that money is more than just the coins and cash in circulation may seem obvious. But at the time of Smith, Ricardo, et al., such an idea was not considered a self-evident truth. Even today, there are those who looking around at the collapse of the financial system in the wake of the 2008 banking crisis, not to mention the ever-inflating credit bubbles and printing of money through quantitative easing that continues today understandably call for a return to the gold standard in order to restore calm and order to the global monetary system. As a means of account, then, money is primarily a system of credits and debts. As Graeber emphasises: We did not begin with barter, discover money, and then eventually develop credit systems. It happened precisely the other way around. What we now call virtual money came first. Coins came much later, and their use spread only unevenly, never completely replacing credit systems. (Ibid, p40) Felix Martin highlights two examples in Money: the Unauthorised Biography to stress the point. The first is the case of the people of Yap, a remote and secluded island in the Pacific. An American anthropologist called William Furness, visiting Yap in 1903, was amazed to discover that the small islands economy consisted of only a few traded commodities; and, more importantly, there was neither barter, nor any currency acting as a means of exchange. Instead, Yap had a highly developed monetary system involving large stone wheels called fei, up to twelve feet in size, which were used to represent and account for the various amounts of wealth held by individuals within the community. Notably, Martin says, Furness observed that physical transporting of fei from one house to another was in fact rare. Numerous transactions took place but the debts incurred were typically just offset against each other, with any outstanding balance carried forward in expectation of some future exchange. Even when open balances were felt to require settlement, it was not usual for fei to be physically exchanged. (Martin, op. cit., p4) Yaps money was not the fei, Martin continues, but the underlying system of credit accounts and clearing of which they helped to keep track. The fei were just tokens by which these accounts were kept. (Martin, op. cit., p12) Closer to home, Martin provides another example of such credit money in the form of Exchequer tallies wooden sticks used in England between the 12th and 18th centuries to record payments either to or from the state. Such sticks would be split down the middle, with the creditor and debtor keeping one half each as a receipt of the payment. Notably, the creditors half could be used as a means of payment a form of financial security, exchanged with another individual to settle an unrelated debt. It wasnt until 1834 that these Exchequer tallies were finally abolished, replaced by the Bank of England with a system of paper notes. Those tallies that remained were burnt and destroyed, leaving little evidence of their existence behind. For similar reasons, Martin notes, the physical evidence for all sorts of monetary systems throughout history and particularly credit systems involving written accounts may have been lost to us forever, with only the hard currency of coinage surviving today. As a result, both Martin and Graeber hypothesise, we are left predominantly with a concept of money that emphasises tangible commodities, such as the precious metals. The labour theory of value So what is money? Is it primarily a universal commodity, or is it above all a system of credits and debts? In the final analysis, the answer is both: moneys dual role as a means of exchange and as a unit of account are two sides of the same coin, so to speak. What unites this dual nature of money what both connects the examples of the fei, the Exchequer tallies, and ancient coinage, and separates these cases from the primitive communism or Mesopotamian top-down planned economies described earlier is, fundamentally, its role as a measure or representation of value. The more pertinent question that arises from this, therefore, is: what is value? As discussed earlier, the origins of money lie in the development of commodity production and exchange; commodities being those products that are made for a market. Marx begins in Capital by grappling with this question, explaining that commodities have two aspects to them. On the one hand all commodities are use-values things that have a utility in society; on the other hand, such commodities must have an exchange-value a quantitative relationship to other commodities (generally just referred to as the value of a commodity). At the same time, Marx noted, there is clearly a divorce between these dual properties of a commodity; the former does not condition the latter that is, the usefulness of a product bears little relation to its exchange-value. For example, a pen may be useful, and a car may be useful too; but clearly the average car is worth many thousand (normal) pens. Diamonds, meanwhile, are considered highly valuable, and yet they have very little actual social use. The riddle that the classical economists, such as Smith and Ricardo, sought to solve and the point of departure for Marx in his analysis of the capitalist system was: what determined the ratio of exchange between different commodities? Why would a certain amount of one particular commodity be traded for a certain amount of any other commodity? In other words, what is the source of value? In order to address this question, Marx first asked: what is the only thing that all commodities have in common? What aspect of a commodity exists that is both universal and comparable? What quality unites all the plethora of commodities that are produced for the market, with their multitude of uses, properties, and physical characteristics? The answer that Marx arrived at was labour. All commodities, in the final analysis, are products of labour; and it is labour, ultimately, that is the source of all value. The exchange-value (or simply value), then, Marx explained, is expressed by the relative quantity of labour contained within different commodities both in terms of the living labour added by the producer and the dead labour congealed within the raw materials and tools used in the process of production. Marx, however, was not the first to assert that labour was the source of value. Such an idea had been raised by the classical economists (and even by those in ancient times). Marx developed this labour theory of value, however, by looking at the question not from the standpoint of the individual labourer, but of labour in the abstract of societys labour in general: With the disappearance of the useful character of the products of labour, the useful character of the kinds of labour embodied in them also disappears; this in turn entails the disappearance of the different concrete forms of labour. They can no longer be distinguished, but are all together reduced to the same kind of labour, human labour in the abstract. (Marx, op. cit., p128) The question of value, according to Marx, is not about the labour expended by the individual producer. Under capitalism, where commodity production and exchange is dominant and universal, commodities are not simply exchanged between individuals, but are bought and sold on the market. The producers and consumers frequently never and, in fact, rarely ever meet. As such, the individual character of any commodity is lost; instead, it simply becomes one example of a multitude of similar use-values. In turn, the individual character of the labour contained within each commodity is lost. Buyers in the market do not care about the labour expended to produce any individual commodity, but only about the quantity of labour that is needed to produce such-and-such a commodity in general, on average. Sellers in the market a truly global market today must, therefore, compete against the average level of skill, technology, and organisation, found in their industry. It is this fact that forces companies to compete by investing in new machinery and methods in order to increase productivity and thus sell their products below the general average of their competitors. The value of commodities, therefore, is not determined by examining the labour expended within an individual commodity, but only by looking at the labour required to produce a given, relatively homogenous, commodity in general. In this sense, Marx explained that the value of a commodity was not simply due to labour, as the classical economists had concluded, but due to socially necessary labour-time: the labour-time required to produce any use-value under the conditions of production normal for a given society and with the average degree of skill and intensity of labour prevalent in that society. (Marx, op. cit., p129) In a relatively undeveloped market economy, there may be a degree of flexibility over the amount of one commodity exchanged for another in any individual, isolated act of exchange. The different quantities of labour-time congealed within the particular commodities are seemingly random, and in this sense, as indicated above, the value of a commodity appears accidental. As commodity exchange becomes generalised, however, each act of exchange loses its individual character, and the various accidental values i.e. labour-times seen in these concrete acts average out and a general, objective value i.e. socially necessary labour-time arises. The act of exchange, meanwhile, is the only proof of the social necessity of any given labour. The general form of value arrives, therefore, historically at the point when the process of commodity production and exchange has become so universal that the relative values that is, congealed labour-times of commodities now present themselves, not as accidents, but as objective facts to buyers and sellers on the market. We see, therefore, how the law of value like any law in nature, history, and society is not something timeless that is imposed from without, but something dialectical that emerges from the interactions within. Necessity expresses itself through accident. In the case of the law of value, this law only arises and asserts itself at the historical point where commodity production and exchange is generalised. Money, in turn, is the ultimate expression of this generalisation of the law of value; the logical conclusion of the development of commodity production and exchange, which requires a universal yard stick a standard measure against which the value of all other commodities can be expressed. Where commodity production and exchange have not taken hold in society, therefore, the concept of value is meaningless and, in turn, there is no social need for money. For example, as Felix Martin notes, the immense sophistication of Mesopotamias bureaucratic, command economy had no need of any universal concept of economic valueIt therefore did no develop the first component of money: a unit of abstract, universally applicable economic value. (Martin, op. cit., p59) The simple commodity form is therefore the germ of the money-form. (Marx, op. cit., p163) Social relations and alienation Image: Carlos LatuffThe important point that Marxs emphasised, is that value and therefore money also, in the form of prices is ultimately a social relation: a relation between the labour of different individuals that, under a system of generalised commodity production and exchange, expresses itself as a relationship between things. It is nothing but the definite social relation between men themselves which assumes here, for them, the fantastic form of a relation between things. (Marx, op. cit., p165) Money, therefore, is not a thing, but a set of relations. The monetary system, in turn, is neither merely the cash and coins in circulation, nor the numbers in an accountants books, but a system of social relations; an expression of the distribution of the wealth produced by labour within society. An individuals monetary wealth, meanwhile, is simply a claim to an aliquot portion of this social wealth. These social and economic relations are ultimately backed up by legal that is, property relations, which in the final analysis means the backing of the force of the state: special bodies of armed men (to use Lenins expression), which within class society act to defend the sanctity of private property relations. Although, as Graeber notes, This does not mean that the state necessarily creates moneyThe state merely enforces the agreement and dictates the legal terms. (Graeber, op. cit. p54) As the use of money spreads, then, social relationships are increasingly transformed into monetary and financial relationships. In the words of Engels, quoted earlier, money acts as the corrosive acid, breaking apart all existing societal bonds. Commenting on the emergence of money in ancient Greece, Felix Martin echoes Engels, explaining how, with the invention of coinage, a dream technology for recording and transferring monetary obligations from one person to another was bornThe result was a further acceleration in the pace of monetisation. Everywhere, traditional social obligations were transformed into financial relationshipsIt is difficult to overstate the social and cultural impact of this first, revolution experience of monetisationmoney would be the universal solvent that could dissolve all traditional obligations. (Martin, op. cit., p61-63) With the development and generalisation of the money form, the divorce between use-value and exchange-value becomes ever wider. Those involved within the money system of commodity production and exchange become increasingly alienated from their labour. The things they produce are not useful to them, but simply for others. All needs, as mentioned earlier, become relegated to the need for money that universal equivalent that can be exchanged for all other commodities in order to satisfy ever need imaginable. As discussed earlier, within primitive communities, where production is a communal process, such alienation does not exist and commodity production is initially limited to those objects that are exchanged at the fringes of society with other communities. But the dynamics and laws of commodity production and exchange have a logic of their own that, once started, unravel and impose themselves throughout society. As Marx notes, as soon as products have become commodities in the external relations of a community, they also, by reaction, become commodities in the internal life of the community. (Marx, op.cit., p182) In other words, as soon as the products of labour are externally traded, thus putting the relative labour times of said products in comparison to one another, the same comparison necessarily begins between the products of labour internal to a community, products which were previously not exchanged between private individuals, but instead produced as part of the common good. The laws of commodities thus begin to assert themselves within society and the separation between use-value and exchange-value is established. In the course of time, therefore, at least some part of the products must be produced intentionally for the purpose of exchange. From that moment the distinction between the usefulness of things for direct consumption and their usefulness in exchange becomes firmly established. Their use-value becomes distinguished from their exchange-value. (Marx, op.cit., p182) Marxs analysis of the development of money, therefore, is based on an understanding of the development of the commodity, as outlined above. As commodity production and exchange becomes increasingly generalised, we see the general form of value emerge. Each individual producer wishes to exchange their particular product with the multitude of products found on the market. As this system becomes universal, there grows a social need for a measure of value for a universal equivalent and a unit of account that can act as a yardstick, against which the value of all other commodities can be compared. It is this universal equivalent or unit of account that forms the basis for money. The concept of money, then, is the ultimate form of the alienation of the producer from his/her labour. No longer do we see production for direct consumption; nor are commodities produced as exchange-values for the owner, to be simply traded directly for other commodities that are use-values for the receiver. Now, instead, the producer demands money in exchange for his products money that represents the most abstract and universal form of labour, devoid of any use-value for the owner, save that of its ability to universally represent the value of his own labour. Money necessarily crystallises out of the process of exchange, in which different products of labour are in fact equate with each other, and thus converted into commodities. The historical broadening and deepening of the phenomenon of exchange develops the opposition between use-value and value which is latent in the nature of the commodity. The need to give an external expression to this opposition for the purposes of commercial intercourse produces the drive towards an independent form of value, which finds neither rest nor peace until an independent form has been achieved by the differentiation of commodities into commodities and money. At the same time, then, as the transformation of the products of labour into commodities is accomplished, one particular commodity is transformed into money.(Marx, op.cit., p181) The enigma of profit At a certain point, this growing alienation tied to the separation of use-value from exchange-value leads to a qualitative transformation. Initially, the circuit of commodity production and exchange is that of C-M-C: commodities (C) are produced, sold for money (M), and the money is then used to allow the purchase of other commodities (C). Later on, however, this circuit turns into its opposite that of M-C-M: we begin with money, which is used to buy commodities, in the hope of selling these on. This development of this M-C-M circuit is associated with the rise of the merchant class, as described by Engels in the earlier passage a class which no longer concerns itself with production, but only with the exchange of the products. Of course, in reality, it is not an M-C-M circuit, but an M-C-M circuit, where M represents a sum of money greater than the initial money outlay. The aim of the merchant, in other words, is simply to make money through the act of exchange. The accumulation of money becomes the sole raison d'etre of the system; the fulfilment of societys needs a mere afterthought. At the same time, as Engels also explains, arises the usurers the money lenders and financiers who seek to cut out the hassle of buying and selling altogether, hoping to make money from money: M-M. Whilst both merchants and usurers played (and continue to play) a necessary role within the market system, in that they facilitated the expansion of trade and the uninterrupted continuity of commodity circulation, these social groups were (and are) nevertheless at the same time incredibly parasitic. Ultimately, neither the merchant nor the money lender produces any new value through their own actions. Instead, their profits merely represent a transfer of wealth a slice of the value produced elsewhere, in real production. The enigma of profits origins within capitalism was a problem that had baffled and thwarted the classical economists, who maintained that profit was obtained in the process of exchange, like that of the merchant, by buying cheap and selling dear. But, as Marx pointed out, whilst such an act might allow one individual to swindle another, it could not explain how profit was derived for society as a whole. For in a generalised system of commodity production and exchange, we are all buyers and sellers. Even the capitalists are both sellers and buyers: of course they sell a product, but they must first buy in raw materials, invest in machinery, and pay out wages to workers. In other words, what is gained by cheating with one hand will simply be lost later with the other. One mans loss is anothers gain and vice-versa. Suppose then that some inexplicable privilege allows the seller to sell his commodities above their value, to sell what is worth 100 for 110, therefore with a nominal price increase of 10 per cent. In this case the seller pockets a surplus-value of 10. But after he has sold he becomes a buyer. A third owner of commodities now comes to him as seller, and he too, for his part, enjoys the privilege of selling his commodities 10 per cent too dear. Our friend gained 10 as a seller only to lose it again as a buyer. In fact the net result is that all owners of commodities sell their goods to each other at 10 per cent above their value, which is exactly the same as if they sold them at their true value. A universal and nominal price increase of this kind has the same effect as if the values of commodities had been expressed for example in silver instead of in gold. The money-names or prices of the commodities would rise, but the relations between their values would remain unchanged. (Marx, op.cit., p263) The value in circulation has not increased by one iota; all that has changed is its distribution between A and B. What appears on one side as a loss of value appears on the other side as surplus-value; what appears on one side as a minus appears on the other side as a plus...The capitalist class of a given country, taken as a whole, cannot defraud itself. (Marx, op.cit., p265-266) If not from the act of exchange and in the sphere of circulation, where then does profit come from? Our capitalist must begin with money, purchase commodities at their true cost, sell his product at a fair price, and yet end up with more money that he started with. [O]ur friend the money owner, therefore, must be lucky enough to find within the sphere of circulation, on the market, a commodity whose use-value possesses the peculiar property of being a source of value, whose actual consumption is therefore itself an objectification of labour, hence a creation of value. (Marx, op.cit., p270) In other words, there must be a commodity that the capitalist can buy that itself is able to create value. And as Marx explains, the possessor of money does find such a special commodity on the market: the capacity for labour, in other words labour-power. (Ibid) This labour-power the capacity for labour is normally expressed in terms of employment for a given period of time. For example, workers are employed on contracts that specify a number of hours per week or weeks per year that they are due to work for the capitalist. How efficiently or how hard they work in this time that is, how much they actually produce in a given week or year is then a question for the capitalist to optimise separately. The capitalist pays for the workers time; it is then up to the capitalist to utilise this time as effectively as possible in order to produce as much as possible. The qualitative leap forward by Marx, therefore, was to see that workers themselves are not only the buyers of commodities, but are also the sellers of a very special commodity: their labour power their ability to work. What the capitalist buys from the worker, therefore, is not his/her actual labour, i.e. the products of his/her work, but his/her ability or capacity to work. Like all other commodities, Marx explained, The value of labour-power is determined, as in the case of every other commodity, by the labour-time necessary for the production, and consequently also the reproduction, of this specific article...in other words, the value of labour-power is the value of the means of subsistence necessary for the maintenance of its owner. (Marx, op.cit., p274) In monetary terms, the price of labour-power is represented by the wages paid to the working class. This wage, therefore, must be able to cover the necessary expenditure for worker to maintain himself/herself, including food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, education. Furthermore, Marx emphasises that the value of labour-power must cover not only the expenditure of the individual worker, but also his/her family, and indeed the continued existence of the working class a whole. The social wage necessary, therefore, is not simply that required for the bare minimal subsistence of the working class, but is that of a given social and historical situation, varying from country-to-country and from epoch-to-epoch. The working class, through a history of class struggle, has raised the expectation of what an average wage and thus an average standard of living should be. The value of labour-power, therefore, is ultimately determined by a class struggle between the working class and the capitalist class; a struggle for higher wages on the side of the workers, and greater profits on the side of the capitalists. The key to the capitalists profits lies in the ability of the workers to create more value in the course of the day than they are paid back in the form of wages. For example, whilst the working day may be eight hours, it might take only half the day four hours for workers to produce commodities with a value equivalent to their wages. In other words, the remaining four hours of the workers labour, from the perspective of the capitalists are effectively free, and the products created in this period constitute surplus value. The source of the capitalists profits then, lies not in exchange or circulation, but in production. Profits are obtained from this surplus value the unpaid labour of the working class. The remaining surplus value, meanwhile, is divided up in the form of rent and interest between the various parasites that thrive off of the wealth created in real production: the landlords, usurers, and financiers. It is the pursuit of profit, in turn, that acts as the motor force within capitalist society, with the competition to sell cheaper, capture markets, and increase profits driving investment into new technologies, in order to increase productivity. With the crash of 2008 and the years of crisis and worldwide economic stagnation that have followed, however, it is clear that this engine has stalled. The growth of finance It has become popular to blame the crisis on such parasitic layers of spivs and speculators, given the role that the bloated financial sector played in the events leading up to the 2008 collapse of the banking system that marked the onset of the Great Recession. But whilst it is true that finance and banking have ballooned out of all proportion, dominating the world economy today, the reality is that usurers and money lenders have existed throughout capitalisms history indeed, going back further, as Engels notes in relation to ancient Greece, for as long as money itself. The most basic elements of banking a system of accounts and loans were even present thousands of years ago, within the ancient Mesopotamian societies described earlier. In these early urban economies, and in other later societies such as that of ancient Egypt, not only were individual goods kept and recorded at central storehouses for safe-keeping, but people could borrow from these same storehouses in order to fulfil immediate needs. The lending system of ancient Babylon was evidently quite sophisticated, Niall Ferguson, the bourgeois historian, writes in his book The Ascent of Money. Debts were transferableClay receipts or drafts were issues to those who deposited grain or other commodities at royal palaces or temples. Borrowers were expected to pay interestat rates that were often as high as 20 per cent. (Niall Ferguson, The Ascent of Money: a Financial History of the World, Penguin Books, 2009 paperback edition, p31) Later on in Ptolemaic Egypt and Hellenistic Greece emerged the innovation of credit transfers, allowing cash transactions to be replaced in part with a system of credit receipts and payments. For example, on the Greek island of Delos, individual clients could transfer money simply by sending instructions to the bank to make payments to another persons account. Delos banking methods, in turn, became the model for the Romans. Meanwhile, with the development of international trade and commerce, and the Romans preference for coinage, banking expanded to involve the exchange of minted coins of different origin. With the collapse of the Roman Empire came the collapse of international trade and the banking system also. As Felix Martin comments, the social and political stability required to underpin professional finance had, it seems, disintegrated. (Martin, op. cit., p83) Markets shrank, the subsistence economy grew, and the money system regressed back both in terms of its size and complexity, primarily consisting of a multitude of coinages catering to local fiefdoms and kingdoms. Feudal lords and kings, meanwhile, would frequently use their privileged monopoly position as minters to manipulate the money supply and enrich themselves. The sovereign, in effect, could tax the holders of money by debasing the currency, changing the nominal value of the coins in circulation and pocketing the difference a process known as seigniorage. This continual process of debasement, over time, served to reinforce the symbolic nature of coins and their primary role as a representation of value, paving the way for paper money (which was originally invented in 8th century China) and even the electronic money we use today mere digital information on a screen. Money, in effect, becomes a mere token a symbol of value, as Marx notes: The fact that the circulation of money itself splits the nominal content of coins away from their real content, dividing their metallic existence from their functional existence, this fact implies the latent possibility of replacing metallic money with tokens made of some other material Relatively valueless objects, therefore, such as paper notes, can serve as coins in place of gold. This purely symbolic character of the currency is still somewhat disguised in the case of metal tokens. In paper money it stands out plainly. But we can see: everything depends on the first step. (Marx, op. cit., p223-224) At the same time, this seigniorage was sowing the seeds for a monetary rebellion. Those in possession of money were finding themselves consistently robbed by the state; an alternative had to be found. The shift in power came with the restoration of banking to its former glories. As international trade expanded once again, a new mercantile class emerged, centred on the medieval Italian city-states. A division of labour occurred within commerce, and international merchant houses grew who were concerned less with the transfer of the actual commodities (which was left to lesser mortals), and more with the transfer of wealth and property rights. Rather than dealing with the myriad of currencies that could be found across the continent, the great European merchant houses in time came to circumvent the sovereign altogether, playing the role of bankers. Local tradesmen would deal with the merchant houses, who in turn would deal with one another to settle accounts, thus creating an international system of IOUs (such as cheques and bills of exchange) and payments. As the wealth of the rising merchant class grew, so did their power and influence. The state became increasingly reliant on this nascent bourgeoisie as a source of funds for their expenditure in particular, to wage wars. The major shift in class relations can be seen in the way in which such public funds were obtained, as Ferguson notes in relation to the city-state of medieval Florence: Instead of paying a property tax, wealthier citizens were effectively obliged to lend money to their own city government. In return for these forced loans, they received interest. (Ferguson, op. cit. p72) The merchant bankers had become the states creditors. The era of public debts had begun. In principle, the idea of state debt makes little sense. The same result i.e. the government raising money for state expenditure could just as well be achieved through taxing the rich, rather than borrowing from them. Of course, from the perspective of the wealthy, lending the government money (in the form of credit) rather than giving it over (in the form of taxes) is far more preferable: the rich get to keep their money, and at the same time earn a tidy sum on the side from interest. The concept of a sovereign debt was not new to the capitalist epoch. Monarchs had frequently borrowed from the rich and wealthy; the problem previously, however, was that such royalty would often default on their loans. Tired of losing their money, the rising bourgeois class in England pushed through with the establishment of a national bank the Bank of England in 1694, which would guarantee the repayment of government debts and give the financial lenders monopoly privileges over the money supply that is, over the issuing of new banknotes. To be granted the privilege of note issue by the crown, Felix Martin writes, which would anoint the liabilities of a private bank with the authority of the sovereign this, they realised, was the Philosophers Stone of money. It was the endorsement that could liberate private bank money from its parochial bounds. They would lend their credit to the sovereign he would lend his authority to their bank. What they would sow by agreeing to lend, they would reap a hundredfold in being allowed to create private money with the sovereigns endorsement. Henceforth, the seigniorage would be shared. (Martin, op. cit., p118) Alongside the national debt developed the fiscal (taxation) system. With debts to repay, the state was required to establish a means through which to raise the taxes needed to fund these debts and interest payments. The result, however, as seen now in debt-laden countries across the world, is that the tail ends up wagging the dog. Government policy begins to revolve entirely around paying back the debts to its financial creditors, and as is aptly demonstrated in modern day Greece new loans are required just to pay off the old ones. So it comes about that the bourgeoisie takes complete control over the running of the country not through the electoral apparatus of a country, but by dictating policy to governments using strikes of investment and the threat of national insolvency. This is what we see today, where governments of every colour are carrying out the same policies of austerity under the aegis of international finance capital and this is what is meant by the dictatorship of capital, which rides roughshod over democracy in this time of crisis. The national debt, i.e. the alienation of the state whether that state is despotic, constitutional, or republican marked the capitalist era with its stamp. The only part of the so-called national wealth that actually enters into the collective possession of a modern nation is the national debt. (Marx, op. cit. p919) Credit and crisis Banking and finance are fundamentally based upon moneys role as a means of payment a promise by the buyer to pay in the future. This function of money as a means of payment, Marx notes, however, is not unique to the capitalist epoch, but develops out of simple commodity circulation, so that a relationship of creditor and debtor is formed. With the development of trade and the capitalist mode of production, Marx continues, this spontaneous basis for the credit system is expanded, generalised and elaborated. Whereas coinage that is, money as a means of purchase once dominated, money now functions only as means of payment, i.e. commodities are not sold for money, but for a written promise to pay at a certain date. (Karl Marx, Capital, Volume Three, Penguin Classics edition, p525) In other words, with money as a means of payment, it is possible to buy without having first sold; to own without actually paying anything in return. A disconnect develops between the commodities exchanging hands and the actual ability to pay for these commodities. Fragility, uncertainty and risk are introduced into the system, which only increases as the credit system is expanded, generalised and elaborated. The complexity and with it, the fragility of the credit system took a qualitative leap forward with invention of fractional reserve banking in the 17th century. Whereas the banking system up until then had been primarily concerned with exchanges between accounts, or the provision of loans fully backed up by reserves, now banks began lending amounts in excess of its metallic reserveexploiting the fact that money left on deposit could profitably be lent out to borrowers. (Ferguson, op. cit., p50) In their role as lenders of credit, the banks play a dual role for the capitalists. On the one hand, relatively short-term credit is required to overcome bottlenecks in production and maintain the flow and circulation of commodities. For example, producers need to borrow money to pay for wages and raw materials whilst they wait for previous produced goods to reach the market and be sold. On the other hand, credit may be used to allow producers to expand production when they dont have the upfront capital to pay for it. In this respect, the banking and finance system serves to pool together and accumulate all the small savings and idle money within the economy primarily those of individuals and households in order to put them to use productively as investment in new means of production. With the invention of fractional reserve banking, however, banks were no longer mere lenders of credit they became the creators of credit, and thus the creators of money also. Only a fraction of deposits are backed up by liquid assets, the rest are simply loans created by the bank (at interest) in order to provide greater profits for the bank, thus increasing the money supply in the process. The credit lent appears in the form of a deposit in the bank account of the borrower, who can then spend this just as he/she would spend any other money. Today, according to the UK-based campaigning group Positive Money, whose aim is to democratise money and banking, upto 97% of the money supply in the British economy is the creation of banks, with only 3% existing in the form of cash. In this respect, credit plays another key role within capitalism: artificially expanding the market that is, the purchasing power within the economy. At root, capitalism is a system of production for profit. If the capitalists cannot make a profit, then they will not produce; workers are made unemployed, investment dries up, circulation stops. The economy grinds to a halt and the credit system breaks down that is to say: capitalism enters into crisis. As long as the reproduction process is fluid, so that returns remain assured, this credit persists and extends, and its extension is based on the extension of the reproduction process itself. As soon as any stagnation occurs, as a result of delayed returns, overstocked markets, or fallen prices, there is a surplus of industrial capital, but in a form in which it cannot accomplish its function. A great deal of commodity capital; but unsaleable. A great deal of fixed capital; but in large measure unemployed as a result of stagnation in reproduction. Credit contracts, 1) because this capital is unoccupied, i.e. congealed in one of its phases of reproduction, because it cannot complete its metamorphosis; 2) because confidence in the fluidity of the reproduction process is broken; 3) because the demand for this commercial credit declines... So if there is a disturbance in this expansion, or even in the normal exertion of the reproduction process, there is also a lack of credit; it is more difficult to obtain goods on credit. The demand for cash payment and distrust of credit selling is especially characteristic of the phase in the industrial cycle that follows the crash...Factories stand idle, raw materials pile up, finished products flood the market as commodities. (Marx, Capital, Volume Three, p614) With a default on any debts, the anarchy and chaos within the balance of payments becomes apparent. Creditors demand their repayments and refuse to lend any further. Promises to pay lose any meaning; only hard cash will suffice. Credit is reined in, bringing the motion of circulation and thus production also to a halt. In short, the lack of credit does not cause a crisis; the crisis causes a lack of credit. This contradiction bursts forth in that aspect of an industrial and commercial crisis which is known as a monetary crisis. Such a crisis occurs only where the ongoing chain of payments has been fully developed, along with an artificial system for settling them. Whenever there is a general disturbance of the mechanism, no matter what is cause, money suddenly and immediately changes over from its merely nominal shape, money of account, into hard cash. Profane commodities can no longer replace it. The use-value of commodities becomes valueless, and their value vanishes in the face of their own form of value. (Marx, Capital, Volume One, p236) In a system of production where the entire interconnection of the reproduction process rests on credit, a crisis must evidently break out if credit is suddenly withdrawn and only cash payment is accepted, in the form of a violent scramble for means of payment. At first glance, therefore, the entire crisis presents itself as simply a credit and monetary crisis. And in fact all it does involve is simply the convertibility of bills of exchange into money. The majority of these bills represent actual purchases and sales, the ultimate basis of the entire crisis being the expansion of these far beyond the social need. On top of this, however, a tremendous number of these bills represent purely fraudulent deals, which now come to light and explode; as well as unsuccessful speculations conducted with borrowed capital, and finally commodity capitals that are either devalued or unsaleable, or returns that are never going to come in. (Marx, Capital, Volume Three, p621) At the heart of these crises is a fundamental contradiction within capitalism: that of overproduction. This arises from the nature of capitalism as a system of profit, and from the origins of profit itself as explained earlier as the unpaid labour of the working class. Since workers produce more value than they are paid back in the form of wages, the working class as a whole can never buy back the full value of the commodities it creates. Capitalism traditionally overcomes this contradiction of overproduction by reinvesting the surplus value created into new means of production in the search for greater profits. This, however, only serves to create even greater productive forces, and thus an even greater mass of commodities that must find a market, and thus rather than resolving the contradiction only further exacerbates overproduction. Credit, then, is used to artificially increase the consumptive capacity of the masses, and thus to temporarily overcome overproduction, allowing the productive forces to continue growing and the market to expand beyond its limits but only by sowing the seeds for an even bigger crisis in the future. Today, the capitalist system has extended far beyond its limits. The expansion of credit over the past thirty years and particularly since the turn of the century created the largest credit bubble in history. On the one hand, as a result of globalisation, automation, and a full-frontal assault against the working class, wages were driven down, and an ever-increasing proportion of wealth began to go to capital rather than labour. On the other hand, credit was massively expanded through the use of mortgages, credit cards, student loans, etc., in order to artificially maintain demand. Whilst this had the effect of delaying the onset of crisis, it at the same time paved the way for the almighty collapse of 2008 and the continued chaos that we see today, as all the contradictions that have piled up for decades now come to the fore. At root, it is the restricted consumption of the masses that prepares the way for crises under capitalism. The market is not only restricted by the amount of money that people have in their pockets to spend on goods and services (and the huge debts that hang around their necks), but also by the enormous level of excess capacity that has built up throughout the economy, creating a gigantic barrier to further investment. Today, the world is awash with such excess capacity; the market is saturated and the capitalists have had to cut back on production. Their attempt to overcome the crisis by credit has reached its limits. The productive forces have far outgrown the limits of the capitalist system. Money and Capital After the advent of banking and the birth of the bond market, Niall Ferguson comments in his Financial History of the World, the next step in the story of the ascent of money was...the rise of the joint-stock, limited-liability corporation. It is the company, Ferguson notes, that enables thousands of individuals to pool their resources for risky, long-term projects that require the investment of vast sums of capital before profits can be realised. (Ferguson, op. cit., p121) With the advent of the joint-stock company, business owners were no longer purely reliant on the banks in order to obtain credit for making large-scale investments. Instead, such money could be raised from the accumulation of many small (or large) sums, by selling to shares in the company to anyone who was willing to risk their savings in return for a portion of future profits. As Marx emphases in Capital, however, such shares are not a share in the actual company itself, but rather are an ownership title, pro rata, to the surplus-value which this capital is to realise; nothing but accumulated claims, legal titles, to future production; a legal claim to a share of the surplus-value that this capital is to produce. (Marx, Capital, Volume Three, p597; p599 ; p608) Today, giant financial firms, through the stock market, control the process of buying, selling, and trading shares as part of the wider credit system. Anyone with any savings or private pension is tied into this system, with investment banks and pension fund managers amalgamating the populations nest eggs into larger amounts that can be invested to make a profit. It is clear, however, that there is a qualitative difference between money and capital. Whilst millions of people may have money invested in shares through their savings or pension, this does not make every thrifty saver or pension holder a capitalist. Only a tiny minority have enough money that they can live purely off the returns from stocks and shares. Despite the propaganda of the bourgeoisie and their mouthpieces (for example, the rhetoric of Margaret Thatcher, who sought to create a middle-class property-owning democracy by selling off council housing and privatising nationalised industries), the stock market does not serve to diversify societys wealth and convert laymen into capitalists. Rather, the main function of the highly developed credit system that we see under capitalism is to do the opposite: to concentrate and capitalise all the small, scattered sums of money in the hands of a rich and powerful elite of bankers and financiers; to convert all money into capital that is, into value that is capable of creating more value. Small sums which are incapable of functioning as money capital by themselves are combined into great masses and thus form a monetary power. (Ibid, p529) In so doing, Lenin remarks in his Marxist masterpiece Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, they [the banks and financial firms] transform inactive money capital into active, that is, into capital yielding a profit; they collect all kinds of money revenues and place them at the disposal of the capitalist class. (Lenin, Imperialism, the Highest Stage of Capitalism, Chapter II) At the same time, the credit system serves to divorce the capitalists ever more from the process of real production. With the advent of joint-stock companies, the capitalist ceases to be the business owner or manager, and capital itself become less and less about owning actual tangible assets. Instead, the capitalist becomes simply capital personified, and capital ownership - in the form of stock and shares - is transformed simply into a claim to a share of the total surplus value produced in society; an asset that entitles the owner to a constant revenue stream, with a return equal to the average rate of profit. It is, in the words of Marx, the transformation of the actual functioning capitalist into a mere manager, in charge of other peoples capital, and of the capital owner into a mere owner, a mere money capitalist. (Marx, op. cit., p567) It is the dominance of the banks, stock market, cartels, and monopolies, meanwhile, with the transformation of capital into primarily finance capital, that Lenin noted as being a defining characteristic of imperialism - the highest stage of capitalism: It is characteristic of capitalism in general that the ownership of capital is separated from the application of capital to production, that money capital is separated from industrial or productive capital, and that the rentier who lives entirely on income obtained from money capital, is separated from the entrepreneur and from all who are directly concerned in the management of capital. Imperialism, or the domination of finance capital, is that highest stage of capitalism in which this separation reaches vast proportions. The supremacy of finance capital over all other forms of capital means the predominance of the rentier and of the financial oligarchy. (Lenin, op. cit., Chapter III) The rise of the stock market and the credit system, then, acts to accelerate the socialisation of production, with businesses appearing as social enterprises as opposed to private ones. This is the abolition of capital as private property within the confines of the capitalist mode of production itself. (Marx, op. cit., p567). On the one hand, this gives as an enormous boost to the development of the productive forces, enabling investment in new means of production on a scale that could never be achieved on the basis of individual private ownership. This provides a glimpse of what could be possible under a socialist plan of production, where the productive forces and resources in the economy were utilised according to a rational and democratic plan, on the basis of societys needs, rather than for the profits of the bankers and bosses. On the other hand, this same credit system gives rise to an orgy of speculation and reproduces a new financial aristocracy, a new kind of parasite in the guise of company promoters, speculators and merely nominal directors; an entire system of swindling and cheating with respect to the promotion of companies, issue of shares and share dealings. It is private production unchecked by private ownership. (Ibid, p569) Trading and exchange of financial commodities become merely a means of attempting to make money out of money. Financial assets increasingly become mere fictitious capital. Activity on the stock market becomes ever more separated from the state of the real economy below, with prices of such stocks and shares ceasing to reflect the actual health of the companies whose value they are supposed to represent, giving rise to an endless froth of bubbles being vastly inflated only to later burst up against the pinpricks of reality. As Niall Ferguson remarks: In the four hundred years since shares were first bought and sold, there has been a succession of financial bubbles. Time and again, share prices have soared to unsustainable heights only to crash downwards again. Time and again, this process has been accompanied by skulduggery, as unscrupulous insiders have sought to profit at the expense of naive neophytes. (Ferguson, op. cit., p122) And, of course, as we see from the financial crash of 2007-08, it is always the working class who are left to foot the bill for such recklessness, whilst the rich and wealthy continue to laugh all the way to the bank. Far from being a malevolent tumour on the side of an otherwise benevolent system, however, we can see that such financial alchemy and skulduggery of swindling and cheating are an intrinsic part of the capitalist system that cannot be removed. The development of capitalism, from its mercantile beginnings in southern Italy to the Industrial Revolution in England, was only possible due to the development of finance capital and the role it played in concentrating capital, expanding the productive forces, and creating the world market. Any separation between the good capitalism of industry and manufacturing, on the one side, and the bad capitalism of the parasitic and irresponsible finance sector, on the other, is purely artificial and completely idealistic. Instead of attempting to regulate the unruly beast of finance and banking in order to create the utopia of a responsible capitalism, the leaders of the labour movement should instead put forward the demand for the nationalisation of the banks under the control of the organised working class. Only in this way can the wealth in society be pooled and planned in the interest of the many. The credit system hence accelerates the material development of the productive forces and the creation of the world market, which it is the historical task of the capitalist mode of production to bring to a certain level of development, as material foundations for the new form of production. At the same time, credit accelerates the violent outbreaks of this contradiction, crises, and with these the elements of dissolution of the old mode of production. The credit system has a dual character immanent in it: on the one hand it develops the motive of capitalist production, enrichment by the exploitation of others labour, into the purest and most colossal system of gambling and swindling, and restricts ever more the already small number of the exploiters of social wealth; on the other hand however it constitutes the form of transition towards a new mode of production. (Marx, op. cit., p572) The scourge of inflation Whilst minted coins may bear the faces of the heads of state with whose authority they have been issued, it is important to stress that this does not mean that money was ever invented or imposed from above. Rather, it is an emergent social device within a society where a market economy has developed, as Graeber emphasises: The reasons why anthropologists havent been able to come up with a simple, compelling story for the origins of money is because theres no reason to believe there could be one. Money was no more ever invented than music or mathematics or jewellery. What we call money isnt a thing at all; its a way of comparing things mathematically (Graeber, op. cit. p52) Although it is emergent, and not imposed or invented, the relations represented by money are nevertheless based on something that is objective and real that is, the socially necessary labour time embodied within societys total wealth of commodities in circulation. The real wealth of a society, in other words, consists not in its accumulation of coins and cash, nor in bubbles of credit and debt, but in the level of the productive forces - and resultant use-values - at its disposal. Indeed, as discussed earlier, many a regime or ruler in history has been reminded of this fact when attempting to increase their wealth simply through debasement of the currency or printing money a technique that universally leads to creating greater economic instability and ultimately, ironically, to the impoverishment of the society in question. Whilst there is no apparent limit to the amount of money that can be put into circulation, then, it is nevertheless clear that this amount is not arbitrary. As explained earlier, money is above all a measure of value the universal measure of value. The amount of money in circulation, therefore, must ultimately be linked to the total value of commodities in circulation equivalent in money terms to the total of the prices and to the speed (the velocity or turnover) with which this money exchanges hands. For example, all things being equal, if the quantity of commodities remains constant but the amount of notes in circulation doubles, then the price of each commodity will double also. Inflation is a reflection of market forces: if the money supply increases, there will be a general increase in the demand for commodities, and thus a general rise in prices. Inflation of specific commodities can still occur in the absence of an increasing money supply, however; for example, as a result of a scarcity or restriction in the supply of certain goods, which pushes their price above their value. Similarly, if the costs of production for a particular commodity increase, i.e. there is an increase in its socially necessary labour time, these will be reflected in a relatively higher value and thus a newly inflated price for this commodity in relation to others. A generalised inflation - that is, a general inflation in the price of all commodities - in society, then, can only take place as a result of an expansion of the money supply and a debasement (devaluation) of the currency; or as a product of a rise in the price of a commodity such as oil, which acts as an important factor in the cost of production for all other commodities. As discussed earlier, money - both in terms of commodity money and credit money - is ultimately a set of social relations; an expression of the distribution of wealth within society. The role of such a generalised inflation, therefore, is to change the balance of these social relations and redistribute this wealth from one group to another: primarily in terms of a transfer of wealth from creditors to debtors, whose debts in real terms are diminished by inflation. Since debasement and a generalised inflation ultimately acts to redistribute wealth, the question of who controls the money supply reflects itself historically as a struggle between the classes, as noted earlier in terms of the battle between feudal kings and the nascent bourgeoisie over the money supply. As Marx comments in Capital: The class struggle in the ancient world, for instance, took the form mainly of a contest between debtors and creditors, and ended in Rome with the ruin of the plebeian debts, who were replaced by slaves. In the Middle Ages the contest ended with the ruin of the feudal debtors, who lost their political power together with its economic basis. Here, indeed, the money-form - and the relation between creditor and debtor does have the form of a money-relation - was only the reflection of an antagonism which lay deeper, at the level of the economic conditions of existence. (Marx, op. cit., p233) What indebted workers might gain with one hand from a generalised inflation and a decrease in the real value of their debts, however, they risk losing with the other hand in the form of an erosion of the purchasing power of their wages. For if there is a general increase in prices, but without any corresponding increase in pay, then it is clear that workers will experience a decrease in their real wages - that is, a decrease in the quantity of goods that their wages can be exchanged for. In the 1970s, the trade unions in Britain were blamed by bourgeois politicians and right-wing papers for causing high inflation, with claims that militant strikes demanding (and winning) unreasonable wage increases were leading to rising costs of production across the board. Such a narrative has become a popularised myth that continues to be propagated by the capitalist class and their political representatives in this day and age. In fact, the reality was the other way around. Workers were generally fighting to increase their wages to catch up with inflation - inflation that arose due to other (international) factors, such as: the expansionist Keynesian policies enacted by all advanced capitalist countries throughout the post-war boom; the vast expenditure on military spending by the USA, who exported inflation across the world through the Bretton Woods monetary system; and the oil crisis of 1973, which saw energy prices soar. The capitalists vehemently opposed such strikes over wages, knowing that a generalised wage increase for workers could only be achieved on the basis of a generalised reduction in their profits. Ted Grant explained this back in 1971 when responding to the slanders of the Tory government and bourgeois media: What causes price increases? If the capitalists could arbitrarily raise prices they would not wait for wages to rise. They are interested in gaining the maximum, profits. What stops them is competition, especially under modern conditions, nationally and internationally. In fact in general it is wages which lag behind prices and not vice-versa. If the capitalists could raise prices at their whim, why do they face the prospect of bitter strikes, with consequent loss of production and profits rather than concede the wage demands of the workers? If it was simply a question of passing on wage increases that would be the obvious way to solve the problem. But in fact the profit of the capitalist class is only the unpaid labour of the working class. Consequently an increase of wages for the workers, other things being equal, means a fall in the profit of the capitalists. Hence the cries of woe from the paid hacks of capitalism in the mass media. (Ted Grant, The Truth Behind Inflation, Militant no. 71) Today, the various capitalist governments around the world are resorting to unprecedentedly loose monetary policies in a desperate attempt to stimulate the economy, with all manner of previously unseen measures being implemented and proposed: from quantitative easing and negative interest rates, to talk of a helicopter drop of money directly into the pockets of consumers. One would expect such policies to lead to rampant inflation across the board, but this has not occurred. Why? At root, the answer lies with the enormous level of overproduction that exists on a world scale, which reflects itself in a glut of commodities and excess capacity in all sectors, and which acts to put an enormous downward pressure on prices. For example, unlike in the past - as a result of the slowdown in China, the massive expansion of the fracking industry in the USA, and the rivalry between producers such as Saudi Arabia and Iran - today oil prices have hit rock bottom. But rather than celebrating this fact, bourgeois politicians and economists are instead gravely concerned by the onset of deflation, which is a symptom of the systems sickness. In short, the market is saturated; capitalism has gone far beyond its limits; the development of the productive forces has come into conflict with the mode of production - that is, our ability to produce has come up against the barrier of private ownership and production for profit. Monetary (in)stability In theory, the money supply should remain anchored to the real economy by the demand for money. For example, if a business takes out a loan in order to invest and expand production, or if a family borrows in the form of a mortgage to buy a new house, then the creation of new money will be backed up by a corresponding increase of commodities in circulation. The reality, however, is not so simple. On the one hand, money acts as the lubricant to the whole flow of commodity production and exchange, enabling universal trade and exchange between individuals or communities who need never meet, and breaking up the act of exchange in both time and space. It thus provides movement and motion, dynamism and change. The rise of money, then, marks a powerful leap in the potential for the market and thus for the forces of production to expand. On the other hand, the pressure exerted by the market to expand also calls forth a demand for a greater supply of money. Hence the development, as discussed earlier, of credit, banking, and finance. But it is within the nature of commodity production and exchange - that is, of private ownership - for this system to go beyond its limits. As discussed earlier, with the development of money and the rise of merchants and usurers, C-M-C is replaced by M-C-M (and M-M); the end goal of production and exchange becomes further removed from fulfilling actual needs, and more and more about the accumulation of money. This pressure for the money supply to expand is reflected in the tendency towards debasement, and in the evolution of money from coins whose value was equivalent to that of the precious metal contained within, to money in the form of banknotes, etc. which act as a mere representation, symbol, or token of value - a process that has reached its extreme in the modern age where a persons wealth is represented by mere numbers on a screen. Credit, then, acts to break the link between the real economy and the money supply. As discussed earlier, it allows for the productive forces to temporarily overcome the restrictions of the market. At the same time, it promotes all manner of speculation, resulting in a scourge of bubbles and fictitious capital. Prior to the financial crisis of 2007-08, for example, instead of households coming to the banks and asking for a loan, the banks came to households, encouraging them to join in with their orgy of credit creation in the form of subprime mortgages and credit cards. Meanwhile, the market carried on expanding and the capitalist system continued to grow on the basis of this house of cards, with big businesses able to realise their profits thanks to the artificial demand created by this credit. In his book on Debt, David Graeber notes that the history of money has alternated between periods where the use of credit money has expanded and periods where the use of precious metals have tended to dominate. As noted earlier, for example, with the collapse of the Roman Empire came the breakdown of trade and banking, and thus a move away from credit towards a system of local and regional coinages, reflecting societys dissolution at the time into feudal kingdoms and fiefdoms. The collapse of the credit system and the reversion to commodity money (e.g. the precious metals), then, is a reflection of the general political and economic instability in society, which generates a craving for money that is tangible and not merely scribbles on a bankers account book. As Graeber explains: ...while credit systems tend to dominate in periods of relative social peace, or across networks of trust (whether created by states or, in most periods, transnational institutions like merchant guilds or communities of faith), in periods characterised by widespread war and plunder, they tend to be replaced by previous metal. (Graber, op. cit., p214) In this respect, the generally limited and stable amount of precious metals circulating around the world market - along with their advantageous material properties described earlier (homogeneity, durability, high value density, etc.) - helped to enforce their role as money, providing a reliable standard of prices, measure of wealth, and means by which debts could be transferred. The use of precious metals as the money commodity does not guarantee the stability of prices, however. This was demonstrated by the example of the Spanish Empire in the 16th Century, where, after flooding the country with an abundance of gold and silver looted from their conquests of Central America, the rulers found themselves with an unstable situation of high inflation and low investment, which ultimately led to the collapse of the Spanish economy. Everything is dear in Spain except silver, one proverb from the time remarked. This fateful downfall again highlights the fact that it is not an abundance of money that makes a society rich, but rather the level of its productive forces and ability to produce real wealth. Leon Trotsky also emphasised this point in respect to his analysis of the degeneration of the Soviet Union, where, under Stalin, an increase in the money supply was desperately and empirically used by the bureaucracy in an attempt to overcome the limits of the planned economy within conditions of economic isolation and backwardness. Trotsky stressed that even with the establishment of the planned economy and the workers state, money would not lose its role as a measure of value until all last remnants of private ownership, commodity production and exchange, and class society had been abolished. In the meantime, Trotsky noted, any unchecked increase in the money supply would lead to a generalised inflation that would serve to limit the effectiveness of the planned economy. The question, again, is ultimately reduced to a question of the level of the productive forces available to society. These two problems, state and money, have a number of traits in common, for they both reduce themselves in the last analysis to the problem of problems: productivity of labor. State compulsion like money compulsion is an inheritance from the class society The ruling circles were completely possessed by the opinion that with a planned economy inflation is not to be feared. This means approximately that if you possess a compass there is no danger in a leaking ship. In reality, currency inflation, inevitably producing a credit inflation, entails a substitution of fictitious for real magnitudes, and corrodes the planned economy from within. It is needless to say that inflation meant a dreadful tax upon the toiling masses. (Leon Trotsky, The Revolution Betrayed, Chapter IV) Today, whilst there has not been a general inflation as a result of loose monetary policies such as QE (for the reasons explained earlier), such measures have nevertheless given rise to an enormous instability within the world economy, with cheap money leaking abroad and inflating asset bubbles - for example, of housing and stocks, etc. - across the globe. The effect within those countries that have enacted QE programmes, meanwhile, has been to weaken their currencies, helping to boost exports. In essence, it has become yet another new form of beggar-thy-neighbour economics. The vast QE programmes undertaken in the USA, UK, Europe, and Japan, then, designed to bring about economic stability in this time of deep crisis, have as demonstrated by the stock market panic in China and elsewhere clearly resulted in the exact opposite. A temporary stabilisation for some has merely served to create further instability for the system as a whole. Meanwhile, despite these vast monetary injections, the economies of all the major capitalist powers remain stuck in the doldrums. The value of money, therefore, whilst being a quantitative relational expression, is not arbitrary or accidental, but lies on an objective material basis: as a representation of the total values that exist in circulation within the economy. As the examples above clearly demonstrate, there is no such thing as an economic free lunch. This important fact has equally important consequences, particularly in relation to the issue of inflation and the money supply that we see today. As good as gold Photo: Public DomainThe use of a gold standard emerged historically as a reaction to loose monetary policies, in an attempt to anchor the money supply to something tangible. In Britain, the gold standard was brought in during the first half of the 19th century, in an attempt to combat the inflation seen as a result of the Napoleonic Wars, which had been funded through a massive increase in government debt. This culminated in the 1844 Bank Charter Act, which worked to restrict the money supply by giving the Bank of England a monopoly on the printing of new notes; these notes, in turn, had to be backed up by gold. Nevertheless, fractional reserve banking was maintained, allowing private banks to increase the money supply by creating new bank deposits (i.e. credit) in response to demands for loans. With the rise and spread of the British Empire, an epoch of stability was created globally that allowed for the expansion of world trade and the emergence of the gold standard as an international monetary system. When capitalism was in its ascendency and the global economy was moving forward, the international gold standard acted a positive force, facilitating international trade by providing a universal comparison of prices in different countries, each with their own national currency. As the contradictions within the capitalist system accumulated, however, the benefits provided by the international gold standard turned into their opposite and became yet another source of great instability within the volatile world economy. The beginning of World War One represented the global capitalist system reaching its limits, with the various imperialist powers coming into conflict with one another as they attempted to carve up and redivide the saturated world market. In turn, the onset of the Great War led to one country after another abandoning the gold standard as they attempted to fund their war efforts by printing money. At the same time, the international gold standard acted to rigidly bind the various national economies together, restricting their ability to pursue currency devaluations in response to large balance of payments deficits. Instead, countries with poor trade balances were forced to carry out an internal devaluation - that is, an attack on workers wages and conditions, in order to improve the countrys economic competitiveness. This was the position facing Britain after the war, whose position on the world stage had deteriorated to the extent that it could not return to the gold standard without an outright assault against the working class. Indeed, it was the implementation of such an assault by the British ruling class that led to the outbreak of the countrys first (and only) general strike in 1926, as the capitalists looked to regain their competitiveness by attacking wages - in particular, those of the miners. When world trade was expanding and the economy was growing, the tensions and antagonisms between the various capitalist countries could be glossed over. But as the global economy entered into crisis and different national economies began moving in different directions, all the contradictions came to the fore. After a brief return and window of stability in the 1920s, the international gold standard eventually collapsed and died with the onset of the Great Depression in 1929, which again forced country after country to abandon the gold standard as they attempted to pursue expansionist and inflationary monetary policies to stimulate the economy, fund government deficits, and provide liquidity to failing banks. A wave of protectionism and competitive devaluations swept across the world as each capitalist nation sought to export the crisis through beggar thy neighbour policies - a process that merely intensified the crisis on a world scale, as international trade collapsed and markets shrank. The single currency The parallels with todays euro crisis - where the straightjacket of the single currency has served to heighten the contradictions within European capitalism - are plain to see. Once again, the weaker European economies such as Greece, Spain, and Portugal have been forced along the path of internal devaluation, which manifests itself in the shape of permanent cuts and attacks on workers; an attempt to bring Chinese working conditions to the shores of Europe. This is the real meaning of austerity today. Such countries are told that they must become competitive in order to export. We must be more like Germany and China!; we must invest, be more competitive, and export! But not everyone can be like Germany and China. One only needs to ask the simple question of: export to whom? At a time when governments everywhere are carrying out austerity, where is there the demand for increased imports? Furthermore, every countrys capitalists and political representatives are attempting to do the same thing, and - by definition - not everyone can be a net exporter. International competitiveness is fundamentally no different from the competition between different capitalist firms: under capitalism there will always winners and losers. Imbalances and instability are inherent within the system. Not everyone can be the most competitive. Competitiveness is always relative. The main difference is that in the competition between firms, weak firms will go under and will be subsumed by the stronger ones; on the international plane, less competitive national economies cannot be so simply assimilated although that, in essence, is what ever-closer union inside the eurozone and the European Union has come to mean: a single economic zone in which the weaker economies are placed under the direct control of the stronger ones i.e. of German capitalism. At the same time, however, it must be stressed that, in both the case of the gold standard and the euro, the root cause of the problem is not the monetary system but the capitalist system. Inside or outside of the euro, the problems facing Greece, Spain, Ireland, Italy, and Portugal, for example, will not be solved as long as the laws of capitalism remain in place. It is the contradictions of capitalism - with its barriers of private ownership and the nation state - that have created the crisis; the international monetary system in place merely provides the form in which this crisis expresses itself. Similarly, today there are those who imagine that a return to the gold standard that is, to a system whereby currencies are pegged to a fixed quantity of gold would be an infallible defence against the dangers of inflationary monetary policies, global trade imbalances, speculative bubbles, over-expanded credit, financial crises, and so on and so forth. But the gold standard is not a panacea. Ultimately the needs of commodity production and exchange impose themselves; the need for a greater circulation of money arises; and the rigid link between the money supply and a single commodity be it gold or anything else becomes a barrier to the growth of the capitalist economy and the development of the productive forces. This is what forced the development from coins of gold and silver known as a gold specie standard to a monetary system of paper notes backed up by gold; and this Monday marks the first Indigenous Peoples' Day in Amherst and Northampton. Both communities voted in May to scrap Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples' Day, the only Western Massachusetts communities to do so. Activists from within and outside of the Native American community developed Indigenous Peoples' Day in 1977 to both protest Christopher Columbus' treatment of native populations but to draw attention to ongoing discrimination against those communities, according to IndigenousPeoplesDayMA.org. Mahtowin Munro, spokeswoman for IndigenousPeoplesDayMA.org, said Cambridge, Amherst and Northampton in Massachusetts have switched from Columbus Day. Tufts University in Medford approved it last year, Munro said. There may be others that the group doesn't know about, she said. On Thursday, Vermont added itself to the Indigenous Peoples' Day camp. Here is a national list, provided by IndigenousPeoplesDayMA.org, of municipalities that have chosen to celebrate Indigenous Peoples' Day: Cities Amherst, Massachusetts Northampton, Massachusetts Berkeley, California San Fernando, California Santa Cruz, California Sebastapol, California Anderson, Redding, and Shasta Lake, California Denver, Colorado Boulder, Colorado Lawrence, Kansas Minneapolis, Minnesota Red Wing, Minnesota Grand Rapids, Minnesota St. Paul, Minnesota Carrboro, North Carolina Albuquerque, New Mexico Newstead, Ohio Anadarko, Oklahoma Portland, Oregon Bexar County/San Antonio, Texas Seattle, Washington States: SPRINGFIELD -- The Massachusetts Foreign Language Association is returning its annual conferences to Springfield in 2017 and 2018 following a 15-year absence. Both conferences are set to be hosted at the Sheraton Monarch Place Hotel. The 2017 conference will be held October 26-28, 2017, according to a city news release. Mayor Domenic J. Sarno said news release: "Being first generation, this conference holds a special meaning to me. I recently met with their executive board members to express my appreciation and thanks for coming back to Springfield - they're a great and fun group too! With well over 900 participants expected, their ripple spin-off effect of economic development will be felt positively by our businesses." MaFLA is a non-profit service organization committed to the professional growth of its members and to the promotion of quality teaching and learning and cultures from kindergarten through the college level and beyond. MaFLA anticipates as many as 900 participants to attend the Fall Conferences, as well as 50-60 vendors to be on display in the exhibit hall. Presenters will include Massachusetts educators, as well as foreign language experts from around the nation and the world. For more information, please visit http://mafla.org/ or contact Madelyn Gonnerman Torchin at madelyngonnerman@gmail.com. An Amherst pub known for their beer and wings has received national recognition. BuzzFeed published a list this week of the "29 best college bars in America," based on reader recommendations. The Hangar Pub and Grill was picked as the top choice by University of Massachusetts Amherst current and former students. The Hangar has long been a local favorite where all can get their Wings Over fix. The pub announced plans last year to merge The Hangar with Amherst Brewing Company. Following approval from the Amherst Zoning Board, The Hangar moved into ABC's location across the street and reconfigured space inside the restaurant. Its current home at 10 University Dr. features a 100-foot bar, dining room, events room, tap room, game area and indoor food truck. Amherst Brewing Company brews on site and more than a dozen ABC beers are available on tap (many of which you can pour yourself). 2016 OCT - robin miller exhibit.jpeg There will be an opening reception Oct. 12 at 7 p.m. for artist Robin Joyce Miller's exhibit "Who Do You Say That I Am? - A Man Called Jesus" in the Mary Dooley College Center's Borgia Gallery at Elms College in Chicopee. (Submitted) CHICOPEE - An art exhibit focusing on the life of Christ, evening retreats and a talk on the bioethical care of the planet by a Jesuit theologian who also holds a medical degree are among events sponsored by Elms College's religious studies program that are free to the public in October. There will be an opening reception Wednesday, Oct. 12, at 7 p.m. for artist Robin Joyce Miller's exhibit "Who Do You Say That I Am? - A Man Called Jesus" in the Mary Dooley College Center's Borgia Gallery. The show's mixed media collages serve as illustrations in Miller's book of the same name, and she will discuss that evening how they were inspired by Ethiopian icons. Martin J. Pion, an Elms religious studies department professor, called the exhibit a "beautiful collection of art works" that departs from Renaissance depictions of Christ. "The Ethiopian Church is one of the oldest Christian communities in the world. There were Christians there in the first century. Since no one really knows what Jesus looks like we tend to use known/familiar facial types when representing Jesus. So much of the art we see in churches is euro-centric so we forget that there are other ways of imagining Jesus," Pion said. "As an African American artist, Robin Joyce Miller shows another way of presenting Jesus, thinking of him as African. People of color appreciate this step away from Renaissance images. If we consider what we know about Jesus, he was Middle Eastern and very likely, dark skinned. This is a beautiful collection of art works." Miller, who has exhibited previously at the college, taught in the New York City school system for three decades and was twice winner of the Thurgood Marshall African-American Educators Award. Her talk is part of the Mary A. Dooley Lecture series and the reception is also sponsored by the Division of Humanities and Fine Arts. The exhibit is open weekdays through Nov. 9. Virginia L. Collins-English, who holds a master of theology degree from Elms, will lead two retreats that can be attended together or separately on Oct. 20 and 27 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. in the college's Brick House, 15 Gaylord St. Themes for "A Time for Harvesting" will include scriptural passages from Ruth and the Gospels of Jesus. "The book of Ruth tells the story of a non-Jew who marries into the clan. There are many twists and turns but in the end Ruth remains faithful to her new family, specifically her mother-in-law and expresses her love for her family in beautiful language. As the story continues she is widowed, and remarries within her clan and becomes one of the ancestors of King David. It is an amazing text," Pion said. Seating is limited for the evenings and participants are asked to register by calling Ann Schwein at (413) 265-2575 or e-mail schweina@elms.edu Italian Jesuit Andrea Vicini, chair of the ecclesiastical faculty of Boston College's School of Theology and Ministry and an associate professor of moral theology there, will speak on the "Bioethical Care for Our Planet" on Oct. 26 at 7 p.m. in Veritas Auditorium in Berchmans Hall. The talk will apply ethical standards of health care to planetary care. Vicini has been called "one of the few specialists in medical ethics who is both a physician and a theologian." "Father Vicini is a remarkably accomplished bio-ethicist and he brings expertise in that field to the college," Pion noted. "His focus on how bioethics connects with care of the planet is important to all concerned with environmental degradation. Pope Francis, who is also a Jesuit priest, recently promulgated an encyclical or teaching letter on this same topic. That document titled Laudato si explores the religious and theological dimensions of care for the earth." Francis issued his encyclical, "Laudato Si: On Care For Our Common Home, in June 2015. Vicini holds a medical degree from the University of Bologna, as well as a doctorate in theological ethics from Boston College and a doctorate in sacred theology from the Pontifical Faculty of Theology of Southern Italy in Naples, where he also taught. A question and answer session will follow his presentation. His talk is part of the Dooley lecture series and both his talk and the retreat events are also sponsored by the college's Institute for Theology and Pastoral Studies. Amherst police SUV.jpg Amherst police arrest 20-year-old for operating under the influence of drugs. (Republican file ) AMHERST -- Police arrested two people on motor vehicle violations this weekend, including a New York man charged with driving under the influence of drugs. Kyle Ferguson, 20, of Huntington Station, New York, was arrested Saturday morning after his vehicle was observed crossing into the opposite lane of North Pleasant Street near the University of Massachusetts Integrative Learning Center, according to police. During a traffic stop around 2:45 a.m., officers determined Ferguson -- who is listed as a University of Massachusetts Amherst student -- was impaired, police records state. He was arrested and charged with operating under the influence of drugs (marijuana), negligent operation of a motor vehicle to endanger, and a marked lanes violation. Police also arrested a Ware woman Friday night after stopping her for having defective lights on her vehicle. Officers stopped Kathryn S. Neumann, 29, on Henry Street just before 9 p.m., police records state. Officers determined she was driving with a suspended license from Pennsylvania, according to police. She was charged with unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle and a lights violation. Both are expected to be arraigned Tuesday in Eastern Hampshire District Court in Belchertown. Among Doctors, a new, pharma-independent, networking and collaboration platform exclusive for licensed physicians, has been launched in Europe and provides doctors opportunities to connect and share their knowledge with reliable colleagues of any specialty across the globe. The Athens-based startup, which is is funded with seed capital by angel investors, is supported by the Microsoft Innovation Center & has been awarded in 2014 by MIT Enterprise Forum of Greece. Elena Barla, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, said: Doctors are increasingly interested in using social media for professional purposes, in order to network, share knowledge and get in touch with the international medical community. Knowledge should be shared across countries and economies, especially when it comes to saving lives. Among Doctors provides a global exclusive network of reliable, well-screened and quality profile licensed physicians, helping them grow their professional network & knowledge in a reliable, unbiased and meaningful way. Harris Lygidakis, co-founder and Chief Medical Officer mentioned: The online professional platform helps doctors to gain access to a wide range of knowledge and clinical evidence, shared by their peers, plus a repository of discussions on multiple specialties or medical topics, boosting trust among fellow doctors. This informal and interdisciplinary learning can mitigate physicians isolation and burnout, as well as enhance the capacity building of an area or specialty, improving eventually the healthcare service. Among Doctors already counts its first thousand of doctors from over 38 countries (especially from Brazil, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Israel and UK) and 42 medical specialties. Dr Chris Roseveare, consultant physician and former President of the Society for Acute Medicine in the U.K., has been using the service. He said: Among doctors represents an exciting opportunity for clinicians across Europe to establish networks and discuss issues of relevance to our practice. The increasing complexity of medicine means that any initiative which helps us to share knowledge more widely should be supported, to help improve patient care. Dr. Raquel Gomez Bravo, General Practitioner in Spain & Luxembourg, also an Among Doctors user, said: Among Doctors is strictly professional and independent from the pharmaceutical industry. This type of global initiatives allow disseminate knowledge and improve patient care, which is who ultimately benefits. Doctors may register here: www.amongdoctors.com Media requests: pr@amongdoctors.com by Tanya Gazdik , October 9, 2016 Hondas 360-degree ride-along video puts viewers in the front seat. The view is from a 2016 Red Bull Global Rallycross Honda Civic at a Red Bull GRC race and was filmed with a spherical VR rig, using GoPro cameras during a heat race at the series event in Washington, D.C. The immersive experience gives audiences a first-person view of what it feels like to race from every angle from the sharp turns to the sudden jolts and even the series signature 70-foot tabletop jump. The video, created by RPA, will also live on the Honda 360 YouTube page, RaceWithHonda.com, as well as Hondas and GoPros social media channels. The effort is aimed at racing enthusiasts, thrillseekers, and anyone excited to see what a ride in a GRC Civic on a Red Bull Global Rallycross track feels like, says Nick Lee, manager, Honda national advertising. advertisement advertisement This type of immersive video allows customers to engage in content in a way thats never been possible before, Lee tells Marketing Daily. By putting a customer in the front seat of the Global Rallycross Civic or in an Indy car 2-seater at the start of a Verizon IndyCar Series race, it gives them a taste of what it means to live the Honda brand. Race fans can experience this on-site at the Red Bull Global Rallycross Los Angeles presented by Honda event on October 8 and 9 at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro, CA. Everyone who purchases a ticket to the event will be able to take advantage of this experience at the Honda tent, which will be located near the main entrance of Red Bull GRC LA. Honda dealers across the country will receive virtual reality goggles for customers to test-drive the Red Bull GRC Honda Civic in a whole new way. We are excited to have been working with various partners like GoPro, USA Today, INDYCAR and Red Bull Global Rallycross to create truly edge of your seat' 360 videos, Lee says. In addition to the aforementioned videos, we are working on a new project to launch our winter Sales Event, Happy Honda Days, in December. Video has come to be an essential format in social media, Lee says. As technology continues to evolve, immersive video is primed to be the next frontier in the visual-media landscape, Lee says. We at Honda are proud to be at the forefront of this emerging technology, and are always striving to be innovative, youthful and exciting. We have only scratched the surface of immersive-video-content creation, but will continue to offer new and amazing video content. by Bob Garfield , Featured Columnist, October 10, 2016 Im Martha Raddatz from ABC News with Anderson Cooper of CNN. Welcome to the second presidential debate, a town hall convened at Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. This is the second of three debates between the candidates for the presidency, the Republican Candidate Donald J. Trump. And his Democratic opponent Secretary Hillary Clinton. Well begin this evening with the economy. It has, of course, been slow to recover from the Great Recession of 2008, and some sectors have been hit especially hard. Manufacturing, energy, and perhaps most of all media. Tens of thousands of jobs have been lost, many publications have folded, and formerly huge profit margins have vanished. Our first question is from social media. Submitting on Facebook is Jonah of New York City: The online revolution was supposed to save the day, lowering barriers to entry and reducing hard costs, but ad rates are too low even to, you know, feed a buzz. What are your solutions for saving the media? advertisement advertisement Raddatz: By a coin toss, you are first to respond. Mr. Trump? Trump: Its a great, great question. Incredible question. Because even though the failing media is against me, ganging up on me with many, many totally unfair stories, I have friends -- and some of them, by the way, have also been obviously bought off by Hillary -- but Sean Hannity and I are great friends and also I used to be very close to Joe Goebbels and the point is we are getting killed, killed, by China, which is dumping zeros and ones on us like never before in the history of the world, in the history of the Universe, and I dont mean the chubby Universe who loved the burritos, Im talking eating our lunch big time. Were gonna build up CPMs, were gonna make ad blocking illegal. Im gonna appoint a special prosecutor on ad blocking, were gonna allow individual tracking through your phone, your IP address, your hypothalamus, whatever. And you know whats she gonna do? Trust me, it wont be email marketing. Raddatz: Your time is up, Mr. Trump. Trump: You dont stop her. Me you cut off, but not her. Raddatz: Secretary Clinton hasnt spoken yet. Trump: Not true. Cooper: Mr. Trump, we have it on tape. Secretary Clinton hasnt said a word. Trump: Yes she has, and its all lies, believe me. Cooper: Secretary Clinton, two minutes. Clinton: Thank you, Anderson, and thank you Jonah for your thoughtful question. Yes, this is a great concern of mine. In my more than 30 years in public life, I have spent 80 years helping kids get access to the media, helping women get access to the media, helping female African-American kids with disabilities get access to the media. I never went to bed in the entire 1980s or 90s because I was rolling up my sleeves in a bipartisan way with presidents and Senators and hardworking ordinary Americans who just want dignity and fair access to the media -- people like Consuela Perez, a working mom in Gila Flats, New Mexico, who held 9 jobs just to make ends meet but could not get the Saturday Evening Post. because it had stopped existing. And thats why, if I should have good fortune enough to become your president, my first day in office I will submit to Congress the Saturday Evening Post Resurrection Act. But my opponent has no such plans, or any stated policies, because hes too busy avoiding paying income tax." Cooper: "Mr. Trump, one minute to respond." Trump: "First of all, I paid tax. Just today, I bought a pack of Tic Tacs, because I heard Paula Jones had gotten pretty hot, frankly, and I got them at the airport -- $2.99 by the way, for Tic Tacs, which is outrageous, because I remember when a whole pack of Doublemint was a nickel, and by the way those twins were something back in the day, werent they? -- and I paid 18 cents tax. And I gave the salesgirl a five -- a great, great Hispanic Latina gal, by the way -- and she handed me a buck but dropped my 83 cents in coins into the Twix bars and thats fine. Maybe its not politically correct but, come on, folks, lets be honest, were not getting their rocket scientists, and if she kills someone she will be deported, I promise you that. Also, ISIS, emails, Benghazi, Monica Lewinsky, NAFTA." Raddatz: The next question." Trump: You cut me off again." Raddatz: The next question is about sexual assault." Trump: ISIS. ISIS. George Soros. Bernie Sanders bad judgment. Bernie Sanders bad judgment. Bernie Sanders bad judgment. Iran. Iran, Libya. Isis. by P.J. Bednarski , Staff Writer @pjbtweet, October 9, 2016 Whatever else you can say, Deschutes Brewery in Bend, Oregon, can rightfully claim it makes beautiful labels. How could it not? It names some of its beers for the gorgeous Oregon natural environment where its brewed. But better than labels, Deschutes figured, would be virtual reality/360 degree videos. Two of them, for Black Butte Porter and Mirror Pond Pale Ale are now on Deschutes Brewerys YouTube channel. A third stereoscopic 360 degree video, Hop Trip: A Fresh Hop Pale Ale was debuted over the weekend, when the beer was. It features the hop harvest and trip to gather fresh hops. advertisement advertisement These 360 degree commercial videos are a new thing for small beer companies. The only other American one I could find and Jason Randles, the digital marketing manager, could tell me about, is a factory tour for Goose Island, a Chicago-based brewer that probably would prefer most of its customers didnt know its now owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Craft beers kind of exist to tap into the beer drinkers who are rushing to get away from the Budweisers of the world. That isnt Deschutes. Its the eighth largest craft brewery in the nation according to the Brewers Association, which represents small and independent brewers. Randles notes, the gap between eighth and even third [Sierra Nevada] or fourth [New Belgium] is huge. We sold around 365,000 barrels last year whereas Sierra Nevada sold over 1 million and New Belgium wasnt too far behind that. (The largest small, indie brewer, Yuengling of Pottstown, Pa., turns out at least 2.8 million.) Deschutes uses its VR to show at its brewpubs --that would be a sight to see, given the dizzying effect of VR and beer. (Maybe they offset each other?) For Deschutes, which has been around since 1988, its just good marketing because it flat out cant afford ordinary TV commercials. Plus, Randles says, it just isnt an authentic way to reach craft beer consumers. Social media and the Internet is. Research confirms what you might suspect. Craft beer drinkers are a millennial bunch. They place great importance on values like locally-made products, and 62% say theyre more likely to become a loyal customer of brands that are on social media, according to a Brewers Association report. They value companies that support local communities and they think TV ads are phony. In short, they have a lot of attitudes big beer companies cant have just because theyre big beer companies. The most successful distributors in the years ahead will be the ones who focus their efforts on partnering with craft brewers who are high quality, strong in their home markets, innovative and unique, engaging socially/digitally with consumers on daily basis and, perhaps most importantly, authentic, the report says. All of that meshes well with a 360-degree videos showing off the pretty places in Bend where that beer in your hand comes from. The videos even use narration from employees, a nice homey touch. Though Deschutes is now available in 28 states, the idea of local still holds. Impossible Engine, the creative agency that brought Deschutes the idea, is based in Austin, Texas but with an office in Bend. This is their first foray into VR. Jeannette Heindel, the account director and executive producer, says the Deschutes project was pretty comparable to a regular video as far as our production costs. Viewership probably is probably a lot less, at this point. Though you can watch the Deschutes videos on YouTube and use your finger to go around the screen, its optimally viewed through a headset and those have not saturated the market--yet. At the high end, the Tractica marketing firm says, 20 million VR units, including accessories and the like, could ship this year. But from what I gather, that is an extremely high end. A lower-end estimate is nine million. Cost is still a big deal, though Googles new $79 Daydream might pick up the big gap market between Google Cardboard and higher end Oculus Rift and HTC Vive headsets. But as a pretty perfect combination of digital savvy, local loyalty and environmentally friendly video, Deschutes could get a lot of mileage out its videos. Storytelling is important with craft beer and consumers want to know as much as they can about the beer theyre drinking and the brewery behind it, Randles told me in an email conversation. We love how interactive VR is versus traditional video. You dont just sit there and watch it, but you move around or swipe with your finder to explore and discover what all there is to see. We live in a pretty spectacular place so its fun to transport the viewers to our backyard and explain why we named our two flagship beers after these landmarks. pj@mediapost.com by Thom Forbes @tforbes, October 10, 2016 Samsung is suspending production of its Galaxy Note 7 in order to take further steps to ensure quality and safety matters, it said this morning in Seoul as it continues to fumble its way though a mounting crisis steps behind social media posts of devices catching fire. The move comes after a spate of fresh reports of overheating and fires with phones that have been distributed to replace the original devices, which also had a risk of catching fire, write Jonathan Cheng, Eun-Young Jeong and Trisha Thadani for the Wall Street Journal. The major U.S. carriers, Verizon, AT&T and T-Mobile all announced their own suspension of sales or exchanges of troubled device, which is having one of the worst rollouts of a tech product in recent memory, report Fred Barbash and Anna Fifield in the Washington Post. advertisement advertisement The original devices were recalled on Sept. 2. The company had 500,000 replacement devices with a green battery icon on the status bar on the shelves in the U.S. by Sept. 21. The production halt underscores the growing seriousness with which Samsung is dealing with its largest product recall to date. Last month, Samsung officials shrugged off reports of overheated batteries, calling the incidents isolated cases related to issues of mass production, the WSJ story continues. In a separate statement a few days later, the company said in response to reports about abnormal battery charging levels in its replacement phones that the issue does not pose a safety concern. On Friday, it issued a release saying that it understands the concern our carriers and consumers must be feeling after recent reports have raised questions about our newly released replacement Note 7 devices following reports that one such device started smoking on a Southwest Airlines flight that had not yet left its gate in Louisville on Wednesday. We continue to move quickly to investigate the reported case to determine the cause and will share findings as soon as possible. As part of a new slate of phones that had helped the company regain some ground against Apple, Choe Sang-Hun writes in the New York Times, the Note 7 sold at premium prices of around $900 and featured the curvy contours that had made Samsungs other new Galaxy phones big sellers. It was hailed by critics as one of the best Android phones when it made its debut in August, the Associated Press reminds us. Two months later, some consumers called the expensive device the Death Note after reports that dozens of the smartphones overheated or caught fire. Samsung seemed to have the trouble under control when it swiftly announced a global recall two weeks after the phone's launch. As rumors of Samsungs suspension of production of the replacement device swirled online yesterday but before it actually announced that it was doing so Recodes Ina Fried wrote Samsung should shift its attention from saving the Note 7 to saving its reputation, and its mobile business. The company needs to figure out what happened with both the original phones and the supposedly safe new models and make whole its customers and partners ASAP. The Note 7 is over. Samsungs work now is to try to ensure there is a market for a Note 8. Mashables Stan Schroeder agrees. Here's two things you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Number one, don't buy this phone. Ever. Whichever version, he writes. Number two, if you already own a Galaxy Note 7, turn it off right now. Then return it to the place of purchase as soon as possible and ask for a different phone as a replacement. And, he charges deeper down in the story: Most of all, you should avoid the Note 7 like the plague because there's mounting evidence that Samsung hasn't been honest about what's happening. Forbes contributor Ewen Spence writes: That there has been a failure in the design of the Galaxy Note 7 is clear Samsungs decision to trigger a global recall is evidence of that. But that should not be the issue that causes the most concern. To paraphrase one of the greatest political axioms, its not the exploding batteries that gets you, its the corporate reaction. Which seemingly has been tone deaf as the story continues to erupt. by Laurie Petersen , October 10, 2016 When Marriott International finalized its $13 billion merger with Starwood Hotels & Resorts recently, the company immediately linked the respective rewards programs allowing customers to transfer points back and forth and earn the highest status of any program. So a silver member of Marriotts program, for example, automatically becomes a gold if thats the status enrolled in at SPG (Starwood Preferred Guest). According to Marriott CEO Arne Sorenson, an average 100,000 people per day were linking the accounts. I happened to stay at a Sheraton shortly after the merger, and at check-out decided to open an SPG account. Thats when I learned that I already had one, albeit one opened before 1992 because of the address that was on the account. The hotel front desk clerk wrote down my account number and instructed me to go online to complete the process of integration. Since I could not remember my password and the email address I used when opening it is no longer in use, I wound up on the phone speaking with a customer service rep. advertisement advertisement Because I had divorced and, therefore, had a different name from when the account was opened though a hyphenated one I was sent through a battery of questions to verify I am who I am. The first question was to approximate my current point balance. I skipped to the next round because I had neither a recollection of the points or the password I may have established more than two decades earlier. The rep next asked when Id last stayed in a Sheraton and, fortunately, the latest stay had been tied to the account number or Id be caught in an endless loop of being unable to update my account information. Since the stay had been the day before, he apologized before asking the redundant question of what month the stay was in, but the script offered him no alternative. Still, I was able to update my mailing address and email address, but cannot link the accounts until the names are the same. This means filing proof of legal name, which the rep thought could be satisfied by a drivers license and not require mailing in a copy of a divorce decree, which is the usual requirement when a name change is involved. Wouldnt it just be easier if I started a new account? Unfortunately, the system doesnt allow that. It should be easy enough to scan my drivers license on the spot using my phone and email the information. But it will take seven days to correct in the system. The process does not allow the information to be scanned and sent directly to the rep to deal with during the actual conversation. Room for improvement Rewards programs do matter to frequent travelers. At the restaurant, an avid traveler peppered the waiter with questions about whether the points from the meal he was ordering would make it onto his account. The reply was a tentative yes. While it's admirable for Marriott to link its programs immediately something no other entity has accomplished immediately after a merger communication needs to flow smoothly to those who are closest to the customer. by Sean Hargrave , Staff Writer, October 10, 2016 Europeans are spending more time than ever on email. That's the good news. The bad news is they are engaging less with branded email. That's the finding from an Adobe survey that begs the question: are we in the first stage of email fatigue? The crucial statistic in question is that only just over a fifth of Europeans find branded email in their personal account interesting enough to bother opening. That's down 10% in just one year. It gets worse for brands using a customer's work email. Only 15% bother to open email sent to corporate accounts. The research goes into great detail, but suffice to say that email gets a lot of attention. Nine in ten Europeans check their personal accounts at work, four in five of us check our work email outside the office and around two in three still check email while on holiday. Nearly as many admit to reading email while watching television, with almost one in two keeping an eye on their inbox in bed. Four in five are mostly checking personal email address on their phone -- a pretty high figure to wake up any email marketer that is not currently sending out adaptive messages. Interestingly, the move to mobile email is bringing with it a less formal approach with a third of people using emojis in their communications and one in four even admitting they would use emojis in an email to their boss. Having peaked our concern, the Adobe researchers still point out that although email is becoming a little more relaxed, like messaging, it's still one heck of a channel, an absolute mainstay of digital marketing. That's because despite nearly half of us thinking some brands simply email us too frequently, email is still our most popular means of communications. Some 58% of consumers like to be contacted over email. That's down from 63% the year before, but it still dwarves the 16% of us who prefer messaging or a text. Put simply, yes we're getting a little fatigued by brands sending us too much stuff and not adapting it for the smartphone (that's the biggest bug bear for one in five of us), but and it's a very big but -- we still like it more than any other channel. Actually, correction, we like it far more than any other channel. Perhaps, then, just as people are blocking ads and become more cynical about social influencers, they're likewise getting peeved at being bombarded by some branded emails. But of course, there's always the option to unsubscribe, which other channel don't offer and so email is way out ahead as the consumers' contact method of choice. Sure, there's a little fatigue, but it's general to all digital channels and despite it, email is still way out there in top spot. by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, October 10, 2016 Moderators Martha Raddatz and Anderson Cooper forcefully and effectively kept the conversation going last night at the town-hall style presidential debate held at Washington University in St. Louis. advertisement advertisement Donald Trump was clearly more prepared this time, while still falling a bit off the rails. Despite attacking Secretary Clinton coherently on the email scandal, Benghazi and bringing up former president Bill Clintons infidelities, there were many moments from Trump that were disturbing, including when he called her "the devil." At one point, Trump embodied a non-democratic dictator, saying something rarely if ever heard from presidential candidates: If I win, I'm going to instruct the attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation because there's never been so many lies, so much deception. First, presidents cant instruct the Justice Department to open a case, they can only request. It is frightening that either Trump doesnt know that, or he thinks he can overrule laws of our nation. The segment closed with Trump suggesting Clinton would be in jail were he to become president. What separates our executive from Russias Putin or Turkeys Erdogan, or any other authoritarian, is that the office doesnt imprison political opponents, nor does it ever threaten to do so. It was clear early on that Trump has wholeheartedly embraced the Alt-right of Steve Bannon, Breitbart News and Infowars, leaving the conservative establishment in his wake. Another incredible moment had Trump overtly standing at odds with his VP pick Mike Pence on the issue of ground troops in Syria. Quoting from last Tuesdays VP debate, Martha Raddatz asked Trump about one of Gov. Pences responses, to which the GOP nominee answered: He and I havent spoken, and I disagree. The "Access Hollywood" tape released on Friday came up early in the debate. Trump dismissed it as locker-room talk, while offering a brief apology. He missed a chance to seem remorseful, instead launching an attack on Bill Clinton and minimizing the horrific nature of sexual assault by saying it's not as bad as ISIS. (That was another head scratching juncture in the debate, as was Trump's odd stage demeanor, standing behind Clinton and glowering petulantly when she spoke.) Hillary Clinton was again poised and prepared for the inevitable attacks from the Trump camp. She spoke earnestly with those in the audience who asked questions, and ignored interruptions from her opponent. She was prepared for the insider attacks, pointing to the litany of legislation donning her name. Clinton spoke sincerely of the constant and powerful push for women and childrens rights she has been engaged in for most of her adult life. She effectively juxtaposed her focused and steady approach with Trumps unnerving, jittery answers, coupled with his strange pacing around the debate stage. In one of the more friendly and docile moments of what has been a raging presidential cycle, the last question of the night prompted the candidates to say something nice about each other. Clinton admired Trumps children, while Trump spoke of Clintons never-give-up attitude. Prior to the debate, there was talk of Republican lawmakers leaving Trump in droves. His performance last night may have briefly stemmed the tide. With less than 30 days until November 8, however, Clintons lead in almost all swing states appears to make Trumps task of making up the difference next-to-impossible. Again there was a hefty amount of sniffling from Trump, and a new cameo from a fly that seemed keen to get on camera.And again, Clinton's demeanor helped her. Early CNN polling found she won the debate 57% to 34%. YouGov found Clinton won the debate against Donald Trump by 47% to 42%. She narrowly won undecideds 44% to 41%. by Wendy Davis @wendyndavis, October 10, 2016 Two consumers who are suing Turn for allegedly violating the privacy of Verizon subscribers are asking an appellate court to reject the ad company's argument that the case belongs in arbitration. New York residents Anthony Henson and William Cintron argue in court papers filed Friday that their contract with Verizon -- which calls for arbitration of disputes -- doesn't apply to their dispute with Turn. The legal battle dates to last year, when Henson and Cintron alleged in a class-action complaint that Turn violated a consumer protection law prohibiting deceptive practices. Henson and Cintron, who say they are Verizon Wireless customers, alleged that Turn wrongly used a controversial technology that enabled it to track consumers for online ad purposes, even when people deleted their cookies. The allegations centered on Verizon's "supercookies" -- headers, called UIDHs, that Verizon previously injected into all unencrypted mobile traffic. Those headers -- 50-character alphanumeric strings -- enabled ad companies to compile profiles of users and serve them targeted ads. The UIDHs also are known as zombie cookies, or "supercookies" because they allow ad companies to recreate cookies that users delete. advertisement advertisement In March, U.S. District Court Judge Jeffrey White in the Northern District of California granted Turn's request to send the matter to arbitration. White said at the time that he agreed with Turn that the consumers' allegations were closely connected to their subscriber agreements with Verizon -- which call for arbitration of all disputes. Henson and Cintron recently asked the 9th Circuit to reverse that ruling, arguing that their arbitration agreements were with Verizon, not Turn. Turn is opposing that request. The company argued in papers filed last month that the class-action allegations stem from "interdependent and concerted conduct" by itself and Verizon. Turn added that Verizon's contract with subscribers included information about the company's targeted ad programs. Henson and Cintron counter that Verizon's subscriber agreement "does not permit, contemplate, or suggest the deployment of [a] zombie cookie scheme." They add, "Verizon disclosing the use of UIDHs is hardly the same as Turn disclosing that it will repopulate deleted history and cookies on a users device." Verizon used the controversial headers for ad targeting since 2012, but didn't disclose their existence in its privacy policy until last year. Initially, Verizon didn't let its subscribers opt out of the header insertions. Last year, faced with pressure from lawmakers, Verizon revised its policies to allow opt-outs. The company later narrowed the program by saying it would only send the header to Verizon companies, including AOL. Verizon initially predicted that ad networks weren't likely to draw on the headers in order to compile profiles of Web users. But in January of 2015, researcher Jonathan Mayer -- who is now with the FCC -- reported that the ad network Turn drew on Verizon's headers to collect data and send targeted ads to mobile users who delete their cookies. Turn no longer users the headers for ad targeting. The company has consistently said it honors the industry's self-regulatory code and doesn't serve targeted ads to users if their cookies reveal that they opted out via links at sites operated by the self-regulatory groups Network Advertising Initiative or Digital Advertising Alliance. But when users clear their cookies, they also delete the opt-out cookies installed by the DAA and NAI. Turn also said it doesn't serve targeted ads to people who opt out via its own link, or Verizon's opt-out mechanism. (Verizon's mechanism can persist even when users delete their cookies, according to Turn.) Earlier this year, the Federal Communications Commission fined Verizon $1.35 million to settle an investigation surrounding the headers. That investigation focused on whether Verizon violated the Communications Act's privacy provisions -- which require carriers to protect customers' "proprietary information" -- and whether the company violated a 2010 net neutrality rule requiring disclosure of broadband management practices. The FCC is now considering rules that would require Verizon and other broadband service providers to obtain users' opt-in consent before sharing or using data about their Web activity to target ads. The agency is expected to vote on those rules later this month. by Jess Nelson , October 10, 2016 A ban on many cloud service providers went into effect over the weekend in Turkey, after a trove of emails were hacked from Turkeys Minister of Energy and Natural Resources, Berat Albayrak. Albayrak is also the son-in-law of the President of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and has been a Parliament member since June 2015. RedHack, a left-wing hacking group, has claimed responsibility for hacking three of Albayraks email accounts -- a feat assisted by the fact that Albayrak used the same password for every email account used. Founded in 1997 as a Communist computer hacking group, RedHack is threatening to release the emails unless left-wing dissidents are released from custody in the country. DailyDot reports that the emails date back to April 2000, revealing how Erdogans government silences criticisms in the media. advertisement advertisement Google Drive, Microsoft OneDrive and DropBox were among the services taken offline by Turkey on Saturday, blocked by the countrys Information and Communication Technologies Authority. Turkish hosting solutions including UyduNet, TTNet and Turkcell were also blocked by Turkey on Saturday with GitHub, a version control repository service, following suit on Sunday. GitHub is the largest host of source code in the world, with more than 35 million repositories, and is relied upon by many start-ups and technologies. Since the ban has been carried out on Turkeys ISP, the blocked services can still be accessible via roaming or virtual private networks (VPNs). Turkey has since restored access to Google Drive according to Turkey Blocks, an organization that tracks real-time digital censorship in Turkey. This is not the first time the Turkish government has shuttered Internet use in the country, and unfortunately. it will it likely not be the last. Social media sites including Facebook, Twitter and YouTube were blocked during the attempted military coup this past summer in Turkey, and the country the country has also imposed a large fine on any Twitter user who fails to remove what the government deems terrorist propaganda over the past year. The cost of chemotherapy treatment for breast cancer can vary widely, and higher cost does not necessarily mean greater effectiveness. These are the findings of a new study published online in Cancer and presented at the 2016 American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting in Chicago, IL. Share on Pinterest Breast cancer therapy can be costly for insurers and individuals. If patients and doctors understand the costs of therapy, they can have more informed discussions when choosing a solution. According to the American Cancer Society, 246,660 new cases of invasive breast cancer are expected to be diagnosed this year. At least 35 percent of patients will undergo chemotherapy alongside either surgery or radiation. Researchers from the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center examined the insurance claims of 14,643 American women who were diagnosed with breast cancer between 2008-2012. All the participants were fully covered by insurance for a 2-year period, from 6 months before diagnosis to 18 months after. They all had chemotherapy within 3 months of diagnosis. None of the women had a secondary malignancy during the 12 months after diagnosis. Higher median costs with trastuzumab The authors, led by Dr. Sharon Giordano, chair of Health Services Research and professor of Breast Medical Oncology, looked at the average total and out-of-pocket cost in 2013 dollars. Fast facts about breast cancer 1 in 8 women in the U.S., or 12 percent, are expected to develop breast cancer at some time Around 40,450 women are predicted to die of breast cancer in 2016 Some 2.8 million American women currently live with a history of breast cancer. Learn more about breast cancer A separate analysis compared the cost of treatment with and without trastuzumab. Trastuzumab targets the HER2 protein that is overexpressed in some kinds of breast cancer cell. Results show that, even among similarly effective chemotherapy treatments, costs varied significantly, and that some women are paying high out-of-pocket costs for their care. When treatment did not involve trastuzumab, insurers paid a median rate of $82,260. Costs to insurers varied by up to $20,354, compared with the most commonly used treatment. Median out-of-pocket costs were $2,727, but 1 in 4 patients paid over $4,712, and 1 in 10 paid over $7,041. When treatment involved trastuzumab, the median cost to insurers was $160,590. Compared with the most commonly used treatment, costs were up to $46,936 different. The median cost for out-of-pocket payments was $3,381. One in 4 patients paid more than $5,604, and 1 in 10 paid $8,384. Dr. Giordano expresses concern about the rising costs of cancer care and the financial burden on patients. She urges oncology providers to discuss the costs of care with patients, and to move toward the goal of providing high-value care that is aligned with our patients goals and preferences. A study published by researchers at Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine describes that certain proteins playing a role in cancer progression and metastasis are stored as amyloid bodies in dormant cancer cells. Once the amyloid bodies disaggregate, the cancer cells become active again. The findings were published in the journal Developmental Cell. Amyloid bodies are known to play a role in the development of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease but their contributions to the progression of cancer have been largely unknown. This discovery points to a new avenue for the treatment of various types of cancers by applying knowledge we have gained from neuroscience to tumor biology. "The amyloid state of protein organization is typically associated with debilitating human neuropathies and rarely observed in physiology," said Stephen Lee, Ph.D., director of the Tumor Biology Program at Sylvester, professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at the Miller School, and corresponding author of the study. "Yet, we found that a large number of proteins are stored as amyloid bodies in cancer cells that are dormant. The heat shock chaperone pathway can disaggregate the amyloid bodies and turn the dormant cancer cells into active, progressing cancer cells." The team of researchers found that ribosomal intergenic noncoding RNA regulates the process of amyloid formation in cancer cells, making it a target for drug discovery and development. "If we can stop the amyloid bodies from disaggregating in cancer cells, the hope is that they will remain dormant indefinitely," said Lee. "In addition, we may also be able to turn active cancer cells into dormant ones by encouraging them to store the proteins as amyloid bodies." Amyloidogenesis enables cells to remain viable during prolonged periods of extracellular stress, highlighting the non-toxic and protective nature of the process, not just in cancer cells. "Following this approach, we wouldn't necessarily rid the body of cancer cells, but we would keep them inactive - shut off, if you will - and not allow them to become active again," said Lee. "I am optimistic this could become a novel way of treating cancer. There are already drugs on the market, and others are being studied, that target the ribosomal intergenic noncoding RNA as well as the heat shock chaperone pathway." This research was supported by grants from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (R01GM115342) and the National Cancer Institute (R01CA200676) of the National Institutes of Health, Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, and the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. The October 2016 issue of The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, features the article "Consumer Rankings and Health Care: Toward Validation and Transparency" by Bala Hota, MD, MPH, and co-authors, Rush University Medical Center (RUMC), Chicago. After RUMC received a lower than expected ranking for patient safety in the 2015-16 U.S. News & World Report's (USNWR) "Best Hospitals" rankings, the authors compared the data that USNWR used for their hospital to their own internal data. The authors found that the USNWR data showed many more patient safety events, such as pressure ulcers, almost all of which had actually been present at the patient's admission. Suspecting a broader problem, Hota et al. analyzed data on a sample of hospitals and found that RUMC was not the only organization with discrepancies in data. False-positive event rates were common among high-transfer and high-volume hospitals. The authors conclude more transparency and validation is needed for consumer-based benchmarking methods. In response to these findings and concerns raised by others, USNWR made changes to its methodology and data sources in 2016. In an accompanying editorial, "The Quality Measurement Crisis: An Urgent Need for Methodological Standards and Transparency," David M. Shahian, MD, Elizabeth Mort, MD, MPH, and Peter J. Pronovost, MD, PhD, reflect on the Hota et al. article to conclude, "Just as health care providers have ethical and moral responsibilities to the public they serve, rating organizations and journalists that grade providers have similar obligations--in their case, to ensure measure validity and methodological transparency." RUMC further explored the importance of rating organization's validity and methodological transparency in the following essay, "Hospital Rankings Have Room for Improvement Hospital Rankings Have Room for Improvement Hospitals that care for sickest of sick found to be unfairly ranked When consumers make what can be life-or-death decisions about where to seek health care, they often look to the numerous online hospital rating services that are available, including the government-sponsored Hospital Compare, Consumer Reports, and Leapfrog. Rating hospital quality is not as simple as rating the quality of a car, though. One reason is that patients vary in terms of how sick they are when they arrive at the hospital or undergo surgery. Older patients with multiple health problems or advanced diseases are more likely to develop an infection or complication than younger, healthier patients - even though they receive the same quality of care. The best hospital rating systems try to account for severity of illness. However, a Rush data expert's recent analysis of U.S. News & World Report's "Best Hospitals" rankings shows that these rating systems often are dependent on faulty data sets and performance metrics. Something didn't add up Rush University Medical Center consistently has scored high on patient safety measures, according to most rankings. In fact, Rush University Medical Center has received nine consecutive "A" grades for safety from the Leapfrog Group, putting it among fewer than 100 hospitals in the country that have received the highest possible grade each time since Leapfrog began issuing the semi-annual ratings in 2012. But last year U.S. News "Best Hospitals" issue gave Rush the publication's lowest ranking for patient safety (one out of five). To learn what was behind the discrepancy, Rush's quality team - Tom Webb, Bala Hota, MD, MPH, and Omar Lateef, DO - dug into the U.S. News data and methodology. "When we compared the data that U.S. News used for our hospital to our own internal data, we found big differences," says Hota, Rush's chief research informatics officer. "U.S. News showed many more patient safety events than our actual rates." For example, U.S. News data showed that 25 patients at Rush had developed pressure ulcers, or bed sores, over a particular time period. In fact, only one patient had developed a pressure ulcer while at Rush. Suspecting a broader problem, they analyzed data on a sample of hospitals and found that Rush was not the only organization inaccurately unfairly ranked. High demand for hospitals' services skew safety scores down Two hospital characteristics tended to negatively skew U.S. News patient safety scores: Taking care of large numbers of patients (i.e., high volumes) or admitting a high percentage of patients transferred from other hospitals. Webb, Hota and Lateef found that the U.S. News data set was missing key information, such as whether patients with pressure ulcers had these sores when they were admitted to Rush. If conditions were present prior to arrival, Rush should not have been penalized. Large referral hospitals such as Rush, which provide highly specialized care for the sickest patients and most complex conditions, also tend to have high volumes and high transfer rates. "Rush is the biggest transfer center in Illinois," Hota says. "If somebody is sick in a community hospital and not getting better, that hospital knows Rush is a reliable place to transfer the patient to." 'Data is not perfect' Rush notified U.S. News about the Rush findings in 2015and U.S. News made some revisions to its data methodology. As a result, Rush's patient safety score increased to four out of a possible five in the 2016-2017 U.S. News ratings released in August. "U.S. News was very responsive to our findings, and the Rush community should take pride in the fact that we take care of very sick patients very well," says Lateef, Rush's chief medical officer. "When you adjust for patient acuity (severity of patients' conditions), our outcomes data are among the best in the country." The Rush analysis of the U.S. News ratings confirms what many experts have suspected. "People have argued and theorized that if you take care of a lot of very sick people or have a lot of transfers, then the data could be biased," Hota says. "This study proves that. It shows that data is not perfect, and misunderstandings in the data can negatively portray a hospital." Acknowledging that hospital rankings have room for improvement, U.S. News is convening a panel of experts in November to discuss how to better evaluate hospital quality, safety and performance, according to a press release. Transparency Is a Two-Way Street Lateef and Hota, and the quality team believe that right now the rules used by hospital rating systems are too complex for most consumers to navigate. That's why they are urging U.S. News and other hospital rating systems to be more transparent about how they rate hospital quality, so that individual hospitals can validate the accuracy of their scores and work with the rating organization to adjust the scores as appropriate. "The companies that are producing these ratings have to be more transparent," Hota says. "Their methodology should be reproducible and easily understood." In the meantime, Rush will continue to measure, track, and share patient safety data rigorously, and use that date to drive improvements to make Rush's care even safer. "We consider quality to be the most important part of patient care," Lateef says. "We believe in being transparent about quality so we can continue marching towards improvement." Article: Consumer Rankings and Health Care: Toward Validation and Transparency, Hota, Bala; Webb, Thomas A.; Stein, Brian D.; Gupta, Richa; Ansell, David; Lateef, Omar, The Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety, published October 2016. A significant number of trials of targeted therapies and immunotherapies in recent years show suboptimal reporting of adverse events, particularly the reporting of recurrent or late toxicities and the duration of the adverse events, researchers have told the ESMO 2016 Congress in Copenhagen. "Reporting adverse events from clinical trials with new agents is a crucial point, as this will inform physicians and patients regarding the safety profile of that drug and what to expect when starting this therapy in a new patient in everyday clinical practice," said principal investigator Dr Paolo Bossi, from the Head & Neck Unit at the Fondazione IRCCS - Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, Milan. In this study, researchers reviewed publications from 81 trials of targeted therapies and immunotherapies approved by the US Food and Drug Administration between 2000-2015 for solid malignancies in adult patients. Each publication was assessed according to a 24-point score card based on the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) guidance. More than 90% of trials scored poorly in their reporting of recurrent and late toxicities, and in reporting the duration of adverse events; 86% of trials did not adequately report on the time of the adverse event occurrence; and 75% of trials only reported on adverse events that occurred at a frequency above a fixed threshold. More than half of the analysed papers showed limitations in the method for presenting adverse events, in describing the toxicities leading to therapy withdrawal, and in the follow-up interval assessment, while dose reductions due to adverse events were not reported in one-third of trials. "Toxicities of targeted agents and immunotherapy are obviously different from the toxicities we are used to observing and treating due to chemotherapy, and there are some aspects of the toxicities of these newer agents that we are not so well informed about," Dr Bossi said. He highlighted the issue of duration of an adverse event - the so-called 'third axis' (the other being severity and frequency) in the evaluation of toxicities - which is not regularly considered with a new drug comes to market. Dr Bossi said that it was encouraging to see a trend towards improved adverse event reporting in recent years. Moreover, there are new instruments available that can help physicians to improve the quality of adverse event reporting and help them discuss potential toxicities with their patients. "The most important and innovative one is the PRO-CTCAE form, which is the patient-reported outcome version of the common toxicity criteria of adverse events, and which will allow physicians to collect the symptoms as reported by the patients, considering also the severity, intensity and influence of the symptoms on their quality of life." Commenting on the study, Dr Nathan Cherny from the Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, said, "it ought to be remembered that there is pre-existing evidence that toxicity reporting based upon clinician reports, rather than patient reported data, consistently leads to underreporting of adverse events and the severity of those events." "These findings lend further support to the proposal to radically re-evaluate the collection and reporting of adverse event data to give weighting to patient-reported data," Dr Cherny said. He concluded: "It is worth noting however, that the published reports of studies represent a summary of a dataset that may not necessarily represent the full data set submitted to licensing authorities for purposes of drug approval and registration." Abstract 320 P 'Systematic review of adverse events reporting in clinical trials leading to approval of targeted therapy and immunotherapy' will be presented by Dr. Paolo Bossi during Poster Session on Clinical trials methodology on 10 October 2016 from 13:00 - 14:00 (CEST), Hall E. Radiomics, an approach that combines imaging and computation, can stratify patients with recurrent glioblastoma into those who are likely to benefit from the antiangiogenic therapy bevacizumab (Avastin) and those who do not. Angiogenesis, a process of blood vessel development that promotes tumor growth and malignant transformation, is a pathological hallmark of glioblastoma, and has therefore been considered a priority therapeutic target. Initial phase II studies in patients with recurrent glioblastoma treated with the antiangiogenic drug bevacizumab showed promising results; however, later studies failed to demonstrate an overall survival benefit, and recent studies showed that only patients who have tumors with distinct molecular subtypes may benefit from bevacizumab treatment, Kickingereder said. Glioblastoma is the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumor. Prognosis of this disease remains dismal despite aggressive therapy, with median overall survival rates of less than 1.5 years, said Bendszus. Bevacizumab is an FDA-approved therapeutic for this disease. The researchers investigated whether radiomics can help identify an imaging signature to stratify and predict the outcome of patients with recurrent glioblastoma receiving bevacizumab. "Radiomics is a noninvasive approach that applies advanced computational methods to convert medical images of cancerous tissues into a large number of quantitative descriptors encompassing a wealth of hidden information, much more than what is visible when looking at the images with the naked eye," said Kickingereder. "These image features are then subjected to machine-learning and supervised-learning algorithms to create predictive models that may allow patient stratification and aid personalized medicine." The team analyzed radiographic images from 172 patients using a high throughput approach to automatically extract and calculate nearly 5,000 quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features for each patient that included information on the shape, intensity, and texture of the tumor. Patients were divided into a discovery set and a validation set (2:1) with matching clinical and survival characteristics. They then performed a supervised principal component (superpc) analysis to stratify patients in the discovery set based on treatment outcomes [progression-free survival (PFS) and overall survival (OS)] and validated those findings in the validation set. PFS and OS were measured from the time of treatment with bevacizumab until disease progression and death or last follow-up. The superpc analysis identified 72 radiomic features that were most important in predicting outcomes, and divided the patients in the discovery set who received bevacizumab into two groups: those in the low-risk group had a median PFS and median OS of 5.9 and 11.8 months, respectively; those in the high-risk group had a PFS and OS of 3.8 and 6.5 months, respectively. The utility of the superpc analysis was confirmed in the validation set, where patients allocated to the low-risk group had a median PFS and median OS of 5.6 and 11.6 months, respectively; those in the high-risk group had a PFS and OS of 2.7 and 6.5 months, respectively. Patients with unfavorable radiomic signature (high-risk group) were 1.85 times more likely to have tumor progression and 2.6 times more likely to have died during bevacizumab treatment. "Our study revealed that radiomic features subjected to machine-learning algorithms identified imaging signatures that defined a subset of patients with recurrent glioblastoma who may gain the most benefit from antiangiogenic therapy," Kickingereder said. "This stresses the role of radiomics as a novel tool for improving decision-support in cancer treatment at low cost and provides a direction for further research on radiomics of glioblastoma. "Radiologic examinations are noninvasive and arbitrarily repeatable, which is of advantage compared to invasive biopsy required for molecular or histological analysis," Kickingereder noted. "Sophisticated imaging analysis may in the future provide valuable complementary information to histological and molecular data." The team is conducting further studies with the inclusion of a control arm to clarify the value of the radiomic signature as a truly predictive imaging biomarker. A limitation of this study is that the results need to be validated in large multicenter studies to confirm the independence of the identified signature from different clinical protocols, Kickingereder noted. This study was a collaborative effort by the University of Heidelberg Medical Center, the National Center of Tumor Diseases, and the German Cancer Research Center. The study was supported by a physician-scientist fellowship of the Medical Faculty of Heidelberg to Kickingereder and partially through NIH grant support to coauthor R.T. Shinohara. Kickingereder declares no conflicts of interest. Article: Large-scale Radiomic Profiling of Recurrent Glioblastoma Identifies an Imaging Predictor for Stratifying Anti-Angiogenic Treatment Response, Philipp Kickingereder, Michael Gotz, John Muschelli, Antje Wick, Ulf Neuberger, Russell T. Shinohara, Martin Sill, Martha Nowosielski, Heinz-Peter Schlemmer, Alexander Radbruch, Wolfgang Wick, Martin Bendszus, Klaus H. Maier-Hein and David Bonekamp, Clinical Cancer Research, doi: 10.1158/1078-0432.CCR-16-0702, published 10 October 2016. Neoadjuvant immunotherapy with the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab is safe and feasible prior to surgery for early lung cancer, researchers reported at the ESMO 2016 Congress in Copenhagen. "Until now nivolumab and the other anti-PD-1 and anti-PD-L1 drug studies have only been reported in metastatic or advanced lung cancer," said lead author Dr Patrick Forde, Assistant Professor of Oncology, Sidney Kimmel Comprehensive Cancer Centre, Johns Hopkins, Baltimore, US. "This was the first study of neoadjuvant PD-1 blockade in early stage lung cancer." The primary objective of the study was to see whether it was safe and feasible to administer neoadjuvant nivolumab to patients with early stage non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) prior to resection of the tumour. Treatment was considered feasible if it did not delay surgery. Exploratory aims included extensive correlative analyses of the pretreatment biopsy and post-treatment resected tumour including PD-L1 staining, multiplex immunohistochemistry and T cell receptor sequencing. An additional exploratory analysis looked at the degree of pathological regression. This was analysed by a lung cancer pathologist using a method previously reported for use in measuring response to neoadjuvant chemotherapy in NSCLC. Major pathological regression (90% or more) was defined as a resected specimen with less than 10% remaining viable tumour cells. The study included 20 patients who had a tumour biopsy taken. They then received two doses of nivolumab at four and two weeks prior to surgical resection of the tumour. The results in the first 16 patients were presented today. The investigators found that there were no significant safety concerns and no delays to surgery with nivolumab. Six of 15 patients (40%) had major pathological regression of their tumour following nivolumab. All of those tumours had dense infiltration of immune cells and either a complete pathologic response or isolated remaining tumour cells. An additional five patients had some regression of their tumour noted and evidence of immune infiltration. Multiplex IHC demonstrated infiltration of cytotoxic T cells into the tumours and also detection of new T cell clones in the tumour that did not appear to be present in the pre-treatment biopsy. Forde said: "We found that neoadjuvant administration of nivolumab is safe and feasible in stage I-IIIA NSCLC and also a preliminary signal that anti-PD-1 immunotherapy may have activity in early stage lung cancer. Following these initial results we are expanding the study. One cohort will receive a third dose of nivolumab preoperatively and the other will receive the combination of nivolumab and ipilimumab preoperatively. This expanded study will continue to be conducted in collaboration with investigators at Johns Hopkins University and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. Others, such as the Lung Cancer Mutation Consortium in the United States, are also conducting larger studies of neoadjuvant immune checkpoint inhibition in NSCLC." Commenting on the study, Professor Pieter Postmus, chair of Thoracic Oncology at the University of Liverpool, UK, said: "There is a potential for bias when comparing a small biopsy, which might not represent the whole tumour, with the resected tumour. This is not a validated way to measure response to a treatment. It describes a biological effect but whether that has any clinical impact on survival is unproven." "Although we do not know for the time being if a major pathological response is correlated with improved survival, this method could first be validated in a cohort of patients with advanced disease by comparing the percentages of viable tumour cells in tumour biopsies taken before and four to eight weeks after immunotherapy," continued Postmus. "If in this way regression - as defined in the preoperative study - correlates with survival in patients with advanced cancer, it is likely to hold true in less advanced or resectable patients. Long-term survival data will be the ultimate test for these neoadjuvant immunotherapy strategies." Abstract LBA41_PR - 'Neoadjuvant anti-PD1, nivolumab, in early resectable non-small-cell lung cancer' presented by Dr Patrick Forde during the Proffered Paper Session, Non-metastatic NSCLC and other thoracic malignancies on Friday, 7 October, 14:00 to 15:30 (CEST) in Room Madrid. A phase III trial of sunitinib has met its primary endpoint of disease-free survival for adjuvant treatment of high-risk renal cell carcinoma after nephrectomy, researchers report at the ESMO 2016 Congress in Copenhagen.1 "The recurrence rate of kidney cancer after nephrectomy, where part or all of a kidney is removed, is up to 50% in some subgroups of patients," said lead author Professor Alain Ravaud, head of medical oncology, University Hospital of Bordeaux, France. "This distinguishes it from other tumours such as breast cancer where in general there is a low chance of the cancer coming back." "We have good drugs to control disease in patients with metastatic kidney cancer but there are no standard adjuvant treatments," he added. This phase III trial tested the ability of adjuvant treatment with sunitinib, a receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitor, to improve disease-free survival in a type of kidney cancer called clear cell renal carcinoma. The study included 615 post-nephrectomy patients at high risk of their cancer recurring. Patients were randomised to placebo or sunitinib for one year. Sunitinib was administered at 50 mg per day in a four weeks on / two weeks off schedule, and one dose reduction to 37.5 mg per day was allowed. Patients with suspected metastases in an independent central review were excluded from the study. The primary endpoint was disease-free survival. It was assessed by an independent central review committee of radiologists who examined CT scans and ruled whether an event had occurred or not. Events could be recurrence in the remaining kidney or in local lymph nodes, metastases, or a second malignancy. In cases of disagreement between the independent central review and the study investigators a decision was reached by obtaining a biopsy or surgery sample of the tumour - if it contained cancer this was ruled as a recurrence. The primary endpoint of the trial was met with a significantly longer disease-free survival of 6.8 years with sunitinib compared to 5.6 years with placebo (hazard ratio 0.761, p=0.03). Adverse events of grade 3 or higher were more frequent with sunitinib (62.1%) compared to placebo (21.1%). There were no deaths due to treatment toxicity. Ravaud said: "Sunitinib is a potential new option for adjuvant therapy in renal cell carcinoma, given the increase in disease-free survival and the manageable safety profile. The results of this trial could change practice because there is currently no standard treatment in this setting." He concluded: "We hope sunitinib will be approved by regulators for adjuvant therapy in renal cell carcinoma. Clinicians should then use the drug according to the trial. In other words, in patients with predominant clear cell renal cell carcinoma without metastases and at high risk of recurrence, at a starting dose of 50 mg and a minimum dose of 37.5 mg per day and with the same dosing schedule. This is particularly important since sunitinib was not beneficial in another trial using a different methodology." Commenting on the results, Professor Thomas Powles, professor of urology cancer, Barts Cancer Institute, London, UK, said: "This positive trial should be taken in the context of a previous larger adjuvant study (ASSURE) with a very similar design. ASSURE showed no difference in disease-free survival or overall survival. This generates a lot of uncertainty. I suspect a meta-analysis of progression-free survival would be negative and at this point it would be premature to change practice. Both studies show that adjuvant sunitinib is assocated with toxicity." He continued: "Disease-free survival is a useful surrogate endpoint, but the results from different studies have been contradictory. It does not necessarily translate to overall survival, which is the gold standard. Preliminary results in this setting do not point towards a survival benefit. There are a number of other trials ongoing in this area and I would like to see one of these being positive to tip the balance towards benefit." Powles concluded: "Without a consistently positive disease-free survival signal it would be premature for me to recommend sunitinib as adjuvant therapy for my patients, particularly when one considers the toxicity. A positive survival signal, or meta-analysis for disease-free survival, would be needed. Other studies in this area are awaited." Article: Adjuvant Sunitinib in High-Risk Renal-Cell Carcinoma after Nephrectomy, Alain Ravaud, M.D., Ph.D., et al., New England Journal of Medicine, doi: 10.1056/NEJMoa1611406, published 10 October 2016. Russia This Week is a weekly review by the MEMRI Russian Media Studies Project, covering the latest Russia-related news and analysis from media in Russia, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and Eastern Europe. The past week witnessed a further deterioration in Russia-US relations, prompting German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeir to call the situation "more dangerous" than the Cold War (Dw.com, October 8) citing the tension over Ukraine and Syria and the lapse in nuclear material cooperation. Such cooperation had always been an area respected by both sides during the Cold War and was insulated from clashes in other areas. Cartoon Of The Week Source: "Vk.com/13studiya, October 7, 2016" Zakharova Dixit Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova is one of the most-quoted Russian officials. She is known for using colorful language when describing Russian foreign policy in her weekly press briefings. The following are Zakharova's quotes of the week: (Source: Facebook.com/maria.zakharova.167) "We are facing another round of the anti-Russian information campaign in connection with the Syrian crisis, and this is not for the first time... We are currently facing the extreme, even extremist, round of this campaign. It's not even a campaign, it's hysteria in which everyone is involved: the UN Security Council, news conferences by government officials, newspapers, TV, articles, heads of foreign ministry agencies, observers, and others. This time, they are trying to make us look like a bloodthirsty aggressor, an outlaw. On September 29, The New York Times published an article branding Russia 'an outlaw state' and saying that Russia kills hundreds of innocent children and women in Syria." (Mid.ru, October 6) "We should react more calmly to what is now being said [in the US] because many statements are being made solely in line with heated pre-election passions. They don't reflect any short-term Middle East strategy, not to mention a long-term strategy. It appears that these spurts are due to the need to add some fire to the election campaign." (Mid.ru, October 6) (Source: Facebook.com/maria.zakharova.167) Responding to US Republican vice-presidential nominee Gov. Mike Pence's comments that the "Russian bear never dies, it just hibernates," Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page: "Attention! It is my coming out today. Hello, people! I am the Russian everlasting bear that never dies but hibernates from time to time. I am not alone. There are lots of Russian bears like me. I am even married to such a bear and we have a bushy daughter-bear. I eat honey and try to be funny. "And I love you with all my Russian bear heart!" (Facebook.com/maria.zakharova.167, October 5) Quotes Of The Week: During a press-conference, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations and President of the UN Security Council Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was asked the following question: Q: "You have been very patient with us but it is still not clear in my mind, do you come to this press-conference with any sense of moral responsibility or do you regard Syria as just entirely disconnected from Russian foreign policy or Russian military policy? Do you have a sense of responsibility for what is happening in Eastern Aleppo?" Churkin answered: "When you come clearer in your mind about what you want to ask, please ask me the question." (Russiaun.ru, October 3) Tweet Of The Week: Senator @Alexey_Pushkov: "Obama is concluding his second term by sharp degradation in the relations with Russia and tense relations with China. [He] deserves a Cold War, rather than a [Nobel] Peace prize." (Twitter.com/Alexey_Pushkov, October 5) (Source: Twitter.com/Alexey_Pushkov, October 5, 2016) In The News: US Dixit - Kerry: Russian, Syrian Actions Beg For An Investigation Of War Crimes On October 7, during a joint press conference with French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, US State Secretary John Kerry said: "Russia and [Syrian] the regime owe the world more than an explanation about why they keep hitting hospitals and medical facilities and children and women. These are acts that beg for an appropriate investigation of war crimes. And those who commit these would and should be held accountable for these actions. They're beyond the accidental now - way beyond. Years beyond the accidental. This is a targeted strategy to terrorize civilians and to kill anybody and everybody who is in the way of their military objectives." (State.gov, October 7) US State Department's spokesperson John Kirby then explained: "[Kerry]'s the Secretary of State, he doesn't just toss words around for rhetorical exercises. You have seen his frustration build. You, yourself - all of you have seen his frustration build over the last several weeks. You heard what he said at the UN, called it like he saw it, that these were clear violations of international law. And today, he said that they begged for an appropriate investigation, and I think he meant every word of what he said. I'm not trying to parse here. I'm not trying to be - to dance around this thing, but the Secretary believes that what's happening is an abomination, is - obviously violates international law. We're talking, again - let's remember and let's remind people we're talking about hospitals and homes and businesses and innocent men and women and children." (State.gov. October 7) Russia Replies - Zakharova: 'Shouldn't We Just Turn Off Telephones In The Foreign Ministry?' Commenting on Kerry's statements, Zakharova wrote on her Facebook page: "By making statements equating Russia's actions in Syria with war crimes, the US State Department should understand that this may all end with the national referendum in Russia with one question: 'Shouldn't we just turn off telephones in the Foreign Ministry?'" (Tass.com, October 8) Senator Alexey Pushkov said: "Kerry's accusations against Russia are not just rhetoric or an intimidation attempt. This is a preparation for the new round of sanctions against Russia - this time because of Syria." (Twitter.com/Alexey_Pushkov, October 7) UNSC: Russia Vetoes France's Resolution - Russia's Resolutions Receives The Minimum Number Of Votes Russia vetoed a French-drafted UNSC resolution on Syria. France's resolution called for a complete cessation of the bombing in Aleppo, as well as military flights over the city. On the other hand, the Russian draft resolution failed to receive a minimum number of votes at the UNSC. Prior to the vote, Russia's Permanent Ambassador to the UN said: "Today we are participating in one of the most bizarre scenes in the history of the UN Security Council. We will vote on the two draft Council resolutions, and we are all well aware that neither of them will be accepted." In another interview, Churkin said: "The French proposal is very hastily put together and I frankly believe that this is designed not to make progress and take the situation out of the current stalemate and not to help Staffan de Mistura but to cause a Russian veto which I will try to explain. It is unprecedented for the members of the Council to ask a permanent member of the Security Council to limit its own activities... the French draft as I explained before contains some elements which we think are really harmful...this is not a proposal, a draft which is right for adoption, as I say I have this suspicion that the real motive is to cause a Russian veto even though from the outset we were told by the French colleagues that this was not their intention. But unfortunately I have to get used to working under strange circumstances." (Russiaun.ru, October 7; Rt.com, October 9) US-Russia Relations Heating Up - Zakharova: S-300 Anti-Aircraft Missiles Were Deployed In Syria To Counter US Cruise Missile Threats To Russian Forces Russia's Defense Ministry informed that a battery of Russian S-300 air defense missile launchers has been transported to Syria. The news was confirmed by Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov: "Indeed, the Syrian Arab Republic received an S-300 anti-aircraft missile system. This system is designed to ensure the safety of the naval base in [Syrian city of] Tartus and ships located in the coastal area [in Syria]..." He added that it is unclear why the deployment of the S-300 caused such alarm in the West, stating that "the S-300 is a purely defensive system and poses no threat." (Rt.com, October 4) Igor Konashenkov (Source: Tass.ru) In an interview with the RIA TV channel on October 7, Zakharova said: "the S-400 has been deployed there (in Syria) for a long time - everyone treated that normally and no one said that was a show of [force]. Those systems have been there for a long time - and everyone, i think, knew it. The S-300 appeared in Syria after there were leaks from American experts, close to the American establishment, regarding a possible targeting of Syrian airfields by cruise missiles. Those leaks were consistent and had some basis..." (Ria.ru, October 7) RIA Columnist: "If The US Chooses War - Russia Won't Be Able To Flee The Fighting" Commenting on possible US strikes against Syrian governmental military target, Konashenkov warned: "Any missile or air strikes on the territory controlled by the Syrian government will create a clear threat to Russian servicemen... Russian air defense system crews are unlikely to have time to determine in a 'straight line' the exact flight paths of missiles and then who the warheads belong to. And all the illusions of amateurs about the existence of 'invisible' [stealth technology] jets will face a disappointing reality." He also noticed that the Syrian army is equipped with quite effective systems such as S-200, as well as BUK systems. He then added that after the September 17 US striking of Syrian army positions in Dir-Az-Zour, Russia took all necessary precautions in order not to let such mistakes recur against Russian soldiers and infrastructure in Syria. It is worth noting that Konashenkov recalled that Russia's bases in Hmeymim and Tartus were protected by S-400 and S-300 air defense systems, "whose range of operation may prove a surprise to any unidentified flying object." (Ria.ru, October 6; Rt.com, October 6; Tass.com, 6) In an article, titled "The dialectics of S-300 in Syria," Aleksandr Khrolenko, a columnist for RIA news, wrote: Russia will consider any strikes against Syrian governmental army as an attempt to sabotage the anti-terror operation in Syria with all that this implies. "I think, that sooner or later, the Americans will try to use force in various capacities. If the US chooses war - Russia won't be able to flee the fighting," Khrolenko wrote. (Ria.ru, October 7, 2016) Russian Embassy Under Mortar Fire In Syria - Zakharova: 'The US Is Protecting Jabhat Al-Nusra By All Possible Means' On October 3, the Russian embassy in Syria came under mortar fire. The Russian Foreign Ministry published a special statement accusing those "who, like the US, are provoking continued bloodshed in Syria by flirting with various militants and extremists." (Mid.ru, October 4) Commenting on the mortar attack druing her weekly press briefing, Zakharova said that there is a connection between the Russian embassy shelling in Damascus and Washington's threats. Zakharova stated: "We suspect a connection between this terrorist attack and the vague threat of attack recently passed on by Washington. It is indicative that the attack happened in the midst of a discussion to possibly supply the militants with man-portable air-defense systems and other military equipment that could be used from anywhere. "We get the impression that our Western partners are forgetting that Jabhat al-Nusra (Jabhat Fateh al-Sham), ISIS, Jund al-Aqsa, Ahrar ash-Sham, Jaysh al-Islam and other similar groups are basically the same evolving Al-Qaeda that conducted the horrible terrorist attacks in the United States 15 years ago. Why do our American colleagues not remember that and why do they not remind their people about it on a daily basis at public events? It is beyond my understanding. "The US is protecting Jabhat al-Nusra by all possible means. For the past two years, almost every day we hear tragic reports of American police killing ordinary citizens who only looked like they could hypothetically be a threat to the police or the public. Some police officers thought they were armed, the others thought they could be dangerous, etc. Those were ordinary people who were only suspected of being a threat. Now imagine that two or three people from Jabhat al-Nusra - so thoroughly protected by the US government - walk down the streets of Washington. Imagine what the police would do to those people if they walked down the street in Washington, Chicago or any US city looking the way they usually look. Nobody would have any doubt that those people clearly pose a threat to civilians. Then why is it that those people would be immediately destroyed in one geographic location with complete public support but in another location, they are presented as fighters for justice, as the moderate opposition, a group that is not yet on the genuine path to political resolution, a group that needs refinement but does not yet meet the high standards completely? It is a very strange approach." (Mid.ru, October 6) Russia's Decision To Terminate The 2010 Implementing Agreement Between Rosatom And The US Department of Energy - Russian Foreign Ministry: 'We Can No Longer Trust Washington In A Sensitive Sphere' On September 3, a Russian Presidential Executive Order suspended the 2000 U.S.-Russia agreement concerning the management and disposition of plutonium designated as no longer required for defense purposes and related cooperation (PMDA). On October 5, Russia adopted the decision to terminate the 2010 Implementing Agreement between the Russian State Corporation for Atomic Energy, Rosatom, and the US Department of Energy, concerning cooperation on feasibility studies of the conversion of Russian research reactors to use low-enriched uranium fuel. The Russian Foreign Ministry wrote: "This step follows the notification received from the United States in 2014 regarding the termination of civil nuclear energy cooperation with Russia, as well as other hostile steps and statements by the United States. As a result of these actions, we can no longer trust Washington in a sensitive sphere such as the modernization and safety of Russian nuclear power plants. If Russia makes the decision to convert particular research reactors to low-enriched nuclear fuel, we will conduct this work independently." (Mid.ru, October 5) Russia's Suspension Of The 2013 Russian-US Agreement On Cooperation In Nuclear- And Energy-Related Scientific Research And Development On October 5, Russia suspended the 2013 Russian-US Agreement on Cooperation in Nuclear- and Energy-Related Scientific Research and Development. The Russian Foreign Ministry explained: "This step was taken following the restrictions imposed by the United States on nuclear energy cooperation with Russia. In 2014, notification was received from Washington that the US was suspending nuclear energy cooperation with Russia in connection with the events in Ukraine. By their decision, the Americans effectively froze cooperation in science and technology in all areas specified in the Agreement and rendered impossible the implementation of projects in which both countries were interested. Under these circumstances, Russia is suspending the Agreement in response to the US's hostile actions..." (Mid.ru, October 6) Deputy FM: The US Intelligence Is Trying To Recruit Agents Amongst Russian Diplomats During an interview, Deputy Foreign Minister Sergey Ryabkov talked about the "ongoing practice of US special services abducting Russians across the world." He also stated that the US administration is trying to use "hyped-up public concern about its representatives to conceal active espionage operations conducted under diplomatic cover." [1] Ryabkov then added: "The situation facing Russian diplomats in the United States is, in fact, steadily deteriorating. Over the past two and a half years, there has been a clear increase in the number of attempts to recruit our officials, while US special services resort to the most unseemly methods to apply pressure, including threats against the well-being of family members. The smooth operation of our diplomatic missions is hindered by artificial difficulties in making official contacts and other contrived restrictions. "Not long ago, Washington tightened regulations on the movement of Russian officials on US territory. Now the overwhelming majority of our representatives need to notify the State Department of their itinerary well in advance, without which they may not go anywhere. This runs counter to the rules that were jointly agreed on and were in effect for almost a quarter of a century. This will further undermine conditions for the development of ties as well as opportunities for bilateral cooperation. "Unfortunately, this is precisely what the administration of Barack Obama has sought, to the accompaniment of rabid anti-Russian propaganda, especially since the adoption of the controversial sanctions-related 'Magnitsky Act'[2] in 2012. Nevertheless, Washington will not succeed in laying the blame at someone else's doorstep." (Mid.ru, October 4) Turkey-Russia Relations On October 10, Russian President Vladimir Putin is to meet Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at the World Energy Congress in Istanbul. On October 5, the two leaders had a phone conversation at the initiative of the Turkish side. The phone call focused on Turkish-Russian cooperation and the Syrian crisis. (Kremlin.ru, October 5) Iskander - M In Kaliningrad Region Russia deployed Iskander -M tactical missile systems in Kaliningrad region. The move sparked tension in the Baltic States. On October 8, Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Konashenkov said: "By the way, nobody made a big secret out of the transportation of the system onboard the freighter Ambal. I'll tell more - one Iskander system was deliberately exposed prior to the shipment to an American intelligence satellite, which was on its trajectory above (the region) - that was made in order to clarify (check out) certain parameters of this satellite." He also added that the Russian side did not have long to wait since the US partners in their "exposure impulse" have confirmed everything (that the Russians needed). (Ria.ru, October 8) He also stated: "The Iskander ballistic missile system is mobile, as during the training process missile force units improve their skills year-round [which involves] covering major distances across Russian territory by various means: by air, by sea and by their own movement." On another note, Putin transferred the Kaliningrad Region's governor, Yevgeny Zinichev, to another job, presumably on Zinichev's own request and appointed Regional Government Chairman Anton Alikhanov as Kaliningrad's new head. (Ria.ru, October 8; Tass.com, October 8; Rbth.com, October 8) Endnotes: The Fatah and the Palestinian Authority (PA) responses to the October 9, 2016 terrorist shooting attack in Jerusalem came primarily in the form of reports about it, while opinion articles were conspicuous in their absence. One exception was an Al-Hayat Al-Jadida columnist, 'Omar Al-Ghoul, who wrote that the shooter, Misbah Abu Sbeih, had been compelled to carry out the attack because the Israeli security apparatuses left him no choice. To date, PA officials have not commented on the attack, but Fatah spokesman Faiz Abu 'Aita said, "The occupation alone will bear the consequences of the Palestinian responses." He said that Israel's sponsorship of terrorism and the settlements, as well as the damage they are doing to Jerusalem, will cause additional Palestinian reactions.[1] Several hours after the attack, Fatah's official Facebook page posted a statement by the Fatah Jerusalem branch declaring that day as a day of mourning and of a strike for the souls of the martyrs of Palestine, including the soul of the shooter. The statement also called on Israel to stop ignoring Palestinian rights at Al-Aqsa Mosque, stressing: "We of the Jerusalem branch of the Fatah movement... will defend the honor of the Arab and Islamic nations with our bare bodies."[2] The Fatah statement Image posted on Fatah's official Facebook page following the shooting (Facebook.com/Official.Fateh.1965, October 10, 2016) 'Omar Al-Ghoul, who served as advisor to former PA prime minister Salam Fayyad, wrote that it was Israel's policy and the actions of its security apparatuses that had compelled the shooter to carry out his attack. The following are excerpts from his article:[3] The Shooting Is "Another Warning Sign [Indicating] The Possible Outbreak Of A New Popular Intifada, Which This Time Will Not End Until [Palestinian] Attain Liberty, Independence, Self-Determination And [Right Of] Return" "Like all Palestinians, he did not want to die. He wanted to lead an honorable life in his city, with his family and friends in Silwan in [East] Jerusalem. But the Israeli ethnic cleansing state and its criminal security apparatuses denied him this choice. They used every means [at their disposal] to push him to defend himself by a means that I believe is the [only] language that can guarantee [a proper] response to their barbarism, immorality and terror. "The martyr Misbah Abu Sbeih (39) could not tolerate [all] the violations and crimes of the Israeli General Security Agency. He renounced silence, or in other words was unwilling to surrender to the will of the Israeli hangman. In an interview with the Ma'an news site two days ago [October 8[, or, in other words, 24 hours before carrying out his fida'i operation against the police station of the occupation in the Sheikh Jarrah [neighborhood in Jerusalem], he said: 'Jerusalem is currently being subjected to an intensive Judaization [campaign] and an unprecedented attack by the occupation authorities. We are living in a jail. I was arrested five times within a single week. [In some cases I was] detained for [only] several hours or days. The last time I was arrested, the Security Agency manipulated the judge and he decided to ban me from entering the old city of Jerusalem, but they insisted on banning me from entering all of East Jerusalem.' "The Lion of Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa, as his friends called him, was intermittently imprisoned for 39 months in the jails of the Israeli occupation for 'defending Al-Aqsa,' in addition to short detentions lasting days or weeks. To put things more clearly, the Israeli security apparatus made the martyr Misbah's life [a living] hell... [At some point] he could no longer bear the savage and racist Israeli escalation, aimed at emptying the holy city of its Arab Palestinian residents by various actions of ethnic cleansing: Judaization; land expropriation; the seizure of homes, assets and cemeteries; revocation of citizenship; structural, cultural and religious changes in the Palestinian capital of Jerusalem; dividing the space and the prayer [times] at Al-Aqsa [between Jewish visitors and Muslim worshipers]; the expulsion and removal of the murabitun and murabitat[4] based on groundless arguments and pretexts, and other severe violations. "All this drove the Lion of Al-Aqsa to carry out a fida'i operation, while he declared to [the Palestinian news site] Ma'an that [on October 9] at 10:00 a.m. he would surrender himself [and report to] Ramle prison according to the decision of the Israeli security apparatus - especially after they threatened to place him in administrative detention if he didn't surrender [and report to the prison] that Sunday morning. The result was two people killed and nine wounded, including a Palestinian from Hebron. After a chase the fighter from Jerusalem was martyred on the soil of his beloved capital city. His legacy is [his wish that] all Palestinians and Arabs, Muslims and Christians, and all lovers of Jerusalem, defended and preserve its Palestinian Arab identity". "Less than 24 hours ago, he expressed on his Facebook page his deep love for the blessed Al-Aqsa mosque and for his city, which belongs to all of us, saying: 'How I yearn for [the object of] my love and desire. May [Al-Aqsa] be the last thing I see and kiss and upon whose soil I prostate myself. I wish to kiss your soil and pray inside you [O Al-Aqsa]. But there is oppression, and they [the Israelis] are the oppressors. I shall never miss anything as I miss you [Al-Aqsa]. I shall never love anything as I love you, despite their jails, their hostility, their tyranny and their arrogance. The 'Israeli security apparatuses ' have sentenced me to four months in prison for my love of you, and I say, by Allah, that is [very] little, for I am willing to sacrifice my life, my years and my property for your sake. [Even] if I cannot visit you in person, my soul, heart and eyes have never left you or forgotten you. My love is great and my desire eternal, [and will last] until I die. Al-Aqsa has been entrusted to you - do not neglect it.' "The message of the martyr Misbah is clear and deeply meaningful: that the Zionist terror and ethnic cleansing will only cause [us] to cleave more tightly to the land and holy places, and to the eternal capital of Jerusalem, from every corner in the land of Palestine. Had the Israeli leaders, security apparatuses and intellectuals made an effort to carefully examine the message of this Lion of Jerusalem and to consider it in a responsible manner, and had they adopted a realistic and rational approach, they would have reconsidered their policy of occupation. For occupation, racism and a policy of ethnic cleansing that uproots [people], deports them and subjects them to occupation will produce nothing but legitimate resistance for the purpose of defending ourselves, [our] supreme national interests and [our] right to life, peace and coexistence. The case of the martyr Misbah is nothing but another warning sign [indicating] the possible outbreak of a new popular intifada, which this time will not end until we attain [our] liberty, independence and self-determination and [realize our right of] return. So will they [the Israeli leaders] rethink their imperialist choice, stop the bloodshed before it's too late and agree to pay the price of the two-state solution on the June 4, 1967 borders?" Endnotes: The Power Rangers teaser trailer was released a couple of days ago, and the first thing you need to know is that the movie is being called Saban's Power Rangers and not Mighty Morphin Power Rangers like the original. The Power Rangers Twitter feed As a kid growing up in India, there were only three shows I watched religiously G.I. Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, and Power Rangers. The first two have already been rebooted in this millennium, and it's high time the Power Rangers got a reboot too. The Power Rangers Twitter feed The first and probably biggest difference any fan would notice is the absence of Tommy Oliver, the most popular Ranger. Will he make an appearance? I certainly hope so. I miss Jason David Frank. The Power Rangers Twitter feed One more thing the studio did was to address the whole question of racism that popped up the last couple of times the Power Rangers were on the silver screen. While every colour was criticized, the Yellow and Black Ranger's got the most flak for being played by Asian and African-American actors, respectively. In the reboot, The Yellow Ranger is played by a Mexican-American, while the Black Ranger is played by an Asian actor. To mix things up further, the Blue Ranger is now played by an African-American actor. In your face critics. The Power Rangers Twitter feed The Power Rangers aren't too popular with the youth of today; most of them don't even know who they are. So, it's a good decision to show us their origins instead of just showing us Rangers who already know their responsibilities and have been super powered for a while. Now, on to the trailer. It begins with the characters each facing problems of their own. Jason (The Red Ranger) is looking for redemption, Kimberley (The Pink Ranger) is having an identity crisis, Billy (The Blue Ranger) has trouble making friends, Trini (The Yellow Ranger) is a self-sufficient loner, and Zack (The Black Ranger) struggles to hide his inferiority complex. I'm glad they are no longer wearing those awful colour coordinated outfits which matched their Ranger suits. There were subtle hints everywhere, though (Kimberley's pink scissors). While we get a look at Rita Repulsa played by Elizabeth Banks for a few seconds, we don't get to see Zordon (played by Bryan Cranston) in the trailer, but we can expect a top-notch performance from good old Walter White. Director Dean Israelite has hinted that other well-known characters will make an appearance too (Bulk and Skull?). The Power Rangers Twitter feed They have changed quite a bit for this reboot, and while age-old fans like me might not agree with these changes, as long as the movie doesn't go down the Fant4stic route, I'll be happy. Nonetheless, I'll be queuing up outside the theatre on March 24, 2017. PLEASE DO NOT SHOW US THE ZORDS BEFORE THEN. Death row isolation cells on Nusakambangan Island, Indonesia Indonesia, 1 of only 25 countries in the world that still impose capital punishment, has seen 35 people sentenced to death by the courts since the start of the year, according to the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence (Kontras). That number could grow in the coming years, as the country is mulling whether to widen the application of the ultimate penalty. Marking the 14th World Day Against the Death Penalty, Kontras issued a report that shows legal flaws in the application of capital punishment and in the execution of 4 death row inmates this year. One bright spot is that some death sentences have been overturned on appeal by the Supreme Court. "This trend is likely to continue and may even get worse, given the government's legal policies and plans to amend some laws," Kontras warned in the report presented at a news conference on Saturday. Puri Kencana Putri, Kontras coordinator for strategy and mobilization, called the 4 executions in July "illegal" over flaws in the way they had been carried out. All 4 legal cases had still been pending, Puri said, and none of the convicts' relatives had been properly notified about the executions, as required by the law. "We even have credible reports to suggest that their isolation cells were flooded knee-deep the night they were executed," Puri said, recalling strong rain that morning at the high-security prison island of Nusakambangan, Central Java, where the executions took place. A separate recent report looks at how five leading newspapers in the country reported on the execution of death row inmates this year. The Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI) Jakarta in its report criticized the media for not being critical enough in reporting these executions. The 35 new death sentences this year add to the already long list of people on death row in Indonesia. In December 2014, President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo ordered that all 64 people on death row should be executed. 18 of them have since met their death in 3 separate rounds of executions, including the latest one in July. In 2015, 26 people were sentenced to death at courts of first instance, according to the Institute for Criminal Justice Reform (ICJR). Kontras said that 25 of the new death sentences this year were meted to drug traffickers. They include 24 non-Indonesians, from China (10), Malaysia (6), Nigeria (4), Taiwan (2), and 1 each from the US and Pakistan. The execution of convicts has become something of a hallmark of the presidency of Jokowi, who has declared war on drug trafficking, an offense that carries the ultimate punishment. 14 drugtraffickers were executed in 2015, but an earlier plan to execute14 more in July was aborted at the last minute; instead only 4 were sent to the firing squad. Until today, the government has not explained the reason for the literally 11th-hour reprieve for the 10. Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo insisted their executions were simply being delayed. Jokowi has publicly rebuked any attempt at intervention by foreign leaders who asked for a stay of executions for their citizens, citing Indonesia's sovereignty. This did not stop European leaders from telling him to stop the executions when he visited Germany, Britain, the Netherlands and Belgium in April. Indonesia's appetite for the blood of criminals has not stopped there. In the current debate to reform the penal code, politicians are advocating expanding the use of capital punishment to acts of treason, terrorism and terrorism-related activities, genocide, corruption, endangering flight safety, extortion and intimidation. With reports of sexual abuse against children, some politicians have also asked to add this to the list of crimes punishable by death. The AJI Jakarta report studied 5 Jakarta-based newspapers - Kompas, Republika, Tempo, Media Indonesia and The Jakarta Post - on how they reported the executions this year. The report said all but Republika had taken an editorial position opposing the death penalty, but the study found this to be in contradiction to the tone of their reporting, which supported the death penalty. Watchdog Urges Govt to Cancel Death Executions The People's Coalition for the Abolition of Death Penalty (Koalisi HATI) has urged the government to implement a moratorium on executions of drug convicts because it violates human rights and has no deterrent effect on drug offenders. "Death penalty gives no solution for drug trafficking [issue]," said Bahrain, Director for Advocacy of Indonesian Legal Aid Institute (LBH), at his office on Sunday, October 9, 2016. The Joko Widodo administration has executed 14 drug inmates so far. However, data from the National Narcotics Agency (BNN) shows that drug trafficking continues to rise. "Data from the BNN revealed that there were 1.7 million [drug] users in 2015. After the 2nd round of executions, it has gone up to 5.9 million people," Bahrain said. He has called on the government to change sentences given to death row inmates. Aside from calling for a moratorium on death penalty, Koalisi HATI has also urged President Joko Widodo to establish an independent team to investigate into wrongful convictions, citing inconsistent approach and lack of transparency in implementing the death penalty. Head of Indonesian Advocacy for Fellowship of Victims of Drugs Totok Yulianto argued that death penalty is often adopted by the government as the last resort. "In Soeharto era, [death penalty] was adopted on political crimes. In Jokowi era, it is adopted on drug crimes," he said. According to Totok, the government will find another avenue if it is committed to evaluating the real problems. "Such evaluation has never been done," he said. In 2014, the government pushed for the death penalty. President Joko Widodo also planned to rehabilitate 100,000 drug users. It turned out that only 21,000 had been rehabilitated, Totok said. Consequently, the government has resorted to the death penalty in 2016. "President Jokowi tries to cover up his failure by [resorting to] death execution," he said. | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: The Jakarta Post, October 10, 2016Source: tempo.co, October 10, 2016 Rayhaneh Jabbari Mother of Rayhaneh Jabbari who hanged in October 2014 for defending herself against assault by a member of the Iranian regime's intelligence has pledged to fight for abolishment of death sentence in Iran. In a letter published in news networks, Mrs Sholeh Pakravan, wrote: "It's now 2 years full of ups and downs since Rayhaneh was executed. Today, I hate the death penalty even more." "2 years ago, I was totally focusing on preventing Rayhaneh from being executed. Today, however, I'm living with the hope for an Iran without the death sentence. I'm not afraid of anything for taking this path. I'm looking the demon 'death sentence' (Iranian regime) right in the eye, waiting for the right time to deliver it the final blow, so that all the gallows be relegated to the museums." In a reference to children killed in Iran while playing by hanging themselves following watching public hangings in streets, she added: "instead of 'execution game', let our children play 'life game'. "I understand every second the survivors of an execution go through. I understand the meaning of responsibility and I knowingly accept it." She continues: "I can't stand to see the youth, like my own children, mourning the loss of their executed sisters or brothers. I can't stand to witness the tears shed by fathers and mothers for their executed children." She concludes: "I can't stand to see a human struggling in mid-air .. and then the dead body be wrapped in a cover and sent to the cemetery. I shout with all my heart NO TO EXECUTION." International call to save the life of a 22-year-old woman from execution The Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran urges all international human rights and women's rights organizations and agencies to take urgent action to save the life of Zeinab Sekanvan, a 22-year-old woman imprisoned in the Central Prison of Orumiyeh, who is in the danger of imminent execution. Zeinab Sekanvand comes from a village near Makou (Western Azerbaijan Province, northwestern Iran). She was forced into marriage when she was 15 due to her family's poverty. After 2 years of painful life, she was arrested at age 17 on the charge of killing her husband. After her 5 years imprisonment, on October 3, Zainab was notified of the dead penalty and since then she is on the death row. Source: The Women's Committee of the National Council of Resistance of Iran, October 10, 2016 Iranian child bride spared execution for killing abusive husband because she was pregnant now faces being hanged after giving birth to a stillborn Zeinab Sokian An Iranian child bride could be hanged within weeks after she was sentenced to death for allegedly murdering her abusive husband. However, Zeinab married another prisoner while in jail and fell pregnant, and as Iranian law prevents pregnant women from being executed her death sentence was delayed. However, on September 30 she gave birth to a stillborn child in Euromieh central prison in northern Iran, meaning she could now be put to death within weeks. Zeinab, who hails from a small village in northern Iran, was just 15 when she married her 1st husband. Under Iranian law girls can marry at 13-years-old and boys at 15, although international human rights organisations say both parties in a marriage should be aged 18 or over. During her trial, Zeinab claimed that her husband frequently beat and abused her, a source told Human Rights Watch. However, her claims were dismissed by the court. The human rights organisation says that Zeinab was informed by authorities this week her execution could take place in the coming weeks. Iran passed legal reforms in 2013, which give judges the discretion to spare children the death penalty if they do not understand the nature of their crime. The law also entitles those sentenced to death prior to 2013 to a new trial - but only if they request it. Human Right Watch is calling for all pre-2013 defendents to face a new trial. 'The 2013 reforms aimed to prevent wrongful conviction of children for capital offenses. If the Iranian government is serious about this goal, it should at a minimum grant everyone facing the death penalty for alleged offenses committed as children a new trial that conforms to international human rights standards,' the organisation said. 'This includes Zeinab, an alleged victim of domestic violence, who may otherwise imminently face the gallows.' | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Source: NCR-Iran, October 10, 2016Source: Daily Mail, October 10, 2016 United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today called the death penalty a cruel and inhumane practice - one that 65 countries globally retain for terrorism-related offenses - which is the focus of this year's World Day against the Death Penalty. "It has no place in the 21st century," Mr. Ban stressed in his message for the Day, commemorated annually on 10 October. "To be legitimate and effective, counter-terror measures, like all security operations, must be anchored in respect for human rights and the rule of law," he added Yet death sentences for terrorism are often handed down after unfair and speedy trials by military or special courts. In his message, the UN chief noted that confessions were often obtained under duress or in other ways in which the right to appeal is not respected. Some States even sought to criminalize the legitimate exercise of fundamental freedoms by including vague definitions in counter-terrorism legislation. "Let us be clear: participation in peaceful protests and criticism of a government - whether in private, on the Internet, or in the media - are neither crimes nor terrorist acts," underscored Mr. Ban. "The threat or use of the death penalty in such cases is an egregious violation of human rights," he added. Some may argue that capital punishment would diminish terrorism, he went on to say, but, emphasized: "This is not true. Experience has shown that putting terrorists to death serves as propaganda for their movements by creating perceived martyrs and making their macabre recruiting campaigns more effective." He urged everyone to continue working to abolish the death penalty in all circumstances and places. "Let our actions always be guided by the moral compass of human rights - the most effective route to a safer, more just and secure world," concluded Mr. Ban. No deterrent for terrorism In Geneva, a group of UN human rights experts meanwhile has reminded Governments around the world that capital punishment is an ineffective deterrent for terrorism - and most times an unlawful one. In a press statement, the UN Special Rapporteurs on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, on torture, Juan E. Mendez, and on human rights while countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson, stressed that the threat of terrorism does not justify departing from international standards for the protection of human rights. Faced with terrorist attacks or terrorist threats in their countries, some governments have recently turned to the death sentence in an attempt to curb terrorist action, by either expanding the scope of offenses punishable by death or resuming executions for terrorist-related offences after years of moratoriums in executions. "These measures are problematic in many ways," warned the UN rights experts. "Reintroducing the death penalty in countries that were de jure or de facto abolitionist runs contrary to the international trend towards the progressive abolition of the death penalty." The General Assembly has repeatedly called on Member States to progressively restrict the use of the death penalty and reduce the number of crimes susceptible of such punishment. In almost all regions in the world, Governments invoke the death penalty in anti-terrorism campaigns - with 15 nations having carried out executions over the last 10 years. In 2015capital punishment was imposed for these offences in at least seven countries, with most executions taking place in the Middle East and North Africa. According to the UN experts, some countries made legal changes to introduce or expand the scope of the death penalty to terrorism-related offences. They continued: "Many of those offenses do not amount to 'most serious crimes' - meaning those involving intentional killing - for which the death penalty may be imposed under international law." The experts pointed out that arbitrary sentencing exists in a small minority of countries around the world, which most frequently resort to capital punishment. They added that many States that use it for terrorism-related offences lack a system of fair trial. "Executions carried out without adherence to the strictest guarantees of fair trial and due processes are unlawful and tantamount to an arbitrary execution," emphasized the experts. "We have called on those governments once and again to halt such executions and to retrial the defendants in compliance with international standards," they said. The experts see the World Day against the Death Penalty as an opportunity to reflect on the worrying development. Noting the world trend towards abolition, with new countries each year eradicating capital punishment, they said it was disturbing that a small minority of States disregarded international standards "in their quest to thwart a real or perceived threat posed by terrorism." Finally they encouraged everyone to reflect on the role that the international community can play in confronting the practice. "We call on agencies and States offering financial or technical cooperation to counter terrorism to ensure that the programmes to which they contribute do not ultimately result in violations of the right to life," concluded the UN experts. Belarusian authorities not to abolish death penalty regardless of social pressure and recommendations from Western capitals Belarus is the last country in Europe exercising the death penalty. As usual, the Belarusian authorities are willing to negotiate the abolition of the death penalty, but unlikely to take any action. It should be noted, however, that the president talked about the probability of a referendum, which, could include questions about abolishing the death penalty in the country. Meanwhile, in the past, the Belarusian authorities repeatedly stated the intention to review approaches to the death penalty. The Belarusian authorities are likely to engage in discussions with MEPs about the abolition of the death penalty, but unlikely to take the decision. | Report an error, an omission; suggest a story or a new angle to an existing story; send a submission; recommend a resource; contact the webmaster, contact us: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com Opposed to Capital Punishment? Help us keep this blog up and running! DONATE! Special Rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council and are independent from any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.Source: un.org, October 10, 2016Source: belarusinfocus.info, October 10, 2016 Greif, Inc. engages in the production and sale of industrial packaging products and services worldwide. It operates in three segments: Global Industrial Packaging; Paper Packaging & Services; and Land Management. The Global Industrial Packaging segment produces and sells industrial packaging products, including steel, fiber, and plastic drums; rigid and flexible intermediate bulk containers; closure systems for industrial packaging products; transit protection products; water bottles, and remanufactured and reconditioned industrial containers; and various services, such as container life cycle management, filling, logistics, warehousing, and other packaging services to chemicals, paints and pigments, food and beverage, petroleum, industrial coatings, agriculture, pharmaceuticals, mineral product, and other industries. This segment also offers flexible intermediate bulk containers and related services to the agriculture, construction, and food industries. The Paper Packaging & Services segment produces and sells containerboards, corrugated sheets and containers, and other corrugated and specialty products to customers in the packaging, automotive, food, and building products markets; and produces and sells coated and uncoated recycled paperboard, and recycled fiber. This segment's corrugated container products are used to ship various products, such as home appliances, small machinery, grocery products, automotive components, books, and furniture, as well as various other applications. The Land Management segment engages in harvesting and regeneration of timber properties; and sale of timberland and special use properties. As of October 31, 2021, this segment owned approximately 175,000 acres of timber properties in the southeastern United States. The company was formerly known as Greif Bros. Corporation and changed its name to Greif, Inc. in 2001. Greif, Inc. was founded in 1877 and is headquartered in Delaware, Ohio. Imperial Oil Limited engages in exploration, production, and sale of crude oil and natural gas in Canada. The company operates through three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Chemical segments. The Upstream segment explores for, and produces crude oil, natural gas, synthetic oil, and bitumen. As of December 31, 2021, this segment had 386 million oil-equivalent barrels of proved undeveloped reserves. The Downstream segment is involved in the transportation and refining of crude oil, blending of refined products and the distribution, and marketing of refined products. It also transports crude oil to refineries by contracted pipelines, common carrier pipelines, and rail; maintains a distribution system to move petroleum products to market by pipeline, tanker, rail, and road transport; and owns and operates fuel terminals, natural gas liquids, and products pipelines in Alberta, Manitoba, and Ontario. In addition, this segment markets and supplies petroleum products to motoring public through approximately 2,400 Esso and Mobil-branded sites. Further, it sells petroleum products, including fuel, asphalt, and lubricants for industrial and transportation customers, independent marketers, and resellers, as well as other refiners serving the agriculture, residential heating, and commercial markets through branded fuel and lubricant resellers. The Chemical segment manufactures and markets various petrochemicals, benzene, aromatic and aliphatic solvents, plasticizer intermediates, and polyethylene resin. Imperial Oil Limited has a strategic agreement with E3 Metals Corp. to advance a lithium-extraction pilot in Alberta. The company was incorporated in 1880 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada. Imperial Oil Limited is a subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation. JPMorgan Chase & Co. is the 5th largest bank in the world and the largest in the U.S. The current company is the result of a series of mergers that began in the earliest days of American banking history and include more than 1,200 original banks. The oldest predecessor is The Bank Of The Manhattan Company which was founded in 1799 by Aaron Burr. At the time, The Bank Of The Manhattan Company was the 3rd oldest bank in the U.S. and the 31st oldest in the world. The Chase Manhattan Bank, a precursor to JPMorgan Chase, was later formed when The Bank Of Manhattan Company purchased Chase Bank which was established in 1877. JPMorgan & Co came to life in 1895 in order to finance the United States Steel Corporation. Itself a result of merger, the company also financed other early American businesses as well as aided the federal government by backing a bond offering. It wasnt until the year 2000 and after several more mergers that JPMorgan Chase & Co was born. It will be four more years before the merger with Bank One which is notable because it brings CEO Jamie Dimon into the picture. JPMorgan Chase & Co was instrumental in aiding the US government during the 2008 financial crisis. It backed the accounts of several major banks including Bear Stearns and eventually took over their operations. Today, JPMorgan Chase & Co operates as a financial services company worldwide with operations on every continent and in more than 60 countries. JPMorgan Chase & Co operates through four segments that are Consumer & Community Banking (CCB), Corporate & Investment Bank (CIB), Commercial Banking (CB), and Asset & Wealth Management (AWM). Services are available in branches in 48 of the 50 US states and around the world. Services are available via ATM, online, mobile, and telephone. The CCB segment offers traditional banking services to consumers that include but are not limited to deposits, loans, mortgages, and lines of credit. The CIB segment provides investment banking products and services to businesses, institutions, and governments that range from prime brokerage, insurance, corporate strategy, and access to capital markets, to lending, cross-border financing, and derivative instruments. The CB segment provides financial services for small, medium, and large businesses including commercial real estate banking of all types. The AWM segment provides investment management solutions to institutional and retail investors. This segment also provides retirement products, brokerage, trusts and estates, and investment management products. Average long-term U.S. mortgage rates topped 7% for the first time in more than two decades this week. Get more info on that and more recent business news here. AutoZone, Inc. retails and distributes automotive replacement parts and accessories. The company offers various products for cars, sport utility vehicles, vans, and light trucks, including new and remanufactured automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products. Its products include A/C compressors, batteries and accessories, bearings, belts and hoses, calipers, chassis, clutches, CV axles, engines, fuel pumps, fuses, ignition and lighting products, mufflers, radiators, starters and alternators, thermostats, and water pumps, as well as tire repairs. In addition, the company offers maintenance products, such as antifreeze and windshield washer fluids; brake drums, rotors, shoes, and pads; brake and power steering fluids, and oil and fuel additives; oil and transmission fluids; oil, cabin, air, fuel, and transmission filters; oxygen sensors; paints and accessories; refrigerants and accessories; shock absorbers and struts; spark plugs and wires; and windshield wipers. Further, it provides air fresheners, cell phone accessories, drinks and snacks, floor mats and seat covers, interior and exterior accessories, mirrors, performance products, protectants and cleaners, sealants and adhesives, steering wheel covers, stereos and radios, tools, and wash and wax products, as well as towing services. Additionally, the company provides a sales program that offers commercial credit and delivery of parts and other products; sells automotive diagnostic and repair software under the ALLDATA brand through alldata.com; and automotive hard parts, maintenance items, accessories, and non-automotive products through autozone.com. As of August 27, 2022, it operated 6,168 stores in the United States; 703 stores in Mexico; and 72 stores in Brazil. The company was founded in 1979 and is based in Memphis, Tennessee. Post Holdings, Inc. operates as a consumer packaged goods holding company in the United States and internationally. It operates through five segments: Post Consumer Brands, Weetabix, Foodservice, Refrigerated Retail, and BellRing Brands. The Post Consumer Brands segment manufactures, markets, and sells branded and private label ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal and hot cereal products. It serves grocery stores, mass merchandise customers, supercenters, club stores, natural/specialty stores, and drug store customers, as well as sells its products in the military, ecommerce, and foodservice channels. The Weetabix segment primarily markets and distributes branded and private label RTE cereal, hot cereals and other cereal-based food products, breakfast drinks, and muesli. This segment sells its products to grocery stores, discounters, wholesalers, and convenience stores, as well as through ecommerce. The Foodservice segment produces and distributes egg and potato products in the foodservice and food ingredient channels. It serves foodservice distributors and national restaurant chains. The Refrigerated Retail segment produces and distributes side dishes, eggs and egg products, sausages, cheese, and other dairy and refrigerated products for grocery stores and mass merchandise customers. The BellRing Brands segment markets and distributes ready-to-drink (RTD) protein shakes, other RTD beverages, powders, nutrition bars, and supplements. It serves club stores, food, drug and mass customers, and online retailers, as well as specialty retailers, convenience stores, and distributors. Post Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1895 and is headquartered in Saint Louis, Missouri. 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 has been a big year for women in the military, as 2016 marked the first time women could apply to serve in all military occupations and positions and saw more female leaders hit occupational milestones. Lt. Gen. Stayce Harris, a reserve pilot by trade, this year became the first female African-American to ever achieve the rank of lieutenant general for the Air Force, and earned the job of assistant vice chief of staff and director of the air staff for the service. She is also the first woman and the first reservist to return to active-duty to fill the position. But these achievements don't dictate how Harris views herself or her career. She said she simply wants to light a spark for others to realize they too can serve their country. "I think my passion has always been, and I realize that about myself, my passion, although I can think strategically, I really am a grassroots leader and I care deeply about the airmen," Harris recently told Military.com in an interview. "So the smallest things that airmen have angst about, I feel. So even though we have evolved in technology...sometimes there isn't the greatest interoperability with the Guard and Reserve, and I would like to help those issues." Harris is the mediator between the air staff, the Air Force secretary's staff and the major commands, plus the staff directors from the other services. Additionally, she will engage with civic leaders, and acts as the certifying official for air attaches. "Initially I just want us to be more organized. But I want us to collaborate more," Harris said. "I think in a lot of organizations, especially ones that have been in place for a long time, you operate in silos. There's great work going on in those silos, but a lot of work is duplicated amongst other silos, and what I want to do is to really rally the team to see where we no longer have to duplicate efforts but compliment each other's efforts." Harris' beliefs mimic Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein's push to review and revitalize the makeup of "the fundamental unit" of squadrons, which he announced in greater detail last month at the annual Air Force Association's Air, Space & Cyber Conference. "He means it when he says one Air Force, three components, that we should be able to seamlessly integrate to serve in these roles," Harris said, adding she was most looking forward to executing Goldfein's vision. "I feel his passion. If you can help an airman at the grassroots level, the mission will always be accomplished." Service in the Family Following in the footsteps of her father who was in the Air Force, all Harris knew was that every two years the family got "to move to a new and exciting place." She enrolled in junior ROTC in high school, and quickly got involved in leadership labs and drill teams. She went on to study engineering at North Carolina State University, later transferring to University of Southern California. Harris pursued the undergraduate pilot training program while in school. In 1976, women entered pilot training as military personnel for the first time, a milestone that signified women could fly outside of the Women's Auxiliary Ferrying Squadron or the Women's Airforce Service Pilots, which were both disbanded around the same time. In 1977, ten women became members of the Air Force's first group of female undergraduate pilot students. But because of poor eyesight, Harris graduated and initially went on active-duty in 1982 as a civil engineer at Hill Air Force Base, Utah. "I did eye exercises, I ate carrots...I took the physical, my eyes passed and I reapplied for pilot training all over again," Harris said. She was formally accepted, and began training in 1983. She first flew C-141 Starlifters at Norton Air Force Base, California; in 1990 she left active-duty to become a reservist and also commercially fly for United Airlines. Moving between assignments -- from California to Washington, D.C. -- Harris landed her first command post in 2001 as the commander of 729th Airlift Squadron at March Air Reserve Base, California. "I commanded there for a year, during 9/11, and had an incredible team of airmen that led and flew superbly, especially during that time when no other planes were flying, your Air Force planes were flying, and we were actually delivering firemen and their supplies from California to New York City at that time," she said. Harris eventually transitioned to the KC-135 Stratotanker, and deployed to Moron Air Base, Spain in 2003 -- the base at the time acted as a staging point for U.S. forces headed to Iraq and as "the tanker bridge" for aircraft headed to the Middle East; She served as a wing commander once more at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland, before thrice becoming a mobilization assistant to the commander at U.S. Africa Command, the 18th Air Force at Scott Air Force Base, Illinois, and then Air Mobility Command, also at Scott. While serving under AFRICOM, she oversaw projects such as pandemic disaster response, and would TDY for weeks at a time to various countries across Africa. "Basically, I became the face for AFRICOM for [this] response, and what's really interesting when you're in countries for this, you bring civilians and the military together to ensure you save the lives of the populous," Harris said. It was the only forum of its kind, Harris said, that allowed for women and children of African countries to constructively speak with their militaries and the U.S. about preserving the lives of their family. Two years after Harris left her post, the West Africa Ebola outbreak struck countries like Guinea and Liberia. "I was watching the nations that had the greatest challenges or those that were able to just stomp it right out, and the nations we assisted in these programs did very well, and I think it's because they had a cohesive plan that integrated the military and civilian communities in order to save lives." She was last the commander of the Air Force Reserve's 22nd Air Force at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Georgia, leading more than 15,000 airmen, 105 unit-equipped aircraft and worldwide operational missions to include the specialized hurricane hunter, fire suppression and aerial spray missions. "Largest mission set is the C-130, so I had the Hs and Js," she said. On Aug. 19, she returned to active duty for the vice chief role. "The nice thing is no one's talking about" my firsts, Harris said. "I hardly will ever talk about 'first' in a role because for me, I view success as seeing other people who look like me around the table. If I'm the person who facilitates making that easier for others to follow on the path, then it's all good," Harris said. "So for me, I've got to do a great job that paves the way for others to follow." -- Oriana Pawlyk can be reached at oriana.pawlyk@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @Oriana0214. Related Video: About 375 Marines and sailors from the amphibious transport dock ship USS Mesa Verde went ashore Monday delivering tons of aid and medical supplies to devastated Haiti, where cholera is spreading in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, U.S. Southern Command said Monday. The Mesa Verde is part of Joint Task Force-Matthew, the relief operation that formed as Hurricane Matthew grew to a Category 4 storm in the Caribbean. As of Monday, the task force had delivered more than 98,000 pounds of relief supplies to hard-hit areas of Haiti, SouthCom said. Haitian authorities have put the death toll from Matthew at more than 300, but an analysis by Reuters said the toll will likely top 1,000. Matthew hit hardest on Haitis southern peninsula, which juts westward into the Caribbean, and the relief efforts thus far are concentrating on the towns of Les Cayes and Jeremie, said Jose Ruiz, a SouthCom spokesman. "Along the southern region, you get most of the devastation," he said. Roads were still flooded and blocked by debris from Matthew, making airlift the only method of reaching some areas, Ruiz said. The amphibious assault ship USS Iwo Jima is en route from Norfolk, Virginia, to join the relief operation. "We expect the Iwo to arrive Oct. 11" to provide more airlift and medical support, Ruiz said. The Iwo Jima has MV-22 Ospreys and 500 members of the 24th Expeditionary Unit aboard. The Mesa Verde has three CH-53E Super Stallion helicopters, one landing craft and 300 members of the 24th MEU aboard. Before leaving Norfolk, the Iwo Jima took on nearly 225 pallets of supplies, including 800 cases of bottled water, to help in the aftermath of one of the largest storms to hit the area in years. "We are prepared and honored to have the opportunity to help out our friends and neighbors in the western hemisphere," said Capt. James Midkiff, commanding officer of the Iwo Jima. Joint Task Force-Matthew has about 12 helicopters operating out of the capital of Port-au-Prince. Nine of those helicopters, including Army CH-47 Chinooks and UH-60 Black Hawks, came from a task force set up by Adm. Kurt Tidd, the SouthCom commander, at the Soto Cano Air Base in Honduras to be on call for disaster relief in the Caribbean, Ruiz said. On Oct. 5, SouthCom established Joint Task Force-Matthew to oversee U.S. military relief efforts in Haiti. The task force was deployed in support of the U.S. Agency for International Development's Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance following a request for U.S. assistance from the Haitian government. Over the last several years, SouthCom has provided disaster assistance to Haiti to help the Caribbean nation in emergencies, such as the massive earthquake in 2010. The relief work has included the construction of emergency operations centers, disaster relief warehouses, fire stations and community centers that double as shelters. The command has also donated search and rescue boats, as well as transport vehicles to Haitian emergency response and civil protection agencies. Relief workers were alarmed by a resurgence of cholera, which has killed an estimated 10,000 Haitians and sickened more than 800,000 since the 2010 earthquake. Officials with Doctors Without Borders said they counted at least 39 cases of cholera in Port-a-Piment, where people have been forced to drink untreated river water because the city's water system was destroyed, USA Today reported. -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. Related Video: Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump broke from his running mate Mike Pence on a proposed strategy for Syria, while his Democratic opponent Hillary Clinton vowed she would not deploy ground troops to the war-torn country. Their comments came during the second presidential debate, a contentious forum that took place Sunday night in St. Louis and was moderated by CNN's Anderson Cooper and ABC News' Martha Raddatz. Trump disagreed with Pence's calls to meet Russian provocations in Syria with "American strength." During last week's vice presidential debate, Pence, the governor of Indiana, said, "if Russia chooses to continue to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime." When asked about the comments, Trump simply said, "He and I haven't spoken, and I disagree." Nearly a half-million people have died during the five-year-old civil war in Syria, according to advocacy groups. Heavy fighting has recently occurred in the northwestern city of Aleppo, where Syrian government forces backed by Russia have launched airstrikes against rebels who oppose the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. While Pence referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the "small and bullying leader of Russia," Trump praised Russia for fighting militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. "Assad is killing ISIS, Russia is killing ISIS, Iran is killing ISIS," Trump said. The Republican presidential candidate also attacked Clinton for supporting the Obama administration's strategy to train and equip rebel groups. "She talks rebels, but she doesn't know who the rebels are," he said. Notably, Clinton said she wouldn't send "ground forces" into Syria, where an estimated 300 U.S. special operations forces are already deployed. "I would not use American ground forces in Syria," she said. "I think that would be a very serious mistake. I do not think U.S. troops should be holding territory." Clinton said she would support the creation of a no-fly zone in Syria. "We need some leverage with the Russians because they're not going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution unless there is leverage over them," she said. President Barack Obama has refused to authorize the establishment of a no-fly zone in Syria, but the idea has support from some Republicans, including Sen. John McCain. The Republican from Arizona and chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee over the weekend joined other Republicans in withdrawing support for Trump after news broke about lewd comments he made in 2005 about women. Clinton also said she would prioritize targeting Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of ISIS, and consider arming Kurdish peshmerga forces in Iraq, where some 5,000 American troops are serving. "I hope that by the time I am president, we will have pushed ISIS out of Iraq," she said. "I do think that there is a good chance that we can take Mosul." When Trump questioned why U.S. officials would openly talk about the planned offensive in Mosul, Raddatz, the moderator, said the reasons could include to wage psychological operations against the enemy or coordinate civilian evacuations. The subject of Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan, 27, who was killed in Iraq in 2004, came up when Clinton, responding to a questioner and self-described Muslim who asked about rising Islamophobia in the U.S., criticized Trump for attacking Khan's parents who spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Trump responded, "First of all, Capt. Khan is an American hero." Trump added that, had he been president rather than George W. Bush, Khan "would be alive today" because he would have never deployed troops to Iraq in 2003. He criticized Clinton for voting in favor of the war. In 2002, when asked by radio host Howard Stern if he was for a U.S. war in Iraq, Trump said, "Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly." No question was asked about the war in Afghanistan, where the U.S. military has been fighting for 15 years. Roughly 9,800 American troops and 6,300 international troops are now serving in the country. The third and final presidential debate is scheduled for 9 p.m. Oct. 19 in Las Vegas. --Brendan McGarry can be reached at brendan.mcgarry@military.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Brendan_McGarry. Lebanon firefighters and paramedics are working with businesses to help them prevent catastrophic fires and protect employees and customers. With the Company Inspection Program, public safety personnel visit stores and restaurants and other businesses, evaluate the fire risk and give advice on how to solve problems. A commercial fire in a city like Lebanon is just devastating, said Lebanon Fire District Life and Safety Division Chief Jason Bolen, in a news release. Not only does a fire affect the business where it occurred, but the neighboring businesses and the local economy feel the effects of that fire for months and sometimes years later, Bolen added. The goal of the Lebanon Fire District is to inspect all 900 commercial occupancies within its border, the news release states. The Company Inspection Program started in April and has slowing been ramping up. Bolen said that the goal of the product is not to seek out fire code violations or issue citations, but to find small, easily correctable code violations that can be easily fixed by firefighters or businesses. Some of those problems include: obstructions blocking exit paths and stairways; exits not being clearly marked; fire doors that are wedged open or do not self-close; the improper use of extension cords and power strips; missing cover plates on outlets and switches; and not having properly inspected and charged fire extinguishers. If a violation is found, firefighters will work with the business to fix it on the spot or provide them with a 30-day period to make the needed corrections, according to the news release. Were here to work with business owners, not against them, Bolen said. We dont ever want to see a business owner lose their livelihood or a customer lose their life because of a fire safety hazard that would have taken 30 seconds to correct, he added. For more information on the Company Inspection Program, or to schedule an inspection, call the Lebanon Fire District at 541-451-1901. Indiana Gov. Mike Pence went on Twitter and a morning show Monday to gloss over running mate Donald Trump's seeming rebuke of him on Syria policy in the second presidential debate. "Congrats to my running mate proud to stand with you," Pence tweeted following Sunday's debate in which Trump gave a one-line dismissal of Pence's proposal for the U.S. to use force to stop the bombing of Aleppo by Russia and the Syrian regime. "I haven't spoken to him [on Syria], and I disagree," Trump said at the debate with Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton at Washington University in St. Louis. On Fox News' "Fox & Friends" program, Pence made no mention of his apparent dispute with Trump and instead lauded what he called Trump's winning performance in the debate against Clinton. "The real story this morning is Donald Trump stepped up and won the debate last night that seemed to be against all odds. He stepped up. He showed humility, he showed strength, he expressed genuine contrition for the words that he had used on the video that became public, and then he moved directly into the choice the American people are facing." Pence dismissed rumors that he might drop out of the race in disgust at Trump's remarks and said he was proud to be on the ticket. The "contrition" reference was to the disclosure last Friday of a 2005 tape from NBC's "Access Hollywood" in which Trump made obscenity-laced comments about women and boasted of his ability to make advances because of his "celebrity" status. Republican leaders and elected officials over the weekend began distancing themselves from Trump and withdrawing their support. While maintaining his support for the Republican ticket, House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Wisconsin Republican, told colleagues Monday that he will no longer campaign for or defend Trump, The Washington Post reported. In a conference call with Republican House members, Ryan said he is "only campaigning for House seats and promoting our agenda," the Post reported. On the Sunday morning talk shows, Trump loyalist and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani had to deny that Trump was thinking of not showing up for the debate and dropping out of the race. Damage control In an effort at damage control Sunday, Trump pointed at former President Bill Clinton's behavior toward women and charged that Hillary Clinton had demeaned her husband's accusers. Trump held a news conference before the debate with three women who claim they were abused by Bill Clinton and a fourth woman who charged that Hillary Clinton, as a defense lawyer, won a plea bargain for a man accused of raping her as a 12-year-old. The four women sat in the front row at the debate. During the debate, Trump said he was "embarrassed" by his "Access Hollywood" remarks and called them "locker room talk." He said he was unsurpassed in his respect for women and did not actually engage in the aggressive behavior that he had boasted about. The 90-minute debate was a town hall event with Trump and Clinton facing questions from uncommitted voters chosen by the Gallup polling organization. The candidates did not shake hands as they were introduced before the questioning began but did as the debate ended. The moderators were Martha Raddatz of ABC News and Anderson Cooper of CNN. Prior to the debate, Raddatz urged the audience with little success to refrain from "booing or cheering of any kind." The debate rules allowed the candidates to walk about the stage to engage more directly with their questioners, but Clinton and Trump spent most of their time engaging heatedly with each other. Both generally ignored the moderators' attempts to limit their responses to allow for more questions. Defense and national security issues were mainly on the backburner as the candidates traded personal insults and jousted over Trump's remarks about women. Questions about Syria Raddatz pressed Trump about Pence's comments on Syria during the vice presidential debate with Clinton's running mate, Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia. Raddatz quoted Pence as saying, "If Russia chooses to continue to be involved in this barbaric attack on civilians in Aleppo, the United States of America should be prepared to use military force to strike military targets of the Assad regime." Trump responded tersely, "I haven't spoken with him and I disagree." During the vice presidential debate, Pence referred to Russian President Vladimir Putin as the "small and bullying leader of Russia," but Trump appeared to welcome Russia's assistance in fighting militants affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS. "Assad is killing ISIS, Russia is killing ISIS, Iran is killing ISIS," Trump said. Clinton stuck to previously announced positions on Syria, saying that as president she would follow the Obama administration's policy against deploying U.S. ground troops in Syria but would break with the administration in pressing for a no-fly zone or a safe zone for refugees. "We need some leverage with the Russians because they're not going to come to the negotiating table for a diplomatic resolution unless there is leverage over them," Clinton said, but she did not specify how such leverage would be achieved. However, "Russia has decided that it's all in" in Syria," she said. "They've also decided who they want to be president of the United States, and it isn't me." U.S. Policy in Iraq The Syria discussion led Trump to criticize Obama administration policy in Iraq, where he said the U.S. has telegraphed the planned offensive on the ISIS stronghold of Mosul. The U.S. has let the enemy know "we will be attacking Mosul. Why can't they do it quietly? Make it a sneak attack. How stupid is our country?" Clinton said, "I hope that by the time I am president, we will have pushed ISIS out of Iraq. I do think that there is a good chance that we can take Mosul." The subject of Army Capt. Humayun S. M. Khan, 27, who was killed in Iraq in 2004, came up when Clinton, responding to a questioner and self-described Muslim who asked about rising Islamophobia in the U.S., criticized Trump for attacking Khan's parents, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention. Trump responded, "First of all, Captain Khan is an American hero," adding that, had he been president rather than George W. Bush, Khan "would be alive today" because he would have never deployed troops to Iraq in 2003. He criticized Clinton, as a senator from New York at the time, for voting in favor of the war. In 2002, when asked by radio host Howard Stern if he was for a U.S. war in Iraq, Trump said, "Yeah, I guess so. I wish the first time it was done correctly." After a debate filled with vitriolic back-and-forth, the final question of the night drew laughter and applause from the audience. The questioner asked both candidates "to name one positive thing that you respect in one another." "I certainly will," Clinton said. "Look, I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. " Trump said, "I consider her statement about my children a very great compliment. I will say this about Hillary -- she doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. She's a fighter. I consider that to be a very good trait." -- Richard Sisk can be reached at Richard.Sisk@Military.com. An Okinawa-based sailor died Monday in what appears to be a diving accident suffered at a popular snorkeling spot on the island. The male sailor, whom officials declined to name during a 24-hour next-of-kin notification period, was assigned to 3rd Medical Battalion, 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, out of Camp Foster, Okinawa, said Marine 2nd Lt. Jacky Chow in a statement. He died at approximately 10 a.m. Monday local time at Mermaid's Grotto, near Cape Manzamo. Chow said the Marine Corps has launched an official investigation into the cause of the sailor's death and would not provide additional details about the incident until the investigation is complete. "The thoughts and prayers of the entire command are with the sailor's family, friends and unit service members," she said. This is the 11th death of a sailor engaged in off-duty or recreational activities within the last year, according to the Naval Safety Center, and the second to happen on the water. In April, Chief Petty Officer Kenneth Gates, assigned to U.S. Special Operations Command, drowned near MacDill Air Force Base in Tampa after diving underwater to free the anchor of his 19-foot fishing boat. -- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at@HopeSeck. ALBANY POLICE Stolen car 11:15 p.m. Saturday, 2000 block 14th Avenue S.E. A gray 2000 Hyundai Elantra was stolen from the parking lot at Heritage Mall. The paint is coming off all over the hood of the vehicle and there is duct tape on the drivers side mirror. The owner left the vehicle unlocked with the keys inside. LINN COUNTY SHERIFF Theft arrest 7:37 p.m. Friday, Linn County Jail. Tina Charlene Holt, 47, of Lebanon, was arrested on a charge of first-degree theft. Her initial bail was set at $6,000, and she was scheduled to appear in Linn County Circuit Court on Monday. Burglary report 11:21 a.m. Saturday, 35600 block Tennessee Road. A burglary occurred at a residence and checks and $600 worth of fine China were stolen. Checks worth $450 and $300 were cashed. Almost burglary 2:22 a.m. Sunday, Brownsville Video & Spirits, 136 Spaulding Ave. A burglar apparently got into the storage area in back of the business, but tripped an alarm while trying to access the main space of the building. Nothing was taken, but the back door was damaged. The debate over Ballot Measure 99, which would use lottery money dedicated to economic development to fund Outdoor School across Oregon, isn't really about Outdoor School. No one disputes the value of Outdoor School, which gets Oregon students out of the classroom for a dose of science-based education while staying for a few nights at a camp. Instead, this debate, like so many others in Oregon, is about funding and priorities: Is this particular chunk of lottery money better spent on economic development or on Outdoor School? We think the measure, despite its good intentions, would end up shortchanging the state's badly needed economic development efforts. We also are leery about claims from measure proponents that expanding Outdoor School opportunities would result in widespread economic development for rural Oregon. The Democrat-Herald recommends a "no" vote on Measure 99. Outdoor School in Oregon dates back to 1957, when Irene Hollenbeck, of the Southern Oregon University School of Education, organized a one-week camp to the Dead Indian Soda Springs for fifth- and sixth-grade students and teachers from Medfords Westside Elementary School. (This background comes courtesy of an extensive evaluation of Measure 99 by the City Club of Portland; the online copy of this editorial includes a copy of the City Club report.) Hollenbecks program was successful enough that a pilot Outdoor School project was launched in the Crook County School District. Since then, hundreds of thousands of Oregon students have participated in a week-long Outdoor School program. But the program never has had consistent state funding. Enter Measure 99, which had its origins with parent groups in Portland that had to raise money so that their local schools could offer Outdoor School programs. Currently, Oregon does not fund a statewide Outdoor School program, but Oregon State University helps school districts by awarding grants, as funding allows, for such efforts. (If the measure passes, OSU would administer the statewide program, so at least the university would enjoy some benefit.) The particular pot of money that Measure 99 targets is generated by Oregon Lottery sales and currently is set aside for economic development efforts. This $22 million makes up about a quarter of the budget for Business Oregon, the states economic development agency. According to Business Oregons annual report, in 2015 the agency created more than 2,200 jobs and helped retain nearly 6,800 more. That may be true, measure backers say, but they point to a study of their own concluding that doubling the number of state students who attend camps each year from 25,000 to 50,000 would create 500 new jobs, all in rural Oregon, to serve the facilities and programs the schools would use. We find that claim dubious, but even if it panned out, we still would not be convinced that this would be a wise investment for Oregon: For starters, Business Oregon has a much broader portfolio of projects that it can invest in and can invest throughout the state, from Oregons urban centers to its remotest locations. And the jobs the agency is helping to create go beyond the type of tourism jobs that expanding Outdoor School would tend to generate; those jobs likely would be part-time and lower-wage. Shortchanging the states efforts to create and build successful businesses to help pay for Outdoor School doesnt strike us as a particularly appealing tradeoff and its one that could, in the long run, hobble our efforts to build a stronger economy. Measure 99 is a feel-good measure that could help to throw a wrench into Oregon's economic recovery. Oregon voters should reject it. (mm) The Yangon Region Government will rebuild Tarmwe bazaar to create a more modern facility for shopkeepers and a more comfortable experience for shoppers, said U Maung Maung Soe, mayor of Yangon Region. Tarmwe bazaar has been a temporary structure for over 22 years since moving from its original location, but it has not been upgraded or changed since, he said. This is why the region government has decided to rebuild the market and we will invite companies to submit via a tender process, he added without giving a specific date. Tarmwe bazaar was established as a temporary market in its current location on at Kyaikkasan Road in Tarmwe township in 1994. Prior to that it was located near the current Tarmwe Plaza, but was forced to make way at the time for the plazas construction. There are currently 443 registered shops in the centre and some 761 street vendor shops. The new building will replace its current temporary structure. About two years ago, the previous government had put the markets rebuild out to tender, said U Maung Maung Soe, but that had failed to materialise because the bidding companies were not up to scratch. In the previous years, when we checked the design of the market by some contractors, we dont like it because their design is so simple, he said. The government was seeking a design that encouraged shopkeepers to move inside the market, he said. We will change the Tarmwe market to be a high-quality building, including car parking, storage places for goods of shopkeepers, and the market building must be easily kept clean, U Maung Maung Soe said. U Thein Myint, MP from Tarmwe township, said the market upgrade would be just one feature of improvements to the area. Illegal street venders and traffic would be easier to control once the new market is constructed, he said. Thats why we as MPs have also been requesting to the regional government to rebuild or upgrade the market, because it is already old and we need a good-quality market for the township, he said. Poor infrastructure, low-quality or unreliable electricity supply, water shortages, inadequate transportation links, and ongoing disagreements with local residents affected by zone development are among the most serious problems developing the countrys industrial sector, experts say. But perhaps the biggest problem, they say, is the lack so far of any overarching government industrial development policy. Parliament should pass laws to promote industry and the SME sector, says U Myint Zaw, vice president of Myanmar Industrial Association. Weve had industrial zones for more than 30 years, but no industrial zone development law, he told The Myanmar Times. To develop industrial zones around the country, we need to enact specific legislation. Despite the designation by governments from time to time of industrial zones, Myanmar still lags behind its ASEAN neighbours, he said. The current government said that when they took office they would develop the industrial sector. The last government said the same thing, U Myint Zaw said. But weve seen no action. Its not just a question of designating a piece of land as an industrial zone. We need legislation. Industrial developers around the country say they face the same challenges: high land prices, electricity supply and loan financing. Hlaing Tharyar industrial zone patron U Myat Thin said the zone was being upgraded as a special pilot project funded by resident companies. The first step would be to address the issue of affected people, he said, which was delaying the project. U Tin Oo, who owns a factory in the zone, said investment into the industrial estate was moving too slowly. Some zones around the country have more empty space than industry, he said. The quality of power supply was proving a huge hindrance, he added. We have electricity, but it is unstable and low-quality, he said. Products are damaged by voltage fluctuations. U Ko Lay, an investor at South Dagon Industrial Zone, said things were in a poor state at his zone. The infrastructure has started to decay, he said. Accidents have occurred in our zone because of faulty wiring. More than 70 percent of Yangons Myaung Dagar zone, which occupies 682 acres (273 hectares), is devoted to storage space or is just empty, said U Min Thu, a manufacturer at Myaung Dagar. And U Thiha Min, owner of a factory in Mandalay, said many of the zones there were occupied by wholesale outlets for electronics, vehicle accessories and clothing instead of factories. In Kayin State, Myawaddy Industrial Zone is home to only three working factories, said its head, U Ye Htun Oo. The zone was established on 201 acres (80ha) in 2013, and 80pc of the land has been sold to local and foreign investors. Taungoo zone, Bago Region, has made no progress in developing because of a lack of infrastructure. Across the board, there needs to be a coordinated policy that looks at the planning of zones collectively, experts say. The government should implement new industrial zones in villages, outside Yangon and Mandalay, said the industrial associations U Myint Zaw. They should set them up in low-density population areas like Tanintharyi Region. That will bring down the Yangon prices, he said, referring to a growing problem of land speculation close to the capital. The new zones, like their counterparts in other ASEAN countries, should benefit from stable and sufficient power and water, transportation, waste disposal, and measures to counter air pollution and protect the environment, he said. The inauguration of the ASEAN Economic Community increases pressure on local manufacturing investors and SME start-ups, as competition in a reduced-tariff market is expected to intensify. Myanmar industries will have to work harder to retain their domestic markets while seeking to penetrate foreign markets, said U Myint Zaw. The government needs a clear industrial policy that specialises in specific sectors, he said. Our industrial sector should focus on a single sector like agricultural products, accessories or clothing, said U Myint Zaw. Theres no focus at the moment. Agriculture is simply not enough to sustain future growth - more focus on industry is needed for job creation, he said. We need to develop a committee for each sector, including industrial zones, education and other business sectors, he said. These committees would comprise industrialists and experts rather than government officials. For its part, the government has announced a push toward a more manufacturing-intensive economy. It is aiming to encourage more foreign and local investment into the sector with the passing of a new investment law and a raft of red-tape cutting initiatives that it hopes will make it easier to do business in Myanmar. The Myanmar Investment Commission has announced that it will try to attract local and international developers by establishing new industrial zones, as well as by upgrading existing zones. MIC will invite new local and international developers to develop new industrial zones and to upgrade the old zones to promote industrialisation and create job opportunities, MIC secretary U Aung Naing Oo said. Local real estate agents in the south-west of Yangon are backing a range infrastructure development projects to boost demand for real estate in outskirts of the city, in areas such as Dala, Kawhmu, Kungyangon, Sikkyi Kanaungto and Twante townships. U Aung Thu, a real estate agent in Dala township, said investors were interested in that area because of improving connectivity with projects like the impending Yangon-Dala bridge. Many speculators are interested in investing on the outskirts of Yangon these days, he said. In the past there was no interest because there wasnt a bridge joining these townships to Yangon. Investors are more interested to buy the land than apartments or housing units, he said. Although the real estate market has cooled, speculators are looking at the land surrounding Yangon. The Dala-Yangon river bridge will be constructed between downtown Yangons Lanmadaw township and Phone Gyi Road in Dala township. Last November the Myanmar and South Korean governments agreed that South Koreas Economic Development Cooperation Fund would issue a US$137.8 million loan over 40 years at 0.01 percent interest to finance the bridge, which is estimated to cost around $168.2 million. Myanmars construction ministry will pay the rest. Work is likely to begin in 2017, U Kyaw Li, permanent secretary at the ministry told The Myanmar Times in August. Meanwhile, agents are hoping that the potential new city development projects an ambitious plan to build seven new cities around the outskirts of Yangon - will eventually come to fruition and lead to increased demand, said U Aung Thu. Uncertainty surrounds the new city development projects, however, as they are currently awaiting further review under the new governments planning, as it assesses project priorities and development value for residents. Other local initiatives such as the World Banks National Community Driven Development project, which provides funding and technical assistance to a number of townships to complete their own infrastructure development, will bring better transportation and infrastructure to many townships, making them appealing investment options, U Aung Thu added. Despite uncertainty surrounding the Southwest New City - one of a number of satellite cities planned as part of the new city development projects - it would benefit Seikkyi Kanaungto and Twante township transportation, he said, while and the World Banks project has infrastructure upgrades planned for Kawhmu and Kungyangon townships. If the Dala-Yangon bridge is then constructed these townships will then be directly connected to downtown Yangon, further improving the transportation links and bringing new job opportunities, said U Aung Thu. The land in these underdeveloped townships has potential for high demand, but the land price has not gone up in line with other areas, he said. Ko Kyaw Naing, a resident real estate agent in Kawhmu township, said that although demand for land in that township was gaining traction. The new roads being built should prompt more interest from land investors, Ko Kyaw Naing added. Now that new roads are being built by the government, transportation is getting better and investors are showing more interest, he said. In the past, it could take one day to get to downtown Yangon because there were no concrete roads. Now its down to three hours and if we get the Dala bridge it will be 30 minutes from Kawhmu township. Kawhmu and neighbouring townships are lacking in job opportunities and the long journey makes downtown commuting difficult, said Ko Kyaw Naing. Still, speculation was one thing, real investment in garment or beverage factories, would be key to improving the area and market sustainability, he added. Given the congestion in central areas of the city, the outskirts of Yangon were certainly a potential area for development, said U Toe Aung, deputy head of Yangon City Development Committees City Planning and Land Administration Department and director of Urban Planning. Although over 1000 people are living in 1 acre in downtown areas, less than 10 people are living in 1 acre on the outlying townships of Yangon, he said. He said he could not confirm, however, the status of the planned new city projects currently under review. Developing the outskirts and creating jobs would help redress the imbalance in population density, and should help reduce traffic problems and unemployment in the developed urban centre of Yangon, he said. Could today mark the end of Donald Trumps run for most powerful job in the world? The second US presidential debate will be held this morning (Myanmar time) only days after the release of a 2005 tape where Trump bragged, in graphic terms, about groping women. Critically, the format of todays debate is a town hall-style forum where the two candidates will field questions from a room full of undecided voters. If the obscene comments from the 2005 tape werent a death knell for Trump, one or more missteps today may very well be. Once again Yangonites will be able to view a delayed feed of the event. Democrats Abroad is hosting a debate watch party at The West Steakhouse in Pearl Condo tonight. And, once again, you dont have to be a Clinton supporter to attend: Yangons Republicans, Bernie Bros, Greens or even Bull Moose Party revivalists are welcome. Organiser Laura Grace said the effects of the recent Trump tape are still unfolding, but the backlash seems to be severe, with high-level Republicans cancelling joint appearances and withdrawing their support. Grace added that the town hall style will test both candidates. Clinton and Trump will be expected to directly address and engage the audience including making eye contact, moving around the stage and respectfully answering questions, she said. This format is considered the most challenging as candidates are judged by body language, demeanor and use of camera angles, as much as their actual responses. Clinton has already been ascendant in the polls after what was regarded as a win in the first debate on September 26. According to a polling aggregate system on the FiveThirtyEight website, she was given a 58 percent chance of winning the election on the eve of the Hofstra University contest. This has since increased to an 81pc chance. The stakes couldnt be higher for Donald Trump, Grace said. [Even before the tape was made public], his poor debate performance in the last debate was followed by a series of damaging events: the leak of old tax returns that imply he hasnt paid federal taxes in decades, his attacks on a former Miss Universe about her weight and his erratic late-night Twitter ranting. With many voters already casting ballots through early or absentee voting, there is very little time left for him to recover. The Teflon Don has been able to survive the unsurviveable in this election cycle before mocking the disabled, a litany of racial slurs, other misogynistic remarks, just to name a few. But will the fallout from #gropegate finally mean its all over? The second debate watch party will be held today from 6:30pm-9pm at The West Steakhouse in Pearl Condo. American citizens will be able to drop off their mail-in ballots and, if they need, access emergency ballots at the event. In a solemn act of commemoration that echoed from down the centuries, more than 80 elderly descendants of Burmas last kings gathered on October 7 to pay homage to their royal forebears. The offering of food to monks in honour of the deceased was the first such act in the 138 years since King Mindon died, in 1878. Mindon is considered one of the countrys most revered monarchs, having spent much of his reign resisting British colonial rule and trying to modernise his kingdom. The ceremony took place in Mandalays Great Golden Royal Palace, for the first time since the end of colonial rule. British authorities had banned the use of the palace for that purpose since the deposition of the last monarch, King Thibaw, said one of the surviving descendants, Ko Ko Myo. After the British left town, military officials remained reluctant to allow public celebrations within the complex. It wasnt until the National League for Democracy took office this year that such a ceremony was approved by government officials. The event brought together great-grandchildren of King Mindon and Crown Prince Kanaung. People think King Thibaws generation has vanished, but his descendants are still with us, though scattered since he was sent into exile. It is just over seven years since they last gathered. The Konbaung-era generation are also gathering. Its very significant that we were allowed to hold the event in the palace. We are here to represent the people, said U Soe Win, 71, a great-grandson of King Thibaw. Lost kingdom: The forgotten royal family Another commemoration is planned for November 22 in the palace to mark the departure of King Thibaw into exile, and the kings death, in Yadanargiri, India, will be commemorated in December, he said. The oldest of King Thibaws descendants, Htaik Su Phyar Gyi (94), Taw Pha Yar and Thamee Taw Gyi (both 93) took part in the commemoration. Labour laws could soon get an overhaul, with rights groups pushing the government to add harsher penalties for inveterate lawbreaking employers, including potential jail time. Labour and Immigration Minister U Thein Swe said last week that his ministry has been discussing amendments with workers, employers and the International Labour Organization (ILO). We are trying to amend the laws and will able to be report on our progress about labour affairs during the ILOs meeting in the coming month, he said on October 6. The Labour Organisation Law and the Labour Dispute Law are the most likely to be amended, he said. A trilateral meeting between the ministry, employers and employees will be held before the final decision regarding amendments is released, said Labour and Immigration Ministry deputy director general U Aung Htay Win. The laws have many weak points and we need better enforcement in the future, he said. Therefore, we will try to make amendments agreed upon by all involved parties, the employers and employees. We are still reviewing and cannot say the exact date when the information about the changes will be released. Workers representatives demanded an amendment that would see employers imprisoned if they habitually fail to follow rules relating to labour disputes. In September 2014 the Labour Dispute Law was amended to include a maximum K1 million fine, which labour unions say is too easy to pay off. The workers allege that they are left with little recourse, despite fuelling a growing industry that provides a sizeable portion of the countrys exports. Several factories have recently been taken to task after flouting arbitration council orders, with labour department officials filing a lawsuit against the company owners. However, members of the Arbitration Council a dispute resolution body created by the Settlement of Labour Dispute Law have told The Myanmar Times that both workers and employers regularly violate provisions of Myanmars labour laws with impunity. The rough draft of the amendments adds a jail penalty to the Labour Dispute Law, said Myanmar Industries, Crafts and Services (MICS) vice chair U Naw Aung. The Labour Organisation draft law allows for unions to form freely. With jail penalties in place, employers will be more incentivised to follow the rules, U Naw Aung said. Labour and Immigration Ministry permanent secretary U Myo Aung claims, however, that the disputes are born from a lack for trust between employers and employees and a lack of clarity in some paragraphs of the their employee contracts. Therefore, he said, it may be that only a few sections of the law will require amendments. Myanmar Garment Manufacturing Association chair U Myint Soe said his association is willing to discuss amendments to some labour laws but he urged the ministry to keep in mind foreign investment when enacting a jail penalty because it could clash with the norms of the International Monetary Fund and the ILO. Things need to be clearer and we need more discussion between employers and employees, he said. Support for a new Red Shan state could complicate government efforts to end ethnic-based armed conflict and to look beyond the 2008 constitution at the possible future shape of the country, analysts believe. The re-emergence of the ethnic group came into focus at the August meeting of the 21st-century Panglong Conference, when Red Shan representatives demanded recognition as a separate ethnic group. The idea was put forward by Sai Htay Aung, chair of the Tai-Leng Nationalities Development Party (TNDP). Sai Htay Aung said that Red Shan had their own culture and deserved their own territory, specifically, three districts in Kachin State and five in Sagaing Region. This brought an angry reaction from ethnic Kachin parties fearful that their already-fragile unity could be undermined by the appearance of yet another claimant for recognition. At a rally on September in Homalin township, which is partly represented in the Sagaing Regional hluttaw by a TNDP MP, about 30,000 people from Kachin State and Sagaing Region demonstrated in favour of a state for the Red Shan. Organiser Sai Naing Kyaw Kyaw promised further such rallies. We support Sai Htay Aungs position, he told The Myanmar Times, confirming that the demonstrators shared the view expressed at the 21st- century Panglong Conference. The TNDP, which was founded in 2012, wants recognition of the name Red Shan and its right to occupy territory. The party boasts its own literature and culture. It is not clear how far that position is shared by another ethnic party, the Shanni and Northern Shan ethnic solidarity party SNSP, formed in May 2015. Since independence, most Red Shan have lived in what is now Kachin State. A 1972 attempt by the ethnic leader Bo Tun Yin to recover territory failed, with most leaders being jailed. Little activity was then seen until the 2014 census, the first attempt for more than 30 years to establish the number and size of Myanmars ethnic groups. TNDP chair Sai Htay Aung said his party had challenged the system of identification codes used in the census. Bo Tun Yin established the size of our population in 1972. It was estimated that the Red Shan comprised 1 million from Sagaing Region, 0.5 million from Kachin State and 0.2 million from Shan State. But we faced many difficulties in the 2014 census, he said. During the period of Union Solidarity and Development Party rule, Red Shan worked with U Thein Seins government at the national and local levels, an effort denounced by ethnic Kachin politicians as building a small house inside a big house. Though the 1947 and 1974 constitutions stipulated the conditions for the formation of an ethnic state, the current 2008 constitution is less precise. It lists seven points, including the existence of a territory, a language, a separate history and a sufficient population. More than 100 former members of the Arakan National Party seem to be on the verge of forming a new political grouping after their expulsion from the ANP. They met on October 8-9 in Kyauktaw township, Rakhine State to discuss the new party, just days after the ANPs October 3-4 convention in Mrauk-U township. The expelled members, from Yangon, Mandalay and Ayeyarwady regions and Chin State, were formerly members of the Arakan League for Democracy, which merged with the larger Rakhine Nationalities Development Party (RNDP) to form the ANP before last Novembers elections. In the best showing of any ethnic party, the ANP took more than half the seats in Rakhine State. Before the merger, the ALD enjoyed closer ties with the now-ruling National League for Democracy. U Myo Kyaw, one of the expelled members and a former senior ALD member, said he and his colleagues discussed the reconstitution of the party, the political situation in Rakhine State and future party plans. We will establish a party separately once all members have been consulted, he told The Myanmar Times, adding that Rakhine State needs the right leadership. He declined to comment on the ANP convention, saying he had seen no statement emanating from it and was not aware of any of its decisions. We intend to schedule the founding of a new ALD party soon, he said. Amyotha Hluttaw MP Daw Htu May (ANP; Rakhine 11), formerly of the ALD, told The Myanmar Times that the ALD could not be considered a new party because it had existed for many years. A separate ALD party could not be considered as new because it was founded in 1990, she said, adding that the problems between the two groups might yet be mediated. Forged two years ago from a merger between the RNDP and the ALD, the ANP has since struggled to maintain cohesion, especially due to the widespread perception that the RNDP acts as the senior partner. In the November 2015 election, the ANP won 22 of the 34 seats in the Rakhine State parliament, the only ethnic party to make much headway against the National League for Democracy juggernaut in the rest of the country. The ANP promptly demanded the right to control the state cabinet appointments, a demand that was ignored as an NLD member, U Nyi Pu, was established as chief minister of Rakhine State. Ko Ye Min Oo, the leader of the Rakhine Student Union, said that despite the 2015 merger of the two parties to fight the election, the two had never quite gelled politically. The conditions [for avoiding a split] were particularly difficult because of the hidden hand of Rakhine State politics. It might be better if the split was total, he said. ANP secretary U Tun Aung Kyaw said the partys central executive committee would arrange next years conference based on the interests of the Rakhine people, the need to maintain political stability and the organisational capacity of the party. I think its necessary to turn out a new generation of the party, he said. The ALD meeting is not our concern because they were expelled. The family of a communications officer who has been detained on what many believe are politically motivated charges accepted an award on his behalf last week. Arakan Liberation Party member U Khin Myo Tun was arrested on July 25 for incitement and defamation under sections 505(b) and (c) of the penal code. He was detained over ties to his partys report alleging the Tatmadaw had committed war crimes, violated the Geneva Convention and forced civilians to porter. The state minister for security and border affairs has said the lawsuit against U Khin Myo Tun could be reconsidered if the party retracts its report. On October 2, U Khine Myo Tuns family was presented US$2000 and 16.3 grams of gold matter in Sittwe for the Rakhine Nationality Ability Prize, awarded by a local association. U Khine Kaung San, who presented the award, praised U Khine Myo Tun for his work as a human rights defender. The courts are powerless so long as the government and the Tatmadaw continue to deny involvement in human rights violations and prosecute human rights activists, he said. The defence counsel for the ALP officer, U Myo Myat Hein, said he was optimistic about the case. Not much has been said so far. We will do our best to defend against the charges, he said. The next hearing is scheduled for today. In an effort to ease military tension in Kachin and northern Shan states, the United Nationalities Federal Council has called on the Tatmadaw to halt offensives in ethnic areas in a statement released by the group. The UNFC, an ethnic bloc made up of seven armed groups including the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) which is currently at odds with the Tatmadaw, seemed to blame the National League for Democracy-led government for its inability to start political dialogue. Although it did not directly name the NLD-led government, it referred to those in power and governments, in successive eras. The UNFC said the Tatmadaw was responsible for aggression against the lands of the ethnic nationalities. If the Tatmadaw does not stop fighting with the armed ethnic groups, the UNFCs statement said, peace will still be far and away. The KIA also released a statement over the weekend blaming the Tatmadaw for the ongoing fighting in the Kachin and northern Shan states. The KIAs statement said that the militarys offensive began on August 16 and is still ongoing, with the Tatmadaw using aircraft against KIA fighters. They claim the first sudden strike came against a battalion in Laiphaung and then the next day in Inkram. Last week, the KIAs Lieutenant Colonel Naw Bu said the Tatmadaws aircrafts attacked a KIA post in Gidon. He did not provide figures on injuries and casualties. However, since the very beginning of the fighting, he said, At least 10 were wounded or killed. The Tatmadaw will have to take responsibility for the negative consequences that arise as a result of the current military offensives, the statement said. Despite military tensions, KIA and members of the UNFC attended the 21st-century Panglong Conference at the end of August. However, the UNFC declined to attend a meeting to review the framework of political dialogues. Last week, tens of thousands protested in streets of Myitkyina calling for the end of military offensives. Organisers of the event are facing charges for allegedly not complying with the agreements set with the police, said Daw Nang Pu, a peace and womens rights activist. The police said that what protesters shouted out during the march was not presented to the police when the organisers asked for permission, she said. After imposing economic sanctions on Myanmar for nearly two decades, the US formally abolished the blacklist on October 7. US President Barack Obama signed an executive order terminating the sanctions, following his pledge to do so made when State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyi visited the White House on September 14. Lifting the remaining sanctions is a testament to the far-reaching changes that Burma has undergone in the past few years, and are intended to support efforts by the civilian government and the people of Burma to continue their process of political reform and broad-based economic growth and prosperity, the US Treasury Department said in a statement. The order also reinstates preferential tariffs for Myanmar that were suspended more than two decades ago due to human rights abuses. Mr Obama stated at the time of Daw Aung San Suu Kyis visit that revoking sanctions would be the right thing to do to ensure that the people of Burma see rewards for a new way of doing business. Mr Obama had most recently renewed the national emergency declaration underpinning the sanctions which defines Myanmar an extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States in May. Over 100 individuals and entities have been scrubbed from the blacklist, including Steven Law and Asia World, which the Obama administration had adopted additional measures against in May. U Tay Za, U Zaw Zaw and Vice President U Myint Swe were all on the now nonexistent specially designated nationals list. Some restrictions remain in place, including an embargo on arms sales and sanctions against 21 individuals and 10 companies related to narcotics kingpin regulations and two individuals for dealings with North Korea. US businesses had lobbied for an end to the sanctions, arguing they damage wider US trade and investment beyond targeted companies and individuals. Human rights groups slammed the decision to fully wipe the blacklist, arguing that it would undermine reform efforts and remove a crucial piece of leverage of the Tatmadaw. As the US ban on imports of jade and rubies is now also up with the termination order, transparency watchdog Global Witness has called for new safeguards to be put in place on the notorious and abusive jade and gems industries so that the sanctions removal does not further line the pockets of Myanmars military elite. Nine Myanmar police officers were killed in coordinated attacks by insurgents on posts along the border with Bangladesh early yesterday, an official and police said. No one has claimed responsibility but a senior local Myanmar official pointed the finger at a militant group from the Muslim Rohingya minority that has been dormant for years. The assaults hit three border posts around 1:30am near Maungdaw township in Rakhine State, simmering with tensions between Buddhists and Muslim Rohingyas, who are forced to live in dire conditions. Altogether nine police were killed, four others were injured and one is still missing, U Tin Maung Swe, a senior official within Rakhines state government, told AFP. He added that eight insurgents were also killed in the attacks. Police in the capital Nay Pyi Taw confirmed the attack and said multiple weapons were seized by the assailants. U Tin Maung Swe said the attackers were RSO insurgents, a reference to a group known as the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation. He did not elaborate on how he knew this. The RSO was a small Rohingya militant group active in the 1980s and 1990s but is not believed to have been active in more recent years. A 2014 report by the Brussels-based International Crisis Group, citing regional security experts consensus, described the RSO as largely defunct, but added that there appear to be efforts under way in the wake of the 2012 violence to rehabilitate the group as an armed organisation. While highlighting obstacles to any successful attempt to revive the RSO, the report added a warning. Even if the RSO is not a credible military threat, the groups very existence could be used as an easy justification for increased discrimination against Muslims in Rakhine State, it said. This is a real risk given Myanmars bitter experience with multiple domestic insurgencies and its abiding sense of insecurity. In May attackers stormed a security post at a camp for Rohingya refugees in southern Bangladesh, just across the border from Maungdaw. A Bangladeshi camp commander was shot dead and the attackers made off with weapons. Police at the time said the Rohingya themselves could be suspects. In recent years Bangladeshi police have also alleged that Rohingya refugees are involved in criminal activities including human trafficking. Any rise in violence in Rakhine will be a major concern for the new civilian-led government of Daw Aung San Suu Kyi. She has asked former UN chief Kofi Annan to head a commission tasked with trying to heal sectarian divisions in the state. The move was largely welcomed by Rohingya community leaders but angered Buddhist nationalists. Meanwhile, uneasy residents in Maungdaw township said they fear for their safety in the wake of the shootings. We are fearful because we heard several shootings since 1:30am. We also heard that weapons have gone missing so it heightens our anxiety, and now the entire town dares not go outside, said Daw Thein Than from Maungdaws Kan Nyin Tan ward. Shops in downtown Maungdaw remained shuttered yesterday and security personnel have sealed off all but one entrance into the town. Rakhine State was wracked in 2012 by violence between Buddhists and Muslims that displaced more than 100,000 people, most of them self-identifying Rohingya. A curfew in Maungdaw district, which has been imposed from 11pm to 4am since the 2012 violence, has been broadened to the hours of 7pm to 6am. According to U Hla Myint, Maungdaw township administrator, section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure has been invoked in Maungdaw and neighbouring Buthidaung townships, outlawing public assemblies. U Hla Myint said the two townships have become increasingly militarised. Naval forces have closed the waterways. The air force has also arrived by helicopters. The army and police force are working together to clear the area, said U Hla Myint. Unlike most of Rakhine State, Maungdaw is a majority-Muslim township. According to an August report from the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), there were 1378 IDPs living in nine camps in the township as of July 1. State-wide, the OCHA report put the number living in IDP camps at just under 120,000. Additional reporting by Yee Ywal Myint, translation by Thiri Min Htun and Zar Zar Soe Reporters and editors from the now defunct Mandalay-based daily newspaper Mandalay Ahlin are seeking nearly K26 million in fees and damages which they believe they are owed. At a press conference in Mandalay on October 7, the 23 disgruntled employees announced that they would take legal action against the papers owners if they did not receive payment soon. We ask for our rights. The owners representative has given us no word on the money we are owed and didnt answer our questions. That is why we are holding this press conference so that they might respond to us, said Ma Thet Su Aung, who was a deputy chief reporter at the paper. We will take legal action against the papers owner if there is no answer shortly after this press conference, she added. The Mandalay Ahlin was launched on February 17, 2015 and at its peak, sold 10,000 copies per day. It was published by The Messenger Media, a company owned by U Zaw Min Aye, son of former Union Election Commission chair U Tin Aye. In July this year, the paper stopped publishing due to financial difficulties caused by low advertising revenue. The compensation amount sought by the newspapers former employees is made up of unpaid fees and salaries, as well as damages for breach of contract. We are only employees asking for our rights. We want [the owners] to deal with the situation. We do not want to take legal action but we will continue to take legal action if the owners representatives will not reply, said editor U Thant Zin Oo. The papers former editor also said that the employees had been told by the owners lawyer not to hold a press conference and that the lawyer did not address the employees claims. The papers editors and reporters said they have submitted complaints to the Myanmar National Human Rights Commission and the Myanmar Press Council in order to resolve or mediate their dispute. They also plan to file a complaint with the Ministry of Information. Our 20-page newspaper ran every day and, apart from medical leave, we didnt even take any off days. We tried our best to run the newspaper and now we just want to solve this problem peacefully, Ko Zaw Naung Lin, another editor at Mandalay Ahlin said during a separate, simultaneous press conference held in Yangon on October 7. He added that the newspapers former staff have been waiting for more than three months for a response from the former owner, and have yet to even receive a confirmation about their request for financial settlement. When approached for comment by The Myanmar Times, the head of administration for the Mandalay Ahlin, U Thein Win, said he had not yet received any instructions on the matter. Additional reporting by Shoon Naing, translation by Win Thaw Tar and Zar Zar Soe Myanmar's police and the Tatmadaw are collaborating to curb money laundering, which they see as a potential source of funding for terrorists, Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Major General Aung Soe said at a Pyithu Hluttaw session last week. The Financial Intelligence Unit, Myanmars state anti-money laundering body, is working to fight money laundering and target anyone who might be funding terrorism, he told parliament on October 6. To cut off the financing and funding to terrorist groups and those who contact terrorist groups, we are scrutinising banks and financial institutions by issuing a prohibiting order, he said. All relevant information is shared with neighbouring countries including ASEAN member states, Maj Gen Aung Soe said, adding that authorities are compiling a blacklist for terrorists as well as a watch list for suspected terrorists and their financiers. A border liaison office with Bangladesh is in the works, he said, and closed circuit television cameras are being installed at airports and throughout Yangon. Security agencies are also sending nearly 400 personnel to 29 anti-terrorism trainings run by foreign countries, Maj Gen Aung Soe said, adding that anti-terror drills being conducted by the government included scenarios ranging from potential hostage situations to bombings and chemical weapons attacks. The agencies are sharing intelligence information with one another and collecting leads through the internet and news outlets, he told parliament. To review terrorist threats in real time, in 2014th National Crisis Emergency Management Center in Nay Pyi Taw connected its online system to state and regional departments with K10 million (US$8000) worth of installed technology. The Union ministers assurances last week came about two months after State Counsellor Daw Aung San Suu Kyis name reportedly appeared on a hit list in Malaysia ostensibly written by a member or sympathiser of the Islamic State. In June, Myanmar was removed from a different list, kept by the inter-governmental Financial Action Task Force (FATF), of countries considered weak in combating money laundering and terrorist financing. Translation by Khine Thazin Han and Thiri Min Htun Thank goodness that the long arm of Malaysian law has stretched out to spank the spandex-clad buttocks of some very silly Australians and ensure that the nations propriety and pride are once again salvaged. Last week the Budgie Nine named after the Australian slang for tight trunks, budgie smugglers hit international headlines after pulling down their pants to revel in Australian driver Daniel Ricciardos Formula One grand prix win last Sunday. They were in nothing but swimmers brazenly emblazoned with the Malaysian flag. There they were in all their young masculine, pale skinned and in one case very flabby glory. Their chants of Aussie, Aussie, Aussie, oi, oi, oi! were only made more resplendent by their quaffing of beer from their footwear an act known as a shoey and in honour of their revered rev-heads trademark podium celebration. Its no surprise that the nine a bunch of well-bred brats from Australias political, social and educational elite found themselves in jail for four days, were charged with a minor offence of public nuisance (but no conviction or fine), and sent packing with their tails well between their legs. Its probably not undeserved, considering the gross insensitivities to one nations customs, culture and sovereignty, as well as the sheer stupidity of their actions. Most importantly, it offers a strong lesson as harsh as dehydration, sleepless nights, and filthy cells with no toilet paper may seem. And while most Malaysians probably saw the whole thing as a joke in poor taste, propaganda portal The New Straits Timessaid that the nine Australians had mocked Malaysias sensitivities and undermined the nations flag. That is only one facet of the offence, read the papers editorial. The other is the obscenity of stripping down to their briefs in public. Such abhorrent conduct is unforgivable. Even the nine admit the act was dumb. When appearing in court on October 6, they offered an apology, adding that they had no idea that their conduct would be considered inappropriate, crass or even offensive. The incident, they said in a statement, was a moment of folly, and for that we are truly sorry that we have hurt the feelings of Malaysians in general. Earlier in the week the prosecution had considered pursuing the more serious charge of intentional insult, which carries a minimum penalty of a fine and a maximum two-year jail term. The lesser charge of insulting Malaysias national flag, with a maximum term of six months jail, was also deliberated. No wonder one of them fainted during their court appearance. Serious jail time was always unlikely. Although deputy home minister Nur Jalan Mohamed said that what the young men did had a political motive and their display was no prank, even The New Straits Times a good barometer of high-level government views called for the nine to be deported but not charged. So on October 7, the Budgie Nine were set free of their cages, with eight flying home into the eye of a media storm. The ninth headed home the next day. Good taste, cultural sensitivities and the indelible rights of sovereign states win again. But most importantly, all law-abiding and law-loving citizens of Malaysia must be sighing in relief; for this case clearly shows that their countrys rule of law still has a beating heart and hasnt been killed off just yet. In todays Malaysia, rule of law isnt so assured. This is particularly so in the face of alleged interference into 1MDB investigations by PM Najib Razak. As far back as July 2015, a commentator noted that in the face of Malaysias unfolding financial scandal, and the legal systems handling of it, the law in Malaysia was an ass. Malaysians, he argued, should stand up and demand the justice their laws and judiciary will never deliver in their current incarnation. So its wonderful to see, that when it comes to ass and flags on Aussie bums you can fight the law, but in Malaysia, the law won. New Mandala James Giggacher is an associate lecturer in the ANU Coral Bell School of Asia Pacific Affairs and editor of New Mandala, a specialist website on Southeast Asias politics and societies. Oscar-winning Polish film director Andrzej Wajda has died aged 90, the Polish Filmmakers Association has confirmed. He made more than 40 feature films in a career spanning 60 years. Many of his films including Kanal, Man of Marble, Man of Iron and Katyn were inspired by Polands turbulent wartime and communist history. In 2000, Wajda was awarded an honorary Oscar for his contribution to world cinema. Be alert to everything Wajda had been recently taken to hospital. Unconfirmed reports say he died of lung failure. Wajdas last film Powidoki (Afterimage) tells the life story of the avant-garde painter Wladyslaw Strzeminski, who suffered under the post-war Stalinist government in Poland. The director said he wanted to warn against state intervention in art. The film was recently chosen as Polands official entry for the best foreign language film at the 2017 Oscars. Four of Wajdas earlier works had been nominated for that category. Man of Iron won the Palme dOr at the Cannes Film Festival in 1981. Wajda once said that the good Lord gave the director two eyes one to look into the camera, the other to be alert to everything that is going on around him. Wajda was born in 1926 in the north-eastern Polish town of Suwalki. His father was among the victims of the Katyn massacre of Polish army officers by the Soviet Union in 1940. Wajda tried to follow in his fathers footsteps, but was rejected by a military academy, and joined the Polish resistance in World War Two. During World War Two, Wajda joined the Polish resistance. He later studied to be a painter, before entering the Lodz Film School. In 1955, he made his feature film debut with Generation, set during the German occupation of Warsaw in World War Two. It was followed by Kanal, and Ashes and Diamonds, which form a trilogy about life in wartime Poland. Some of his films found disfavour with the communist rulers of Poland because of their trenchant portraits of the wartime Warsaw Uprising and the suppression of the Solidarity movement in the 1980s. It was only after the fall of communism in 1989 that he was able to make his film about Katyn. I never thought I would live to see the moment when Poland would be a free country, Wajda said in a 2007 interview with the Associated Press. I thought I would die in that system. It was so surprising and so extraordinary that I lived to see freedom. Following Polands first free elections in 1990, he served for two years as a senator in the upper house of parliament. Ama K Abebrese is a top award-winning actress, television presenter and producer. She is an illustrious daughter of Ghana who has decided to join the campaign. #All4Peace #Anas4Peace #Ama4Peace Its very simple to be a part of this campaign. Take a picture and visit http://www.facebook.com/anas4peace for your template. Your campaign picture would be published. Goma (DR Congo) (AFP) - At least 10 people were killed in clashes between the army and suspected Ugandan rebels in east DR Congo, a local activist said Monday, in an area that has suffered a string of massacres since 2014. The rebels of the Allied Democratic Forces, a partly Islamist armed group of Ugandan origin, are accused of a litany of human rights abuses and of being involved with kidnappings and smuggling. "Suspected ADF attacked Beni from the north overnight... Eight civilians were shot dead, a soldier was killed and a suspected ADF militant was also killed," the local civil society leader, Gilbert Kambale, told AFP. "The armed forces of the DRC intercepted the ADF and in the exchanges of fire civilians and soldiers were killed," said the army's spokesman in the region Mak Hazukay by telephone. "Workers from Beni town hall are currently transferring the bodies of the suspected ADF (member) and eight other bodies to a large vehicle," Rossy Mupenda, a motorcycle taxi driver who was assisting with the operation, told AFP. The attack led residents of the area to flee to the centre of the town. Some angry locals stoned vehicles of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo, the largest of its kind in the world, spokesman Felix Prosper Basse said. On Friday, US-based rights group Human Rights Watch criticised Kinshasa for failing to protect the people of the Beni region and called on authorities to develop "a new strategy to protect civilians" in the area. In March, a report by the Congo Research Group at New York University claimed that soldiers from the regular army had also participated in some of the killings. Human rights violations Various rebel groups operate in the region around the town of Beni, an area plagued by violence fuelled by ethnic rivalry and disputes over the right to exploit local mining and forest resources. The area has witnessed a series of mass killings that have claimed more than 700 lives since 2014. The gruesome August slaying of 51 people in the town of Beni touched off mass street protests against the DR Congo government for failing to protect the population from the armed rebel groups that plague the region. The United States has warned of the threat of more violence in the vast mineral-rich nation of 70 million people The violence in the east adds to existing tension in DR Congo, where fears are mounting that President Joseph Kabila plans to hold on to power after his second mandate expires in December. A wave of deadly clashes pitting police against demonstrators hit the country in late September, as the opposition demanded Kabila's resignation. The US Treasury subsequently placed two of Kabila's top allies on its sanctions blacklist, tying both to rising political violence and human rights violations. The United States has warned of the threat of more violence in the vast mineral-rich nation of 70 million people. Johannesburg (AFP) - South African student protesters and police clashed in renewed violence in Johannesburg on Monday as attempts to re-open the top-tier Wits University descended into running battles on campus. Protesters throwing rocks were dispersed by riot police using tear gas, rubber bullets and stun grenades as pressure ratchets up on campuses across the country over tuition fees. Unrest has erupted repeatedly at South African universities in recent months, with Wits and other institutions forced to close temporarily over the last three weeks. "The students started throwing sizeable rocks that could have maimed or killed people," Wits said in a statement after trying to re-open Monday. "Police dispersed the crowd using stun grenades, tear gas and water cannons. Two arrests were made this morning and some minor injuries have been reported." A South African policeman unsuccesfully tries to apprehend a student from the University of Witwatersrand during clashes in Johannesburg, on October 10, 2016 The violence, which also involved campus security guards, focused outside Wits' Great Hall auditorium, the scene of several recent clashes, and later spread into the city streets outside. Student leaders said they had warned authorities that resuming lectures on Monday would result in another bout of clashes. "We pleaded with the council of the university in the early hours of this morning to close down the academic programme and call off the police," Wits student representative Fasiha Hassan told ENCA news. "If they had called off police, we wouldn't be in this situation. There was no need for them to open fire." Other universities hit University tuition fees -- which are set to be increased -- have become a flashpoint for protests in South Africa, which has struggled to provide education, jobs and housing for many poor black people since the end of apartheid in 1994. The government has vowed to help all students from poorer families over the fees, but the protesters are demanding free education. Masked students enter a building at Witwatersrand University in Johannesburg, on October 10, 2016 "Essentially what they are saying is if there is no free education, there should be no education at all," Wits rector Adam Habib said last week, adding that the whole 2016 academic year could be lost. University authorities say many students want to return to class and that the protests do not represent the majority of undergraduates. President Jacob Zuma has said he supports introducing free education, but has condemned protesters who forced universities to shut down or who vandalised campuses. On Monday, demonstrations were also reported on campuses in Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Pietermaritzburg. National police chief Khomotso Phahlane told reporters that officers had acted with restraint. "It is extremely concerning that criminality has taken place at some universities, leaving the police with no choice but to respond with a degree of force in order to stabilise the situation," he said. "Protesting students have disrupted classes and traffic and pelted police with stones, flooded premises with water from fire hoses and discharged fire extinguishers and overturned vehicles." Universities in Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban have also been hit by protests and closures. Last year, students -- many of them so-called "born frees" who grew up after apartheid -- staged a series of huge demonstrations which forced the government to abandon planned fee hikes for 2016. By Dr. Michael J.K. Bokor Sunday, Oct. 9, 2016 Folks, we already know how the NPP is going about its electioneering campaigns for Election 2016, using everything it comes across to highlight its desperate search for power. Interestingly, there is a lot happening to give us some comic relief. Talk about the carnival atmosphere in which it operated only to lose Elections 2008 and 2012. The "kangaroo dance" didn't yield the votes to put Akufo-Addo in power. For Election 2012, we have a number of comedians on board (Agya Koo, etc.) to provide that kick. And we are enjoying the renditions. We are already conversant with the "Concert Party" that the NPP has reduced itself to. Now that emphasis has been shifted from political mobilization through rallies and face-to-face interactions to the Kalyppo humdrum and limited social media outbursts against the NDC that the vast majority of voters dont see or care about, what else? The comedy is in full gear. Bring in Akufo-Addos claim that he is the David at Election 2016 to defeat the Goliath of a President Mahama. A dry reference to Jewish/Israeli sentiment for no purpose in Ghanaian politics. We know all that history, reading the Bible; but what has that knowledge given us to do for the good of Ghana? And Akufo-Addo is quick to base everything on money, which he claims the NDC has but he lacks. How can Akufo-Addo complain about paucity when he inherited a well-endowed NPP? When those funding the NPP before Kufuor left the scene had committed so much for the partys cause? When financial transactions with dubious sources eroded confidence in an Akufo-Addo-led NPP system? (Is any of those complaining wondering why contributions from known sources has dwindled? At least, the NPP MPs have refused to contribute their quota because they hate how their money is being used). How will Akufo-Addo do so, when indeed he is far older than President Mahama as far as age is concerned, and has boasted of his long years in Ghanaian politics than President Mahama can ever do? In Biblical terms, David was a lad with no experience who was humble enough to be guided and resourced by the Supreme being to defeat the Philistinian cause of intimidation, treachery, and devastation. Foolishly transposing the David-Goliath encounter on the Ghanaian situation hurts Akufo-Addo than redounds to his political standing. The anxious moments are with us now. I have just come across this material published by Ghanaweb; and I am deeply concerned. Here it is: http://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/American-lady-campaigns-for-Nana-Akufo-Addo-476056?video=1 Folks, what impunity of this so-called "American woman" could make her go this way, even to the extent of saying that she doesn't like President Mahama because he is corrupt? We are talking about a foreigner who has admitted herself that she is not married to any Ghanaian, but is bold enough to campaign for Akufo-Addo!! If this is not lawlessness of the highest order, what else could be? How can we sit down in our country to tolerate such an affront from a foreigner? It doesn't happen anywhere in the world. So, why are we Ghanaians allowing this foreigner to insult our system this way? And Akufo-Addo and his NPP machine are happy with that? If they are not, what is their reaction? Endorsing an illegality just for the sake of votes? And what is the guarantee that what she is doing will fetch votes for Akufo-Addo? How about President Mahama and the state machinery? Have they seen this video recording? Why no reaction? Do our laws allow foreigners to do what this so-called "American lady" has done? Why hasn't she been taken to task by now? Are we so cheap in Ghana? Will the United States allow anything of the sort? NEVER!! Folks, there is need for action here. Otherwise, we are doomed!! I shall return Alhaji Abdul Rauf Tanko 10.10.2016 LISTEN Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko is a visionary leader of our time who made a pact with the good people of mamprugu moaduri district to deliver in a manner that will change lives and transform mamprugu moaduri district. This passionate and dedicated gentleman has been delivering on this with a sense of urgency. The people of mamprugu moaduri district will testify to the incontrovertible fact that sterling results have been achieved by Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko while strenuous efforts are being made to bring more development to mamprugu moaduri district. For the fact that education remains the surest path to victory over ignorance, poverty and inequality, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko and the government of Ghana have invested greatly on education within mamprugu moaduri district. Unlike previous years where children from mamprugu moaduri district used to travel to different places for education. This is now a thing of the past. In fact educational facilities where limited in mamprugu moaduri making it very difficult for pupils to access education which compelled many to move to other places for education. This was really a serious headache to every individual in mamprugu moaduri but through the tireless efforts of Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko much has been done on education. Significant progress has been made on education through the bold initiatives of Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko. Virtually,almost every community in mamprugu moaduri district has got school. It is through the able leadership of Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko that Yagaba Snr high school was established and the first of it's kind in the history of mamprugu moaduri.This particular achievement to the people of mamprugu moaduri district will be stenciled on the mental sheets of every succeeding generation to always remember the stewardship of Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko and his indelible achievements. Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko purchased a school bus to be donated to the secondary school but unfortunately the bus had accident on it's way to Yagaba. Despite the bus involving in an accident this dedicated gentleman never relented in getting the only secondary school in mamprugu moaduri district a school bus. He finally negotiated with the government for the recent school bus donated by the government of Ghana. Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko through his negotiations with the government of the republic of Ghana has eliminated schools under trees within mamprugu moaduri district. Now children in that part of the country easily access education. A number of teachers bungalows,and sanitation blocks been constructed through the efforts of Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko for teachers comfortable stay and also to avoid open defication respectively. Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko in his endeavour to provide better education for the children of mamprugu moaduri district donated 700 dual desk's to the schools in mamprugu moaduri district for students to sit in an atmosphere conducive for learning without any stress. Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko also complement the efforts of government of recruiting teachers to schools in mamprugu moaduri district where their services are needed. Licha and Kusobi are the current beneficiary communities of this special package by the member of Parliament for YAGABA-KUBORI constituency hopefully come 7th December, 2016. This hardworking and dedicated gentleman has supported hundreds of students to pay their school fees. Students in second cycle and tertiary institutions are mostly the beneficiaries of this package designed to reduced parental burden on their wards education. Last year Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko supported financially 184 private candidates for their registration and each candidate took 200 GH.cedis. Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko also made some of his executives to tour all the Snr high schools within mamprugu and beyond and wished all the 477 final year students who hails from mamprugu moaduri district good luck and again paid for their transportation home after their examination. Again, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko repeated his kind gesture to the B.E.C.E candidates in mamprugu moaduri district recently. He supported 435 candidates who sat for the basic education certificate examination (B.E.C.E) with an amount of 8700gh.cedis for their upkeep during their stay and again bussed them to their various communities after the exams. My dear comrades, based on the track records of the member of Parliament hopefully for YAGABA-KUBORI constituency, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko indelible achievements on education within mamprugu moaduri district and beyond, we testify to the incontrovertible fact that he has really done what Napoleon could not do. Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko has no equal in mamprugu moaduri district in every sector of development. To be continued.... #Victory for Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul Rauf Tanko #Victory for JM #jm Zang-tugi Abdul Majeed Ali (founding member and interim executive of students network for JM and PC's in mamprugu) Tel:+233244671304 e-mail:[email protected] National President of Tijjaniya Muslims of Ghana, Shaikh Zaeem Abdul Wadud Harun 10.10.2016 LISTEN The National President of Tijjaniya Muslims of Ghana, Shaikh Zaeem Abdul Wadud Harun, has appealed to Ghanaians to shun what he calls "political extremism", as the nation prepares for general elections in December this year. In the words of Zaeem Abdul Wadud, multiparty democracy is a healthy game of diverse ideas whose collective goal is the comfort of the nation. "Therfore, these elections should be regarded as another opportunity for us to reaffirm our commitment to democratic pluralism and national stability", he emphasizes. The appeal of the National Tijjaniya leader is contained in a statement issued at Kintampo in the Brong Ahafo region, where members of the Tijjaniya Sufi Order have converged for a general meeting to discuss issues of spiritual, national, and global interests. Zaeem Abdul Wadud advises politicians to pursue their trade in the context of unity in diversity for national prosperity. This, he says, would help sanitize the political environment, promote national integration, and enhance good governance. In the opinion of Shaikh Abdul Wadud, politicians are not only leaders but also servants of God. Indeed, they hold political power in trust of the masses and stand to be accountable to the Supreme Lord. They must, therefore, uphold the values of transparency, honesty, and equity to pass the Divine Test on the day of accountability, he substantiates. Commenting on the significance of elections in democratic politics, the Grand Scholar describes them as means by which various political parties secure the mandate of the citizens to serve God and humanity. He states that elections are opportunities of diversity not sources of animosity; they must be conducted in the supreme interest of the people and with absolute love for the country. On youth, Zaeem Abdul Wadud expresses concern about their involvement in political violence. He observes that the youth are the best beneficiaries of stability and the worst victims of anarchy. The National President of Tijjaniya Muslims in Ghana calls on the youth to resist any effort by any individual or institution to use them as firewood for political inferno. Zaeem Abdul Wadud identifies the media as a powerful tool for consolidation of constitutional order. However, he states, when mishandled, the same media could constitute a weapon of destruction against democratic dispensation. For this reason, the Tijjaniya Leader advises media practitioners to allow patriotism to rule their performance. Your ideation, your diction, your presentation, must all be constructive and promotive of peace, love, unity, and development of Ghana, he appeals to media professionals. The Association of State Attorneys is threatening a nationwide strike over governments failure to meet their demands for improved conditions of service. The Association has chastised the Ministry of Finance, the Justice and Attorney General's Department and the Fair Wages and Salary Commission for failing to implement some directives of the National Labour Commission for their improved conditions of service which includes the provision of vehicles, harmonized salaries, sustainable pension schemes and logistical support. A letter written by the association to the NLC lamented that even though the Association has forwarded the SSNIT numbers of all its members to the legal service board as directed, till date no pension scheme has been put in place for state attorneys who were on the old CAP 30. The Association further noted that it has submitted proposed comprehensive conditions of service to the legal service board which is chaired by the Minister for Justice and Attorney General but it is quite disheartening that over one year after the award was published no proper conditions of service have been implemented for State Attorneys. The Association of State Attorneys is taking a very serious view about the refusal of the respondent herein to comply with NLC's compulsory arbitration award which is binding on all parties to the dispute even after one year of the publication of same, the letter added. Below are the reliefs being sought by State Attorneys: Payments of correct harmonized salaries to state attorneys. Sustainable pension scheme Free official vehicles Research allowance Housing facilities or allowance Free healthcare Payment of outstanding leap, clothing and fuel Payment of outstanding promotion salary arrears Logistic support, machinery, equipment and tools And illegal revision of conditions of service for state attorneys We are by this letter giving notice of our intention to resort to legal strike in 7 days if our demands are not met, the letter added. State Attorneys call off strike State attorneys embarked on a strike about three months ago over the same issues. It later called off the strike to enable them go through the arbitration process. State attorneys ditching gov't for better paying jobs The Director of Public Prosecution, Yvonne Attakora Obuobisa had earlier complained that experienced state lawyers had abandoned the service for better paying jobs. She noted that currently, Accra has only 36 prosecuting attorneys, adding that the situation is worse in the regional offices. People will come, gain the experience and go to better paying jobs, that affects the numbers that we have and the volume of work. We have so much work to dosometimes you could have a docket sent to us which could be with a particular attorney for about three weeks or a month, not because that Attorney does not want to pay attention to the docket but that attorney has for instance 60 other dockets to work on, she added. By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin The trending and sensational news thus far has been the Joy FMs Online news print about the United Kingdoms pragmatic decision to stop funding President Mahama and his governments projects and programs (See: UK joins European Union to cut aid to Ghana; myjoyonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 07/10/2016). The UK High Commissioner to Ghana Jon Benjamin tells JOYBUSINESS the decision was mainly due to Ghanas new status as a Low Middle-Income country. Really? If that was the case, since when has Ghana been enjoying the Low Middle-Income status? In fact, if my memory serves me right, it was former President Kufuor who moved Ghana from HIPC (the Highly Indebted Poor Country) to a Low Middle-Income status. "President Mahama has said himself in New York that what African countries need is not more aid but trade because ultimately, it is the trade that creates the jobs and the spaces," the British High Commissioner explained. There you go. I thought as much. It was rather President Mahama who requested his Western counterparts to cease forwarding any aid to Ghana during the 71st UN General Assembly in New York. The disclosure is coming after a similar move by the European Union where its head of delegation, William Hannah told JOYBUSINESS that the Union now wants to focus on more sector-specific programs. We cant fault the United Kingdom and European Union for demitting their aid commitments to President Mahama and his government. For, he has gotten what he had wished for. I, for one, buried my head in shame when President Mahama goofed terribly over his recent UN speech on democracy (See: Full Text of President Mahamas UN Speech-cityfmonline.com/ghanaweb.com, 21/09/2016). Read excerpts of President Mahamas pleonasm: Democracy is not a one size fits all system. Different countries are at different stages of the democratic journey. Democracy evolves and cannot be forced. It doesn't help for bigger powers to go proselytizing democracy. It can have its negative consequences as we are experiencing in parts of North Africa and the Middle East. But still a properly functioning peer system can avoid some of the melt downs we are experiencing in some African countries due to the desire to remain in office interminably. Human progress is not a seamless movement forward. It encompasses periods of reversal, mistakes, fumbling and falling. All parts of the world have been through this, learnt from their mistakes, picked themselves up after a fall and continued moving. Africa must be allowed the same latitude. Indeed, such prolixity was embarrassing and somehow made nonsense of Ghanas Non-Alignment Movement membership. President Mahamas democratic governance speech came after the recent United Nations resolutions 19/36 and 28/14 on Human rights, democracy and the rule of law (UN 2016). In 2011, for instance, the UNDP assisted more than 130 countries and devoted US$1.5 billion in resources to democratic governance, making UNDP the world's largest provider of democratic governance assistance. UNDP supports one in three parliaments in the developing world and an election every two weeks (UN 2016). In 2014, UNDP programme strengthened electoral processes around the world and helped register 18 million new voters. UNDP also works to foster partnerships and share ways to promote participation, accountability and effectiveness at all levels, aiming to build effective and capable states that are accountable and transparent, inclusive and responsive from elections to participation of women and the poor (UN 2016). In March 2012, the Human Rights Council adopted a resolution titled Human rights, democracy and the rule of law, which reaffirmed that democracy, development and respect for all human rights and fundamental freedoms were interdependent and mutually reinforcing. The Council however reminded States to make continuous efforts to strengthen the rule of law and promote democracy through a wide range of measures. In furtherance to this resolution, OHCHR, in consultation with States, national human rights institutions, civil society, relevant intergovernmental bodies and international organizations, published a study on challenges, lessons learned and best practices in securing democracy and the rule of law from a human rights perspective. Based on the study, in June 2013 OHCHR organised a panel discussion on these issues, with the participation of international experts. Besides, in March 2015, the Human Rights Council adopted resolution 28/14, which established a forum on human rights, democracy and the rule of law, to provide a platform for promoting dialogue and cooperation on issues pertaining to these areas. OHCHR also works to underline the close relationship between human rights and democracy within the United Nations system. It must also be noted that the idea of development through equity and justice was captured in the United Nations Charter (UN 1945). More importantly, some sections of the preamble to the Charter place emphasis on the promotion of social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom. The preamble again stresses on the application of international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social development of all peoples (UN 1945). Thus, Article (55) of the Charter addresses the need to promote higher standards of living, full employment, and conditions of economic and social progress and development, with a view to fostering stability and well-being (UN 1945). Furthermore, the right to development is detailed in articles (22-28) of the universal declaration of human rights (UN1948), and both articles (1) of the two international covenants- civil and political rights and economic, social and cultural rights (UN 1966). The 1968 Tehran world conference further emphasises the need for the right to development (UN 1968). Article (12) of the 1968 Tehran Proclamation for instance, stresses on the gargantuan chasm between the developed and the developing countries, which makes it impossible to realise human rights in the international arena. Thus Article (13) of Tehran Proclamation stresses that since human rights and fundamental freedoms are indivisible, the full realization of civil and political rights without the enjoyment of economic, social and cultural rights is impossible (UN 1968). Whats more, the Tehran proclamation acknowledges that the realisation of civil and political rights may not be feasible without the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. Indeed, such assertion reinforces the indivisibility and interdependence of human rights and democracy. In other words, per the right to development, development is shifting from the conventional approach to human rights approach whereby the focus is on equity and social justice (Mansell and Scot 1994). It was against that background that the international community agreed to work synergistically to assist the underdeveloped nations in line with the provisions of the UN Declaration of the Right to Development. Thus far there have been concerted efforts by the international community to concretise the Right to Development by implementing the eight Millennium Development Goals with a view to developing a global partnership for development (Alston 2005). Apparently, the MDGS came to an end at the end of 2015 and replaced with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Under the Sustainable Development Goals, every country would be obliged to meet the targets set therein (UN 2015). It is against the preceding global project that every patriot and proponent of democratic governance and human rights must be extremely worried over President Mahamas unmeasured speech at the UN 71st General Assembly in New York. K. Badu, UK. *Please visit my blog at: www.alljoycom.wordpress.com References: Alston, P. (2005), Ships Passing in the Night: The Current State of the Human Rights and Development Debate Seen through the Lens of the Millennium Development Goals Mansell, W. and Scot, J. (1994), Why Bother about a Right to Development? United Nations (1945), The Charter of United Nations (Online) Available: www.un.org United Nations (1948), The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Online) Available: www.un.org United Nations (1966), The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Online) Available: www.un.org United Nations (1966), The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (Online) Available: www.un.org United Nations (1968), The Tehran Proclamation (Online) Available: www.un.org United Nations (1986), The Declaration on the Right to Development (Online) Available: www.un.org United Nations (2015), The Sustainable Development Goals (Online) Available: www.sustainabledevelopment.un.org You can't blame anyone else, , no one but yourself. You have to make your own choices and live every agonizing day with consequences of those choices Max Brooks. I'm a Muslim, and a very staunch one at that. I believe in the oneness of Allah and His omniscience. I also believe in qadr (destiny) as an article of faith in Islam. But I'm not foolish to believe that everything that happens in one's life had been pre-ordained. Yes, you heard right! It isn't everything that happens in one's life that has been predetermined. Some, if not most, of the things that happen to us on this earth are as a result of the choices we make. Good choices produce good results and the reverse is also very true. You see, there comes a time in a man's life when he is faced with the difficulty of choosing among many alternatives. Whatever choice he makes has its advantages and disadvantages. In making his choice, he should be prepared to live with the consequences of his action. Blessed, therefore, is he who makes a good choice; and misery becomes the lot of he who makes a wrong choice. There is this beautiful damsel who had the onerous duty of choosing between two handsome men. One is sweet-tongued. He promised her heaven on earth, claiming he was as pious as 'Yesu Kristo' himself. He also pledged to shower love on her to prove he cared for her. His mantra anytime he visited the beautiful damsel was 'I care for you'. He subsequently came out with the e dey be keke mantra. Being very honest, the other gentleman tried as much as possible to paint a very true picture for her. He told her life was not a bed of roses so she should not allow herself to be fooled by the sweet words being whispered into her ears. He however promised to do everything in his power to make life comfortable for her. Oblivious of the fact that the first bloke was only singing the tune she wanted to hear, the beautiful lady did not even ponder over it before making her choice. The sweet promises hoodwinked her into choosing the sweet-tongue chap over the honest bloke. The two love birds hugged and kissed as the loser walked miserably back home to lick his wounds. Almost eight years on and the beautiful damsel is yet to see any of the goodies promised her. The sweet promises have all turned into bitter realities. Indeed, the man who promised her heaven on earth has now made life a living hell for her; and the once beautiful lady who was the cynosure of all eyes is now a pale shadow of herself. On the other hand, the man looks fresh and is always neatly and flamboyantly dressed. He spends lavishly on his numerous girlfriends at the detriment of his wedded wife. Interestingly, whenever the wife complains of the deplorable situation in which she finds herself, the loafer of a husband shamelessly responds that even the Bearded Old Man above knows he is trying. She should therefore accept the situation because it is destiny that has brought them together. Destiny? I can't think far oo! Is it not obvious that the lady is only reaping the consequences of the bad choices she made since 2008? Abusuapanin, I know this puzzle would not be difficult to decipher. The hardship my compatriots and I have had to endure since January 2009 is enough for us to accept that we made a very grave mistake in choosing the Zu-za in 2008 and 2012 polls. For sure, the Bearded Old Man above did not choose incompetent Agya Atta for us; neither did He choose the very corrupt Mr Ogwanfunu to lead us. We did the choosing ourselves and the result is the unending hardship weve been compelled to endure. Our will, and not God, chose a president whose greed led him to inflate the cost of Embraer jets. Our love for sweet mantras like e dey be keke made us choose a president who would go to any length to protect his corrupt appointees. Ask Gilbert Iddi of SADA fame and Hon. Chooboi Ankrah of Brazil fiasco fame, if you doubt me! While I entreat my compatriots to be steadfast in savouring the tasteless e dey be keke dish being served us by the corrupt and incompetent Ogwanfunu government, it's my conviction that we shall not repeat the mistakes of 2008 and 2012. Yes, the Bearded Old Man above does ordain leaders. But a foolish choice by an uninformed electorate may alter the tide of destiny. See you next week for another interesting konkonsa, Deo volente! Snippets of information reaching DAILY GUIDE indicates that with the intervention of the Northern Regional campaign team of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) led by Alhaji Muniru Limuna, the Nissan pickup van reportedly seized by a group believed to be affiliated to the governing party called Aluta Boys, has been released to the party. The vehicle bears registration number GN 3625-14, and belongs to the Tamale Central Constituency Chairman of the party. The angry Aluta Boys allegedly seized the vehicle, claiming that the Minister for Roads and Highways, Inusah Fuseini, had purportedly paid the self-acclaimed dancehall King Shatta Wale, a whopping GH150,000 to perform at his campaign launch in Tamale, the Northern Regional capital. The minister has however, denied paying for the performance of the musician, saying that Shatta Wale's service was hired by his friends. The aggrieved NDC activists stated that they had been working for the minister for years but had not benefitted anything from him, only to hear that he had paid such an amount of money to a musician to perform for just some hours. The NDC vigilante group revealed that the minister contracted them to build some gutters in the metropolis and had since not paid them for the job done. Efforts by some party officials to cool down tempers of members of the group proved futile as they demanded that the minister pay them before they would release the vehicle to him. Some few days ago the group clashed with some stoutly-built men who reportedly invaded where the vehicle was parked to forcibly take it away when the Aluta Boys purportedly tried to prevent them from taking away the vehicle, resulting in the damage of the widescreen. It's not clear if the NDC vigilante group willingly released the vehicle to the minister or there was some sort of agreement between them. Information available to DAILY GUIDE revealed that the NDC campaign coordinator who is also the Minister of Food and Agriculture, Alhaji Muniru Limuna, appealed to the Aluta Boys to release the vehicle to the party. The minister reportedly admitted that the members of the group had been very loyal to the party and that they had not been treated fairly as they complained to him and he assured them that he would do everything within his powers to make sure they were heard. These are the people who support the party and they put their lives on the streets to get the party going and they are not demanding so much. All that they need is recognition, the minister was quoted as saying. He appealed to all the party youth groups to contribute massively for the party to win the 31 parliamentary seats in the region and for the NDC to become victorious on December 7. FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale 10.10.2016 LISTEN Somewhere in the archives of the Daily Graphic of the years 1974-75, an article of mine has been turning yellow with age. In a column I wrote for the paper at that time, I advised the Government of the day the National Redemption Council of General Kutu Acheampong that the Chinese were about to complete work on the Tazara Railway line they were constructing to connect landlocked Zambia with Tanzania. "They've buit a railway line over 1,160 miles long; across territory that is very rugged, I wrote. They will have to spend a lot of money carting the machinery they used back to China when the construction is completed. So were you to approach them now and ask them to bring the equipment here to build a raiilway system for us between Accra and Bawku, they might consider the idea.The fact that they've equipment in Africa already would be a strong point in your favour. For it would save them a lot of money. And we know they can do it Accra to Bawku will only need a line that's 361 miles long only about a quarter of the distance covered by the Tazara Railway I took the precaution of warning the Secretary to the Ghana Cabinet to watch out for the article. But Nothing came of it. When I think of it, it makes me very cross. Imagine cutting the travel time from Accra to Tamale to about two or three hours and being able to continue in comfort to places like Wa, Bolgatanga, Navrongo and Bawku! Imagine the amount of cattle, goats and sheep, as well as yam, millet and other food-stuffs that could be transported all along the length of the railway and how that would reduce the cost of living for our urban dwellers. And also imagine that traders could have access to Tema from the North in a matter of hours! Think how Burkina Faso, Niger and even Mali would have welcomed the possibility of avoiding the crowded ports of the ivory Coast when it came to importing and exporting the goods people need for consumption and industry. And add to that, the money Ghana would have made in all sorts of ways by thus opening up avenues of trade for her neighbours. Now please remember that my article was written over forty years ago! Even if we merely made a net gain of 15 million dollars a year from the railway to the North we would have bagged about $500m from it by now. Which would have paid for the project thrice over at least (the Tazara Railway, which was over three times as long, cost only $540 million). The reason why this issue has come back to torment my mind is that the Chinese have just done it again on 5 October 2016, they launched a 460-mile electric railway line which will link Addis Ababa (Ethiopia's capital) with the Red Sea port-city of Djibouti. The new railway will provide a major boost to the economies of both countries. The Ethiopian prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, and his counterpart from Djibouti, Ismael Omar Guelleh, were welcomed to the launch by uniformed Chinese personnel who will be operating the trains under a management contract until their local counterparts have been trained. This train will speed up the development of our countrys manufacturing industry and it will provide huge benefits to the industrial parks and modern farms that will be built in the future. It will give employment opportunities for our citizens, Mr Desalegn said at the inauguration ceremony. While coffee production remains Ethiopias biggest earner and agriculture its main employer, the country is working on diversifying exports by placing a greater emphasis on its manufacturing industry. A report in the London Guardian said: The new railway will take products between Ethiopia and Djibouti in about 10 hours, a far cry from the current excruciating multi-day trip along a congested, pot-holed road. An Ethiopian importer was quoted by the paper as saying: Were so excited! It takes two or three days for a truck to come from Djibouti. The train could make a huge difference. The importer was not exaggerating: about 1,500 trucks a day currently lumber along the road, which carries 90% of imports and exports from landlocked Ethiopia to the port of Djibouti. The port-city is a key trade hub to Asia, Europe and the rest of Africa. This train is a game-changer, said Mr Mekonnen Getachew, project manager of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation. Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. The connection to the port of Djibouti will give a bounce and our economy will grow faster. he added. The railway was built by two Chinese companies at a cost of w $3.4bn. 70% of the finance came from Chinas Exim Bank. It is the first step in a 3,300-mle long network of rail which Ethiopia hopes to build by 2020, connecting it to Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan. As a Ghanaian, I cannot help feeling very upset that while China is so efficiently assisting the countries of East Africa, in Ghana we are forced to look askance at what Chinese illegal miners are doing, in collaboration with unpatriotic and criminal Ghanaians, to our water-bodies. Yes, the majority of the galamsey operators may be Ghanaians, but the equipment they use is mostly brought in from China. How could a big river like Birem, or Oti, or Prah, or Offin, or Ankobrah, be dredged and turned to mud without the machinery that comes from China? Any galamsey operator who attempted to dredge such rivers with a pick-axe, hoe and spade, would drown immediately. The Chinese embassy in Accra must know the whole story of the toh-toh-toh machines imported from China and the woeful damage they have wrought on Ghana's water-bodies. I again implore Her Excellency the Ambassador, Madam Sun Baohong, to use her good offices to end Chinese participation in the galamsey enterprise in Ghana once and for all. Yes, I am ashamed to admit that it is the Ghana Government's responsibility to eliminate the evil galamsey industry. But it has woefully failed to live up to its responsibilities and in its incomprehensible negligence, created a bad name for China in Ghana. So I am afraid the good work that has been done in Ghana by excellent diplomats, such as Madam Sun Baohong herself and her illustrious first predecessor, His Excellency Ambassador Huan Hua, (who later became China's Foreign Minister) will come to naught in the eyes of the grand-children of the present largely useless generation of Ghanaian rulers. For who can forgive those who destroyed their water the source of all life? Professor Frimpong-Boateng 10.10.2016 LISTEN Ghanas burgeoning democracy would have been more attractive to many without political bigotry. The primitive intolerance and acrimony that have characterized Ghanaian politics is no respecta of human life. For example, Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng established the national cardiothoracic center (NCTC) to provide health care services for individuals with heart related diseases. This great physician had been kicked out of the center, albeit the urgent need for more cardiovascular specialists in Ghana, all in the name of partisan politics. The famous Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy (1828-1910) wrote: a man can live and be healthy without killing animals for food; therefore, if he eats meat, he participates in taking animal life merely for the sake of his appetite. Can somebody still govern Ghana with Professor Kwabena-Frimpong at the NCTC or people just sacrificed him for the sake of their political appetite? Could the doyen of Gold Coast politics, Dr. J. B Danquah be right when he reportedly said Ghana is not worth dying for? The purpose of this article is to reflect on the contributions of Professor Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng towards Ghanas healthcare development. Kwabena Frimpong-Boateng was born in 1950 to one Mr. Kofi Frimpong. The young Frimpong-Boateng studied physics and mathematics and was hoping to be an engineer. He changed his career goal and decided to be a medical doctor. He was offered a scholarship to study medicine in Germany. Frimpong-Boatengs father died out of heart injury due to road traffic accident before his birth. Hovering between hope and apprehension as a child, Frimpong-Boateng nurtured an idea later to be a heart surgeon in order to help people in similar situations like his late father (Compassionate boy! God bless you). Brilliant Frimpong-Boateng translated his dream into reality when he became a heart surgeon. He returned to Ghana after his training. He joined the University of Ghana Medical School as a lecturer in 2000 and was promoted associate professor the same year. He was made a full professor in 2002. He also served as the head of the department of Surgery at the University of Ghana Medical School, prior to his appointment as the Chief Executive of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in 2002. He was elected to the Ghana Academy of Arts and Sciences in December 2002 and gave his inaugural lecture the following year. Frimpong-Boateng also runs a charitable foundation, the Ghana Heart Foundation, which is responsible for paying for heart surgery of some Ghanaian clients under his care. Out of patriotic zeal, he used his own money to set up national cardiothoracic center at the Ghanas biggest hospital, Korle bu Teaching hospital (I stand for correction on the sources of money for the establishment of NCTC). Be that as it may, there was/is NCTC established by Professor Frimpong- Boateng. The National Cardiothoracic Centre (NCTC), in Accra, Ghana, commenced operations in 1989 and was officially commissioned on April 2, 1992. It has since been the foremost center for the investigation and management of cardiovascular diseases not only in Ghana but also in the West African sub-region. It has also grown to become the hub for the training of cardiovascular surgeons, cardiologists and anesthetists These and other training programs of the Ghana College of Physicians and Surgeons and the West African College of Physicians have helped to increase the stock of trained cardiovascular care givers, but the deficit remains enormous as cardiovascular care givers are in short supply even in advanced jurisdictions. The situation in Ghana and the sub-region is precarious; against the backdrop of an ever increasing population requiring these services. This calls for innovative training programs to cater for the short, medium and long term needs of the population. The need to train and incorporate non-cardiologists into the corps of cardiovascular caregivers cannot be overemphasized. The NCTC has therefore identified this strategy as a viable short and medium term option to improve the diagnosis and management of cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in Ghana. To this end, training symposia on the diagnosis and management of common cardiovascular diseases have been held since 2008 on a regular basis (Source: The Pan African Medical Journal, January, 2012). https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3283026/ Fellow countrymen, a visionary government gave Frimpong-Boateng a scholarship to study medicine abroad and a visionless government says in spite of his lofty professorial and professional expertise, he is not needed in Ghana because he (Frimpong-Boateng) belongs to other political party. Professor Frimpong-Boateng himself confirmed on TV3 Ghanas program, Hot Issues hosted by the veteran journalist, Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jr. that his appointment was terminated. Readers can check the following link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=blhYUYMmgj8 The government can built whatever standard hospitals, without qualified professionals, it does not mean anything. Patients are flown from Bolgatanga, Wa, Tamale, Sunyani and other regional hospitals to Accra for cardiovascular related problems. Cant the government partner with this great physician to set up cardiothoracic centers in every region or district in Ghana? As George Leonard observed: We can conceive of a future without high-rises. But a humanity without music and love is not just inconceivable; it is impossible. We cannot joke with the healthcare needs of Ghanaians. When brilliant experts speak on issues relating to their field, then inexperienced government communicators will come out to infuse it with their political casuistry. What is our final fictive goal as a country? That is Ghana for you! A country with paradoxical and enigmatic characters. A country where hypocrisy is a social scaffolding. A country where the constitution guarantees freedom of association and yet opposition members are regarded as enemies. A country where the sick apart from politicians and the privileged few goes to hospital with rickety vehicles while the dead goes to necropolis (cemetery) with an ambulance. A country where the likes of Fiifi Kweteys propaganda and economic sophistry triumph over Dr. Bawumia or Dr. Kwesi Botcheys evidence-based economic analysis. The surgeons knife is corroding while the sick continues to die from cardiovascular diseases because he (Frimpong-Boateng) is not part of the ruling government. Hmmm! If a caring bird mistaken a basket for a nest, I guess the egg will still be useful. Professor Frimpong-Boateng is needed in the health sector. He is a Ghanaian who can rescue citizens including the ruling NDC members from cardiovascular related diseases. The bifurcation of Ghana on political lines will hardly inure to the benefit of all. God bless Our Homeland Ghana. I know that I am intelligent because I know that I know nothing. (Socrates). Feedbacks must be directed to [email protected] Nana Yaw Osei (Padigo) is a PhD Candidate in Psychology at Arizona, USA. 10.10.2016 LISTEN (CNS): The joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is mobilizing governments and other partners to achieve new set of targets, referred to as, '90-90-90 by 2020', but with current set of tools, approaches, funding commitments, and challenge that HIV poses to the world, the goal seems certainly a bold and ambitious one. '90-90-90 by 2020' targets include increasing to 90% the proportion of people living with HIV who know their diagnosis, increasing to 90% the proportion of people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) and increasing to 90% the proportion of people on HIV treatment who have an undetectable viral load. Among the evidence-backed programmes to prevent transmission of HIV, one of which has proven to work so effectively so as to eliminate that form of transmission from a population is: eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV. Mother to child transmission has been eliminated from some nations already, such as Cuba, Thailand and Armenia. What is holding India back from joining nations that have ended HIV in infants said Dr Ishwar Gilada, President of AIDS Society of India (ASI). On the first day of 9th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2016) in Mumbai, the buzz was unanimous: how to accelerate progress towards eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in India as well. This is perhaps one of the closest goalposts to 90-90-90 targets which India and other nations have promised to chase and rightly so. WHERE ARE WE NOW? In 2015, there were an estimated 2.17 million people living with HIV in India, 40.5% of them being women and 6.54% children (142,000). Out of the 86,000 new infections in 2015, 10,500 were in children. 35,000 HIV positive pregnant women were still in need of prevention of parent to child transmission (PPTCT) services. Dr Glory Alexander who founded ASHA Foundation in Bengaluru, who was conferred upon one of the most coveted awards in medicine in India, Dr BC Roy Award, by the President of India this year, was among the key speakers at ASICON 2016. She said that HIV positive children are indeed a tragic consequence of the epidemic. More than 90% of children get HIV from their mothers through parent to child transmission route, and without treatment 50% of them die by their second birthday. So if we can prevent parent to child transmission of HIV, we can eliminate HIV in children. The most effective strategy for zero HIV infections in children is PPTCT, which the developed world has already implemented effectively. While India struggles with ensuring PPTCT for every eligible woman, few countries such as Cuba, Thailand etc have already eliminated parent to child transmission of HIV. Cuba was the first country to achieve it in 2015 and then Thailand followed suit in 2016, becoming the first Asia Pacific country to do so. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the criteria of elimination of parent to child transmission of HIV is when there are less than 50 new HIV infections in children per 100,000 live births; less than 5% HIV transmission in children in breastfeeding population and less than 2% in non breastfeeding population; more than 95% coverage of antenatal care, and more than 90% ART coverage of HIV positive pregnant women. Dr Alexander lamented that even today, only about an estimated 70% of pregnant women in India access antenatal care services nationally; less than 60% deliveries are institutional; and about 30% women do not know their HIV status. We indeed have a long way to go. TEST AND TREAT INFANTS Other than strengthening PPTCT services, there is need to ensure early infant diagnosis in HIV exposed infants - those born to HIV positive mothers. With the rollout of PPTCT we now have many children born to HIV infected mothers, who may be HIV-negative because of PPTCT. The WHO recommends to screen these infants early on, as there is a high risk of death before the age of 2 years for infants with HIV. The WHO recommends that infants exposed to HIV should ideally undergo the 1st virological test for diagnosing HIV infection at 4 to 6 weeks of age. HIV exposed children should be given ART as post exposure prophylaxis soon after birth, without waiting to confirm HIV diagnosis. This is likely to eradicate the virus and perhaps lead to a functional cure, said Dr Ira Shah. She shared that the only reliable way to diagnose HIV in infants, especially those less than 18 months of age, is to do a virological test. ELISA test at this early age is likely to give false positives and should be done only in children above 18 months for confirmation and in children above 6 months for screening. A second confirmatory test should be performed on infants who test positive, but ART should not be delayed while waiting for results. They should again be tested at 6 months and 12 months. In case of breastfeeding infants, if the first HIV test is negative, a second test should be done after 4-6 weeks of stopping breastfeed. So there have to be 2 tests done before declaring an infant as HIV positive. The tests done for early infant diagnosis of HIV are DNA PCR or an RNA PCR. These tests are done in centralised hospitals while samples are picked up from various ART centres, so Dr Ira Shah recommended the 'dried blood spots' method over liquid blood sample, as the former is easy to prepare, and does not require refrigeration. GAPS TO BRIDGE In India early infant diagnosis was introduced in a phased manner in 2010. But Dr Shah said that there are huge time gaps in diagnosis, confirmation and initiation of ART in HIV exposed infants in India. The median age at first sampling was found to be 4 months, instead of 4-6 weeks. There are also huge delays and loss to follow up between 1st and 2nd testing. Turn around time for final confirmatory result (2nd test result) could be as high as 270 days. Another issue she mentioned was that of discordance. In her experience, many kids who had a positive DNA PCR were found to be negative when ELISA test was done at 18 months. RNA PCR for HIV viral load testing gave 100% sensitivity and specificity, while DNA PCR gives 100% sensitivity and only 54% specificity. Dr Ira Shah attributes this to DNA PCR often being done 'in-house' in India, leading to contamination of the sample. But RNA PCR for viral load testing is an automated PCR, and so no chances of error. WHY EARLY INFANT DIAGNOSIS OF HIV IS SO VITAL? dvantage of early infant diagnosis is that together with PPTCT, it reduces prenatal transmission of HIV to infants, improves child survival, and early initiation of ART in perinatally infected children also give hope of remission or functional cure of HIV. There should be integration of early infant diagnosis services with PPTCT. "To have maximum advantage of early infant diagnosis of HIV, we must have decentralisation as it will reduce the dropout rate of HIV exposed children. Also we must reduce the possibility of false positives by using RNA PCR test for confirmation of diagnosis before starting ART," said Dr Ira Shah. FROM CHILDREN TO ADOLESCENTS The WHO estimates that 10.3 million youth in the age group 15-24 years are living with HIV. It is believed that the number of adolescents with HIV is increasing in India. yet there is no separate data for HIV infection in adolescents. Dr Narendra Singh of Imphal explained that HIV positive adolescents belong to two distinct groups - those who acquire HIV perinatally and those who acquire it during their teens. He stressed that management of these two requires different approaches. The perinatally acquired ones go on to adolescence having been on ART since childhood. A majority of them remain oblivious of being HIV infected and a minority of them know their status. For those infected recently, infection is acquired mostly through the sexual route, and in some cases through injecting drug use. Adolescent HIV is the major driving force for the sustenance of HIV/AIDS in general population. Actively identifying and treating adolescent HIV/AIDS will curb the epidemic and help to decrease number of newly HIV infected people. They have to be counselled properly and made to understand and accept the reality and necessity of life long adherence. When and how to disclose their HIV status to the adolescents is a difficult task and needs to handled very carefully by parents and caregivers. Unless we make PPTCT services available to all pregnant women, diagnose and treat HIV exposed infants early on and and manage HIV/AIDS in adolescents through a multidisciplinary approach, we will not be able to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) one of which is a promise to end AIDS by 2030. Shobha Shukla, CNS (Citizen News Service) (Shobha Shukla is the Managing Editor at CNS (Citizen News Service). Follow her on Twitter: @Shobha1Shukla) 10.10.2016 LISTEN Worry no more for your dream is now a reality through Dr. Nyarkotey Alternative Medical College located in Dodowa, Akoto House a subsidiary of Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine in Cyprus. I want to share with you an important article written by Shannon Walker on the Top 5 Alternative Medicine Schools in USA. Read now While conventional medicine has its place in society; alternative medicine offers additional benefits that can supplement medical treatments and daily living. For instance, one may consider chiropractic instead of surgery to align the back. There are a wide variety of nonconventional medical methods of treatment. For example, Naturopathic Medicine, Holistic Medicine, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Oriental Medicine, Homeopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Obstetric, Chiropractic, Qigong, Ayurvedic Medicine, Shiatsu, Massage Therapy and many others. The biggest disadvantage to alternative medicine has been the variance of education to perform these specialized techniques. To remedy this issue, colleges, universities and specialty schools around the world have opened to standardized alternative medicine practices. Schools that offer unconventional medical education fall outside of the realm of western medical treatments and education. There are a number of naturopathic institutions, colleges and universities in the US, that provide training in several divisions of medicine including Bachelors, Masters and Doctoral Degrees and also with many Certifications in Naturopathic Medicine, Holistic Medicine, Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, Oriental Medicine, Homeopathic Medicine, Chiropractic, and many others. The purpose of this article is to discuss the top five alternative medicine schools in the United States. We will cover their area of specialty, their location, and the types of degrees and certificates each one has to offer. #1 Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences Located in Tempe Arizona, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences specializes in Naturopathic Medicine. Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences offers Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine (Naturopathic Doctor) or (ND program)a four-year academic program. This program is split into three main sections. For the first year, students will learn basic medical science, which is very familiar to tradition medicine. Students in their second year will learn physical, clinical, and lab diagnoses with the introduction into naturopathic methodologies. In the third and fourth year of their naturopathic degree, focuses on naturopathic medicine theory and clinical practice. #2 National College of Natural Medicine The National College of Natural Medicine is located in Portland, Oregon. NCNM specializes in Naturopathic Medicine, Classical Chinese Medicine (Oriental Medicine), Acupuncture, Homeopathic Medicine, Naturopathic Obstetric / Midwifery, Qigong, Shiatsu and Integrative Medicine. The National College of Natural Medicine offers many Doctoral & Masters Degrees, and also many Certificate & Advanced certificate Programs of different durations in the above described alternative medicine field. #3 American Institute of Alternative Medicine American Institute of Alternative Medicine is a private Institute for the higher studies of Alternative Medicine, which is situated in Columbus, Ohio. Their Areas of specialty include Western Massage Therapy, Chinese Massage Therapy, Acupuncture, and Oriental Medicine. Courses of Nursing and Medical Assisting are also included as one of the major available at this Alternative Medicine School. Naturopathic Pharmacy #4 National University of Health Sciences There are two campuses for The National University of Health Sciences. The first campus is located in Lombard, Illinois and the second campus is located in St. Petersburg, Florida. The National University of Health Sciences specializes in Chiropractic, Naturopathic Medicine, Acupuncture, Oriental Medicine and Massage Therapy. National University of Health Sciences offers Doctoral program in Chiropractic and Naturopathic Medicine, Masters program in Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine, Post-professional, Graduates program in Advanced Clinical Practice, Bachelors program in Biomedical Science and Associates & Certificates programs in Massage Therapy and Chiropractic. #5 Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine is situated Larnaca, Cyprus. While this is outside of the United States, this college does offer a wide variety of online courses in Alternative Medicine. The Areas of specialty of this school in alternative medicine is Holistic Medicine. This school of alternative medicine offers many Diploma Courses in many different topics of Holistic Medicine, Degree of Bachelor of Science in (Holistic Medicine) - BSc (HM) and Degree of Doctor of Science in (Holistic Medicine) - DSc (HM). Many of the above schools provide brilliant professional career options in medical care. While researching which school will work best for you, make sure to research them well, tour their campuses when possible; and ask about venues for funding for your degree or certificate. A degree in Alternative Medicine offers you a competitive edge over those who do not have the experience and certification. So you see now Why Choose Dr. Nyarkotey Alternative Medical College a subsidiary of Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine Compulsory courses required (unless exemption is awarded): Anatomy and Physiology Pathology for Natural Medicine Clinical Nutrition Part 1 Herbal Medicine Bach Flower Remedies Naturopathic Medicine Part 1 Energy Medicine and Bioresonance Detoxification and Toxicology Electives List: Homeopathic Medicine Su Jok Therapy Iridology Clinical Nutrition Part 2 Naturopathic Medicine Part 2 Holistic Psychology Live Blood Analysis Naturopathic Sexology Urinalysis and Body Fluids Sclerology Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis The Bachelor and Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine consists of many separate modular courses covering a whole spectrum of health topics each of these modular courses is a stand-alone and can be taken as an individual Diploma Course with Certification. This encourages the student to implement this knowledge-base in clinical practice as soon as they have completed each Diploma course, as they will have the Certification to prove that they have passed these exams for the said course. The modular course structure based on distance-learning allows the student to work at their own pace while working elsewhere without having to disrupt family or working life. The student can even work while they are travelling as most of the course materials are in downloadable files that can be stored on the hard disc of the computer. There are hundreds of pages of reading material with each course. There are also many interactive videos and documentaries to watch and you can even copy these directly to your laptop and watch them while on a plane. There are also hundreds of links to many other sources of helpful information these courses have taken many years to write and develop and are at a cutting-edge level that is difficult to match. The courses should ideally be taken in sequential order to benefit from prerequisite knowledge required to build on. The College and its courses have been accredited by the Pastoral Medical Association in the USA, and registered with the Complementary Medical Association (CMA) in the UK, as well as the Affiliation of Ethical and Professional Therapists (AEPT) in the UK. It also has obtained full professional board accreditation from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners in the USA. Students in Ghana are eligible to be members of the Alternative Medical Association of Ghana (AMAG) Expertise It is very rare to find a College that takes all these modalities and more and puts them into a Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine course this is the essence of this course you will not only be studying homeopathy or herbal medicine or naturopathy, but in fact you will study enough of each to be able to practice as a competent Holistic Health practitioner, dealing with many health issues that using only one healing modality will not be able to help. Course Completion To gain maximal benefit from your studies, it is recommended that the student plan to take at least two, but preferably three courses per semester (4 chronological months). There are a total of 8 Diploma courses required to complete the D.Sc (HM), making for approximately 1,600 physical hours of study. The average student should be able to complete all nine compulsory courses to be awarded the Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine in about 12 18 months. A maximum of 60 months is allowed for completion for students with heavy work commitments. If the Bachelor of Science in Holistic Medicine is completed, then the Doctoral degree can be began immediately without further ado. Medical students usually study for just about 4,200 physical hours in the entirety of their course most of the academic study is crammed into the first two years they also have practical work on top of this. The Bachelor of Science in Holistic Medicine covers 9 courses which comes to a total of 1,800 hours (9 x 200 hours = 1,800). This means that 200 hours per course is equivalent to about 12 hours physical study per week. If a student decides to go on to complete the Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine, there will be a further eight courses to complete, chosen from the electives (8 x 200 hours = 1,600 hours), along with the dissertation of about 20,000 words. The Bachelors and Doctoral level will result in close to 4,000 hours of study which is what most medical schools cover. Clinical Practicuum Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine students will have an opportunity to study with Dr. Georgiou at the Da Vinci Holistic Health Centre and will be able to get hands-on training in all aspects of the holistic healing arts. This will be the students opportunity to see the application of everything they have learned on real patients with real diseases. There is also the flexibility of studying in other Holistic Centers closer to home, but these must be assessed by the College before being certified to accept students. Take this opportunity for the low fees for Ghanaians compared to what the main college charges in Cyprus and Start your enrolment now at the Colleges affiliate in Ghana by calling Dr. Nyarkotey on 0541090045 or pick a form at Dodowa Akoto House, Dangme News Office. Dr. Nyarkotey Alternative Medical College We say excellence in Training Alternative Medical Doctors. Limited spaces available for this pilot project. Call the admission office now 0541090045. Worry no more Dr. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu is a Research Professor of Prostate Cancer and Holistic Medicine faculty lead- Holistic Urology, Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine, Larnaca City, Cyprus. He is the National President of the Alternative Medical Association of Ghana (AMAG). A registered alternative Medical practitioner with specialty in orthomolecular oncology, Prostate Cancer Policy maker and researcher. He can be reached on 0541090045. E mail: [email protected] 10.10.2016 LISTEN There is no need worrying again to either travel outside or pay such a huge amount of fees to study holistic medicine outside. It is now here in Ghana and this is made possible by the partnership between Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine in Cyprus rated amongst the Top Five Alternative medicine schools in the USA by Shannon Walker in 2012 inforBarrel and Dr. Nyarkotey Alternative Medical College located in Dodowa-Akoto House. The Da Vinci College operates a modular degree system by which degrees are obtained via a process of credit accumulation. Modules are self-contained units of teaching, learning and assessment which usually run for one semester. Modules are worth a fixed amount of credit, so if you pass the module you gain the appropriate number of credits which then count towards your degree. Each module is assessed in the semester in which it is taught. Assessment will normally comprise of examinations, continuous assessment or, in most cases, a combination of these. Students who fail the assessment for a particular module are offered an opportunity to be re-assessed. Passing a module entitles the student to receive credits for that module. Students will also receive a grade for each module taken which will appear on the individual Diploma awarded for that module, as well as on the transcript given to the student upon completion of their studies. Here is a summary of the curriculum for the Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine DSc (HM). Based on the fact that Anatomy and Physiology and Pathology have been covered in undergraduate courses, then there are 8 modules required in total for completion, plus the Doctoral Dissertation. Seven of these are from the Compulsory List, and one topic is chosen from the Elective List making 8 modules in total, along with the Doctoral Dissertation and the clinical practicum which is also compulsory: Compulsory courses required (unless exemption is awarded): Anatomy and Physiology Pathology for Natural Medicine Clinical Nutrition Part 1 Herbal Medicine Bach Flower Remedies Naturopathic Medicine Part 1 Energy Medicine and Bioresonance Detoxification and Toxicology Electives List: Homeopathic Medicine Su Jok Therapy Iridology Clinical Nutrition Part 2 Naturopathic Medicine Part 2 Holistic Psychology Live Blood Analysis Naturopathic Sexology Urinalysis and Body Fluids Sclerology Hair Tissue Mineral Analysis The Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine consists of many separate modular courses covering a whole spectrum of health topics each of these modular courses is a stand-alone and can be taken as an individual Diploma Course with Certification. This encourages the student to implement this knowledge-base in clinical practice as soon as they have completed each Diploma course, as they will have the Certification to prove that they have passed these exams for the said course. The modular course structure based on distance-learning allows the student to work at their own pace while working elsewhere without having to disrupt family or working life. The student can even work while they are travelling as most of the course materials are in downloadable files that can be stored on the hard disc of the computer. There are hundreds of pages of reading material with each course. There are also many interactive videos and documentaries to watch and you can even copy these directly to your laptop and watch them while on a plane. There are also hundreds of links to many other sources of helpful information these courses have taken many years to write and develop and are at a cutting-edge level that is difficult to match. The courses should ideally be taken in sequential order to benefit from prerequisite knowledge required to build on. The College and its courses have been accredited by the Pastoral Medical Association in the USA, and registered with the Complementary Medical Association (CMA) in the UK, as well as the Affiliation of Ethical and Professional Therapists (AEPT) in the UK. It also has obtained full professional board accreditation from the American Association of Drugless Practitioners in the USA. Students in Ghana are eligible to be members of the Alternative Medical Association of Ghana (AMAG) Expertise It is very rare to find a College that takes all these modalities and more and puts them into a Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine course this is the essence of this course you will not only be studying homeopathy or herbal medicine or naturopathy, but in fact you will study enough of each to be able to practice as a competent Holistic Health practitioner, dealing with many health issues that using only one healing modality will not be able to help. This is made possible because the Founder and Academic Dean of the Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine, Dr. George J Georgiou, Ph.D.,N.D.,DSc (AM).,MSc.,BSc has been studying natural methods of health for over 25 years and has amassed degrees and diplomas in the biological sciences, clinical nutrition, herbal medicine, homeopathy, naturopathy, Su Jok acupuncture, energy medicine, iridology, sclerology, live blood analysis, thermography, clinical psychology and clinical sexology, along with a lot more training in other modalities of healing, as well as many research interests and publications. Not only did he spend a life-time studying all these topics in depth, but he has applied this knowledge by building a bespoke Holistic treatment centre called the Da Vinci Holistic Health Centre in Cyprus that uses all these modalities and more and sees patients from all over the world, specializing in the treatment of chronic disease. Students taking the Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine will be able to spend time undertaking clinical work at this cutting-edge Holistic Centre as part of their requirements. To understand more about the Holistic Model and Dr Georgious work at the Center read his latest book entitled: Curing the Incurable with Holistic Medicine Course Completion To gain maximal benefit from your studies, it is recommended that the student plan to take at least two, but preferably three courses per semester (4 chronological months). There are a total of 8 Diploma courses required to complete the D.Sc (HM), making for approximately 1,600 physical hours of study. The average student should be able to complete all nine compulsory courses to be awarded the Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine in about 12 18 months. A maximum of 60 months is allowed for completion for students with heavy work commitments. If the Bachelor of Science in Holistic Medicine is completed, then the Doctoral degree can be began immediately without further ado. Medical students usually study for just about 4,200 physical hours in the entirety of their course most of the academic study is crammed into the first two years they also have practical work on top of this. The Bachelor of Science in Holistic Medicine covers 9 courses which comes to a total of 1,800 hours (9 x 200 hours = 1,800). This means that 200 hours per course is equivalent to about 12 hours physical study per week. If a student decides to go on to complete the Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine, there will be a further eight courses to complete, chosen from the electives (8 x 200 hours = 1,600 hours), along with the dissertation of about 20,000 words. The Bachelors and Doctoral level will result in close to 4,000 hours of study which is what most medical schools cover. Clinical Practicuum Doctor of Science in Holistic Medicine students will have an opportunity to study with Dr. Georgiou at the Da Vinci Holistic Health Centre and will be able to get hands-on training in all aspects of the holistic healing arts. This will be the students opportunity to see the application of everything they have learned on real patients with real diseases. There is also the flexibility of studying in other Holistic Centers closer to home, but these must be assessed by the College before being certified to accept students. Take this opportunity for the low fees for Ghanaians compared to what the main college charges in Cyprus and Start your enrolment now at the Colleges affiliate in Ghana by calling Dr. Nyarkotey on 0541090045 or pick a form at Dodowa Akoto House, Dangme News Office. Dr. Nyarkotey Alternative Medical College We say excellence in Training Alternative Medical Doctors. Limited spaces available for this pilot project. Call the admission office now 0541090045. Worry no more Dr. Raphael Nyarkotey Obu is a Research Professor of Prostate Cancer and Holistic Medicine faculty lead- Holistic Urology, Da Vinci College of Holistic Medicine, Larnaca City, Cyprus. He is the National President of the Alternative Medical Association of Ghana (AMAG). A registered alternative Medical practitioner with specialty in orthomolecular oncology, Prostate Cancer Policy maker and researcher. He can be reached on 0541090045. E mail: [email protected] The premiere of the art exhibition, 'Let's Talk Sh*t', has taken place at the Alliance Francaise in Accra, showcasing the work of 21 artists with varied visual art forms to address issues pertaining to open defecation. The exhibition which featured art forms ranging from video, graffiti, illustration, painting, sculpture and photography, engaged the representatives of WASH officials, civil societies and the media in the elimination of open defecation in Ghana. Alhaji Collins Dauda, Minister for the Ministry of Local Government & Rural Development (MLGRD), opening the exhibition, said, I am extremely happy to see how creative the artworks produced can significantly address the issues of open defecation in Ghana. He added, This is pertinent and challenges the social and cultural norms. This initiative adds value to the government's programme on the elimination of open defecation. Big thanks to the artists and to UNICEF and the Alliance Francaise for facilitating this event. Susan Namondo Ngongi, Representative of UNICEF Ghana, stated that we should not be ashamed of using the word shit. What is shocking is the fact that five million Ghanaians are defecating in the open and that 43 percent of schools are not equipped with proper sanitation facilities or do not even have water! While the title of the programme may sound shocking to some people, it is expected to generate attention and initiate a dialogue on the issue. Frederic Dart, Director of the Alliance Francaise, was excited about the support of UNICEF and happy that the efforts of the Alliance Francaise in leading the programme would contribute to the efforts of the MLGRD in bringing the issue of open defecation to the fore. Visual artists in Ghana are usually not seen as agents of change but rather as people who produce aesthetic artwork only. This programme provides the artist community with a great opportunity to show that their role is not about 'decoration' or beauty but about engaging on social issues. This collaboration demonstrates that visual art can contribute to arouse critical thinking and place this issue into the public sphere. I am proud that the Alliance Francaise of Accra organised this, he said. The participating artists are Bright Tetteh Ackwerh, Selorm Dogoe, Henry Obimpeh, Percy Osei Appiah, Eric Gyamfi, Mohammed Awudu, Nicholas Tettey Wayo, Fiona Worlanyo Ansah, Aziz Iddriss, Tjasa Rener, Comrade David Sedi Agbeko, Nana Afari Darko, Art for Change, Kelvin Vincent, Kwesi Botchway, Otis Kwame Kye Quaicoe, Derrick Okanta, Cornelius Annor, Michael Kofi Agyekum Fiscian, Snezana Vrebrac and Stephen Allotey. Their medium of art includes painting, sculpture, photography, installation, videography and theatre. In November, the artists will take the exhibition on tour to three selected communities practising open defecation in Accra, so that a dialogue can directly be generated with community members. By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri Percy Edem Kpesese, a kidney patient at the renal unit of the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital (KBTH), is appealing to the public to help fund his GH100,000 kidney transplant surgery. Percy who is a teacher at Kade was diagnosed with kidney failure in July 2015 and has been undergoing dialysis treatment since. His condition has deteriorated, rendering him unable to work and raise the said amount for his surgery. Percy is, therefore, calling on the public to help him raise the money by donating to Unibank with account name Nusec Old Students Association 2013 and number 2110124404018. A psychiatric lecturer at the Dungu campus of the University for Development Studies (UDS), Dr Sore, was found dead at his residence at Kunye, a suburb of Tamale in the Northern Region. The lecturer who is a renowned doctor at the Psychiatric Department of UDS went home and after three days, he never came out of his room, something his neighbours found strange; forcing them to call the police. According to some neighbours who spoke to the DAILY GUIDE, Dr Sore once locked himself in the room for days and when it was forced opened, he got angry and questioned why someone should break into his room. The neighbours, this time round, decided to involve the police and when the police broke into the room, they found his lifeless body on the floor. The body of the lecturer was decomposed and was sent to the Tamale Teaching Hospital for autopsy and preservation by the university authorities. DAILY GUIDE understands that the lecturer was living in Canada with his wife and children before he relocated to the country some few years now to lecture at the university. A source at the university confirmed the incident and said the university will make an official statement to the public at the right time. The police are still investigating the matter to establish the cause of death. Some students who spoke to DAILY GUIDE were shocked about the death of the lecturer, adding that he was one of the best on campus. Efforts to reach university authorities proved futile, as everybody is quiet over the unfortunate incident. FROM Eric Kombat, Tamale Accra, 09 October 2016 - Vodafone Ghana has bagged two prestigious honours at this years CIMG Awards, sweeping Best TV and Best Outdoor Adverts of the year 2015. Vodafone, the CIMG Telecom Company of the Year during last years event, was recognized for its unprecedented and innovative creative advertising efforts in the telecoms market. Its novel TV advert for the #2GhanaOffer campaign held the nation spellbound with its carefully executed creative design interspersed with flawless Ghanaian culture and emotional connection. Additionally, its imposing and unmistakable outdoor execution of the #NetworkQuality campaign, highlighting its leadership in voice clarity and 3G+ data speed, created a new conversation in the industry. Vodafone Ghana has consistently been a powerhouse of ideas and creativity in the delivery of its marketing communication campaigns in the country. Commenting, Agnes Emefa Essah, Director of the Consumer Business Unit at Vodafone Ghana said: Whenever you are recognized for being the best in an area among your peers; it is foolproof. These awards are testament to our creative approach in all we do to ensure the customer is satisfied. Our #NetworkQuality and #2GhanaOffer campaigns were very crucial interventions in the industry and were tailor-made to deliver bespoke offerings to our customers. We, together with the agency, are excited to be recognized for them and we would not rest on our laurels. The Chartered Institute of Marketing Ghana (CIMG) awards are designed to create awareness of the Marketing concept in businesses and to promote high professional standards and excellence among practitioners. 10.10.2016 LISTEN The parliamentary candidate for the ruling National Democratic Congress party or the NDC in the Nalerigu-Gambaga constituency in the East Mampurigu District of the Northern region, Alhaji Baba Seidu Issifu has called on Ghanaians especially electorates in the area to vote massively for president John Dramani Mahama and the NDC party in the coming December general elections for peace and development. According to him, president John Mahama is a man of peace and the NDC party has peace at heart and thus why the party is more united than any political party in the country. The parliamentary candidate said this when he addressed thousands of supporters at his campaign launch in the constituency on Saturday. He pledged to work harder if elected into office as a parliamentarian to represent the people of the constituency in Parliament to bring the needed development in the area. According to him, before becoming the parliamentary candidate for the NDC party in the constituency, he has already initiated interventions that provides jobs for the people. He mentioned provision of water producing factory and fuel station that provides jobs to over 60 people in the constituency. This he said brings income to the people there by transforming their lives as well as their children. He also counted building bridges, damps, roads and supporting hospitals with equipments that helps in health delivery in the area. The campaign launch which saw heavy support from both local and national executives became more interesting when over 500 supporters of the main opposition party or NPP defected to the NDC party and vowed to give their support to Alhaji Baba to win the seat. Former Northern regional minister who currently holds the Agric ministry Alhaji Mohammed Muniru Limuna launched the campaign and tasked people in the area to retire the NPP's candidate Hajia Alima who, according to the minister has refused to retire respectfully. Present at the launch were the regional campaign coordinator, Alhaji Muniru Limuna, the regional secretary of the party, Lawyer Rauf, the regional youth organizer, Alhaji Abio, the constituency chairman, all constituency executives ministers and former ministers of state the media and party supporters. The Upper East Regional House of Chief has pledged its unflinching support for the implementation of Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR) which is ongoing in the country. The exercise which had commenced in the Upper West Region is being extended to the Upper East Region to be followed by the northern region and the rest of the regions in the country. The Chiefs drawn from the various paramountcies in the region, made the commitment during an engagement meeting jointly organised by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) and the GNHR in Bolgatanga on Thursday, to solicit their support for the implementation of the Ghana National Household Registry (GNHR). Mr Robert E. Austin, the National Coordinator of the Ghana Social Opportunities Project (GSOP), explained to the traditional authorities that the GNHR Project which is being funded by the World Bank in collaboration with the Government of Ghana when completed would help facilitate the identification of extremely poor and vulnerable households. He explained that as it stood now the Social Protection systems are not well coordinated making it very difficult to identify the extremely poor very well and expressed optimism when the GNHR Project is completed it would coordinate and consolidate all the social protections systems including the School Feeding Programme, Capitation, Labour Intensive Public Works (LIPW), Free School Uniform Programme among other social interventions. The GNHR Project which is ongoing when completed will help coordinate and consolidate all the Social Protection systems to efficiently help graduate the extreme poor and the vulnerable households out of poverty. I therefore want to urge you as our revered chiefs who are the custodians of the people to help the project succeed, Mr Austin stressed . Mr Austin said 390 Enumerators and 180 Community Focal Persons would be engaged in the Upper East Region to help collect data for the GNHR and the Districts would be tasked to assist in the recruitment of personnel to undertake the exercise which is supposed to commence fully in January 2017 and complete in October 2017. Mr Mawutor Ablo, the Director in charge of Policy, Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of the MoGESP, said the GNHR would help in facilitating a more effective and efficient social protection system that had a good potential of contributing to the progress already made in the poverty reduction strategy of the country. The GNHR will require the support of all to succeed. Ghanaians must respond to the call to participate in the registration exercise to enable the delivery of a credible Single National Registry that will inure to the benefit of all, he said. Mr Philip Dornyo , a Communication Specialist of the GNHR Project, stated that project which had begun earnestly in Upper West Region was thriving very well the support from the traditional rulers and the political heads of that region . He impressed upon the Chiefs and Political leaderships of the Upper East region including all stakeholders to fully support the implementation of the project to realise its fullest potentials and benefits. The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) will on Tuesday October 11, 2016 hold a special Media Dialogue with Commissioners of the Electoral Commission (EC) on Ghanas 2016 general elections in Tamale, capital of Northern Region. The chairperson of the EC, Mrs. Charlotte Osei, and other Commissioners of the EC will address editors and senior journalists and respond to questions from the journalists on the electoral processes. The Dialogue forms part of efforts at promoting peaceful elections in Ghana. The event will take place at Modern City Hotel in Tamale at 2: 00pm prompt. The Media Dialogue with EC Commissioners is being organised with funding support from Ford Foundation. It is one of a series to be organised ahead of the elections under the MFWAs project ofPromoting Issues-based and Decent Language Campaigning for Peaceful Elections in Ghana in 2016. A similar event will be held in Kumasi towards the end of October. Earlier in the week, the MFWA organised a Town Hall Meeting in Tamale. The theme for the event dubbed Making Ghanas 2016 Elections Peaceful the Role of Stakeholders saw key stakeholders in the electoral processes including the police, traditional leaders, political parties, academicians, civil society organisations and the general public highlighting some interventions they have put in place to ensure that the outcome of the 2016 elections is peaceful, credible and acceptable to all. Zongo chiefs in the Eastern Region have affirmed their commitment to vote massively and endorse the re-election of President John Dramani Mahama. The chiefs said this when a delegation of the Council of Elders of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Zongo Caucus, led by Alhaji Shamsu Kwakwa, a member of the NDC National Campaign Committee, called on them at various locations including Koforidua, Suhum and Nsawam in the Eastern Region. Alhaji Shamsu Kwakwa said the institution of the Eidul-Fitr and Eidul-Adha Muslims holidays was made by the NDC under the former President Jerry John Rawlings. He said the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Akufo Addo, by then a Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa, was amongst the first to oppose the holiday meant for Muslims. Alhaji Shamsu Kwakwa said the President Mahama Government has shown much love to the people of the Eastern Region by providing them with potable water, roads, school buildings and health facilities amongst other infrastructures. He said there is the need to reciprocate the love shown the region by voting massively for him to serve a second term. Alhaji Shamsu Kwakwa said the promises made by President Mahama during his first term campaign has been fulfilled and that the promises include the completion of the first phase of the Tamale International Airport and the lifting of pilgrims from the Northern Zone to The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the construction of the Community Day Senior High Schools. The projects also include the expansion of the Tema and Takoradi harbours, the Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Kasoa interchanges, the Eastern Corridor Roads, Regional and District hospitals and the construction of Ho, upgrading of Kumasi and expansion of Kotoka International airports. He said President Mahama has offered and will every year offer full scholarship to 80 female Muslims to study medicine in Cuba. Alhaji Shamsu Kwakwa said this has never happened in the history of any Government in the country and that the commitment towards the development of Muslims and Zongo communities is embedded in the heart of President Mahama. Mr Kwabena Okyere Kusi, the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE) for New Juaben, said President Mahama needs a second term to continue with the unfinished projects that is aimed at further transforming the nation. He said Nana Addo as an MP failed to develop his constituency and that the progress of the country would be retarded should he be given the nod to rule. Alhaji Yussif Captain, Chairman of the Zongo Caucus Council of Elders, said the unemployment rate among the Zongo youth have reduced through the NDC Government's Youth Employment Agency's social intervention engagement in agriculture, health, teaching and community policing. He appealed to the electorates to vote for President Mahama to continue with his efforts at improving their standards of living. Madam Margret Ansei, the MCE for Suhum, also appealled to the electorates to maintain the President for more development, social interventions and jobs. Chief Ali Haruna Kurmi IV, Zongo chief of Koforidua, said the Zongo and Muslims chiefs recognize and appreciate the efforts of President Mahama towards the development of their communities in the country. He said there has been constant consultations between zongo chiefs and the Government of the NDC in relations to the development of their areas. Chief Kurmi IV pledged his support for President Mahama and urged him to ensure that the peace of the country is maintained. A multitude of first time voters in the Tamale north constituency of the Northern Region have hinted of massively voting for the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate, Alhassan Suhuyini. Clad in Alhassan Suhuyini's branded T-shirts and the NDC paraphernalia, the first-time voters inundated his campaign launch held at the Tamale Sakasaka Jackson Park. They told Citi News Alhassan Suhuyini is their preferred choice in the Tamale north Parliamentary race. They further described Alhassan Suhuyini as a unifier and a development oriented personality capable of fixing the developmental deficit recorded in the Tamale north constituency. The governing NDC at the 2012 polls suffered from skirt and blouse voting which produced the incumbent independent Member of Parliament, Hon. Alhassan Dahamani. The emergence of Alhassan Suhuyini as the NDC's 2016 Parliamentary candidate has overturned the situation and it is highly anticipated that he could win the seat on December 7. Addressing the crowd, Alhassan Suhuyini thanked his other defeated contenders at the primary for their unflinching support. He appealed to the massive crowd to let their enthusiasm reflect on the ballot paper on December 7. He cautioned the electorate against repeating the skirt and blouse voting pattern on December 7. Alhassan Suhuyini admonished Ghanaians to appreciate the peace and stability they have enjoyed under President John Dramani Mahama's watch. He further posited that the Abudu and Andani feud in Dagbon had been a thing of the past. Speakers including the Bawku central MP, Mahama Ayariga, the Sagnarigu MP, Alhaji A.B.A Fuseini, the Nantong MP, Murtala Ibrahim Mohammed and a Deputy Communications Minister, Felix Ofosu Kwakye claimed the electorate will regret voting for the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP). They accused the NPP Presidential nominee, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of superintending over a divided party. According to them the nation's future is bleak with Nana Addo as the next President. Felix Ofosu Kwakye and Mahama Ayariga also condemned the NPP for allegedly plagiarizing Hassan Ayariga's All Peoples Congress (APC) manifesto. Mahama Ayariga revealed the APC Presidential nominee's intension to take legal action against the NPP over the alleged manifesto plagiarism. Chiefs, diplomats, youth and religious leaders in the Tamale north constituency graced the much publicized occasion. Abu Sadique, Prince Okla, Choggu Boys and Fancy Gadam among others entertained the gathering. By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana 10.10.2016 LISTEN Is it better to do good or evil, I at times ask myself. No matter the odds, I shall choose good over evil all of the time hence I shall continue to do good. Many Ghanaians abroad always talk about their bitter experiences after helping their fellow Ghanaians get jobs, lent them money and other things of the sort. In almost all such situations, those they have helped repaid their kindness with evil. However, I know since my infancy when I was a pupil at Kumawu Roman Catholic Primary School, after reading a book in which there was a proverbial statement that went, One good turn deserves another. This was about a bird that nearly got shot by a hunter. Just as the hunter had pointed his gun at the bird and about to pull the trigger, an ant bit him hard on the neck. Suddenly, the barrel of the gun dropped a bit below its perfect gauge at which he could have landed the bird in his hunters bag and the bullet went off bang! The bird on hearing the loud sound flew off. One day, the bird found the ant dropped into a river, could not get out but the water moving it downstream and about to be drowned. The bird plucked a leaf from the tree it was sitting in and dropped it into the water. The ant mounted on to the leaf and gradually by gradually, the wind blew the leaf to a solid land to save the ant of its life. Following this service to one another, it was said, One good turn deserves another However, in my case where I think to have helped create a Jezebel in the life of someone, as it is the bitter experience of many a Ghanaian living abroad, the person I helped is rather paying me with evil. Here goes the story. Once, a fellow Ghanaian who resides in one of the European countries different from where I live was going home (Ghana) on holiday. She had no place in Kumasi to stay with her friend. She asked if I could help. I volunteered to contact someone in Kumasi who agreed to accommodate them in his Jamaican friends house in Kumasi for about a week or less. This person has his own 10-bedroom house in Kumasi but for the fact that the house was not yet furnished, he preferred they went to his friends house which is fully furnished to the standard befitting the stay of a burger(s). The person helped, later made a proposition to the helper on a subject the helper found a bit difficult, if not too intricate to give her a positive assurance of yes. Just for the failure to reassure her contrary to her expectation, she came back to her foreign abode and immediately started soiling the helpers reputation. Among some of the bitter things she said about him to her friends all over the world are; 1. He has no place of his own in Kumasi but lives in his Jamaican friends house which he claims to be his. 2. He owes his Jamaican friend 20,000 and his friend is looking for him to cause his arrest any time he returns abroad. 3. He borrowed so much money from friends and the banks and ran away with it to Ghana so the British Police are looking for him to arrest. Subsequently, he would never be able to come back to Britain. Let me just end here without talking about other bitter things she has said about him, without ending the story completely yet. Let me ask her, if she had a place of her own, would she come to me to arrange her a place in Kumasi after staying abroad for almost forty years? Did I not tell her in advance that the helper in Ghana says his own house is not yet complete so he could only accommodate them in his Jamaican friends house or else, how would she know that the house belonged to a Jamaican if we had not told her? His Jamaican friend, Mr Kwesi Robinson, as I call him, laughed himself to tears when he heard the allegations. He asked, when did I have 20,000 to lend to my friend? If I had 20,000, I would put 10,000 into my bank account and go to Ghana to do business with the other 10,000, he said. From which friends and banks did he borrow so much money to run away with to Ghana? Again, he had subsequently been interdicted to come to Britain, she said. Why has he been to Britain and Belgium twice lately and been to some government offices to sort out his pension and other things without being arrested as capriciously alleged by that bitter liar spreading unfounded allegations oozing out of her figment of warped imagination? Is she not rather hallucinating? What has made her probably similar to the biblical Jezebel is the fact that she has taken her evil-mindedness few steps further into the family of the helper. She has been telling a section of the family adulterated history which they have believed hence creating a tension within that larger family. It is only a Jezebel that can do that. I am aware of all the falsehoods she has been spreading and how she is pitting the said family members against one another. In the meantime, I shall advise my own uncle, Nana Damte, who although is unknown to me in person, I had spoken with on two occasions somewhere in year 2003, not to allow himself to be maliciously manipulated by the person I now address as Jezebel. He is my uncle for the fact of his Abenaaso roots Nana Fosuaa. I shall not go into it any further but to rest my case. It is a bitter lesson to me. If I had not intervened to help secure her accommodation with the said helper, she would not have known him let alone, started to talk rubbish and falsehoods about him. One does not expect anyone to build a house in Ghana despite ones length of stay abroad. Similarly, one does not expect anyone to be putting up houses in all the major cities in Ghana. Therefore, Jezebel, not having a house in Kumasi is not the issue but her ungratefulness that has translated into soiling the reputation of the Good Samaritan as spoken at length about is what bothers me. She will not succeed in her evil enterprise, for that I can assure her because God is in control and the battle is the Lords. Who then is a Jezebel, some people may want to know? Jezebel is (Old Testament) the wife of Ahab, king of Israel: she fostered the worship of Baal and tried to destroy the prophets of Israel (I Kings 18:413); she was killed by Jehu (II Kings 9:2937) 2. (Sometimes not capital) a shameless or scheming woman Rockson Adofo I have just read something on line and it is giving me headache. It is this: The leadership of the most pre-eminent Financial Institution in Ghana, the Bank of Ghana, has authorized the expenditure of $504.000 to purchase Gold Watches 18 Karat Gold Watches for certain of their employee retiring after several years of employment: 30 years more or less. Must interestingly, the trajectory of the story is not the merit or justification for such a wanton dissipation of public funds, but apparently, the methodology of payment for this scandalous nonsense. The BoGs concern is not whether or not spending such a huge sum of our money, our very limited resources, as a giveaway to retiring employees, is the proper and fair thing to do; No, not that that is a fait accompli in their minds, it is absolutely justified. The Banks concern in explaining this affair is something more bothersome for its leadership. They call it sole sourcing mechanism to fund the purchase for the workers. The payment mechanism that did not offer choices of payment in terms of any competitive contractual inhibitions. $504.000 for Gold Watches for retiring workers! You cannot make this up! This giveaway of Gold Watches by the pre-eminent Public Financial Institution in our Country underscores the wholly cruel and hugely distorted concept of Public Service crafted for the benefits of the employees with little regard and protection for the Employer: A major distortion of the defining features of employment relations. And they thrive on this agonizing distortion. Take a look at their hiring instruments. Was there a provision for solid 18-Karat Gold Watches to be doled out by the People of Ghana at the end of their service period? How did all the ancillary benefits and these expensive throw-ins get into the mix of rewards and gratuities for their service at the Bank of Ghana. Do we have any provision in their employment contracts that upon serving for a period of certain years, for example, 30 years, such employees shall be sent off into the sunset with expensive Gold Watches? If not, who created and nourished this patent nonsense? For the beneficiaries of this extra gracious gratuities, a couple of needed questions: For all those years that they were receiving their normal pay and all other ancillary benefits, why didnt they save money to purchase Gold Watches on their own account. They were all reasonably well paid? Right? So, why in the name of subversion of reason and fairness and accountability do we have to carry the burden of Gold Watches for them? We know for certain that in all those years, these workers: Always received their full salaries and other ancillary benefits. They received all their training allowances. They received all their paid vacation. They received all their travel and incidental allowances More specifically, they were paid all their claims attributed to travel outside Ghana, including expensive hotel bills. Most, if not all, probably received their promotion and choice assignments. Most if not all, were provided with houses/apartments at the expense of the Public and with little input in the payment (Bungalows/Government Housing practically for free.) they received motor vehicles of the choicest brands and in most cases supplied with gas (petroleum) to freely operate those Public-issued vehicles. I am not making any reference to the hydra-headed monster we all know as Bribery and Corruption on top of all the specific benefits I have recounted. I am also not referencing special allowances that come in regularly from whatever source or sources they themselves are able to conjure up in the scheme of our financial networks. These people have been sitting at the head of the table for a long while. These inevitable facts drive the enriching environment our Public Servants work, and in particular, at the Bank of Ghana. So, where in the universe of their obligations, do they have the authority and the sense to define themselves as Public Masters and Overlords, at our expense. Where does this arrogant distortion of the fields of play in public service become operative, such that the public servants become Masters controlling the public needs for their benefits and Gold Watches? Where, in the universe of an impoverished nation, do we permit such open arrogance of public servant telling us what they can take for themselves at our expense. And the money comes from there! The Bank of Ghana! BoG and most of the Civil Service, especially in the higher echelons, have actually taken us for granted. We answer to them. Shocking! We bribe them routinely otherwise they do not do what they were hired to do. This is the dance of the insane. Everywhere one looks, one finds very dire needs. School feeding in shambles all over. Large segments of our children cannot afford shoes and small fees to pay for something in school. School houses across the country are simply shocking. Some actually operate under trees. Poverty and its attendant effects are glaring for all to see. Then comes this spectacularly idiotic phenomenon of leaders of a major public institution spending our money to buy Gold Watches for themselves; because they worked as public servants and got richly paid; provided with free housing; free cars to use with free petrol, and they believed all along that they must be Public Masters and Overlords not servants. We call them Massa when we need them to do what they are obligated to do for us. Why wont they believe that they are, in fact, Public Masters. The BoG and all public Institutions and their leadership- must recognize the fundamental difference between public service and private entrepreneurship. Even private institutions may not engage in self-serving, self-dealing, self-endowing in the management of their finances. The rules of the legal playing field will operate. Private enterprises may justifiable make awards, if it is within the rules and by laws. A different standard applies with Public Institutions. Numerous examples of abuse and dissipation of public funds exist. For example, the other day, we learned that the Chairperson of the Human Rights Commission, somehow managed to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars for her convenient hotel stay, while hundreds of thousands of dollars of hard earned cash was being expended to renovate her government/public issued bungalow. She never ever paid a cedi back to the public. Really, nothing happened to her in terms of this wanton egregious and cruel dissipation of public funds. Why is this horrible and nonchalant abuse so rampant? Why do presumably well-educated people put into positions to help develop our country and its institutions do us so much harm with their arrogant and sometimes plainly stupid dissipation of public funds? They get away with it so they do it. Why do we tolerate this abuse? The answer is blowing in the wind! All decisions, in public service must have value added to public interest and benefit. This principle applies to all in leadership, who control public funds. This goes for all civil servants and their coopted Politicians, feeding like hugs on the putrid carcasses of national corruption. As presently defined, public servants have effectively changed the dynamics of public service to self-servicing, help dealing, self-benefitting Masters. A crazy and illegal system of entitlement direct the operations of our Civil/Public service. The Gold Watch giveaway syndrome is only a manifestation of the sad and saddening reality that Ghanaians face every day in government offices across the nation. The model we seek in public service is a new dynamic Gold Standard. One that always fundamentally recognizes the essential attributes of public service. One that seeks excellence on behalf of the community of peoples. A fuller and fundamental recognition that in this arena, the People are sovereign and you are accountable to them. Not the other way around. Distortions and images of entrenched entitlement must be purged out of public service. The absurd ingrained sense of entitlement by our civil servants, especially those in the higher echelons, over-rides all common sense and loyalty to the People. This unchallenged nonsense, has destroyed the principles that sustain Public Service. This entitlement syndrome drives and sustains all decisions in public service, mostly, directed to the sinister enlargements of their pockets. What a shame. We seek a dynamic reform in the Public Service, otherwise all our ideas for development will come to nothing. We demand nothing more than a Gold Standard of Public Service; with an eye towards preventing this kind of wanton and deliberate dissipation of public funds. Return the Gold Watches as a measure of public accounting to the public you were supposed to serve. You must always remember, even if you believe yourselves to be Masters. You are Public Servants: That is what you are! DENNIS ADJEI-BRENYAH ESQ., is an attorney based in New York. The northern regional minister and parliamentary candidate for the ruling National Democratic Congress ,NDC, for the Wale Wale constituency in the East Mampurugu District, Honourable Abdulai Abubakari has appealed to the people of the Mampurugu Kingdom to shun the NPP Party's propaganda of asking electorates in the area to vote for Nana Addo and the NPP because of their son, Bawumiya. Many people believe the New Patriotic Party has always used Bawumiya's lineage to the Mampurigu Kingdom as a factor for which the people should vote for the NPP and its candidates in the area, But addressing thousands of NDC supporters at the party's campaign launch for the Nalerigu- Gambaga constituency at Gambaga in the Northern region, Honourable Abuba as he is popularly called said that shouldn't be, because Bawumiya is not the only personality among Mampurisi in the country. "Is Bawumiya the only personality we have in the Mampurugu kingdom?We all are here, am here, Alhaji Baba is here, Dr. Tia is here aren't we equal as Bawumiya" He asked the crowd. The regional minister also told the people not to make a mistake by voting the NPP party into power again because they have nothing good for the people of the country. "All that Nana Addo and his party talks about is a dream which can never be realized" he said. He reiterated John Mahama and the NDC party's plans to develop every part Ghana of which the people in the area will not be left out. According to him, all the developmental works started by John Mahama and the ruling party will be brought to a halt if people of Ghana make mistake and put NPP into power. He added that, the NPP has no messages for Ghanaians except the lies and deceit perpetrated by their running mate in his recent speeches. He also called on the people to help retire the parliamentary candidate of the NPP party in the area, ,Hajia Alima if she refuses to retire respectfully. Addis Ababa (AFP) - Ethiopia said Monday that "foreign enemies" like Egypt were behind an unprecedented wave of protests that has prompted the government to declare a six-month state of emergency. Ethiopia's government is facing the biggest challenge of its 25 years in power, with anti-government protests spreading, foreign owned companies targeted and a harsh security crackdown that has killed hundreds so far failing to quell the unrest. "The kind of threats we are facing, the kind of attacks that are now targeting civilians, targeting civilian infrastructures, targeting investment cannot be handled through ordinary law enforcement procedures," said communication minister Getachew Reda. Protesters from the majority Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups say they are marginalised by the minority Tigrayan-led government which they accuse of monopolising power and controlling the economy. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn has been in power since 2012 But Getachew said traditional enemy Egypt had allegedly trained and financed the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), regarded by Ethiopia as a terrorist group behind the protests. "We know for a fact that the terrorist group OLF has been receiving all kinds of support from Egypt," said Getachew. "Its leaders used to be in Asmara (Eritrea) now they are in Cairo." He said "elements in the Egyptian political establishment" were fomenting rebellion, seeking to promote "historical rights" over access to the River Nile. Ethiopia is building a hydropower dam on the Nile close to its source in the Ethiopian highlands, raising fears in Egypt which depends on controlling the flow of the Nile's waters for its survival. Last week Ethiopia's foreign ministry summoned Egypt's ambassador to discuss "the current situation", according to Ethiopian state media. People cross their wrists above their heads during the Oromo new year holiday of Irreechaa in Bishoftu, Ethiopia on October 2, 2016 "The government has every responsibility to restore order," Getachew said, a day after the government announced the state of emergency. Getachew said the "extraordinary situation" demanded the state of emergency but insisted it did not amount to a "blanket ban on civilian life". He raised the possibility of concessions to protesters such as a government reshuffle and a "broadening of political space". The euphoria, enthusiasm and joy with which the passage of the Mental Health Act (Act 846) came with, somewhere in March 2012 have evaporated into thin air like morning dew beyond the immediate cognisance of the mind. The ambience of excitement on the 2nd of March 2012 is a dream never fulfilled and the hope of seeing the full implementation of the Act is still uncertain. Or rather, better to say the fate of the full implementation of the Act rest on the shoulders of parliament as far as the Legislative Instrument (LI), which is the main engine of the Act, is concerned. Stakeholders in the sector anticipated a speedy revolution in mental healthcare delivery in Ghana since the new law is impregnated with sufficient and pungent antidote to christen the sector into a new chapter. However, the hope of seeing a brighter and improved mental healthcare system has become a long-term dream than anticipated. It requires the passage of a Legislative Instrument (LI) to fortify it financially. The status quo of funding mental health is a perennial challenge. Government is doing it best but the hard truth is that the funds released by government is woefully inadequate to meet the demands of the sector. The only three psychiatric hospitals in the country are constantly in the news either soliciting for funds from the public and philanthropists or threatening to stop admitting patients for shortage of food and patients drugs. Accra Psychiatric Hospital, the countrys main headquarters of mental healthcare, popularly called Accra Mental was recently in the news. The hospital did not have common A-4 sheets and other basic logistics to work with. This compelled the facility to suspend its Out-Patient Department (O.P.D). This dire situation is not limited to Accra Psychiatric Hospital alone. The problem of financial constraints transcends the borders of Accra Psychiatric Hospital. It is a viral that confronts all the three psychiatric hospitals. All three psychiatric hospitals sing the same financial chorus. The hospitals owe their food suppliers huge sums of monies. Some of the suppliers have stopped supplying and others too have resorted to court action. This quagmire inevitably contributes to poor working conditions of the facilities and unquestionably demoralises the staff spirit, especially the nurses. Staff cannot give out their best when things such as gloves, A-4 sheets, disinfectants, plasters, ex cetera are constantly in short supply. The new mental health law is one of the best mental health laws in Africa if adequately resourced. It replaces the Mental Health Decree 1972, (NRCD 30) which lacks enough provisions to match modern trend of mental healthcare. The new law seeks to protect the fundamental human right of the mentally challenged, incorporate and regulate the proliferation of prayer camps and traditional healers in the treatment and care of mental patients, deemphasising institutional care of mental patients, and decentralising mental healthcare. Though the law is in existence, the state of mental healthcare has not seen much improvement as expected. Things seem to retrogress after four years of the existence of the new law. Mental patients are is still rampant on the streets. Efforts by Mental Health Authority to clear the cities of mental patients have not yielded much positive results. It needs the financial muscle to carry out the exercise periodically and accordingly reintegrate them with their families. The springing up of prayer camps, traditional healers, and their attitudes towards the mental patients they attend to, leaves much to be desired. Abuse of the rights of mental patients is a daily tale at the camps. The right of mental patients and people living with mental disorders including those on the streets are enshrined in the new law and need to be protected but as the law sits now, it is akin to a toothless dog who only bark loudly but cannot bite. Does the government care about the mental health? Your guess is as good as mine. The government of the day and past governments have not placed much priority on mental health in this country. It is not surprising that none of the presidential candidates said anything tangible in their manifestoes about uplifting the image of mental health from its current predicaments. A country that does not put premium on its health sector, more especially on mental health is a country bound to making bad policies by it leaders. Barely a month ago, the presidential candidate of the ruling National Democratic Party (NDC), President John Dramani Mahama in his quest to lure the good people of Ghana to give him a second term, confidently said he will build two additional psychiatric hospitals in the country when voted into power come December 7. That, one will be built in the northern region and one in the Ashanti region. Again, his government in their second term will develop Pantang Psychiatric Hospital to a first class mental health facility and relocate Accra Psychiatric Hospital. Really! That sounds good, isnt it? Provided it is not a political talk show. The politician is capable of saying anything that comes to his mind when their political libido is high. Even if it is about telling the people that Jesus Christ is coming on an appointment date, they will say it without fear. After all, they know how to reverse the gear if their promises become a nine-day wonder. Is the president aware of the current situation of mental healthcare in the country? Why building additional psychiatric hospitals when the only three hospitals are struggling to survive? What is the essence of building additional hospitals when common A-4 sheets, gloves, disinfectants and other basic logistics are not available at a hospital? The status quo of mental healthcare and for that matter psychiatric hospitals need resources to deliver. It needs adequate funding to meet its myriad challenges that have been bedevilling the sector since the year 2000. Expansion is not the solution, adequate funding is. The new mental health law already has provision to building a 50-bed capacity in each region of Ghana. Is the president aware of this? The new law will also ensure the establishment of four Drug Rehabilitation Centres and 20-bed ward in each regional hospital across the country. More psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, Physician Assistants in psychiatry, as well as occupational therapists are going to be trained. Whiles the idea of expansion is not wholly misplaced, the president should demonstrate his true commitment to the sector now by equipping and resourcing the current hospitals so stakeholders can be convinced rather than trying to bite more than he can chew. The President should prod parliament to expedite the passage of the legislative instrument (LI) so mental healthcare can have a reliable source of funding instead of the hospitals having to lament always before aid arrives. The politicians say one student, one tablet. One village, one dam. One district, one factory. They give no heed to mental health and usually end up building castles in the air because they do without a sound mind. Vote for mental health. Vote for Mental Health Authority to make your mental health its priority. When the new mental health law is fully equipped and resourced, mental healthcare will be wheeled from Pantang, Accra Mental and Ankaful to your doorstep. This will reduce your stress of having to travel from far places to the only three state psychiatric hospitals in the cities. Mental health care will be free. Your streets will be cleared of mad people. Mental health education will be made available in every quarters: on the TV screens, on the radios, on the streets, in churches, mosques, symposiums and all available corners. Vote for mental health. You would learn to know, identify and report early signs and symptoms of mental and psychological problems for prompt care. You will differentiate between a witch and a mentally challenged person on the street. So the naked disorientated old woman on the street who stares blankly and bothers not the lens of your camera and phone snaps would not be mistaken for a witch. Support mental health today for sound mind. Join the campaign for parliament to pass the LI. A nation of sound mind is a healthy and prosperous nation. Mental illness is not a curse, it is a disease and it is no respecter of persons. Today it is somebody, tomorrow it could be you! Mental Health, Your Total Health. The writer, Malcolm Akatinga Ali is a nurse at Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital, Cape Coast. Email: [email protected] Facebook: Malcolm Chibaro Ali : Malcolm Akatinga In the more democratic and enlightened societies, the bromidic word is reasoning, unlike my country of origin (Ghana), where respect has always been the norm. As a matter of fact, in Ghana, one must always seek to discharge his/her emotional intelligence and show deference for fear of being upbraided for upsetting the frumpish, and crude majoritarian Africa culture of respect. Obviously, it is that trite and dowdy word respect that has given the grown up people in Africa as a whole, the licence to misbehave over the years. For, if that was not the case, how come our shameless, incompetent and corrupt leaders continue to sink the economy deeper and deeper into the mire, create, loot and share our resources and often go scot free? Of course, you would be tagged disrespectful for criticising for instance, a president who sleeps on the job, accepts bribes and dips his hands fecklessly into the national coffers. For God sake, how could it be contumelious for calling a spade a spade? To be quite honest, it is neither an offence to suggest that an individual has no competence to hold down a position nor slanderous to pontificate that a person is Devoid of the qualities requisite for effective conduct of an important position like the president of a nation. For instance, whilst we can highly extol President Kufuor and his NPP government for moving Ghana from the Highly Indebted Poor Country (HIPC) status to a Lower Middle Income status in 2001, we cannot also be rebuked for censuring President Mahama and his NDC government for sending us back to the HIPC status. Of course, there is nothing wrong to sing tuneful praises of former President Kufuor and his NPP government for quadrupling Ghana's economy to US$ 16 billion in 2008, a period of eight years. At the same time, we must not and cannot stand accused of exhibiting risible and inborn predilection for reprobating President Mahama and his NDC government for wilfully collapsing the economy during the last seven and half years. Indeed, there is an admissible evidence of irreversible incompetence on the part of President Mahama and his NDC government. For example, according to Dr Bawumiah, in the last seven years alone under this NDC government, Ghanas total debt has ballooned from GH9.5 billion to a projected GH110 billion by the end of September 2016. This means that 90% (i.e. GHC99.5 billion) of Ghanas total debt since independence has been accumulated under this NDC government from 2009-2015 i.e. the last seven and half years. Ironically, however, after failing to improve upon Ghanas economy during the last seven and half years, President Mahama and his clamorous apparatchiks are cunningly taking refuge in their much publicised infrastructural projects. Paradoxically, though, it was the same President Mahama who happily pontificated somewhere in 2008 that every government undertakes infrastructural projects and therefore it would be an exercise in mediocrity for any government to hide behind infrastructural projects in the face of economic collapse. In that regard, it is somewhat ironic that President Mahama will then turn round and insist that governance is all about putting up infrastructural projects. How bizarre? Little did President Mahama know that the ball he was throwing against the wall will eventually bounce towards him. Indeed, a ball has bounce back ability. Isnt it also ironic that President Mahamas NDC party founder, J. J. Rawlings never believes in the idea of focusing primarily on infrastructural projects? Indeed, the founder of the NDC Party doesnt believe in infrastructural projects, hence exterminating someone who performed incredibly well in the area of social infrastructure and amenities. History will remind us that the military ruler General Kutu Acheampong, performed a yeomans job in terms of infrastructural projects, yet he managed to sink the economy into the mire (as President Mahama has done) to the disgust of people like his party founder Jerry John Rawlings. Regrettably, however, J. J. Rawlings went into conniption-fit and annihilated General Kutu Acheampong in 1979 through firing squad for focusing mainly on numerous infrastructural projects and supposedly collapsing the economy. Let me however state categorically that President Mahamas comeuppance wont come in the form of barbaric firing squad used effervescently by his NDC Party founder J. J. Rawlings to settle a score with his opponents, but rather, he will be punished through the forthcoming universal adult suffrage. Yes, President Mahama was absolutely right for suggesting that it would be an exercise in mediocrity for any president to use infrastructural projects as his/her unparalleled achievement. Apparently, based on President Mahamas own previous analysis on infrastructural projects, he has indeed shown an unalterable incompetence and does not deserve another term in office. I thus beseech discerning Ghanaians to go out there and vote massively for a positive change in the forthcoming general elections. Otherwise, someone else will elect a semicircle of undistinguished, corrupt and incompetent representatives who will only continue to sink the nation deeper and deeper into the mire. K. Badu, UK. The Deputy Chief of Staff has stated that President John Dramani Mahamas administration has worked tirelessly for the benefit of Ghana. He says the government has never relented in its efforts to develop the country, in the field of education, health and infrastructure. Jonny Osei Kofi, who is also the NDC's Parliamentary candidate for the Oforikrom constituency, was speaking to youth and students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, duly attended by the NPP's parliamentary candidate for Oforikrom Constituency, Dr. Emmanuel Marfo, CPP's Ivor Kobina Greenstreet and others. The Deputy chief of staff noted that, the achievements of President Mahama are there for you to see. They are not planted in the air; they are tangible, that you can see, you can touch. He explained that the NDC government has within the past years, increased development in education and healthcare delivery, adding that, this government has not been wasteful; President Mahama has never been wasteful. Jonny Osei Kofi advised students to take into their own hands their destinies, venturing into businesses and striving for excellence since. He admonished the youth to take our training very serious adding that government will continually seek to equip the youth through technical and vocational education. By: Laurettah Timah/citifmonline.com/Ghana The NPP's running mate for the 2016 elections, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has warned of a likely collapse of Ghana's pension scheme by 2019 due to some financial challenges confronting the institution. According to Dr. Bawumia, the financial viability of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT), has deteriorated making it difficult for the company to meet its obligation to contributors to the fund. Speaking at the NPP manifesto launch at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra, Dr. Bawumia warned the current course of SSNIT would leave it and pensioners in a dire situation. Our pensioners are under threat, currently the financial viability of the Social Security and National Insurance Trust is in question, he cautioned. In his address, Dr. Bawumia noted that, the World Bank in its 2016 report of governance of SSNIT, stated that the actuarial valuation shows that the fund will become a cash flow negative in 2019 and all assets will be used up by 2031. At this point, the benefits would have to match the inflows and will lead to very significant cuts in the benefit for current pensioners. This is the World Bank telling us that SSNIT is collapsing and that would result in a cut in pensions. The former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana also blamed the current government over what he says is its mismanagement of the economy. Meanwhile Dr. Bawumia has assured that an NPP government will ensure that the funds of the National Pensions Regulatory Authority will be applied solely for the purpose of the development of pensions and we will fully implement section 103 of the pension act which assigns pension benefits for housing of workers. Eight Banks collapsing under this economy Bawumia Dr. Bawumia also highlighted the governing National Democratic Congress' (NDC) handling of the economy, that has left eight banks also at the point of collapse. After eight years of mismanagement, the banking system has been pushed to dangerously fragile levels. Eight banks are currently on the edge of collapse, he also warned. Dr. Bawumia noted that, under John Mahama, Ghana has now been classified as a country with a high risk of debt distress. Despite the NDC asserting that the loans it has been acquiring have been used for development projects, he retorted that the debt has not been channeled into development as the value of total government investment in infrastructure is just about $7 billion. According to the IMF, most of Ghana's borrowing under this John Mahama government has been spent on corruption and consumption rather than investment, The NPP running mate added. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana Ms. Tina Joematt-Pettersson, the Minister of Energy has announced the successful bidders for the 1st Coal-based Independent Power Producer Programme. Coal is South Africas dominant energy source. 77% of South Africas energy needs are provided by this mineral. Environmental considerations and the increasing prevalence of extreme climate events compel the South African government to progressively reduce our dependence on coal and traditional coal fired electricity plant technologies. As one of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change participating member states, South Africa has made international commitments to both sustainable development and climate change. With the understanding that this will entail a reduction in the use of fossil fuels, these commitments signalled an important step in South Africas journey to a cleaner energy future. In October 2015, along with Energy Ministers from the G20 countries, South Africa affirmed its commitment to enhanced deployment of Renewable Energy (RE). South Africas commitments to a lower carbon and carbon resilient future have also been embedded throughout the countrys national policy framework. In 2010, the South African Government adopted a plan to grow the share of RE in the electricity mix from 0% to 21% over the 20 year planning horizon to 2030, simultaneously reducing the capacity share of fossil fuels in the electricity mix from 86.5% to 57%.Our Renewal Energy Independent Power Producers Programme (REIPPPP) is effecting this commitment. As at the end of June 2016, 6 376 MW of electricity have been procured from 102 RE Independent Power Producers in six (6) bid rounds. Of this, 2 200 MW of electrical generation capacity from 44 IPP projects has been connected to the national grid, said the Minister. Launched in December 2014, the Coal Programme is the first baseload programme which allows the private sector to generate energy using coal resources. This programme is rolled out through two (2) bid windows. The preferred bidders of the first bid window coal baseload programme are Thabametsi and Khanyisa. Both bidders were selected as per the stringent requirements of the first bid submission phase, with all bids reviewed and evaluated by the IPP Office. The bidders will collectively add 863.3MW to the countrys grid in the next five years, which is set to begin commercial operation in December 2020. Both projects will use proven technology from suppliers with a track record of timeous delivery. With the collective backing of foreign developers from Korea, Japan and Saudi Arabia, the SA banking sector, including the Development Bank of South Africa (DBSA), the PIC and IDC, the two bidders already have a formidable set of partners committed to enabling their projects success, said the minister. The Minister also said that while these two projects will add much needed capacity to our national grid, they ultimately have a far greater role to play in terms of the overall value they will add to the sector. This value has been enabled through a strategic bid design which saw participants required to have a minimum South African entity participation of 51%, black ownership of 30%, and a weighted B-BBEE contributor status of level five in respect of locally based shareholders, among others. The two Coal IPPs will additionally unlock investment in much needed infrastructure and stimulate local procurement. While the over R40 164 million of debt and equity funding committed to the projects demonstrates what the investors see in the coal programme space, the jobs created both during construction (6 613) and operations (13 524) will have a positive impact on surrounding communities. The Minister also emphasised that while South Africas energy build plan still incorporates the development of fossil fuel assets in the foreseeable future, the department is committed to transition to a low-carbon economy, with priority to be given to clean energy alternatives, subject to current technological and cost constraints. We are already seeking ways and new technologies to use fossil fuels with minimal carbon emissions - the RFP for the second coal bid window is being reviewed to give consideration to the inclusion of clean coal technologies said Minister Joemat-Pettersson. "The current migration flows should be approached on the basis of the renewed relationship between Europe and Africa, in compliance with the Migration Compact promoted by the Italian Government. Migrant flows landing on Italian shores in the past days underline the urgent need for European action to support transit countries such as Libya," said Deputy Foreign Minister Vincenzo Amendola. Minister Amendola attended, together with Ambassador Alesssandro Azzoni, the Organisation for Security and Co-Operation in Europe (OSCE) Mediterranean Conference held in Vienna. "Member countries should draft a Mediterranean agenda with OSCE playing a proactive role to serve as a platform for dialogue, security and development,"added Amendola. "The aim is to provide an OSCE security architecture in the Mediterranean area, urging youth to voice their responses to the regional challenges." Representatives of 57 OSCE Member Countries participated in the Conference as well as those of Partner Countries. The agenda included themes such as migration, terrorism and policies focusing on young generations. Many young participants, coming from the northern and southern shores of the Mediterranean, contributed to the debate, united in their shared challenges and desire to become promoters of change. The UN Special Represetative for Libya, Martin Kobler, proposed a more viable role for young people through a "Mediterranean Youth Parliament", while the Libyan Foreign Minister, Mohamend Taha Siala, reiterated the need to join the OSCE Mediterranean partnership. The working lunch, organised by Austrian Foreign Minister Sebastian Kurz, focused on the topic of Libya's stabilisation prospects. The OSCE Mediterranean Conference, a landmark event taking place during the Austrian Presidency of the Contact Group with Mediterranean Partnership Countries, proposed for Italy to hold the next Presidency of the Group (as of Jan. 1st 2017). This is in view of Italy's upcoming OSCE Presidency in 2018. The Deputy Coordinator of the National Disaster Management (NADMO) says the crowds that turned out at the 2016 manifesto launch of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was not surprising. Joseph Yamin believes the party members had been starved of a manifesto hence the huge turnout at the International Trade Fair Centre on Sunday. Looking at how they had been postponing the manifesto launch date, the party members were obviously starved and that is why they came in their numbers, he said on the AM Show on MultiTV. Thousands of NPP supporters thronged the venue for a rally after the party's manifesto launch in Accra. The launch was meant for some accredited few including the media, civil society groups, traditional leaders and party leaders after which the mammoth rally began. Many observers have made the huge crowd that flowed at the event grounds one of the highlights of discussions after the launch. Comparing this to his party's manifesto launch, Mr Yamin said the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had massive attendance at its launch in Sunyani than what was seen at the Trade Fair Centre. He claimed members of the NPP were bused from various constituencies across the country to Accra for the launch, hence the huge numbers. But the Member of Parliament (MP) for Fanteakwa North said 99 percent of the people at the rally are residents of the Greater Accra Region. "No members were bused to the venue. I was there with my constituency executives, not even a head was bused from my constituency to attend the rally," Kwabena Amakwa Asiamah added. Mr Yamin challenged the claim that assertion by producing a photograph of one of the new BRT buses with NPP flags and posters of the MP for Ayawaso West Wuogon also in Accra, Kyeremateng Agyarko on it. But Mr Amankwa Asiamah interrupted and asked if Ayawaso West Wuogon was outside Accra. "Bringing out a photo of a bus with Agyarko's posters on a bus to support the claim that we bused people from other regions is laughable. If you have those with constituencies outside Accra, show them," he challenged Mr Yamin. Mr Yamin claimed one of the buses transporting supporters from Kumasi in the Ashanti Region to the venue was involved in an accident. "The pictures are out there and we will soon see them," Mr Yamin indicated. Story by Ghana| Myjoyonline.com | Akosua Asiedua Akuffo | [email protected] Assets worth several thousands of Ghana cedis were on Sunday lost to floods in the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua. An over 3-hour long downpour swept through areas such as Oyoko, Abrewa Nkwanta, Asokore, Pipeline, Effiduase and Highways, displacing many families and washing away assets including cars. This is the third time the Koforidua township has suffered destruction from floods after two similar incidents last week and a fortnight ago. Some affected shop owners told Citi News that although the areas are known to be flood-prone, the havoc wrecked by Sunday's rains has been the worst. Citi News' correspondent, Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku, said some fire officers who arrived at a flooded fuel station at Abrew Nkwanta were helpless as the situation was beyond their control. Some affected residents accused a road contractor assigned to reconstruct deplorable roads in the area of a poor job, hence the regular floods. About three (3) years ago the contractor came and reconstructed the roads and fixed small culverts instead of a big one we had previously. Since then, weve not had our peace in this area because since the the beginning of this month, weve been experiencing floods anytime it rains so we have a big problem here. Government must come and help us because we dont know what to do, an affected resident lamented. Another resident who spoke to Citi News said, I have lost a deep freezer, mattress and other things. I dont know where to sleep so I am just hanging around. We are hoping the water subsides then maybe we can do something about the situation. 'Two die in flood' Last week, two people died after heavy rains ravaged parts of Koforidua in the Eastern Region. The town was submerged in flood waters which washed away parked vehicles and other property. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana President Jacob Zuma will undertake a State Visit to Kenya from 10-12 October, the first by a South African head of state since the dawn of freedom and democracy in South Africa. The visit will enable South Africa to deepen economic, political, cultural and social relations with Kenya, the leading economy in the East African region. The visit will further provide a platform for both countries to review progress on key areas of bilateral cooperation, which include amongst others: trade and investment; agriculture; tourism and infrastructure development. The two Heads of State will exchange views on important regional, continental and global issues of mutual concern. Kenya is an important partner for South Africa in the advancement of inter- and intra-African trade and investment. South Africa is Kenya's fourth source of imports, with South African exports amounting to R 8.3 billion and imports to R366 million in 2015. Currently, over 60 South African companies are operating in Kenya and South Africa is the 6th largest investor in Kenya after China, United Kingdom, United States of America, India and Nigeria; and the largest trading partner on the continent outside the SADC region. Further opportunities exist for strengthening the economic ties through optimising investment opportunities in the mutually identified areas of energy, infrastructure development, blue economy and retail. The two countries are scheduled to sign Agreements and Memoranda of Understanding in the fields of Defence, Police, Home Affairs, Environment; Revenue Services; and infrastructure development under the Lamu-South Sudan-Ethiopia Transport Corridor (LAPSSET). The signing of these instruments are an indication of South Africa's determination to enhance the bilateral relations and serves as confirmation of its desire to forge a strategic partnership with Kenya. During the visit President Zuma will also address South Africa-Kenya Business Forum, on 11th October 2016, which will provide a platform to further explore investment and trade opportunities between the two countries and support the interaction between the public and private sectors of South Africa and Kenya. President Zuma will be accompanied by Ms Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, Minister of International Relations and Cooperation; Ms Lynne Brown, Minister of Public Enterprise; Mr Malusi Gigaba, Minister of Home Affairs; Mr Nathi Nhleko, Minister of Police; Ms Edna Molewa, Minister of Environmental Affairs; and Ms Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula, Minister of Defence and Military Veterans. Conservative Muslim clerics are up in arms again. This time against artists and the art industry in Nigeria. Their target is a young female artist named Rahma Sadau this time. Muslim clerics banned the Nigerian actress from the Hausa language film industry, Kannywood, because she hugged and cuddled a male artist in a video. Yes, that was her crime. She expressed romance in a movie, and not in real life! That it. She did nothing else. These clerical throwbacks claimed Sadaus behavior was immoral and that her actions corrupted peoples values. Really? Muhammadu Kabiru Maikaba, Chairman of Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (Moppan), described Sadaus romantic display as wayward. Maikaba stated Sadaus actions in a video dented our image and violated Islamic and Hausa culture. Take another look at the name of the association that Maikaba chairs, it reads: Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (Moppan) NOT Islamic Motion Pictures Practitioners Association of Nigeria (IMoppan). Thats a salient distinction. Unfortunately, we have zero efforts by these moral police officers to explain the immorality of hugging and cuddling in a film, especially to the point of banning such a promising and talented artist. I mean, how does a romantic display in a film dent the image of Hausa culture and Islam? Is the Hausa culture against hugging and cuddling? Is Islam opposed to romance? These are important questions in need of clarification because of worrisome developments in the region. Sadaus banning is one onslaught among numerous examples by these Taliban-like Muslim clerics against the art industry in Nigeria. It must be recalled that in July these same Muslim clerics made the government set aside a planned film village project in Kano. The village planned to provide state of the art facilities for the Hausa language film outfit known as Kannywood. However, these artless clerics, who share the same ideology with Boko Haram jihadists, opposed the project because they claimed it would promote immoral behaviours such as hugging and cuddling. In fact, one of their political allies even said the cancellation of the film village project was in line with the will of the people. Imagine that. The will of which people, and how many? I mean, when did the will of Islamic clerics become the will of the people? Its unfair and enforcement of ideology by a few on the collective. Its unjust. Thus, it is evident that the specter of Islamic fundamentalism is haunting the art industry particularly in Northern Nigeria. We need to expel this vicious ghost before it destroys the country. Lovers of creative art and supporters of womens rights must show support and solidarity for Rahma Sadau. Progressive Muslims and Hausa-speaking people, who do not subscribe to this ban, need to let the world know about it. That is, they should speak out that these Muslim clerics do not represent the voice and position of most Muslims and Hausas across region. There are times when silence is a bad strategy. Even when refusing to keep mum is a mark of moderate or progressive Muslim, it is that time now. The ban of Rahma Sadau is an assault on the rights and dignity of women and girls. Sadaus artistic expression signifies defiance of oppressive Islam, patriarchal norms and cultural traditions, and the subordination of women as represented by these conservative, all-male Muslim clerics. Sadaus art symbolizes womens emancipation, empowerment, and liberation. It makes a case for Islamic and cultural reformation. It is a clarion call for social change and progress in Northern Nigeria. Personally, I stand with Rahma Sadau and vehemently oppose her ban from Kannywood. I oppose the creeping fundamentalist influence on art and culture by Muslim clerics, and their allies. Those who speak for Muslim communities should learn to separate Hausa culture from Islamic culture. They should advocate progressive gender stances for a forward-looking Islam rather than the conservative patriarchal backward-oriented Muslim faith. There is a need to stop the interference of Muslim clerics in the art industry. Hence, I support the rights of Sadau and female artists to express themselves through art and creative activities. I stand with Rahma Sadau. The reason is simple: she didnt commit an offence by hugging and cuddling a male artist in a video. In fact, she performed the role of an artist. So, that should not be a reason to punish or sanction her. Rather, Rahma Sadau should be celebrated. Why? Because Islamic and Hausa cultures are more diverse and rich in part due to what she did in that video as well as contributions from her other artistic competencies. So, please join me in supporting Rahma Sadau and other progressive artists in Nigerias Muslim and Hausa communities. I stand with her. I am with Rahma Sadau, are you? The much talked about the need to migrate from analogue form of broadcasting to digital broadcasting has been with us for some time now. The migration has become necessary due to the fast nature of technological innovations and inventions in the broadcasting industry and the world at large. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU), a global telecommunication union with responsibility of developing policy and standards that guides the improvement of telecommunications infrastructure held a conference in Geneva (2006) and signed a treaty which recommended that member states migrate from analogue to Digital television broadcasting. Ghana, also a member of the ITU signed onto the treaty to phase out analogue television broadcasting from 17th June, 2006 to 17th June, 2015. Digital broadcasting is a process in which broadcasting services offered on the traditional analogue technology are replaced with digital base networks over a specific period. Digital television broadcasting will allow so many programme signals to be compressed and transmitted. The receiving end will also be able to make meaning of the compressed transmitted signals thereby allowing viewers to experience different variety of television channels. The analogue to the digital migration is envisioned to be the largest initiative to impact the Ghana television broadcasting since the conversion from black and white (monochrome) to colour television in 1980's. The migration process will not only affect the broadcasting industry but will also be a major undertaking for TV viewers in Ghana. The difference between analogue television and digital television differ in the way information is carried from the source to the receiver. Unlike Analogue broadcasting which requires every terrestrial television station to transmit its signals on a separate transmission platform, the digital television broadcasting on the other hand, offers an opportunity to overcome the challenge of the unwillingness of individual broadcasters to share broadcasting infrastructure, since one transmission network can carry multiple programme channels. For more emphasis, in analogue television broadcasting, each broadcaster must distribute signals from the main point of transmission to every transmission site and must own and operate transmitters in all areas that are to be covered. Hence, ten broadcasters for instance will need ten transmitters for the ten programme to cover a given locality with each using a separate frequency channel. Digital broadcasting will thereby overcome this challenge of analogue broadcasting and allow the ten programmes to be transmitted by one digital television transmitter at different frequencies. Ghana is already behind time regarding the deadline for the analogue switch off and may likely not be able to completely finish the migration process by the end 2016. Experts in the industry are of the view that the slow pace of the digital migration in Africa can be seen as a dark cloud hanging over the African TV market. Currently, the geographic extent of TV signal in Ghana is 80% coverage of the land area and 70% of the population is covered and the uncovered areas are due to gaps caused by an unseen distribution of the analogue transmitters. The digital rollout have future plans to extend the coverage and also close gaps in the existing analogue system. Despite the numerous benefits (clearer pictures, better sound quality, more television programmes and infrastructure sharing by broadcasters etc.) the digital migration offers to the broadcasting industry and viewers, there have been serious concerns about the impact of the migration on the industry and the viewing public. Already, there have been issues about the job security of technicians (including GBC technicians) and those manning the analogue television transmitters across the country, delay in migration & unrealistic timelines (that could probably lead to dumping of obsolete analogue TV sets by countries that have completed the migration process) and the uncertainties surrounding the migration process (especially concerns raised by the independent broadcasters). Key among the impacts have been the issue of the job security of GBC Technicians manning the analogue transmitters across Ghana. GBC Union have staged a series of protest to ensure no staff loses his or her job due to the migration. Despite the protest, there seems to be a glooming danger of some in the industry loosing their jobs. Much of the protest is heard on the side of GBC because of its widest coverage and the number of personnel the corporation have manning their analogue transmitters sites across the country. What also appears to be causing this uncertainties (within the GBC cirles) is the decision of government to award the installation of the digital transmission platform to a private institution by name K-net. One area, also of serious concern after the migration is the issue of signal loss (either due to weather, uploading challenges etc). Mostly in analogue transmission, the transmitters for individual broadcasters, covering a particular location, are situated at different locations, thereby reducing the effect of signal loss from the satellite when the weather (either due to heavy rain) poses a challenge with reception within sections of the coverage area. The digital transmission on the other hand will have all individual terrestrial broadcasters on a common transmission platform. This will however increase the tendency of a total signal loss (due to heavy rain) which will affect all the television stations on that common platform at the given coverage location (This impact can therefore be liken to a total black out of terrestrial television reception). For this reason, fiber optic cable for transmitting the signal from the source to the transmitter sites should be seriously considered. The issue of the moral fiber of the Ghanaian society after the migration has also been of concern to some section of the public. Because a lot of television content will be available after the migration, there are fears that foreign channels and programmes will fill our television space thereby influencing and exposing the citizenry (especially the youth) to immoral & unacceptable foreign cultures. A research conducted by a student of the University of Education Winneba to ascertain the impact of the digital migration found that 80% of the respondents were of the opinion that "the moral fiber of Ghana's society is likely to be influenced by foreign cultures because of the plenty channels and different television content of all kind that is foreseen to be made available on the digital Terrestrial television experience. The research work concluded by drawing government and the stakeholders attention to ensure proper regulation and monitoring is Instituted to avoid airing of programmes that does not promote our heritage and aspirations as a country. To this end, the digital migration will in no doubt impact heavily on the broadcasting industry and the viewing public. For this reason, all stakeholders must brace themselves for whatever might come up after the full migration. Ibrahim Mohammed Hamid (Broadcast Technician ) Yayaha Seidu 10.10.2016 LISTEN A former communicator and campaigner of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Bole-Bamboi constituency of the Northern region, Yayaha Seidu popularly called Braa Prex- doe has described members of his former party as extremists and intolerant. He disclosed that ever since he defected from the NPP months ago and joined the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) in order to champion the second term bid of President John Dramani Mahama who he said is his kinsman, he has come under a barrage of attacks from members from his former party. Life has been tough after leaving NPP.attacks, insults and attempts by former members of party to denigrate my image are encountered on daily basis, he disclosed. He observed that this was never witnessed while he was with the NPP and criticizing the NDC and the president he said was his brother stating that over time, he has come to the realization that his newly found love is more tolerant to the real rudiments of democracy than his former. While I was with the NPP, I kept criticizing the NDC and the president but I was never attacked this way. They are just intolerant yet they are calling themselves democratic. The actions of those attacking me is not surprising taking into account the person leading the party. The insulting conduct of persons who disagree with my current political stance is surprising, he observed. Yayaha Seidu challenged those attacking him to an intellectual discourse to convince voters rather than channel their energies to verbally abusing him maintaining that it was a clear manifestation of the NPPs unwillingness to capture power. While discounting claims he was already a planted mole in the NPP just to create disaffection among its ranks, he said he was poised to working at the grassroots to solidify the victory of the NDC he said has sprang up various developmental projects to the admiration of Ghanaians. I am impressed with the radical development embarked on by the current NDC..it will surprise you to know that not all their projects are contained in the infamous Green Book. In spite of this, the NDC green book still contains a lot and it needs to be circulated widely for the citizenry to see the good works of the president. It is evidence based, he added The Electoral Commission on Monday rejected a cash amount presented to it by the Independent People's Party (IPP) as filing fees for the party's parliamentary nominees. Kofi Akpaloo, flagbearer of the party presented his GHc50,000 filing fee in bankers draft but gave the EC a cash amount of GHc10,000 each for his parliamentary nominees in a 'Ghana-must-go' bag. Citi News' Sixtus Don Ullo reported from the headquarters of the EC that the Commission turned down the money and instructed that the cash be converted into a bankers draft and submitted before the midday deadline. The IPP as of the close of nominations was however not able to submit the filing fee for its parliamentary nominees, he added. Submit filing fees by midday All the parties were supposed to submit their filing fees by midday today [Monday] after an Accra High court dismissed an injunction suit filed by the Progressive People's Party (PPP) in protest of the fees. The PPP had argued that the GHc50, 000 and GHc10, 000 filing fees for both presidential and parliamentary hopefuls was too high. CPP filing fee wahala The Convention People's Party (CPP) also delayed with the submission of its bankers draft . Sixtus reported that the CPP led by its National Chairman, Prof. Edumund Delle, told the Commission that they were still processing the bankers draft to be forwarded to them [EC] two minutes to the deadline. National Chairman of the CPP, Prof. Delle, showed up at the Commission, two minutes before deadline, to explain that their bankers drafts for both presidential and parliamentary nominees were still being processed, and asked for more time. The Commission however says it will retire to decide on the request. This could effectively derail the partys chances to contest the December polls, Don Ullo said. 14 parties submit filing fees A total of 12 political parties and two independent candidates were able to submit filing fees of their presidential and parliamentary nominees to the EC before the 12pm deadline today. By: Godwin A. Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana Follow @AlloteyGodwin Politics is not about creating bitter rivalry or enmity between people but it is all about sharing ideas and getting better people to govern a nation through the formulation and implementation of policies for the collective betterment of the people and the nation. However, in Ghana like many African countries looked down by our contemporary Whites as less civilized, politics has become an arena for acquiring immense, but illegal wealth at the expense of the governed and also stupidly maiming and, or, killing fellow citizens. It was all over the media that on Thursday 6 October 2016 at Osu Accra, while Nana Akufo Addo, the NPP presidential candidate was on the campaign platform, an unknown person, an assailant of course, from among the audience threw a stone at him. The stone hit Nana Akufo Addo on the forehead. What was the motive behind the throwing of the stone at him? Did the person want to injure or kill him and if that was the intention, what did the person stand to gain? Was it to eliminate the only potential presidential challenger to President Mahama? Whatever the intents of whoever stoned Nana Akufo Addo were, let it be known to him that he is a bushman who has taken the typical Ghanaian political bigotry to the extreme. He has proved how uncivilized he is. Does the person know that the stone could have easily killed Nana Akufo due to the impact of a flying object on its target no matter how small the flying object is? If it was simply to create fun or to attract some sort of silly public attention, the offender could simply have used an egg instead of a stone. Uncooked egg cannot cause any major injury to a person hit by it even though one can still be arrested for soiling the victims dress when the raw egg breaks to stain the victim somehow. In the side of the civilized world, thus, the Whitemans land, one will rather throw raw eggs at their human targets in protest than to use deadly weapons in the form of stones. The person who threw the stone at Nana Akufo for whatever reason is a criminal and an uncivilized dangerous person who deserves to be removed from the public. To that person and his supporters, he has done a great job meriting him accolades but to me and all discerning Ghanaians, he is worse than a bushman living in a whole somewhere in the remotest part of Ghana where displaying such bestial character is their way of living. Everybody, please help me to hoot at that person as an uncivilized person who does not understand the beauty of democracy and politics in general huuuuuuu! I am sure President Mahama will not reward him for casting a stone at Nana Akufo Addo unlike how he rewarded the notorious Montie 3 by exercising his Presidential clemency in such a silly manner to favour the Montie 3 (Salifu Maase aka Mugabe, Alistair Nelson and Godwin Ako Gunn), when they threatened to eliminate and, or, rape some Supreme Court justices. Additionally, all those who mockingly but in an act denoting spiritism, carried the said coffin of Nana Akufo Addo at the NDC Manifesto Conference at Suyani recently are all equally bush people who exhibit jungle characters that the animals in the wild will even not think of, or dare to, or will be scared of, doing. Such are, sorry to say, the people running the affairs of Ghana. What a shame! Rockson Adofo It is quite bizarre that President Mahama does not seem to be fretted over the numerous bribery and corruption allegations that have been levelled against him. Apparently, the idiosyncratic allegations include, inter alia, the furtive gift (the Ford Expedition)by the Burkinabe Contractor, Djibril Kanazoe; the Embraer 190 scandal; Armajaro; the STX Housing deal ; SADA; SUBA Info Solutions scandal and many others. Obviously, President Mahama and his NDC government corrupt practices have resulted in excessive public spending, less efficient tax system , needless high public deficit and destabilization of national budgets, heightened capital flight and the creation of perverse incentives that stimulate income-seeking rather than productive activities (create, loot and share-apologies to JSC Dotse). "When public money is stolen for private gain, it means fewer resources to build schools, hospitals, roads and water treatment facilities. When foreign aid is diverted into private bank accounts, major infrastructure projects come to a halt. Corruption enables fake or substandard medicines to be dumped on the market, and hazardous waste to be dumped in landfill sites and in oceans. The vulnerable suffer first and worst (Ban Ki-moon, 2009)." The fact of the matter is that corruption impedes economic development by distorting markets and collapsing private sector integrity. Corruption also strikes at the heart of democracy by corroding rule of law, democratic institutions and public trust in leaders. For the poor, women and minorities, corruption means even less access to jobs, justice or any fair and equal opportunity (UNDP 2016). A few examples of gargantuan negative effects of corruption on society are: $1,000 billion are paid in bribes per year (source: The World Bank Institute) Corruption can cost a country up to 17 Percent of its GDP (source: Asian Development Bank) US$1.8 trillion is the volume of illicit financial flows from Africa between 1970 and 2008: (source: Global Financial Integrity, 2010). What exactly is corruption? Corruption is the misuse of public power (by elected politician or appointed civil servant) for private gain. Corruption is the misuse of entrusted power (by heritage, education, marriage, election, appointment or whatever else) for private gain. How are offering, promising and giving a bribe treated under the law? In fact, different countries have different responses to these questions, by definition as well as interpretation. In some jurisdictions, for instance, the courts may consider an oral offer of a bribe not as attempted bribery, unless the briber takes further steps. An OECD report, however, suggests that broad definitions of corruption may be one reason why prosecutions are so low. Apparently, the OECD, the Council of Europe and the UN conventions do not explicitly define corruption, but have establish a range of corrupt offences. For example, the OECD Convention establishes the offence of bribery of foreign public officials, while the Council of Europe adds trading in influence and bribing domestic public officials as well. Besides, the UN Convention covers embezzlement, misappropriation of property and obstruction of justice. In fact, one mostly-cited mystery is distinguishing illegal trading in influence from legal lobbying. The Council of Europe Convention criminalises trading of improper influence, i.e., there must be corrupt intent. The UN Convention only covers peddlers who abuse their influence. The OECD glossary notes that international definitions of corruption for policy purposes are common, and cites abuse of public or private office for personal gain as a useful example for policy development (OECD 2007). Does Armajaro scandal merit improper lobbying? If you may recall, somewhere in October 2010, the British media brought up sensational reports about how the then Vice President John Dramani Mahama, was lobbied by a British Cabinet Minister to get a reprieve for the ban imposed on Armajaro Holdings, one of the cocoa buying companies who were found guilty for smuggling the commodity out of Ghana. It would be recalled that Armajaro Company was banned together with a few other companies, when the award winning investigative journalist, Anas Aremeyaw Anas exposed the smuggling of uncountable bags of cocoa into neighbouring Cote dIvoire. Shockingly, however, the British media reported that subsequent to the meeting between the then Vice President John Dramani Mahama and the British Cabinet Minister, Armajaro Company was given a needless reprieve and then started its operations. What about the STX Housing deal? As a matter of fact, the manner in which the then Vice President Mahama handled the STX Housing deal leaves much to be desired. Although the deal did not see the light, the then Vice President Mahama, gave us a bill of an excess of $250 million. How bizarre? Besides, after the failed deal with STX to build 30,000 housing units for the nation's security agencies, the NDC government entered into another deal with the GUMA Group, for the construction of 500 housing units. The deal which was championed by President Mahama was widely criticised by various stakeholders, just as the STX deal, following the decision to side-line local construction firms in favour of the foreign company. The unusually high cost of the project was also a source of concern to many. Does the Burkinabe Contractor Djibril Kanazoes furtive gift to President Mahhhhama also constitute a bribe? In all honesty, the most recent investigative work carried out by the award winning investigative journalist, Joy FMs Manasseh Azuri exposed President Mahamas surreptitious gift of a brand new Ford Expedition vehicle, worth over $100,000 by the Burkinabe Contractor, Djibril Kanazoe. It is on record that the Burkinabe Contractor Kanazoe has executed a number of contracts, which were secured through sole-sourcing and handpicking, amid allegations of president Mahamas influence. According to Manassehs report, Djibril Kanazoe had been previously bidding for contracts in the country over the years; however he was not successful until a middleman led him to meet then Vice President Mahama. Subsequent to meeting the then Vice President Mahama, Kanazoe was handpicked to build the $650,000 Ghana Embassy fence wall in Burkina Faso. If you may recall, in September 2014, when officials of the Bank of Ghana met the Public Accounts Committee of Ghana Parliament (PAC), it came to light that an amount of $656, 246.48 had been spent on the construction of a fence wall over a parcel of land belonging to the Ghana Embassy in Burkina Faso. Apparently, PAC requested the Bank of Ghana to look into what it referred to as: the outrageous cost of the project. However, it came to light that the procurement process was violated to the advantage of President Mahamas Burkinabe friend. Shockingly, during an interview with Manasseh, Djibril Kanazoe admitted that he did not put in a bid for the contract, however, the Ghana Embassy in Ouagadougou wrote to his company to request price quotations for the project. He however forwarded the necessary quotes and was selected. Subsequently, the Burkinabe contractor delivered to President Mahama, the gift of a brand new Ford Expedition vehicle in 2012, the same year his company was selected, again through sole-sourcing, to execute more projects (See: Burkinabe Contractor offers controversial gift to President Mahama ; myjoyonline.com, 15/06/2015). Has President Mahama also been involving in favouritism, cronyism and nepotism? In terms of meanings, favouritism, nepotism and cronyism all involve abuses of discretion. Even though some countries do not criminalise the conduct, (Article 7 of the UN Convention against Corruption covers merit selection without even mentioning nepotism). Those violations usually involve not a direct personal benefit to an official but promote the interests of those related to the official, whether through family, political party, tribe, or religious group. In fact, a fantastically corrupt official who hires a relative (nepotism) or a friend (cronyism), does so, in exchange, not often of a bribe but of the less tangible benefit of advancing the interests of others connected to the official. Actually, the unlawful favouring of - or discrimination against - individuals can be based on a wide range of group characteristics: tribe, religion, geographical factors, political or as well as personal or organizational relationships, such as friendship or shared membership of clubs or associations. If anything at all, discerning Ghanaians must be mindful and desist from giving President Mahama another chance in the forthcoming general elections. K. Badu, UK. *Please visit my blog at: www.alljoycom.wordpress.com References: OECD (2007), Defining corruption: Glossary of International Standards for Criminalisation of Corruption, ISBN 9789264027404, OECD Observer. ( www.oecd.org ). UN (2005), The UN Convention against Corruption. www.undp.org www.myjoyonline.com The President of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Peter Maurer, will visit Niger and Nigeria from 12 to 16 October 2016, to highlight the dire humanitarian situation in the Lake Chad area. The conflict, spread across 4 countries, has taken a devastating toll on the population. Some 9.2 million people need aid, whether displaced or host communities. Lack of food is their main concern, since their livelihoods have been decimated by displacement and insecurity. Existing infrastructure in conflict-affected areas including hospitals, schools and the water supply - is barely sufficient andmillions of people are trapped in a daily struggle for survival. Many millions of people in the Lake Chad region are living though a massive humanitarian disaster which has been chronically under addressed, under reported and under financed for years, said Mr Maurer. During his trip, Mr Maurer will visit different field locations and meet people who have been affected by the conflict, includingthe displaced and wounded. He will also meet senior officials in the two countries. NOTE: Fresh video footage and stills will be available prior to and during the Presidents trip - www.icrcvideonewsroom.org Follow @PMaurerICRC for live updates Private legal practitioner with the Savannah Accelerated Development Authority (SADA), Mahama Shaibu Obei, has officially launched his campaign as the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary candidate for the Daboya-Mankarigu constituency in the Northern Region. He beat the NDC's incumbent Member of Parliament, Nelson Abudu Bani, at the party's primary and his main contender is the New Patriotic Party (NPP)'s Samuel Tika. Mahama Shaibu Obei at his campaign launch outlined agriculture, health, education and peace advocacy as his major priority areas. He decried the falling standard of education in the area and promised to overturn the situation when elected. He has so far demonstrated his commitment to the education sector by supplying 100 beds, 100 mattresses and 100 dual desks to the Daboya Community Senior High School. He said teachers ready to accept postings to rural communities will receive juicy motivation packages. The NDC Daboya-Mankarigu Parliamentary candidate promised to commercialize subsistence agriculture which is the economic mainstay of majority of residents in the area. He said the fisher folks would also be supported to improve their production. As a Prince of the Wasipe traditional area, Mahama Shaibu appealed to the residents to intensify their peaceful coexistence. He cautioned politicians in the area against inflaming passions on ethnocentric lines. Stop campaigning on ethnic grounds and dialogue is the way forward. Unity in diversity is key in the area's development and so I urge all of us that ethnicity should not divide us. Communal living is necessary; so let's foster unity and build a united Wasipe traditional area, Lawyer Mahama Shaibu emphasized. By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana Addis Ababa (AFP) - Ethiopia on Monday blamed "enemies" from Egypt and neighbouring Eritrea for stoking an unprecedented wave of protests that has led the government to declare a six-month state of emergency. Ethiopia's government is facing the biggest challenge of its 25 years in power from protesters who have turned their anger against foreign-owned companies, torching several farms and factories in the past week. Communication Minister Getachew Reda said the state of emergency meant there would be a "lower threshold for the use of force". Rights organisations have already criticised authorities for a harsh security crackdown on nearly a year of protests that has killed hundreds. "The kind of threats we are facing, the kind of attacks that are now targeting civilians, targeting civilian infrastructures, targeting investment cannot be handled through ordinary law enforcement procedures," said Getachew. The protests threaten Ethiopia's reputation as an oasis of political stability whose double-digit growth has lured investors in recent years. "What we have is anti-Ethiopian elements using the protesters to attack whatever achievements Ethiopia has made in the last 15 or 20 years," said Getachew. Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn has been in power since 2012 "This has been done at the behest of historical enemies of the country," he said, accusing Eritrea of "infiltrating terrorists" into the country. Eritrea and Ethiopia fought a two-year border war between 1998 and 2000 which left 80,000 dead, and tensions between the neighbours flared again earlier this year. Meanwhile Getachew said Egypt had allegedly trained and financed the rebel Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), regarded by Ethiopia as a terrorist group behind the protests. "Its leaders used to be in Asmara (Eritrea) now they are in Cairo." He said "elements in the Egyptian political establishment" were fomenting rebellion, seeking to promote "historical rights" over access to the River Nile. Ethiopia is building a hydropower dam on the Nile close to its source in the Ethiopian highlands, raising fears in Egypt which depends on controlling the flow of the Nile's waters for its survival. Last week Ethiopia's foreign ministry summoned Egypt's ambassador to discuss "the current situation", according to Ethiopian state media. 'A sinister move' People cross their wrists above their heads during the Oromo new year holiday of Irreechaa in Bishoftu, Ethiopia on October 2, 2016 Protesters from the majority Oromo and Amhara ethnic groups say they are marginalised by the minority Tigrayan-led government which they accuse of monopolising power and controlling the economy. The latest surge in anger comes after a stampede at an Oromo religious festival on October 2 after police fired teargas at protesters, sparking panic that left over 50 dead. Getachew said protesters had torched more than a dozen farms and destroyed five factories, adding that an unspecified number of civilians had been killed in the ensuing violence. The protests first began in November 2015 and international rights groups estimate at least 500 demonstrators have been killed and hundreds injured over the past 10 months. "The country has already been under the same exact situation of state of emergency since the first protest broke out," said Henok Gabisa, a researcher on international law at Washington and Lee University in the United States. "The declaration of the state of emergency is a sinister move to be used as a legal cover by the regime to continue to exonerate itself from mass murders, mass arrests, media blackout." Getachew said the "extraordinary situation" demanded the state of emergency but insisted it did not amount to a "blanket ban on civilian life". He raised the possibility of concessions to protesters such as a government reshuffle and a "broadening of political space". From Musah Umar Farouq, Tumu The former Minister of Health and the current Member of Parliament for Wa West, Mr. Yielleh Chireh, has promised President Mahama and the national leadership of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that he would rake in 20,000 votes for himself and President Mahama to ensure massive victory for the party in the December 7 polls. The experienced legislature, who is seeking to enter parliament for the fourth consecutive time on the ticket of the NDC, said the party was seeking to increase its votes in this year's elections, in line with the trend in past elections. In our first term, we were able to win the election by beating the NPP by 13,256 votes. The second term we beat them by 10,468. The third term we beat them by16, 368, votes. Our target in this election is to increase our votes to 20,000 and that is our goal, he said. Addressing NDC supporters at a constituency campaign launch at Tumu over the weekend, Mr. Yielleh Chireh noted that major projects would come to the constituency and urged the electorates to vote massively for him and President Mahama. He noted that though electricity had been extended to remote areas, new schools built, health and education improved in remote areas among other projects, there was still more to be done. Yieleh Chireh urged the party supporters, especially the grassroots, to reach out to the floating voters and other political parties and sell the achievements of the NDC government to them, in order to get them to vote for the NDC. If you love the NDC and you mean it and you want the NDC to win, the only way you can give meaning to that is to spend at least 3 hours every day working to make sure we win this election and it means hard work, he stressed. The MP also underscored the need for them to reach out to every community, village and every household to explain the agenda of transforming Ghana and changing lives to the people. He added: I am very confident we will deliver the Upper West Region massively for President John Dramani Mahama. The Upper West Regional Minister, Amin Amidu Sulemani appealed to the NDC party supporters in the area to unite and vote massively for the Presidential and Parliamentary candidates come December 7. He cautioned the party supporters in the constituency not to vote 'skirt and blouse' because we have heard that someone from the NDC had filed as an independent candidate. The NDC party knows of only Yielleh Chireh, who is the parliamentary candidate. We are not sponsoring any person to contest as an independent in this area, he added. He urged them to come out in their numbers on December 7 and vote massively for the NDC candidate, Yielleh Chireh. ST. LOUIS, ACCRA, Oct. 10 - (UPI/GNA) - Sunday's second presidential debate opened with fireworks between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, with Trump calling the video that surfaced of him laughing about groping women embarrassing "locker room talk" and threatening to put Clinton in jail if he's elected. Clinton responded to the video scandal, saying it is the most recent evidence Trump is unfit to serve as president. "It is awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the laws of our country," Clinton said. "Because you'd be in jail," Trump shot back, moments after he threatened to appoint a special prosecutor if he's elected to investigate Clinton's private email server. The tone of the evening was set as soon as the two candidates walked on stage. Both stood next to one another after being introduced and neither moved to shake the other's hand, normally the Politics 101 show of congeniality between political opponents at the outset of a debate. Sunday's debate comes two days after Trump's campaign was rocked by a release of a hot mic video recording in an interview with Access Hollywood in 2005, during which Trump boasted to host Billy Bush about trying to coerce women to have sex with him. In vulgar terms, Trump described coming onto a married woman and forcing himself on other women by kissing them and grabbing their genitals. He said they let him do it because he's "a star." Moderators Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz pressed Trump on that, asking whether he had ever actually done anything to a woman like what he described on the tape. Trump said, "no, I have not." "I have great respect for women. Nobody has more respect for women than I do," he said. Clinton took on the issue, saying it is further confirmation of what she said in a speech in June -- and has repeated throughout the campaign -- that Trump is unfit for the presidency in ways that are different than her opposition to past Republican candidates. "You know, with other Republican nominees, obviously I've disagreed with them on politics, policies, principles, but I never questioned their fitness to serve. Donald Trump is different. I said starting back in June he was not fit to be president and commander-in-chief. Many Republicans and independents have said the same thing." Trump released a video early Saturday during which he apologized for his comments. He also threatened to bring up Bill Clinton's history of marital infidelity as a response. He did just that less than two hours prior to the start of the debate, calling in reporters to allow four women who have accused Clinton of sexual misconduct in the past to repeat those allegations. He did it again in the opening moments, saying his comments in the video were words, but Bill Clinton's actions are different. "If you look at Bill Clinton, far worse. Mine are words, his was action. There's never been anybody in the history of politics as abusive to women. Bill Clinton was abusive to women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women and attacked them viciously," Trump said. He told Clinton she should be "ashamed of herself." "Hillary brings up a point like that and she talks about words I said 11 years ago, I think it's disgraceful and I think she should be ashamed of herself if you want to know the truth," he said. Clinton offered no defense of her husband's history of marital infidelity, saying she preferred to take the high road. "He gets to run his campaign any way he chooses. He decides what he wants to talk about," she said. "When I hear something like that I am reminded what my friend Michelle Obama reminded us all. When they go low, you go high." The candidates also traded barbs over the hacking and release of Clinton's transcripts of paid speeches to bankers and other groups. The group WikiLeaks released emails on Friday purported to belong to Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta, including transcripts of her six-figure speeches to Wall Street. Specifically, Clinton was asked about one of the transcripts, where she told a business group she has one position in public and another in private. Clinton said she was referencing the film Lincoln and his efforts to lobby behind the scenes to pass the 13th Amendment during the Civil War. "As I recall that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the [film]. It was a master class, watching President Lincoln get Congress to pass the 13th Amendment, convincing some people he used some arguments. Convincing other people he used other arguments." Trump seized on the explanation with a jab at Clinton. "She lied, now she's blaming the lie on the late great Abraham Lincoln. That's one that I haven't [heard] ... honest Abe never lied. That's the difference between honest Abe and you. That's a big, big difference," he said. Trump was asked about another story that has dogged his campaign, a report last week that he may not have paid any federal income tax since 1995, a year when he took a $916 million loss that would permit him to write off future income for an estimated 18 years. Trump shot back at criticism of it from Clinton, saying all wealthy businessmen take advantage of the tax code and Clinton hasn't criticized the rich donors to her campaign for doing the same thing. "All your friends take advantage of the same provisions that I do. You didn't change it so you could take their money and run negative ads on Donald Trump," he said. Clinton and Trump addressed the Syrian civil war, with Clinton renewing her pledge she would not put U.S. ground forces into use to stop the fighting. In contrast with a comment pointed out by the moderator by Trump's running mate Gov. Mike Pence, Trump said he disagreed with Pence's position and would not confront Russia, which is propping up Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. At the conclusion of the contentious town hall debate, which included questions from undecided voters who live near the debate site at Washington University in St. Louis, one voter asked a question that elicited a palpable sense of relief inside the auditorium. The man asked each candidate if they would say something they actually like about the other one. After a sustained round of applause from the audience, both candidates did just that. Clinton said she is impressed by Trump's children, who she called "incredibly able and devoted." "I think that's something, as a mother and grandmother is very important to me," she said. Trump said he considered the comment a compliment and returned one of his own, lauding Clinton as "a fighter." "She doesn't quit, she doesn't give up. I respect that. She's a fighter. I disagree with much of what she's fighting for. But she does fight hard, she doesn't give up and I consider that a very important trait," he said. The rare moment of congeniality at least moved the candidates from their posture when they walked on stage - they did shake hands at the conclusion of the debate. GNA Some customers of DKM Microfinance in the Northern regional capital, Tamale, are seeking to place an interlocutory injunction on the payments of depositor claims scheduled for next week Monday, October 17, 2016. The customers are angry over what they say is the deliberate attempt by the Official Liquidator to eliminate their names in the list of validated customers due to receive their monies. The unhappy customers also tell Citi News' Northern regional correspondent, Abdul Karim Nantongmah they are confident their action will ensure that they are duly catered for by the Registrar General's Department (RGD). We were informed that our names will be released this week but we are just returning from the Regional Coordinating Council and nothing like that has been published. The situation is really affecting us negatively and we are heading to the court to seek the injunction, one of the leaders asserted. Another stated, We are told we could access the list in the Upper West regional capital, Wa. Although there were two branches of DKM in Wa, as it stands now, only one branch has the names posted there and we are even worried whether to believe if the Official Liquidator engaged any other party in the processes so far. Official Liquidator publishes creditors list The Official Liquidator, today, October 10, released the list of the first batch of creditors whose claims have been validated and due for payment. Meanwhile a statement released by the Registrar General's Department and copied to Citi Business News said, Creditors whose names do not appear on the list of claims validated to date, are advised to contact the Official Liquidator's Customer Service Units to be set up in the various Recipient Bank branches for further direction. It added, Creditors should note that the list of validated creditor claims will be updated and supplementary lists would be posted as and when new creditor claims are agreed and validated. Wa DKM customers to boycott payments In a related development, some customers of DKM in the Upper West region have intimated to Citi Business News plans of boycotting the payments scheduled for next week Monday. The spokesperson for the customers' union, Fred Kuuyine however explained that the decision will be agreed on after a meeting with the union's lawyers. We are considering boycotting the payment of claims planned for next week Monday but for now we are engaging our legal advisors on the decision. We are of the view that the best the Official Liquidator could have done was to be frank with us regarding whatever that they have been able to obtain from the liquidation process, he observed. We have not heard or read the OL putting anything forward indicating they are liquidating any assets belonging to DKM Microfinance, Mr. Kuuyine further noted. By: Pius Amihere Eduku/citibusinessnews.com/Ghana I am again compelled to come out to issue a public fatherly advice to my son, the suspended NPP General Secretary Mr Kwabena Agyei Agyapong. He is my son for the simple fact that he is the son of the late High Court Justice Agyapong who was my fellow Agona clansman but murdered in cold-blood by the then murderous military junta presided over the former President Jerry John Rawlings on 30 June 1982. The late Mr Kwame Nyame (Emmanuel Marfo) from Effiduase-Oyoko who inherited his father was more of a senior brother to me than a mere two inseparable friends. Was I not taken by the mother of Kwame as one of her sons with Kwame taken by Awo Serwaah as hers? Therefore, by the Akan tradition and custom, I can declare without favour or fear that Kwabena Agyapong is my son. It is said, Spare the rod, and spoil the child. In Proverbs 13:24, it says, Whoever spares the rod hates their children, but the one who loves their children is careful to discipline them. This is the reason why I moved publicly for Kwabena to be disciplined by the NPP leadership after he had incessantly obstinately ignored my admonitions to him to desist from what were his clearly obnoxious plots to sabotage the fortunes of NPP, the very party he was not only affiliated to but also, was its General Secretary. However, an Akan proverb has it that, When your child poops (defecates) or wee (urinates) on your lap, you do not cut the lap off but rather wipe off the defecation/urine - Se wo ba dwonso anaase ogya nenan gu wo sere so a ye pepa na yen ntwa nkwene This is why after a thorough reflection; I have decided to come back once again to offer him some very useful fatherly advice after teaching him a lesson according as advised in Proverb 13:24. I do not know what his plans are and what he has been doing in silence or in secret after his rightful suspension from his post as the General Secretary of NPP. However, I do admire his silence and retreat from doing anything publicly silly to harm the party as it was contrarily the view of many a supporter of his and his perceived NDC secret paymasters and employers. I stand to be corrected if he was not working for the interests of NDC while he was the NPP General Secretary as by his stubborn behaviours and pursuits, I personally suspected him of having turned into NDC mole within NPP. Anyway, my advice to him today, Monday 10 October 2016, is for him to behave and see himself as the biblical prodigal son. When the son realised his mistakes and how he had offended his father for demanding his share of his fathers properties in inheritance way in advance of the father dying, gone abroad to waste the money, and later finding life very unbearable, he decided to go back to the father. He went back, very remorsefully, to beg for forgiveness of sins and in so doing, he was warmly embraced by the father and accepted back into the family with what may be classified as pomp and pageantry. What I want Kwabena to note here is that the offending son WENT BACK to, but was not RECALLED by, the father. The father did not go to him but he went to the father after realising the gravity of his mistake made that he knew to be an unpardonable offence. When he went, he was pardoned and welcomed back into the family with warm fatherly embrace. Kwabena should not wait to be invited by the leadership of the NPP but to go to them or start participating actively positively in the NPP electioneering campaign now that the partys campaign manifesto has been launched. His truthful active participation will endear him not only to the NPP leadership but also, all the NPP family and all Ghanaians desiring a change of government from NDC to NPP come 7 December 2016. What more can I say to him? Not much, but all that has been stated above. If he listens to my advice, his political fortunes that have been eroded will be re-instated by God same as it happened to the biblical prodigal son. However, if he chooses to ignore me but continues with his despicable stubborn attitude, then, the road is your face (okwan no ennne wanim) as we jovially say in Akan to obstinate people. For readers to better understand how serious I mean Kwabena Agyapong goes back into the NPP fold as a reformed person, let me reproduce below the story about the prodigal son as some people may not bother themselves to spend time referring to the bible to read should I simply quote the bible verse(s). Luke 15:11-32New International Version (NIV) The Parable of the Lost Son 11 Jesus continued: There was a man who had two sons. 12 The younger one said to his father, Father, give me my share of the estate. So he divided his property between them. 13 Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. 14 After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need. 15 So he went and hired himself out to a citizen of that country, who sent him to his fields to feed pigs. 16 He longed to fill his stomach with the pods that the pigs were eating, but no one gave him anything. 17 When he came to his senses, he said, How many of my fathers hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! 18 I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. 19 I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants. 20 So he got up and went to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 21 The son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. 22 But the father said to his servants, Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. 23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Lets have a feast and celebrate. 24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. So they began to celebrate. 25 Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. 26 So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. 27 Your brother has come, he replied, and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound. 28 The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, Look! All these years Ive been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him! 31 My son, the father said, you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. 32 But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found. Rockson Adofo 10.10.2016 LISTEN Religion is currently the biggest threat to the safety, security and peace of mankind. The world is increasingly becoming a dangerous place to live due to religious intolerance, lack of diversity and pluralism in religious beliefs giving rise to religious sectarianism, extremism and fundamentalism bringing bare to terrorism. Christianity and Islam are chief offenders of religious atrocities and exploitation done to mankind and in no lesser manner the African and for that matter the Ahanta too. Everyday people are being killed based on religion and that has come to raise several questions as to whether religion is really the true way God? People are increasingly being slaughtered in the Middle East, some parts of Africa and Europe based on religious sectarianism, extremism and fundamentalism. Cities are going up in flames and bombs are tonating every day all in justification for religious beliefs and practices accompanied by struggles for political power crushing and wasting precious human lives. Religion has drawn sharp lines of hatred among men and women who are all believed to be creatures as well sons and daughters of one God who loves them all irrespective of colour and race. The new Ahanta must be the one who embraces religious tolerance, diversity and pluralism in religion to ensure that all men live in peace, unity and harmony. Once a Muslim from Ghana travelled to Northern Ireland. Just as he disembarked from the the plane, there was a waiting taxi to pick him to his hotel. Whilst in the taxi, the taxi driver asked him "are you a Catholic or protestant?". The Muslim man who knew how Northern Ireland has been torn apart based on religious beliefs, was very careful in answering his question considering the fact that he is not a catholic nor a protestant. What if he says he is a protestant and the taxi driver happens to be a catholic or what about if he says he is a catholic and the driver is a protestant or what about if he says he is not a Christian all ? How safe would he be? After pondering over the question for a while, he told the taxi driver I am from Ghana. He then continued by saying that in Ghana, there is a big tree under which Christians, Muslims, Traditionalists and all manner of persons worship based on their religious beliefs. In Ghana, religion does not separate us. The taxi driver said then your country must beautiful place to live. The Ghanaian Muslim said yes it's beautiful place to live and that is why I am a proud Ghanaian. This is what every Ahanta should emulate and project the Ahanta personality in the right perspective irrespective of religious affiliations. The new Ahanta must be the one who uphold religious diversity and tolerate religious pluralism for the peace and security of all manner persons. No one taught the Ahanta who God is. He knew God from the day he or she came into being as it is said that the African is notoriously religious and practices religion from the cradle to the grave. What is new to the Ahanta is the Abrahamaic religions and their various ways to one God who created the whole world and everything that is found in it. We are still fortunate as people to have our nucleus still woven around our identity as Ahantas despite the fact that our pride as people is fast eroding away. By preserving our identity as one people with a common destiny and give room to religious diversity, pluralism and tolerance, our peace will transcend beyond the Ahanta borders to all other ethnic groups. Our peace will be infectious and contagious to other ethnic groups for the peace and tranquillity of the country as the elections are fast approaching. Currently, the Ahanta practices Christianity, Traditional African Religion and Islam on a lesser extent as well as other unrecognised religions. Religion apart from God came to meet the Ahanta and for that matter the new Ahanta should tread above religious beliefs and practices that have divisive tendencies. The new Ahanta must be a religious elastic rope that can be stretched without tearing apart. We should weave our religious web based on our identity as Ahantas by accepting all Ahantas into one fold and also extend our religious tolerance, diversity and pluralism to other ethnic groups for a peaceful Ghana for all devoid of religious conflicts. We should however admire and aspire the various Ahantas who have excelled in their religious fields. People like Ps/ Dr. Andrews Lawrence Ewoo of the Seventh-day Adventist church from Akwidae as well as Ps. Dr. Michael Asildjoe who was immediate President of the SDA Church in the western region are Ahanta people from whom we should draw huge inspirations. The appointment of Rev/Fr John Bonaventure Kwofie as the head of Sekondi-Takoradi Catholic Diocese who is a true Ahanta from Apowa should be appreciated by all Ahantas particularly those in the Catholic faith. The election of RT/Rev Daniel De-graft Brace from Dixcove also an Ahanta as the bishop for Sekondi-Takoradi Methodist church signifies how Ahantas are creating impact in Religion particularly in the Christian faith and should be emulated by all Ahantas particularly those who are Weselyans. There other Ahantas playing various roles in the Christian faith as pastors, deacon and deaconesses, elders and what have you and that should be appreciated by all. Religion should be a service to God, country and humanity but not avenue to religious exploitation and to perpetrate conflicts and destruction of fellow man. The Muslim faith is practiced on a lesser extent by the modern Ahanta and for that matter we look down on them but we should know that our identity as Ahantas should unite us one people irrespective of religious background. An Ahanta who has chosen Islam as a faith should be accorded the needed respect as we accord the Christians and the Traditionalists. We often treat them as outcasts which should never be so or the case. These Ahantas often try to align themselves with our brothers and sisters from the North whereby deep in their hearts, they are Ahantas who face some kind of rejection from their own people based on their religious choice. They try to assimilate into the Northern folk to gain sense of belonging because of treatment meted out to them by some Ahantas. It's a religious discrimination that should be frowned upon by all Ahantas. The new Ahanta Muslim should however be cautious about religious sectarianism, extremism and fundamentalism which are fast creeping into the Islamic faith and giving rise to terrorism motivated by western powers under religious lining and tone. The new Ahanta Muslim must portray the peace that the Islamic faith seeks to project in the right perspective. Religious sectarianism, extremism and fundamentalism should be abhorred by the new Ahanta who practices Islam as a faith. The new Ahanta Muslim must be fostered into the Ahanta fraternity irrespective of religious background and be respected accordingly. The Traditional African Religion has always been religion for the African people in which our culture, customs, practices and values lie as people though we try to deny it based on our new found faiths. Many Christians and Muslims turn to the traditional African Religion if their Christian and Islamic faith fail to give them spiritual fortifications and edification they need or seek for. There are some Christians and Muslims who practice Traditional African Religion in addition to their new found faiths because it is said that the Leopard cannot change the spots on its skin and the same vein the Ethiopian cannot change the colour of his or her skin. The advent of Christian and Islamic faith seem to have suppressed the traditional African Religion practiced by all African people including Ahantas but somehow it has been maintained and handed over from generation to generations with much success. The new Ahanta practicing the traditional African Religion should also embrace diversity and pluralism for the unity of all Ahanta people as well the whole Ghana on a larger extent. The new Ahanta is the one who prides his or herself as an Ahanta Christian, Ahanta Muslim or an Ahanta who practices Traditional African Religion. No one says the new Ahanta should go and practice outmoded cultural beliefs and practices that enslaved our forefathers but what we mean to say is that the new Ahanta should be proud of him or herself irrespective of religious beliefs and practices. For the new Ahanta, religion must be a unifier instead of division and hatred accompanied by its heinous crimes and atrocities being meted out to fellow humans elsewhere under the guise that God is love rather than creating doubts in people's head about the love and grace God has for humanity. I am a proud Ahanta from Apemenyim who is a Seventh-day Adventist (SDA). I have always maintained my identity as an Ahanta practicing Christianity. It's nice to be an Ahanta. Ahanta Apemenyimheneba Kwofie III [email protected] 0248644201 The plights of the girl child stirred Plan International, an international non-governmental organization, to initiate a campaign dubbed- Because I Am a Girl- to raise awareness of the importance of nurturing girls worldwide and in developing countries in particular. Within that framework Plan International representatives in Canada seek the support of the federal government of Canada in order to get a coalition of supporters of the initiative internationally. Subsequently at the initiative of Canada through its Minister for the Status of Women the International Day of the Girl Child was formally proposed in a resolution at the United Nations General Assembly. As the result of youth advocacy around the world on December 19, 2011, the United Nations General Assembly voted to pass the resolution adopting October 11 as the International Day of the Girl Child. The aim is to help galvanize worldwide enthusiasm for goals to better girls lives, providing an opportunity for them to show leadership and reach their full potential. 2016 Theme is Girls Progress = Goals Progress: A Global Girl Data Movement. The focus of this years celebration is on adolescent girls and Sustainable Development Goals, which include the achievement of gender equality by 2030. The girls, totaling 1.1 billion people in the World, constitute an important and energetic segment of the society poised to contribute their quota in all the efforts geared towards shaping the future of humanity. Current developments testify that girls are capable as boys to undertake any intellectual and energetic activity. Sadly sidelining and other discriminatory acts against girls continue albeit in the world in general and particularly in developing countries. In Africa women and girls are still subjected to all kind of discriminations due to the burdens of religious and some cultural practices. Boys and girls are brought up differently in a manner that the role of each is defined clearly. Girls are usually confined in learning house works i.e. cooking, washing, sweeping etc. while boys are going to school and assigned to some specific works. Girls continue to be victims of, also, genital mutilation and early marriage. The role of non-governmental organizations in combatting all forms of discrimination against girl child is highly appreciated but not enough to overcome it; African governments have the responsibility to consciously double whatever effort they have embarked on in order to liberate the girl child, an adult of tomorrow, from her current discriminatory status and enable her to unleash her full potential in our efforts to advance. Against the above stated AASU calls on all its member and friendly organizations in Africa to join hands in putting together their resources to further appreciate the situation of the girl child through collecting and analyzing girl-focused, girl-relevant and sex-disaggregated data. These data should enable African leaders to be fully aware of the real condition of girl child and its negative impact on the development of the society at large. With such information our leaders should be in the position to take the right policy and programme decisions. Long live International Day of the Girl Child! Awaah Fred (Secretary General) www.aasuonline.org ; [email protected]/[email protected] ; +233(0)243101626 The Electoral Commission (EC) has rejected the nominations of Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People's Party (PPP), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings of National Democratic Party and 11 other presidential candidates in the upcoming December polls. Chairperson of the Commission, Charlotte Osei said the disqualified aspirants did not meet the criteria for filing as president. More soon Story by Ghana | Myjoyonline.com Nairobi (AFP) - A road ambush blamed on South Sudanese rebels left 21 people dead over the weekend in a fiercely contested region in the south of the country, a police spokesman said Monday. Their lorry, travelling from the capital Juba to the city of Yei on Saturday, "fell into ambush and it was burnt down with some families. We lost something like 21 people," said spokesman Dominant Kawcgwok. He said most of the dead were women and children fleeing violence in the north of the country. Africas largest fund for data-driven investigative storytelling launches its second call for proposals today, seeking investigative story pitches by journalists in six countries. Journalists with digital storytelling ideas that go beyond ordinary reporting to expose new or under-reported issues in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania and Zambia stand to win cash grants, technology support, and editorial mentoring on their projects. The initiative is part of impactAFRICA, a $500,000 programme to provide support for pioneering African journalism that uses data or digital tools to tackle development issues, such as public healthcare, water, sanitation, the effects of air and water pollution on African communities, climate change, and other development issues. The deadline for entry is the 15th of November 2016. The first round produced over 350 story pitches, ranging from investigations into water hygiene to unscrupulous funeral industries. Our independent jury is currently selecting the ten best ideas for support, says impactAFRICA programme manager Haji Mohamed Dawjee. The ten semi-finalists will all attend a StoryCamp to refine their project plans, and will then receive cash grants up to a maximum of $20,000 along with additional support from technologists and editorial experts to help produce their projects. The full details and guidelines are here. We will help the resulting stories get syndicated both in Africa and the wider world, Dawjee adds. The best of these published stories will be eligible for three additional prizes. The additional impactAFRICA prizes will recognise the best investigative report, the best data-driven story and the best service journalism project. Development issues are important, but are often reported in a boring way. What were looking for is compelling storytelling, told in an original way, that uses digital technologies for improved audience engagement, says impactAFRICA director, Justin Arenstein. You could also use data to personalise or localise stories but, most importantly, were looking for journalism that creates impact. impactAFRICA will host a series of online StoryLab workshops and webinars ahead of the application deadline, with global experts and mentors, to help prospective applicants explore possible topics and to brainstorm solutions to technical challenges. Details about the skills programme, which is open to all Africans who want to participate, can be found here. The initiative is run through a partnership between Code for Africa (CfAfrica) and the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). Arenstein founded CfAfrica in 2012 as an ICFJ initiative and continues to manage it as part of an ICFJ Knight Fellowship. A consortium of donors led by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) and including the World Bank is funding impactAFRICA. BMGFs support has also enabled CfAfrica and ICFJ to recruit some of the continents most innovative digital news pioneers as ICFJ Knight Fellows, including the former editors-in-chief of the Mail & Guardian in South Africa (Chris Roper) and Star newspaper in Kenya (Catherine Gicheru), and Quartz Africas correspondent in Tanzania (Omar Mohammed). In Nigeria, pioneering civic technologist Temi Adeoye manages CfAfricas local CitizenLab, while Adi Eyal manages a similar lab at Code for South Africa and David Lemayian manages an umbrella pan-African tech lab out of Kenya. impactAFRICA will also leverage its international partnerships, through ICFJ, to connect African innovators with their counterparts elsewhere in the Global South. The Partners: Code for Africa (CfAfrica) is the custodian of impactAFRICA and is the continents largest independent open data and civic technology initiative. It operates as a federation of autonomous country-based digital innovation organisations that support citizen labs in five countries and major projects in a further 15 countries. CfAfrica runs Africas OpenGov Fellowships and also embeds innovation fellows into newsrooms and social justice organisations to help liberate data of public interest, or to build tools that help empower citizens. In addition to fellowships and CitizenLabs, CfAfrica runs the $1 million per year innovateAFRICA fund and the $500,000 per year impactAFRICA fund, which both award seed grants to civic pioneers for experiments with everything from camera drones and environmental sensors, to encryption for whistleblowers and data-driven semantic analysis tools for investigative watchdogs. CfAfrica also curates continental resources such as the africanSPENDING portal of budget transparency resources, the openAFRICA data portal, the SourceAFRICA document repository and the connectedAFRICA transparency toolkit for tracking the often hidden social networks and economic interests in politics. CfAfrica is an initiative of the International Center for Journalists (ICFJ). International Center for Journalists (ICFJ) is at the forefront of the news revolution. Its programmes empower journalists and engage citizens with new technologies and best practices. ICFJs networks of reporters and media entrepreneurs are transforming the field. ICFJ believes that better journalism leads to better lives. Over the past 30 years, ICFJ has worked with more than 92,000 professional and citizen journalists and media managers from 180 countries. ICFJ work through strong local partners, such as Code for Africa, and a network of dedicated alumni. For more information, go to www.icfj.org. World Mental Health Day (10 October) is a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. It was first celebrated in 1992 at the initiative of the World Federation for Mental Health, a global mental health organization with members and contacts in many countries. On this day, each October, millions of supporters globally observe an annual awareness program to bring attention to mental illness and its major effects on peoples lives. In some countries this day has now been expanded upon and forms part of an awareness week, such as Mental Illness Awareness Week in the US and Mental Health Week in Australia. The theme for Mental Health Day 2016 is Dignity in Mental Health-Psychological & Mental Health First Aid for All. The focus of this years event to lift mental health out of the shadows so that people feel more confident in tackling the stigma, isolation and discrimination that continues to plague people with mental health conditions, their families and carers. In Ghanas health care system, mental health is greatly overlooked. According to Human Rights Watch, around 2.8 million people in Ghana have mental disabilities, 650,000 of which are estimated to have severe ones - that is about 1 in every 33 people in Ghana. However, the number of professional services available is inadequately small. There are only 600 psychiatric nurses and 15 psychiatrists working in all of Ghana which makes it virtually impossible to provide necessary treatment to all patients. In addition, these specialists practice in as few as 3 psychiatric hospitals, all of which are located in the South - two in the Greater Accra region and one in the Central region. Moreover, mental health care, while scarcely available to adults, is hardly available to children. It is reported that there is not a single dedicated child psychiatrist in Ghana. Combined with the insufficient number of psychiatrists, this reality makes it impossible for children to be recognized with an illness early in their lives, if at all. The lack of awareness causes many to see signs of mental illness as possession by demons or accuse children of witchcraft, the latter being especially present in the Northern Region. Regardless of location, it is a standard to deny the patients access to drinking water or food, claiming that fasting is a way to cure them. Children are treated in the same conditions as adults, including chaining patients to logs and providing no toilets or places to wash themselves. As reported by Human Rights Watch, a 9-year-old patient of Edumfa Prayer Camp was forced to fast for 21 days while chained in one room with 20 other males. In another case at Nyakumasi Prayer Camp in Central Region in January 2012, a 10-year-old girl was found chained to a tree despite having a concerning skin condition. To mark World Mental Health Day 2016, the Human Rights Advocacy Centre (HRAC) is eager to improve this situation and smash the stigma surrounding mental health in Ghana. A core component of programme for this year is engaging with the media to discuss the situation of persons living with mental illness in Ghana. In particular, HRAC is hoping to engage with Adom and GBC television stations spread the word on mental health. Through these activities, we are keen to reach as many people as possible to highlight both the progress made, as well as areas for improvement, in mental health service provision in Ghana. This reflects the theme of World Mental Health Day 2016, with its focus on dignity in mental health care provision. To this end, HRAC recognizes that dignity for persons suffering from mental illness is central to enabling such persons to fully enjoy their human rights. This is reflected in HRACs ongoing work on the issue of mental illness. In 2015-16, HRAC assisted in preparing a shadow report for the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The shadow report highlighted the gaps in mental health care in Ghana. Reflecting these issues, the Committee, as part of its concluding observations, recommended that Ghana needs to take steps to tackle mental illness. Central to recommendations was the effective implementation of the Mental Health Act and the regulation of Prayer Camps that purport to treat mental illness. HRAC is committed to continuing its work in the area of mental health, and encouraging the Ghanaian Government to implement the recommendation of the UN Committee. To this end, we hope that all Ghanaians will use Mental Health Day 2016 to pause and reflect on their own attitudes towards mental illness and how Ghana can best meet the needs of citizens suffering with mental health issues. 10.10.2016 LISTEN The 4yearly electioneering campaign is in full swing across the country, and as usual, all kinds of promises are being made, while freebies are being showered on prospective Ghanaian electorates, just to sway them in their decision making at the polls. This has become the unfortunate ritual the good people of Ghana have been taken through by deceptive polticians,over the years.as a matter of fact, some of these deceptive-tongue characters who have invaded our politics, have actually been bod to look Ghanaians in the face and told us that we suffer from short memory. It is this brazen disrespect for the intelligence of Ghanaians that has made some of these political class to be sadly immersed in the delusion that, though their 8year tenure has been a spectacular disaster, Ghanaians still must put up with them and retain them in power, for what reason and to continue with what, is a matter I have constantly been scratching my damn crazy cranium over. Nations across the globe are making serious strides in all areas of human-endeavor with the resultant positive effects being reaped by their people. I was in Rwanda, last April, and what I witnessed, by way of socioeconomic advancements, is something that will blow the mind of any first-time visitor, in the light of that nations recent-past traumatic history. Landing at Kigali international airport will, momentarily, make you think you are at the Geneva airport. Checking out of the airport and driving through the city of Kigali will make you think you are actually driving on the streets of Paris. The level of architectural masterpiece of the city, beautiful roads, pedestrian walkways which are beautifully lined with blossoming flowers and well-organized public transport system, where commuters enjoy free Wi-Fi; a feat which does not exist in even many of these well-developed countries. Indeed, all these achievements are being realized in a country where 800,000 people were savagely butchered within a matter of just 100days.This therefore tells you how a determined leader whose focus is well-targeted, and vision explicit. His priorities are tailored-made and waste is barely does not exist. Prudence in management of national resources is held in the highest of esteem, and accountability is the watchward.But most importantly, the very personal character of the leader, for me, is the most vital fulcrum around which all these developmental agenda actually revolve. Visionary leadership I have done some work about the background of the Rwandan president, Paul Kagame, and there is absolutely no contestation over impeccability of his integrity, and zero tolerance for corruption.as a matter of fact, corruption, in its whatever form, is an extremely dangerous enterprise in Rwanda; and for that reason, public officials never dare go near it.The man believes in his country and motivating his people to aspire to greater heights is his hallmark. At the 2015 edition of his annual press interaction with the media at the presidency, President Paul Kagame said one thing which is extremely brilliant which I believe his people will associate themselves with and support him to actualize: and this is what he said my purpose for being in this office is hinged on three principles; and these are; Security of our country because I this is something the people have not had for a very long time. Personal freedoms which will provide the conducive environment for people go about their lawful duties so they can make their contributions to the advancements of our country. Prudent use and equitable distribution of the nations resources. And unquestionably, anybody who visits Rwanda will attest to the fact that,indeed,the man does not just blow hot air, but actually practicalises his words and his people are seeing visible results of his sterling leadership qualities. Now, I decided to take a detour into this Rwandan example, which I have personally experienced, just to press home the point that, the Blackman has brains and when he is determined to put same to work, it will be possible and commensurate positive results will be realized. Again, this Rwandan example is most relevant, particularly in our Ghanaian setting, where responsible behavior in political officialdom has been completely nonexistent in recent times. In Rwanda, those who superintended the massive looting of state coffers under SADA,GYEEDA,SUBAH,ISOFOTON,BRAZIL DEBACLE,CP,WOYOME etc., would have all been arrested,trialed,slapped with hefty prison terms,thown into jail and the keys thrown into the sea. Mindless propaganda, as being shamelessly displayed by the current NDC corrupt appointees, cannot happen in the Rwandan society. The lack of accountability in public office which has been the hallmark of John Mahama-led maladministration, simply does not exist in Rwandan society. In effect, good leadership, naturally, comes along with its commensurate positive dividends which then become the source of joy for the people. 8years of NPP and NDC For the past 8years, Ghanaians have had the chance to assess their personal living standards, against 8years that the Kufuor-led NPP government, which Nana Addo was an integral part, was in power. Ghanaians have been able to assess periods under NPP, where banks were virtually chasing customers to contract loans, LPG was being distributed at peoples doorsteps, school children enjoyed free bus rides and expectant mothers did not have to worry about antenatal costs, as against 8years of total collapse of all these noble social intervention policies. Indeed, Ghanaians have been able to assess the period of functional NHIS, COCOA SPRAYING EXERCISE, FREE ANTENATAL CARE AND LEAP. Today, Ghana has become a land where, as a result of unbridled corruption at the presidency, it has become strange to be found to be doing what is right, as public office holder; and this actually epitomizes the great Akan axiom that says se enam prow a, ohye ase fir ne tsir, to wit, a fish always stars getting rotten from the head. Viewing this in the prism of political leadership, it stands to reason that a president who, himself, is neck-deep in acts of unbridled corruption, will have absolutely no testicular-fortitude to crack the whip, when his appointees engage in same acts. This therefore explains why corruption in political officialdom has attained astronomic proportions under the current NDC maladministration. There is hope for the future But my simple message to the good people of Ghana, particularly undecided voters, to please be assured that there is surely hope for the future, and that, not all those in politics are thieves. Also, my sincere appeal goes to a section of Ghanaians who are of the view that, all politicians are the same so they are no longer really bothered about decision-making processes of our country. My fellow Ghanaians who might presently be sitting on the fence, is-a-vis decision-making processes of our country, should be reminded of these words of Pastor Mensah-Otabil that "It is very interesting that many people who step into the corridors of power are not fit to walk in those corridors. "People who influence our world mostly are people who have no business influencing anything because they are not good examples themselves. "Many of those who determine how we live our lives have been failures in their own lives". Indeed, there are still selfless, dedicated and patriotic members of Ghanaians society who are desirous to assume public office, to genuinely render service to the people. Such individuals are not driven by hunger-pangs of the belly to seek office. And personally, I have been close to one of these individuals, in the person of Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The man epitomizes decency, patriotism, selflessness, humility and handwork; and above all, he is excessively blessed. These attributes of the man is what emboldens him to shout over the roof-tops that I AM NOT CORRUPT, HAVE NEVER BEEN CORRUPT, AND SHALL DEMAND SAME FROM MY TEAM. The man has been making this proclamation for ages, and till date, not a single soul has had the guts to challenge him with evidence to the contrary. On the question of him being BLESSED; this has actually been manifested in many ways: Someone falsely accused him of passing-water near a mosque somewhere in the northern region, and the person died of urine retention. Someone falsely accused him of killing his wife, and the wife of this person died mysteriously. Someone falsely claimed he suffered from heart problem, and the person died of heart attack Some riff-raffs sat in studio of a renegade radio station to falsely insult him, and these vagabonds ended up in jail. But what actually is blowing the minds of the entirely nation,presently,is what NDC FOOL-soldiers tried to do to, as usual, chip-away the mans impeccable dignity, outstanding personal integrity and matchless amount to divine grace upon his life. The Kalypo Calypso Now, there is this picture of Nana Addo sipping Kalypo, taken as far back as 2012, suddenly popping-up on social media, with expressed purpose to making mockery of him. The plot certainly came from the quarters of NDC vile propaganda machine. But what these NDC riff-raffs tend to be oblivious to, is the fact that, indeed, WHO JAH BLESS,NO MAN CURSE, and that, evil plots against a righteous man, will always bounce back as poisonous arrows and hit you in the heart. It all began as the usual NDC scorn on him, but it has turned out to be Ghanas spectacular business promotion drive, resulting in dramatic boost in sales of this product. And it is for this reason that, John Mahama advertised the enterprise of a young shoe-maker, and the youngman's business suffered a serious growth setback. He again advertised the so-called piggery of a Muslim lady, and all the animals died subsequently. Similarly, Himself and the wife advertised Ghana's 'Golden Tree' chocolate, and the company was shutdown with over 400 workers being laid off. But Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo takes a sip of kalypo, and the whole country has exploded in a Kalypo Calypso frenzy, with its resultant boom in sale of the product. Evidently, when Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo becomes the president, all he needs to do is to travel to every district of the country, sample whatever is locally produced there, and the policy of one-district-one factory will easily be actualized. This indeed, is the evidence of a personality with God's favour mightily upon him, and for that reason, whatever he touches turns into 24-carrat golden gold. On the other hand, whatever John Mahama touches turns into ashes because the devil lives in him.Indeed,when the wicked rule, the people mourn; but when the righteous rule, the people rejoice [Proverbs 29:2]. I have been offered the opportunity by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to be closely involved in this year's electioneering campaign; and from what I've personally experienced, and indeed continue to experience, as we traverse the nook-and-cranny of our country, even if NDC engages in the usual electoral thievery, NPP will still be victorious because the margin of NDC's defeat will be so massive. Indeed, I am not, have never ever, and will never ever be complacent, as we go into the 7th December, 2016 general elections; and I urge all party supporters who are working tirelessly, often with their personal limited resources, to please never be discouraged, but persevere until the ultimate goal of redeeming our dear country from the hands of these NDC socioeconomic gangsters, is achieved. Unquestionably, we serve a living God; and our unceasing cries for redemption will never go unheeded. Justice Abeeku Newton-Offei Email: [email protected] Nairobi (AFP) - A road ambush blamed on South Sudanese rebels left 21 people dead over the weekend, police said Monday, as the UN warned of a surge of violence in the world's youngest nation. Police spokesman Dominant Kawcgwok said a group of mostly women and children -- fleeing violence further north -- were travelling in a lorry between the capital Juba and the southern city of Yei when it "fell into ambush". "We lost something like 21 people," and another 20 were wounded, he said. The government has blamed the attack on rebel forces supporting former vice president Riek Machar, who fled to Khartoum after fighting broke out in Juba in July. The United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS) said in a statement it had received "deeply disturbing reports of horrific violence" against civilians in Yei. UNMISS "is extremely concerned by the continuing deterioration of the security situation in Yei, Central Equatoria, where the Mission continues to be denied access," read the statement. In another incident on Monday, three passenger buses travelling between Juba and the Ugandan capital Kampala were attacked by unknown gunmen, Kawcgwok said. He said the attackers torched one of the buses, but that none of the passengers were harmed. The ongoing discourse on the credibility of some doctoral degrees and the credibility of the institutions that confer them has exposed the vulnerability of our institutionsespecially our educational institutions and their administrators to substandard academic practices, manipulation of academic processes, and the outright use of subterfuge by some individuals to buy space in our academic environments. Furthermore, it has also exposed a deepening crisis of dilution of what actually constitutes credible knowledge produced by academicians. It is not an overstatement to say that the institutional capacities of many of our universities in Ghana and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa to differentiate between credible knowledge forms, based on time-tested institutionally accepted processes and norms, have been seriously compromised in a lot of places, placing the future of knowledge production and use in Ghana in particular and in Sub-Saharan Africa generally in jeopardy. In this essay, we address the challenges and the opportunities for redeeming knowledge production in Ghanaian universities and elsewhere on the African continent. We believe that the continuous unregulated process of what is accepted as knowledge in our academic institutions has profound implications for the current and future development of Ghana and other Sub-Saharan African countries. If we were asked what it means to produce credible knowledge in the academy, we would start by addressing the exigency of the research endeavor itself, a need which leads to the enactment of the scientific method, the latter meaning, stating the problem of research in specific ways, adhering to analytic models within specific orientations, and following specific criteria for evaluation in the chosen model. However, since scientific models themselves, in the postmodern framework, are open to all forms of permutations and integrations, leaving them at the dictate or the ingenuity of the researcher, who can integrate or amalgamate them, or let them stand alone, the most prudent thing is to head straight to the knowledge validation process, which is the culmination of all research endeavors. For any work to qualify in academic settings as adding to knowledge, it must pass the litmus test of going under the lens of peers within the community of scholars in ones chosen field. This process known as the peer-review process is supposed to be stringent in its anonymity, creating a double-blind between the author/researcher and the reviewer, so they cannot identify each other. The idea is to ensure that every one gets a similar unbiased review which could lead to a rejection, acceptance, or the demand for revision and resubmission. Most academics who are familiar with this process can attest to the rigor of the process for top tier journals. Thus, when the green light is finally given for a paper to be published, it becomes a reliable source of information for policy formulation, foundation for further research, and a source of knowledge for addressing some societal challenges. As inferable from the foregoing, when the peer-reviewed process is compromised, the outcome has implications, particularly, for future research and policy. This does not, however, mean that organizations, agencies, and individuals cannot institute their own research, which may not go through the stringent peer-review process. In certain instances, intellectuals can write papers intended to engage a wide section of the public, thus stepping into the public space and walking the delicate line of addressing both the academy and the general reader. The question is: can this paper serve as a basis for promotion and tenure? The answer is, they can augment the peer-review publications, but cannot stand alone as items for promotion and tenure. The problem in the academy in most developing countries today is not the problem of non- peer-reviewed papers being passed as such for the purposes of promotion and tenure. Rather, the problem is that purported peer-reviewed papers, whose peer-review processes have been compromised or do not have such processes at all, are being passed as such for tenure and promotion. With the advent of the Internet, most journals have migrated online, some with open access publications. Migrating online with open access publications does not, however, relegate the peer-review process to oblivion. Journals still maintain stringent processes to ensure that the anonymity and the quality of papers they publish are held to high academic standards. But the unlimited possibilities of the Internet have also made it possible for crooks to employ the medium to subterfuge gullible academics into believing that they are publishing with outstanding journals with stringent peer-review processes. Many academics have fallen for this scam. Modus Operandi of Predatory Publishers In what has become known as Bealls List of predatory publishers, Jeffrey Beall, a librarian at the University of Colorado Aurora Library, meticulously conducted background checks on academic journals and publishers and compiled a list of journals with questionable backgrounds that academics must avoid at all cost. Beall identified three (3) categories of these journalspredatory publishers, predatory standalone journals, and hijacked journalsand their misleading metric companies. For predatory journals, Beall identified the single title journals and the fleet journals and provided the criteria for the determination of these journals (Please follow the link to these publishers: https://scholarlyoa.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/criteria-2015.pdf). By way of example, the International Institute of Science, Technology and Research (IISTE) is an example of a fleet publisher, with multi-title journal names. International Center for Business Research fits the criteria for a single title journal. The criteria for determining predatory standalone journals are also derived from the criteria for the predatory publishers. For the hijacked journals, just as the name implies, the crooks will create a counterfeit of a legitimate scholarly journal and then go on to solicit for manuscripts. In tandem with this development, misleading metrics companies have also emerged, purporting to provide valid scholarly metrics to measure the impact of these journals and articles (Please follow the link to these companies here https://scholarlyoa.com/other-pages/misleading-metrics/). Scholars are, then, lured by these journals and publishers to submit articles for fees ranging from $150 or more to an upper bracket of $4000 or more. No field of human endeavor is exempt from the practice. From Archeology to Zoology, including Medicine, these journals have infiltrated the academy. The result of this development is the bastardization of the time-tested peer review process that has spread across many developing countries like a wildfire, leaving in its trail poor quality of research outcomes. If we agree that the quality of the review process has implications for research results, and subsequent policy formulation and further research, then we are already unsuspectingly reaping the results of these poor educational outcomes in many of our universities. We are aware that it is not a pleasant situation for an academic to spend long years, resources, and energy to produce work, based on which he/she is promoted for academic laurels, only to be told years later the work has failed the litmus test of the time-tested academic procedures. One advantage of studying in the West is that, you get to understand these issues quite early in your academic career and can steer clear from these pitfalls, which could undo your whole academic life and experience. Personal Experience In 2010, after completing and publishing his masters thesis, Dr. Prosper Yao Tsikata was contacted by Lambert Academic Publishing with a publishing contract. He was so excited his work would go beyond staying on the shelves at Ohio Universitys Alden Library, and that a wider public was going to read his work. He quickly signed the contract and ceded copyrights to this publishing house. Soon after that, this manuscript made it into a book. Dr. Tsikata boldly added this publication to his CV as a mark of academic attainment. Even though a chapter he culled from this work was reviewed by the Computer-Mediated Communication Journal with feedback for revision, the publication of this book before he could complete the revision invariably rendered the possibility of publishing the article with the CMC impracticable. Nevertheless, Dr. Tsikata was still buoyant that his thesis has made it into print. It was in the first year of his PhD that he discovered that, just as there are diploma mills, there are also wayward publishers with all kinds of derogatory names: vanity press, predatory press, and publishing mills, among other derogatory names. Thanks to Ohio Universitys professional seminars for PhDs! (Please follow the links to popular views on this publisher and Tsikatas publication: Quietly, Dr. Tsikata dropped that book from the list of publications on his CV, after finding out all the negative online reviews about this publisher and consulting a senior faculty. He was, therefore, rightly shocked when a colleague of his in a Ghanaian institution presented the same material for tenure and promotion in his institution and it was accepted and validated. This event made Tsikata to start looking seriously into the issue of predatory publications generally and started sending emails to some of our local universities to inquire about these issues. The responses from our universities generally painted a profound lack of understanding regarding these issues. So, for those who might think Tsikata and Dotse are out to witch-hunt particular individuals, the issue is about individual and institutional honesty and integrity, which leads to high academic quality and standards. On another score, we have paid publication fees for a friend who was caught up in the fraudulent publication web. While we duly warned him about the consequences of this fraud, he seemed to have been operating from a point of ignorance. Although he did not initially know about the existence of these predatory publishing sources as a form of fraud, when he came to understand it later, his response was yet indifference. He retorted that all his colleagues were doing it, so what was wrong if he did it too? The lessons from this personal narrative is that while some scholars are aware of this scam, others are likely completely oblivious to these gigantic traps in the academy. The temptation is that as the fraudulent practices go unchecked, they become widely entrenched as normal modus operadum in the academy. Ideological Dimensions of Argument To give the devil his due, a devils advocate may ask by whose authority Jeffrey Beall declares a journal and its publishers predatory. Clearly, even though the devil is in the details, Beall is cautionary with his classifications. Bealls operational catchphrase: potential, possible, or probable predatory journal, provides an ambiguous stretch for some academics to argue that the fact that a journal has been declared potential, possible, or probable predatory does not necessarily make it predatory. Others may even go on to argue that, since the so-called highly rated journals are mostly Western-centric, their editors hardly understand issues from other socio-cultural, economic, and political perspectives or contexts. This situation makes rejection of papers from other socio-cultural, economic, and political context, particularly Sub-Saharan African contexts, very high among Western-centric top tier journals. While the foregoing is plausible, we should be reminded that these ideological fault lines are only meant to ensnare the unsuspecting into believing that Westerners tend to spurn Afrocentric papers for lack of interest or incongruity of the interest of its readership to issues contained in these Afrocentric papers. But even if such is the case, what stops professional bodies on the African continent and African universities and their departments from initiating and promoting their own journals? So that this way, Sub-Saharan African scholars would be able to monitor and maintain the quality of the research enterprise. Hiding behind ideological fault lines or the ambiguity of Bealls potential, possible, or probable classification does not exonerate scholars who fall prey to these fraudulent journals. The point is that there are reputable Afrocentric journals sponsored by African universities and academic departments which can equally serve as conduits for peer reviewed publications. Turning to predatory journals cannot be a solution. We are aware that some scholars think that once the name International appears in the name of the journal, it must be something good. Far from that. Indeed, some of these fraudulent journals are nothing but a one-man operation, where the same person is the editor, the reviewer, and the publisher, and most probably, without a postgraduate education. Most of these fraudulent journals can be traced to Nigeria, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, the US, among other countries. This scam is well wide spread and has assumed epidemic proportions. Implications for Failing to Act As is the case, tenure and promotion committees in most African universities are unable to recognize works published in these fraudulent journals, since most members of these committees in many African universities are political appointees, not necessarily based on an in-depth understanding of the intricacies of the academic environment. As a general perspective, according to Beall, when an authentic scholars work appears side-by-side other works that contain author misconduct, such as plagiarism, image and manipulation, etc., it devalues the work of the honest and credible author. Specifically, with regard to Sub-Saharan Africa, academics from other countries and geographical regions of the world tend to look down on our academic institutions, certificates, and scholars from these institutions as unscholarly bunch of jokers. If a high school leaver or an undergraduate can set up an online scheme to scam our top academics or scholars in these ways, why do we have to regard you as a scholar of equal standing? Furthermore, we must be aware that when fraudulently published academic papers become the basis for policy formulation and implementation, they shake the very foundation of our society. From the construction of bridges, planning of cities, implementation of business plans, execution of medical decisions, and promotion and tenure of scholars in the academy, this situation hurts our society and its development pathways in profound ways. The Publicly Displayed Profile of Dr. Gerald Dapaah Gyamfi Interrogated In his publicly displayed profile, the Dean, Weekend School, Dr. Gerald Dapaah Gyamfi, displays about 10 peer reviewed articles (Please follow the link to his profile: http://upsa.edu.gh/history.php?page=10#openModal4). By academic standards, these articles must have been the basis for his promotion and tenure. But a critical interrogation of these articles revealed that only three of these articles can be said to have passed the litmus test of the double-blind peer review process. Analyses of the articles are as follows: Gyamfi, G.D. (2013b). Evaluating entrepreneurship education as a tool for economic growth: The Ghanaian experience. British Journal of Education, Society and Behavioral Science, 4(3), 318-335. This Journal is published by Science Domain International, a predatory journal based in India with addresses purporting to be UK-based (Please follow the link to information about this journal: Gyamfi, G.D. (2013). Application of Student Development Theory: A Phenomenological Study of Needy Students. International Journal of Development and Sustainability, 2(2), 1-12. The publisher of this journal is listed on the Bealls list of predatory journals (please follow the link here https://scholarlyoa.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/2013-lists2.pdf). Gyamfi, G.D. (2008) Assessing brain drain and its associated effects on the economy of Ghana. Pentvars Business Journal, 3, 50-59. This journal is established and run by the Pentecost University of Ghana; thus, its authenticity is not in doubt. If in doubt, promotion and tenure committees can easily check authenticity. Gyamfi, G.D. (2011). Assessing the effects of industrial unrest on Ghana health service: A case study of nurses at Korle-Bu teaching hospital. International Journal of Nursing and Midwifery, 3(11), 1-5. The authenticity of this journal can be ascertained. This journal in our view is authentic, unless proven otherwise by any investigator. Gyamfi, G.D. (2012). Evaluating the relationship between selection requirements and performance of police personnel in Ghana. Human Resource Management Research, 2(1), 1-5. This journal is published by Scientific and Academic Publishing, which is listed as a predatory publisher on the Bealls list (Please follow the link here https://scholarlyoa.com/2012/02/05/new-publisher-scientific-academic-publishing/). Gyamfi, G.D. (2012). Assessing the effectiveness of credit risk management techniques of microfinance firms in Ghana. Journal of Science and Technology, 32(1), 96-103. This journal is published by University of Science and Technology. Thus, authentic. If authenticity is in doubt, it can easily be checked. Gyamfi, G.D. (2016). Police governance and human trafficking: The Ghanaian experience. Police Practice and Research: An International Journal, 17(5) doi 10.1080/15614263.1196912. This article cannot be found with either the digital object identifier (doi), a unique alphanumeric string to identify content on the Internet, or with the heading of the article. Gyamfi, G.D. (2014). Influence of job stress on job satisfaction: Empirical evidence from Ghana police. International Business Research, 7(9), 108-118. Published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education. This publisher is listed on Bealls predatory publishers list. Gyamfi, G.D., Agyemang, C.B., & Nyanyofio, J.G., (2014). Job stress, sector of work, and shift-work pattern as correlates of worker health and safety: A study of manufacturing company in Ghana. International Journal of Business and Management, 9(7). Published by the Canadian Center of Science and Education. Same as number eight (8). Gyamfi, G.D., Underdahl, L., Daou, N., Ramlal-Chirkoot, L., Stott, Y., & Dell, G.V. (2013). Millenial University: Todays Learners-tomorrows leaders. The Exchange: A Journal of Academic Forum, 2(1), 20-29. The status of this journal yet to be determined. The point is that if out of ten (10) articles published by a scholar, the authenticity of six (6) of them are in question, wherein lies the integrity that should guide the academic endeavor or enterprise? The disconcerting aspect of this continuing discourse is that we have individuals who claim to have double doctoral degrees from either institutions that are unaccredited or are in some shadowy relationships with other institutions, e.g., the Swiss Management Center (SMC), UGSM Monarch Business School, Atlantic International University, Central University of Nicaragua, Universidad Azteca, etc., and the same individuals are also the ones being accused of suspicious scholarly outputs. Juxtapose on this, we have a hydra-headed academic situation on our hands. This will certainly undermine quality academic output both in the long-term and the short-term. While the University of Professional Studies, Accra (UPSA), Alabi-led administration in particular, and many African universities in general, are likely to believe that they are doing the right things for their institutions, as it is in the management of organizations, we tend to carry favorite solutions in our minds and look for problems that fit them. In this regard, when others who are not part of our organizations are pointing to the missing tooth of the jigsaw, we tend to look at them with suspicion, anger, and rancor. However, it is not uncommon that when malfeasance is uncovered and exposed, the protagonists go through the well-known Kubler-Rosss five stages of grief. These stages consist of denial at first, followed by anger, then comes bargaining, depression sets in, and finally acceptance. It is not lost on us that the tarried trajectory the diatribe has taken is ample testimony of the state of mind of all those parties involved. Drawing Down the Curtain One important recommendation to rescue the academic enterprise in UPSA, other Ghanaian universities, and on the continent of Africa would for libraries and senior faculties in our local universities to organize series of seminars on academic publishing. We need to start from the scratch. All our lecturers need to be taught the rudiments of publishing. It needs to be part of the Quality Assurance Exercise of our local universities. As concerned Ghanaian citizens, we will continue to highlight these issues to educate both the general public, Ghanaian scholars, and their students about these pitfalls. Academic committees in Ghana and elsewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa can choose to act now to save the situation or ride with the consequential and disastrous downturn and be complicit in the tempestuous scam on our hands. As pointed out by Beall, academic committees can decide for themselves, in their institutional context, what is relevant and what is irrelevant. But choosing to act or not has consequences; it is probably best to act than not. Prosper Yao Tsikata, Ph.D. Assistant Professor of Communication A .Kobla Dotse, Ph.D. Director, Chemical Research & Development Postscript for Further Reading on these Issues: AJCU Business Deans Resolution on Predatory Journals Federal Lawsuit Jeffrey Bealls Continuing Work on Predatory Journals Accra 10th October, 2016. The Centre for Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, West Africa has welcomed the announcement of a National Corporate Social Responsibility Policy for Ghana. The Centre believes the Policy will help harness the different level of efforts at getting the private sector commit to standards relating to the environment, people, sustainability, development goals and best practices in social responsibility. According to the Lead Project Manager of the Centre, Mr. Kojo Williams: For many years now, we have advocated for a set of principles that should guide the discharge of social responsibility in Ghana. Since CSR is not entirely a legal, but an ethical and social obligation or mandate, it was necessary to ensure that it was not expressed in a vacuum. He continued: At our recent CSR and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Conference co-chaired by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), it became very obvious that the private sector needed to harness its CSR initiatives and projects and aligned it to a national framework to create equitable development and prevent multiplicity of interventions targeted as same beneficiaries. We realized that there was the need for a strategic CSR direction and guidance for the country now than ever. The Centre for CSR West Africa, a leading CSR advocacy organisation, has been at the forefront of promoting and creating awareness about corporate social responsibility in Ghana through stakeholder conferences, one-on-one engagements, training programmes and its signature CSR Awards scheme, the Ghana CSR Excellence Awards, which is being replicated in other parts of West Africa. The Centres activities and advocacy efforts are largely supported by stakeholders from the private sector, business associations, academia, civil society and the media. Notable among these stakeholders are the Association of Ghana Industries (AGI), Ghana Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), JICA, UNDP, Plan International, University of Applied Management, some local and international media organsations, among others. Reviewing the National CSR Policy, Mr. Williams opined that: The consolidation of efforts that produced the Policy is laudable and many thanks to the German government for providing the support that birthed it. If you are looking for a set of direct rules or definitive strategies, you may not find it in the Policy, because it is not a legally-binding instrument that whips anyone into line. However, in it, you will find underlining CSR principles drawn from many internationally recognized conventions, practices and standards. You will also find a proposed oversight structure to guide the discharge of CSR in Ghana. The Centre admonishes the private sector to ensure that their CSR interventions align to international best practices, are people-centred and environment-conscious while urging government to provide attractive incentives for organisations that are very socially-responsible and helping contribute to the overall achievement of the national development agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals. On 7th October 2016, The Ambassador of France to Ghana, H.E. Francois Pujolas, attended the closing ceremony for the completion of a training program by police officers. The program dubbed Surveillance and shadowing, a cross-border exercise enabled police officers from the Drug Law Enforcement Unit of the CID and their Togolese counterparts to work together against the fight against drug trafficking. During the ceremony, H.E Francois Pujolas reminded that France has been supporting Ghanas fight against drug trafficking and organized crime since the creation of the French International Police Cooperation (DCI) in 2007. Last year, this cooperation between the two countries was strengthened on the technical and operational front leading to the MILDECA project (Inter ministerial mission of the fight against drugs and addictive behavior). In this vein, this year, the Regional Liaison Officer at the Embassy of France embarked on a project to strengthen the operational capacities of Ghanaian agencies fighting against drug trafficking through the development of a cross-border cooperation. This project aims at strengthening the technical and operational capacities of the Drug Law Enforcement Unit (DLEU) of the CID. The unit therefore benefited from a donation of material, in addition, the police in the department were trained by French experts on different surveillance and shadowing techniques. In June 2016, a training exercise was carried out which ended in a cannabis producing farm being dismantled and an important quantity of drugs being seized. Due to the challenges being faced by this project, MILDECA is trying to develop a cross-border cooperation. Therefore, on 20th July 2016, a seminar on operational exchanges was held in Lome. Between the 3rd and 7th of October, police officers in the DLEU and 4 Togolese officers from OCTRIDB, (the Head Office of Narcotics in Togo) underwent training on surveillance and shadowing, a cross-border exercise. This training will enable Ghana and Togo to better work together against drug trafficking and organized crime. Next week, from the 10th to the 14th of October, there will another training session held in Lome with participants from both countries. Fifty polo shirts with the inscription CID/DLEU and 5 binoculars were donated to the CID department. Miss NABAMSS and Mr NABAMSS 10.10.2016 LISTEN The beginning of October was eventful for the National Association of Basic Medical Science Students (NABAMSS) as they held their 2nd National Scientific Conference tagged Extremity and Laxity in Teaching and Practise of Basic Medical Sciences: A Major Impediment to its Progress in Nigeria at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State. Tijani Sheriffdeen reports. The conference which held from the 4th to 7th of October 2016 at the University of Ilorin remains indelible and memorable in the hearts of many, as it went down with a number of gripping and intriguing events. The conference started with a community outreach to Tanke Ile-iwe community, Ilorin on Tuesday, 4th of October. The people of this community were giving medical attention; many of whom were tested and given appropriate drugs to combat diagnosed ailments. The outreach came as a success due to the kind gesture of the Kwara State Ministry of Health in sponsoring the community outreach. The welcome party that night necessitated the coming together of participants to meet one another. In attendance at the conference were the University of Nnamdi Azikwe (UNIZIK), Anambra State University (ANSU) and the host school, University of Ilorin (UNILORIN). At the welcome party, schools competed against one another in dancing, singing and other interesting and relaxing activities. The second day of the conference was designed to be the Academic/seminar presentation day. The programme which started around 11 am had in attendance the National President and Vice-President of NABAMSS, Mr Anokwulu Osmond and Mr Udegbulam Kingsley respectively. Also present at the event were the financial secretary, Mr Ubawike Queen-Betty, the Treasurer, Ijezie Collins and the Director of Socials, who doubles as one of the hosts of the conference, Mr Izuogu Tochukwu of NABAMSS. The National staff adviser was also on sit, in person of Dr. B. U. Enaibe; also present was the Head of Department of Anatomy of the University of Ilorin, Dr. Akinola. Mr Ibrahim of the department of Anatomy was also sited at the programme. The first lecturer, Dr. David Ofusori of the department of Anatomy and Cell Biology, Obafemi Awolowo Univeristy, Ile-ife spoke extensively on the theme of the conference; he did justice to the topic by looking into the two sides to the topic of the lecture. The second lecture, Dr. O. J. Olajide of the department of Anatomy, University of Ilorin took the participants to another dimension, by helping them understand how they could be better Basic Medical Scientists. The skype chat with Dr. Ogundele Lekan Michael, of the department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences, School of Veterinary Medicine, Louisiana State University was another interesting part of the conference. He spoke to the audience on the advance part of Basic Medical Sciences, which was really interesting as seen in the ovation that greeted the end of his lecture. It would interest you to know that the participants at the conference showed of their cultural attire at the cultural session of the programme. The Igbos where beautifully wrapped in their attire, while the Yorubas at the conference didnt shy away from representing their tribe wonderfully well. Also, some delegates were seen in Hausa attire, which gave the programme a beautiful colour. At the dinner of the conference, which was staged to wrap up the whole conference, Presidents of the visiting schools and the Executives of the National body expressed their appreciation to the committee in charge of the conference. They didnt fail to praise the University of Ilorin for grooming its students well, as they said students from this University where well behaved and accommodating throughout the conference. At the end of the beauty pageantry session, Mr Tobi of the university of Ilorin was crowned Mr NABAMSS, while his female counterpart, Miss Kunmi from the same university was crowned Miss NABAMSS. It was indeed a big night for the host University. Because the Alaska Republican Party is torn in half-- the extremists backing teabagger Joe Miller (running as a Libertarian) and the mainstream conservatives sticking with business-as-usual Lisa Murkowski, the Democrats have a chance to win the Senate seat back. But because grassroots Dems-- who backed Bernie 81.6-18.4%-- nominated Ray Metcalfe (long-time scourge of Alaska's corrupt political establishment), the Alaska Democratic Party establishment (and, of course the like-minded DSCC) don't want to win the seat. Literally. They're backing an independent candidate instead and hoping to throw the election to Murkowski. The top of the shit-heap of Alaska Democratic Party corruption, Mark Begich, after toying about running as a write-in candidate himself, just endorsed independent Margaret Stock. Blue America endorsed Ray Metcalfe about a month ago and today he did a guest post for us on what his priorities would be if he's elected to the Senate. Please consider contributing to his grassroots campaign by tapping the thermometer on the right after you read his post. A Real Progressive Senator For Alaska? -by Ray Metcalfe I am the former Legislator whistleblower who helped the FBI and federal prosecutors convict VECO owner Bill Allen for bribing Alaska's legislators. Six legislators were convicted of accepting bribes in exchange for their vote to tax Alaska's oil at far less than its real tax value. The bribery had gone on for thirty years and every Alaskan has paid the price. Had Alaska been paid what Prudhoe Bay was worth, and had legislators deposited the additional payments in the Permanent Fund, the Fund, and our Dividend, would have grown to about five times what it is today, and the Legislature would now be in position to pay big fat dividends and fund government from the earnings for perpetuity. Getting the dirty money out of politics and ending the pay to play game has been my number one priority for thirty years and will remain so if I am elected to the U.S. Senate. My other political priorities are quite similar to those of Bernie Sanders & Elizabeth Warren. I have reviewed the bills they have proposed and I support the goals they have defined. Develop responsibly, protect the environment, and get paid world market value for the renewable and nonrenewable resources we place on the commercial market; that's my motto. Addressing the political corruption that permeates our political system is my number one priority. To see firsthand what corruption is costing us today, look no further than our Permanent Fund Dividend that just got cut in half. While I disagree with the Governor's decision, the anger behind the recall petition is misplaced. The blame belongs with those who, for years, accepted campaign funding form oil companies surrogates and voted repeatedly to give your oil away. Political parties and a majority of our elected officials on both sides of the aisle, have developed mutual dependencies between themselves and large donors seeking financial rewards. After contributing, large donors, in Alaska's case surrogates of the oil companies, pay lobbyists to remind those they helped elect what they expect in return. From Wall Street to Washington, from Big Oil to Juneau; It's a never ending cycle of trading campaign contributions for appropriations, tax breaks, and other economic benefits that infects both major political parties. You may have heard about a split within the Democratic Party. The split boils down to those who wish to bring an abrupt halt to the pay to play game and those who just want to end the other guy's participation. With a vote of 27 to 6, the elected members of the Democratic Party's Platform Committee inserted the following language into their proposed Party Platform. We support legislation that requires elected officials to declare a conflict of interest and recuse themselves from voting on legislation appropriating cash, resources, or competitive advantages, to themselves, their family, their employers, their business partners, or their contributors. The old guard establishment was so anxious to exclude such language from the platform they adjourned the convention to prevent the above language from coming up for a vote and likely adoption on the Party Convention floor. I want to put the above language into federal statute, making it a serious crime to fail to disclose such conflicts and recuse one's self from voting when one has such conflicts. Ask yourself: How can global worming issues be addressed while the fossil fuel industry can easily provide thirty times the campaign funding as those who wish to fix global warming. I was the one who started the referendum to overturn Senate Bill 21, better known as "The Big Oil Tax Giveaway Bill." We came very close to winning even though the oil companies spent thirty times what we were able to raise. If you are a Bernie Sanders fan, I was elected to attend the State Convention as a Sanders delegate. I am the only U.S. Senate candidate who has endorsed Bernie Sanders and come out in support of the legislation he has proposed. Having me for your Senator would be almost as good as being Senator yourself. 10.10.2016 LISTEN The Electoral Commission (EC) has rejected the nominations of Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive Peoples Party (PPP), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings of National Democratic Party and 11 other presidential candidates in the upcoming December polls. Chairperson of the Commission, Charlotte Osei said the disqualified aspirants did not meet the criteria for filing as president. The rejected political parties are; Ghana Freedom Party (GFP), United Progressive Party (UPP), Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD), Progressive People's Party (PPP), and the Great Consolidated People's Party (GCPP). The rest include; United Front Party (UFP), All People's Congress (APC), National Democratic Party (NDP), and the Independent People's Party (IPP). The four presidential candidates who successfully went through the process are the flagbearers of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, National Democratic Congress, President John Mahama, Convention People's Party (CPP), Ivor Kobina Greenstreet and an independent candidate, Jacob Yeboah. Explaining reasons for disqualifying PPP's Dr Nduom, the EC boss said due diligence was not paid in the filling of the nomination form of the entrepreneur. She said one Richard Antwi Aseda with the voter's ID number 7812003957 endorsed Dr Nduom's nomination form as a voter of both the Central and Volta Region, an act that contradicts the laws governing elections in Ghana.Credit-myjoyonline.com The Electoral Commission (EC) today [Monday], disqualified as many as thirteen presidential aspirants from contesting in the 2016 elections. The disqualified aspirants include Hassan Ayariga's All Peoples Congress (APC), the People's National Conventions (PNC) Dr. Edward Mahama, the Progressive People's Partys (PPP) Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, and other presidential aspirants from contesting in the December elections. The EC Chairperson, Charlotte Osei, who made the announcement at a news conference, said those disqualified failed to meet the necessary requirements, hence their ineligibility to contest. Find below the different reasons for which each of the aspirants were disqualified. RECEIPT OF NOMINATIONS FOR 2016 PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Key criteria for presidential candidates Forms must be signed by candidate Forms must be signed by two registered voters in every district (432 valid endorsements required) One voter cannot endorse more than one presidential candidate Vice President nominee must be named and must meet constitutional requirements for the office of Vice President Properly filled forms must be delivered to the Returning officer on or before the date appointed for receipt of nominations Forms should be submitted in quadruplicates Forms should include properly attested statutory declarations stating that candidate has provided accurate details to the Commission, has met all the requirements and is qualified for the office of President. 4 pictures in accordance with dimensions and specifications in the law Payment of filing fees as determined by the Commission. The Commission may disqualify a candidate if one of these requirements is not met. For instance: The nomination form is not properly signed by the candidate; The statutory declaration is not properly executed; Filing fees not presented in requested mode or amount; Less than two registered voters per district sign the nomination forms; The nomination forms are not properly signed by all the subscribing voters; The candidate or the designated vice president nominee does not meet the legal requirements of the nominated office. Prior to the close of nominations on the 29th and 30th September, candidates whose nomination forms had obvious errors and who submitted early enough, were called by the officers of the Commission and given the opportunity to correct obvious errors or omissions on their nomination forms. The Law permits such corrections only within the nomination period hence our earlier call on candidates to submit as early as possible. Following the receipt of nomination forms last week, and the payment of filing fees earlier today, the EC is now in a position to announce candidates whose nominations have been accepted by the Electoral Commission having met the afore stated requirements. Hassan Ayariga All Peoples' Congress (APC) The Commission is unable to accept Dr. Ayariga's nomination for the following reason: The candidate did not provide evidence on his statutory declaration as to his hometown or residence in the constituency as per the legal requirements. Two subscribers to Dr. Ayariga's nominations also subscribed for another presidential candidate. This is in breach of Regulation 7(4) of CI 94. The implication is that the two subscribers are disqualified and therefore, Dr. Ayariga does not have the requisite number of subscribers under Regulation 7(2) (b) of CI 94. The details of the duplicate subscribers are as follows: Abaako Issifu (page 103) Voter ID number 2988006876 PS code: J110202 Abudu Ayuba (page 95) Voter ID number 6303005554 PS code: H200201 In addition, the signatures of both voters are different on the two nomination forms. This raises questions as to the legitimacy of those signatures. We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election Edward Nasigri Mahama PNC The Commission is unable to accept Dr. Mahama's nomination for the following reasons: Many subscribers did not properly sign the forms. Thumbprints, signatures or marks were omitted all together. For instance, no signatures on Page 16, 24, 28. Two subscribers to Dr. Mahama's nominations also subscribed for another presidential candidate. These are: Abaako Issifu (page 103) Voter ID number 2988006876 PS code: J110202 Abudu Ayuba (page 95) Voter ID number 6303005554 PS code: H200201 As stated earlier, the signatures of both voters are different on the two nomination forms. This raises questions as to the legitimacy of those signatures. We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election For a large majority of subscribers, the signature portion was ticked rather than subscribed with a signature, thumb print or mark. It is important to point out that a simple tick does not satisfy the requirements of the law for where a mark is made in lieu of a signature or thumb print. A mark in law is an X made by a person who is illiterate or too weak to sign his/her full name. According to the Free Law Dictionary, On the rare occasion that this occurs, the X should be within or next to2 `1 a notation indicating the person's name or formally witnessed by another person to make the mark valid. Accordingly, the Commission is unable to accept mere ticks, which have not been properly, witnessed as legitimate marks made by voters subscribing to Dr. Mahama's forms. In conclusion, Dr. Mahama does not have the requisite number of subscribers required under Regulation 7(2) (b) of CI 94 and his nomination cannot therefore be accepted. Nana Agyenim Boateng United Front Party The Commission is unable to accept Dr. Boateng's nomination because the number of his subscribers do not meet the minimum required under Regulation 7(2) (b) of CI 94. The details are as follows: One subscriber Amadu Babia Latifah with Voter ID number 3357006984, and Polling station K100401 supported the nomination of another candidate (page 110). This is in breach of Regulation 7 (4) of CI 94. Further, the Subscriber has different signatures on both candidates' nominations raising questions as to the legitimacy of the signature on both forms. Three of Dr. Boateng's subscribers supported the nomination of another candidate and again, with different signatures. This again is in breach of Regulation 7(4) of CI 94. Details are: Alfred Yevuglo (page 35) Voter ID no: 1270013632 Polling station code: D091201 Dagadu Raymond (page 35) Voter ID no: 1270012857 Polling station code: D091201 Adu Thomas (page 67) Voter ID no: 3703013114 Polling station code: F310202 We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election Kofi Akpaloo- Independent People's Party The Commission is unable to accept Mr. Akpaloo's nomination because the number of subscribers to Mr. Akpaloo's forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. The details are as follows: Three subscribers supported the nomination of another candidate in breach of Regulation 7 (4) of CI 94. Again, the cross subscribers have different signatures on the nomination forms raising questions as to the legitimacy of these signatures. These are: Alfred Yevuglo (page 35) Voter ID no: 1270013632 Polling station code: D091201 Dagadu Raymond (page 35) Voter ID no: 1270012857 Polling station code: D091201 Adu Thomas (page 67) Voter ID no: 3703013114 Polling station code: F310202 We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election. Kwabena Adjei- Reform Patriotic Democrat The Commission is unable to accept Mr. Adjei's nomination because the number of subscribers to his forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. The details are as follows: Two subscribers to Mr. Adjei's forms are not registered voters as they are on the Exclusion List for multiple registrations. Details are: Stephen Owusu (2012/2014) with voter IDs 2643005586 & 1490019583 Fusheini Mariama/ Abdulai Mariama (4.2012/3. 2012) with voter IDs 2643005586 & 1490019583 We also call on the Ghana Police Service to investigate the named individuals for the electoral offence. Papa Kwesi Nduom Progressive People's Party (PPP) The Commission is unable to accept Dr. Nduom's nomination because the number of subscribers to his forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. The details are as follows: One subscriber Richard Aseda ('Asida' on the Voters' Register), with Voter ID no 7812003957) endorsed the forms in two different districts (pages 21 and 39). The subscriber was found to be on the Voter's Register in one district thereby disqualifying his second subscription and reducing the total number of subscribers to below the minimum required by the Law. The same subscriber (Richard Aseda ('Asida') endorsed the form with different signatures in both portions of the nomination form. This raises questions as to the legitimacy of one or both signatures. We will refer the matter of the possible forgery of the signature(s) to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election. Dr. Henry Herbert Lartey Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP) The Commission is unable to accept Dr. Lartey's nomination because the number of subscribers to his forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. The details are as follows: Pages 18 22 do not contain the signatures of subscribers as required by Law Pages 14 17: Subscriptions are undated The Personal records of the Vice Presidential candidate have not been provided. One subscriber Amadu Babia Latifah. With Voter ID number 3357006984 & Polling station K100401 (page 110) also supported the nomination of another candidate. This disqualifies both candidates endorsed by the said voter. Further, the said subscriber has different signatures on both candidates' nominations raising questions as to the legitimacy of both signatures. We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election. Richard Nixon Tetteh United Development Systems Party The Commission is unable to accept Mr. Tetteh's nomination because the number of subscribers to his forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. The nomination forms were improperly filled and almost all subscribers to Mr. Tetteh's forms have invalid voter ID numbers. The candidate did not also pay the filing fee within the stipulated timeline. Mrs. Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings National Democratic Party The Commission is unable to accept Mrs. Rawlings' nomination because the number of subscribers to her forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. One subscriber on page 89 of her nomination forms is not a validly registered voter and illegally registered twice and so is on the Exclusion list of multiple voters. Details are: Salifu Abdulai District: Nanumba South Voter ID no: 6617004814 (28.3.2012) Voter ID no: 2126900022 (04.8.2014). Thomas Nuako Ward-Brew Democratic People's Party The Commission is unable to accept Mr. Ward-Brew's nomination for the following reasons: His forms were improperly completed and Candidate's particulars were not provided (page 1). The candidate did not provide his voter ID number and the Commission is unable to ascertain whether the candidate is a registered voter and therefore eligible for the office of President. The Statutory Declaration by the candidate is not signed and candidate's details missing from statutory declaration (pages 112 and 113). However, the same statutory declaration has been signed by the Commissioner of oaths. This is illegal and unethical. The Signature of the Vice presidential candidate is missing (page 112) The Voter ID number of the Vice Presidential candidate has not been provided and so the Commission is unable to ascertain whether the Vice Presidential candidate is a registered voter and eligible to stand as a candidate for that office. The number of subscribers to Mr. Ward-Brew's forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. There are no signatures for subscribers (pages 69, 70 and 71) Signatures of two subscribers (Isaac Dusi & Kofi Kuma) are identical (pages 55 and 56) and this raises questions about the legitimacy of the two signatures. The same subscriber Kumbung Dosetu endorsed the nomination forms in two different districts (Lawra and Nandom) with two different signatures (page 109) raising issues again on the legitimacy of both signatures. Two subscribers subscribed in both Dormaa Municipal & Dormaa West districts (page 76) Details as follows- Yaa Yeboaa Anthony Boamah Voter ID no; 3462001504 Voter ID no: 3462002159 There are undated endorsements on pages 48, 50, 55 , 56 and 61 Missing residential addresses, page 33 Page 10: Thumbprints for even headmasters and teachers and Researchers and pastors (page 74). vii. The candidate did not also pay the filing fee within the stipulated timeline. We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29): Section 211: Perjury Section 248: making false declaration etc. for office or voting; Section 251: Deceiving a public officer Section 256: Corruption, Intimidation and personation in respect of election. Alfred Kwame Asiedu Walker Independent candidate The Commission is unable to accept Mr. Walker's nomination for the following reasons: Walker's forms were improperly filled and contained several irregularities. There are invalid endorsements and signatures of subscribers are missing from pages 82-84, 99, 100. Personal records of Vice Presidential candidate were not provided (page 112) The Candidate's Statutory Declaration was not completed and not signed by the candidate. The Candidate's Voter ID number and Polling station were details not provided The Voter ID details and polling station for vice presidential candidate were not provided. Therefore the Commission was unable to confirm the eligibility of the nominee vice president for the office. The Consent to nomination was not signed by both Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates. The Vice presidential candidate did not sign his personal record form. Akua Donkor Ghana Freedom Party The Commission is unable to accept Madam Donkor's nomination for the following reasons: Her form was improperly filled. The Consent to candidacy by the candidate and Vice president nominee were not signed. Residential addresses and polling station details of several subscribers were not provided (pages 68, 79, 80, 81,82, 83, 84) Same signatures with different names (Pages 48, 49, 50, 51, 52, 53, 54,55, 56, 57, 58 & 59) Three different signatures provided on the forms for the Presidential candidate Vice Presidential candidate not qualified on basis of provided date of birth of October 15, 1998. The details of the vice presidential candidate were also omitted on the personal record form The candidate's Statutory Declaration was incomplete Akwasi Addai Odike United Progressive Party The Commission has been served with court processes challenging the membership and candidacy of Mr. Akwasi Addai Odike by some members of the United Progressive Party. The processes seek to restrain the Electoral Commission from issuing, accepting and registering Mr. Odike to contest the 2016 presidential election as the flag bearer of the UFP. The Commission is therefore unable to accept Mr. Odike's nomination forms until the matter in court has been concluded. We hope that Mr. Odike and the UPP would resolve the matter by October 14, 2016; after which date the Commission would be unable to process the nomination. Accepted Nominations The following nominations have been accepted by the Electoral Commission (in order of submission): Nana AddoDankwa Akufo-Addo New Patriotic Party John Dramani Mahama National Democratic Congress Ivor Kobina Greenstreet Convention Peoples' Party Jacob Osei Yeboah Independent Candidate By: citifmonline.com/Ghana Rabat (AFP) - Morocco's King Mohammed VI Monday tasked Abdelilah Benkirane to keep his post as prime minister and form a new government after his Islamist party won last week's parliamentary elections, the royal court said. Benkirane's Islamist Justice and Development Party (PJD) took 125 seats out of 395 in Friday's polls, beating its main rival, the Authenticity and Modernity Party (PAM), which had campaigned against the "Islamisation" of Moroccan society. 10.10.2016 LISTEN By Pascal Kafu Abotsi ([email protected]) Following the of Ghanaians outcry over high electricity tariffs, which have run down most businesses, the vice presidential candidate of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has assured Ghanaians of the partys intention to reduce taxes on the tariffs, to give immediate relief to households and industries, when it assumes office in January next year. The NPP, earlier in May this year, called on the Mahama-led administration to reduce electricity tariffs, since almost everybody in the country was complaining. In January, in spite of the erratic power cuts, the Public Utilities Regulatory Commission (PURC) announced a 59.2 per cent increase in the electricity tariff, and 67.2 per cent in water tariff for residential consumers, which took retrospective effect from December 14, 2015. It took mass action, by organised labour, for a reduction in the tariffs to be caused by the government. The electricity tariff was reduced from 59.2 per cent to 45 per cent, and a 50 per cent for lifeline consumers and vulnerable groups. And having taken notice of this disturbing development, Dr. Bawumia decried the ruling National Democratic Congresss (NDC) taste for taxation, which, he said, had affected even condoms. He stressed that an Akufo-Addo-led government would turn taxation into production, a promise which drew a loud applause from the crowd, convinced that the major way of turning the fortunes of the country was to empower industries, particularly, those in the private sector. Dr. Bawumia advised Ghanaians against President Mahamas promise to restore the scrapped nurses and teacher trainee allowances, describing it as 419 propaganda, and that the NPP would restore them in full during its first quarter in office. He also gave the assurance that next NPP government would increase the amount of loans under the student loan scheme, and restructure it to streamline its administration to enhance recovery of the loans. The next NPP government will build an Accident and Emergency Center in Takoradi The next NPP government will construct new harbours at James Town and Keta, he added. Basically touching on major issues of concern to the NPP, which would help strengthen the economic foundations of the country, the NPP running mate also gave the indication that the NPP government would pass legislation to ensure that, at least, 20% of road contracts awarded to foreign contractors be sub-contracted to local contractors. The next NPP government will pass a legislation to require that, at least, 70% of all Government of Ghana taxpayer-financed contracts and procurements be executed by local corporate entities, and 30% out of this 70% of the contracts should be awarded to businesses owned by women, people with disabilities, and those businesses established under the YEF, he added. Dr. Bawumia was sad the NDC could conceive the idea of taxing head porters, popularly called kayayei, saying the NPP government will be working with District Assemblies to exempt Kayayei from taxes and market tolls right after assumption of office. He made these remarks at the partys manifesto launch in Accra yesterday. In spite of the heavy downpour that preceded it, the New Patriotic Partys manifesto launch proved, arguably, to be the most successful and most-attended of its gatherings, since the partys inception in 1992. The road leading from the 37 Station to the Accra International Trade Fair Centre in Accra was covered with thousands of supporters clad in party shirts and other paraphernalia. Other adjoining access routes, especially, the Teshie-La road, could not be ruled out, as enthusiastic followers of the NPP had taken over the entire stretch. The forecourt of the Trade Fair, which was being prepared for a rally in the evening, was also massively crowded with men and women who had gone there to do business. From hats to foot wears, the owners busily sold them out to supporters who had queued up to buy. In a large hall, where the manifesto launch was held, various party bigwigs, including ex-president John Agyekum Kufuor, and Alan Kyerematen came out to address the supporters, but it was its flagbearer, Nana Addo Danquah Akufo-Addos turn that generated the loudest cheers and applause. This was around 3.30pm. Nana Akufo-Addo informed the people that most political parties in the country did not know the significance of a manifesto, because he had observed they always thought it should be made up of a list of promises, to attract votes. I fully understand the significance of putting a signature to a contract. We take our manifesto seriously, because we know politics is serious business. He further drew attention to the distinction between the NDC and the NPP, saying, NDC and NPP are not the same. NPP has not had any identity crisis. His reference was to the NDCs conflicting thought in what they stood their ideological leaning. There is a dangerous lie poisoning our politics that must be quashed decisively the notion that the two major political parties, the NDC and the NPP, are the same. We, in the NPP, know from whence we came. We have never had any identity crisis. Right from our UGCC roots, through the various incarnations to the present day NPP, we have held firm in our belief in multi-party democracy and free market economics; even when these were not the fashionable ideologies on this continent of ours. We were never tempted during the many years we spent in opposition to compromise on our beliefs, and when, at last, we had the opportunity to govern this country under President J.A. Kufuor in 2001 through to 2008, our performance demonstrated we were comfortable in our skins, to borrow a manner of speaking. The private sector flourished and businesses thrived. I do not propose to speak about what the NDC stands for, save to make the point that the party had been in power for eight years, and it was when they had lost power and were in opposition that they met and decided they were Social Democrats. One would hope, therefore, that our manifestoes would show us for what we are and stand for. We, of the NPP, have always taken our manifestoes seriously, because, we believe, politics is a serious business, and asking for the mandate of the people to govern is a serious business. Our manifesto also gives us the opportunity to reiterate our firm stand as the party of the rule of law, the party of business, and the party that builds and creates wealth. When we drew up a manifesto that we titled Transforming Lives, Transforming Ghana, you would remember that some people simply wanted e dey bee keke, and when they appropriated our title, they have been at a loss about what to do with it, Nana Addo told the cheering crowd. The NPP presidential candidate also made a Goliath-David analogy, where he told President Mahama, who often said Nana Addo was short and not fit to rule, that the battle was the Lords, as he read out a portion of what David told his opponent prior to the latters defeat. 10.10.2016 LISTEN The All People's Congress (APC) led by Hassan Ayariga, has indicated that it will seek redress in court over their disqualification from the upcoming presidential elections. The National Executive Committee of APC in a statement issued on Monday October 10, described the EC's reasons for its disqualification as bogus. The statement signed by the General Secretary, Razak Kojo Opoku, also called on the party's supporters to remain calm as it works to contest its disqualification of its flagbearer, Hassan Ayariga. The National Executive Committee(NEC) of All Peoples Congress (APC) wishes to encourage our successfully Filed Parliamentary Candidates and members of our great Party to remain Calm and resolute as the Party leadership seek to use the legal approach to address the disqualification of our Presidential Candidate, the statement said. The All Peoples Congress (APC) aspirant, together with 12 other presidential aspirants, were disqualified from contesting in this year's presidential elections by the Electoral Commission for failing to meet the electoral requirement of filling their nomination forms. The EC said it was unable to accept Dr. Ayariga's nomination because the candidate did not provide evidence on his statutory declaration as to his hometown or residence in the constituency as per the legal requirements. It also stated that, two subscribers to Dr. Ayariga's nominations also subscribed for another presidential candidate, an act which is in breach of Regulation 7(4) of CI 94. The EC also said the APC flagbearer's forms had forged signatures of other people on it, and hence will be referred to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution, in line with section 211, 248, 251, 256 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). PPP, PNC, others disqualified Those disqualified included the People's National Convention's (PNC) Dr. Edward Mahama, the Progressive People's Party's (PPP), Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, and Great Consolidated Popular Partys (GCPP), Henry Lartey. The others are the Independent People's Partys (IPP) Kofi Akpaloo, Democratic People's Partys (DPP) Thomas Ward Brew, Ghana Freedom Partys (GFP) Akua's Donkor. The rest are Akwasi Addai Odike of the United Progressive (UPP), the Reformed Patriotic Democrats (RPD) Kwabena Adjei. The United Front Partys (UFP) Nana Agyenim Boateng and Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings of the National Democratic Party (NDP), were also disqualified. An Independent Candidate, Alfred Asiedu Kwame Walker, was also been disqualified. Different reasons were given for the disqualification each of the candidates. By: Jonas Nyabor/citifmonline.com/Ghana From Inusa Musah, Ashaiman General Secretary for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketia has cautioned the party against complacency as they work hard to make gains in the political strongholds of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the December 7 general elections. He said the Eastern and Ashanti Regions, areas that had been a waterloo for the ruling NDC government, would not come easy as the NDC works at the grassroots to split votes between the two most glamorous political parties in the country. We need to work very hard to either increase or consolidate our votes in the other eight regions so that when we are able to hit our 50-50 target in the Eastern Region and one million votes in the Ashanti Region, the NPP and Nana Addo will continue to linger in opposition, Mr Nketia told a large crowd of NDC supporters in Ashaiman, where he launched the constituency's campaign team and introduced the party's parliamentary candidate Ernest Norgbey. The NDC General Secretary enumerated a couple of the infrastructural achievements of the Mahama-led administration that should be the campaign message of every NDC supporter. Our enviable campaign message is conspicuous in every part of the country but we need not be complacent to continue working hard to get the party the needed votes to retain us in government. He explained the first term of President John Dramani Mahama was targeted at building the needed infrastructures and correcting all economic rough edges so that in his second term, he would invest in more job creation in all sectors of the economy. Teasing the NPP, Asiedu Nketia said, Nana Addo and the NPP said there was no need for the provision of infrastructure because that would not put food or money in our pocketswhen they said they would build a dog meat factory in the north for export to Korea, will they not export their corned dog meat either by air or sea? And before they convey their product to the airport or seaport, won't they travel on a road? The NDC is constructing the roads and expanding our airports and seaports so that should they come to power in future, they can easily export their dog meat from their one district, one factory. He said this year's election would be contested on issues and the comparison between the first term of the NPP under former President Kufuor and that of President Mahama-led NDC. Asiedu Nketia urged the NDC in Ashaiman to keep faith in the party, explaining that development was a process. Ernest Norgbey, the NDC parliamentary candidate, for his part, promised selfless leadership and service to the constituency when elected to the House of the legislature. He told the crowd that the NDC's 85,000 votes for himself and Mahama was critical and achievable but that will come with hard work and commitment. Sorry, we can't find the content you're looking for at this URL. From Richard Owusu-Akyaw, Kumasi The Tafo Constituency Youth Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has said President John Dramani Mahama has already won the December 7 presidential elections. According to him, President Mahama and the NDC are going to set a record in Ghana, thereby winning elections for the third consecutive time. In an exclusive interview with The Chronicle, an optimistic Mr. Ahmed Suleman explained that President Mahamas votes will appreciate, adding that his votes will not be less than 53%. Mr. Suleman indicated that former President Rawlings and Kufuor's votes reduced from 52 to 50 per cent respectively, but Mr Mahamas votes will shoot up to not less than 53%. He declared: We have been campaigning for the past six months; we are not sleeping. On the Tafo Constituency, Mr. Ahmed Suleman, who doubles as the Kumasi Metropolitan NDC Organiser, told this paper that although the Tafo Constituency is an NPP dominated area, the NDC is making steady incursions, noting that in 2008 and 2012, the Tafo NDC polled 10,000 and 15,000 votes respectively. The Kumasi Metro NDC organiser, brimming with confidence, told The Chronicle that they intend to increase their tally to 30,000 votes for the parliamentary and presidential votes. Responding to a question, Mr. Ahmed Suleman contended that the ruling NDC has impacted positively on the lives of Tafo residents with roads and other infrastructural development in areas such as Adabraka and Pankrono, which are aimed at improving the socio-economic standards of the constituents. Reacting questions about the one million votes by the NDC in the stronghold of the NPP in the upcoming December polls, the Tafo NDC Constituency Organiser stated: The one million votes is based on the 7,300 votes in 2012, which they garnered from the Ashanti Region. He noted: If we should share the said figure among the constituencies in Ashanti, then the one million votes is achievable, and during the registration era, Ashanti Region alone saw 183,000, so we are hopeful to get our targeted one million votes. He defended the NDC that they are development-oriented movement, hence, they share the national cake equally, unlike the NPP. Pix: Mr. Ahmed Suleman, NDC Youth Organiser From Issah Alhassan, Kumasi The New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Manhyia South, Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as Dr. Napo, has taken a swipe at the General Secretary of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, describing him as nothing but a comic relief, and a perfect stomach politician. Opoku Prempeh says the NDC scribe has added nothing, but jokes to Ghana politics, as well as self-aggrandisement since entering into politics. According to the NPP Legislator, Mr Asiedu Nketiah overestimates his popularity and influence in the countrys political dispensation, stressing that he had contributed nothing significant to the country, as far as political development was concerned. What has he (Asiedu Nketiah) done, except to engage in jokes and comic relief, reducing serious matters to gutter politics. His days as MP, Minister, and General Secretary have been nothing short of political irrelevance, Opoku Prempeh noted. The Manhyia South MP, who was responding to a question posed to him about the NDC scribes constant jibe at the NPP during a Meet Your MP series held at Alabar to interact with his constituents, pointed out that Ghana will be a better country without Mr. Asiedu Nketiah and his NDC government, who have wasted precious time and opportunity to develop this country. Who is Asiedu Nketiah, and what is his contribution to the intellectual governance of this country? A person who has only mastered in mocking and insulting, including his own former President Rawlings who he insulted, he insulted Kufuor; in fact, he insults everybody who disagrees with him. Asiedu Nketiah is a perfection of a stomach politician, he noted. Dr. Napo further attacked the NDC administration, led by President John Dramani Mahama, for increasing the level of economic deprivation in the country, leading to many Ghanaians developing psychological trauma. Its not surprising that the President and the NDC in their manifesto said they would build more psychiatric hospitals across the country; why does the President think the country needs more psychiatric hospitals; yes, its because his policies and programmes have brought untold hardships on many people, and so most of them have developed traumatic conditions, he observed. The NPP MP was of the view that what the country needs is for the government to develop the infrastructural base, build more standard hospitals at districts and not CHPS Compounds or asylums. He further noted that the President Mahama-led administration had succeeded in distributing poverty amongst Ghanaians, asserting that the governments claim it had increased the number of beneficiaries of the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty (LEAP) is a clear indication that poverty has increased exponentially. The LEAP is supposed to help those who are hard off, the down, but under President Mahama, the number of people keeps expanding, very soon, all Ghanaians will be on LEAP, because the economic mismanagement is getting out of hand, he emphasised NPP MANIFESTO BRINGS HOPE The Manhyia South MP, therefore, said IT WAS FOR THIS REASON THAT ALL GHANIANS SHOULD VOTE NANA Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, to relieve the country from abject poverty and deprivation. According to him, the NPP Manifesto, which was launched over the weekend, presents hope and aspirations that many Ghanaians can trust and believe in to turn the fortunes of the country around. He said, despite the Richard Nixon-style hacking of the NPP manifesto to their surrogates in the APC and Hassan Ayariga, the biggest opposition party will deliver sound and vibrant policies that will transform the development of the country. The Meet Your MP series is a periodic programme organised by the MP to interact with the constituents, brief them on current happenings and his achievements in the past years as a Member of Parliament. Accra Brewery Limited (ABL) is urging young persons under the age of 18 to stay away from alcohol. ABL has for the past two years been embarking on a camapign against underage drinking and intends to reach about 10,000 persons this year, to serve as ambassadors to reduce and stop young persons from consuming alcohol. Last year, the campaign reached over 8000 secondary school students in Accra. As a subsidiary of SABMiller Plc, ABLs move is in fulfilment of the Global Beer, Wine and Spirits Producers Commitments to reduce underage drinking. Over the past three weeks the company has interacted with about 2100 teenagers from Swedru Secondary School, Adeiso Presbyterian Secondary School and a mix of student leaders from the Greater Accra Region Students Representative Council. The target audience have been appreciative. Todays talk has confirmed my conviction that alcohol consumption, particularly at an early age, will only destroy my brain and my future hopes and aspirations Evans, a student at Adeiso Presbyterian secondary School noted. There are many things that I never knew about alcohol consumption until I had this opportunity to listen to this informative delivery from Accra Brewery Limited. It has completely changed my perception about enjoying life and Ill be extra careful next time I go out with my friends posited Kingsley a student from Swedru Secondary School. The Assemblyman for Adeiso, Eric Kwesi Mensah commended ABL for the initiative, noting that the issue of underage drinking has been a concern for authorities at the Adeiso Presbytarian Senior High School for a while. I am very hopeful that todays talk will positively impact the lives of students here. Taking the students through an interactive session on the dangers of underage drinking, Cyrus deGraft Johnson, Corporate Affairs Manager of ABL said the campaign, bears testimony to the fact that ABL is a responsible and community-oriented company. We cant sit and wait for alcohol abuse by young persons to become a national issue before we take steps to prevent it. We are acting now before it becomes a problem. We have received the tacit endorsement of the Ghana Education Service and this a good enough encouragement to push ahead with our campaign. Shedding light on the companys efforts in this regards, Mr deGraft Johnson, indicated that ABL has over the years enforced the display of responsible consumption messages on its product labels and the commercial communication marketing materials, continue to educate its customers on responsible alcohol consumption while organizing Responsible Retailing Programmes for its retailers. It also has a programme on alcohol and pregnancy that urges pregnant women not to consume alcohol during pregnancy. He also made reference to similar programmes against underage drinking that ABL has organized previously in partnership with AIESEC, Legon, Dream Believe Achieve and Bekofi. While cautioning the students on the need to heed to the knowledge and advice they have acquired, Mr deGraft-Johnson also stressed the need for the students to take their education seriously. Story by Ghana|Myjoyonline.com Mario Diaz-Balart-- still stuck like glue to Trump NY Times listed I guess everyone figured out Trump-- and apparently Kellyanne-- have abandoned the Kellyanne Conway tele-prompter approach and that he's back to counting on rage, bluster and anger to get him through. Deranged neo-Nazi crackpot Steve Bannon has got to be a happy camper after Trump's bizarre performance last night. Yesterday, before the debate, thelisted 150 Republican leaders who don't support Trump , although relatively few are current Members of Congress. Doug Heye, a former RNC spokesman declared the presidential race over and urged Republicans "to confront our demons," and examine how Trump could have captured the party. "Trump," he said, "represents an indelible stain on the GOP's soul." Criticizing Guiliani, Christie, Kellyanne Conway and other Trump enablers, without naming them, he said they sold out for money and power and "encouraged this fraud inside the party. And they knowingly have foisted a fraud upon the party." Former Bush aide Joe Watkins said of PussyGate that "this latest Trump revelation is a Category 5 level political catastrophe. GOP elected officials who endorsed or supported him in recent months have to consider their own political survival-- especially if they are in a competitive race themselves this election cycle. No male or female GOP elected officials can offer any kind of justification for what Donald Trump said." Most media types were hailing Maggie Haberman's Inside Trump Tower, an Increasingly Upset and Alone Donald Trump as yesterday's winner-of-the-day. It certainly painted an unforgettable picture: Trump Tower as "a kind of lonely fortress for its most famous occupant, who holes up inside, increasingly isolated and upset, denounced almost every hour by another Republican official... asked to stay away from a party gathering Saturday afternoon in Wisconsin, where Speaker Paul D. Ryan and other state luminaries took the stage, a striking rebuke that left the Republican nominee for president with no place to go on a Saturday 31 days before the election." Watching CNN Saturday, he became "more upset as he saw Republican officials condemn him one by one." (Why doesn't he just watch Fox if he wants to feel good?) Trumps son-in-law, Jared Kushner, an observant Jew who normally does not work on the Sabbath, was among those who gathered with him on Saturday, although the candidates oldest daughter, Ivanka, was not. Mr. Trumps oldest son, Donald Jr., was there. Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey and Rudolph W. Giuliani also showed up, as did the Republican National Committee chairman, Reince Priebus. Mr. Christie and Mr. Priebus told Mr. Trump that the situation with other Republicans was becoming dire. Other advisers assured Mr. Trump that attacking Mrs. Clinton over her husbands behavior with women, and over reports that she had defended his behavior, would help rally Republicans again. Ms. Trump and the rest of the Trump family made plans to travel with the candidate to the debate, in part to buoy his spirits. But the real source of comfort to Mr. Trump seemed to be the small band of supporters waving Trump signs on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk outside the building. His fans clashed with people walking by, including a woman who told a female Trump supporter that she should go back to her trailer. Mr. Trump could not resist the scene. Just before 5 p.m., he descended from what his aides grandly call the residence and strode through the marbled lobby, with his son and his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, in tow. He slipped through the glass front door, startling some of his star-struck supporters. The crowd screamed and reached out to touch his suit jacket. He bathed in the rapturous admiration. He pumped his right fist in the air and smiled. He looked rejuvenated. He stayed for just five minutes, electrifying the scene. But before he departed, one reporter screamed a question at him, asking whether he would remain in the race. Hundred percent, Mr. Trump replied. He turned and headed back to the tower, clapping his hands as if to applaud his supporters, and himself. Trump needed that enthusiasm from the deplorables who will never abandon him, who love him all the more for-- and because of-- his racism, his misogyny, his xenophobia, bigotry and for the hatred of a system he feigns for the benefit of those who really do hate it (and everything else that makes them the wretched of the earth). He needed it because the Republicans he threw his lot in with have been abandoning him very publicly. And it's been driving him insane. Those around him are likely worried he'll now go back to spending as much vitriolic energy against Republicans as he will against Hillary-- although he restrained himself from doing that during the debate last night. Imagine how Trump must have exploded when he read that Pence said "I do not condone his remarks and cannot defend them. We pray for his family and look forward to the opportunity he has to show what is in his heart when he goes before the nation tomorrow night." We saw a flash of that last night when Trump peremptorily dismissed Pence's stated policy towards Syria and said, basically, that he's hasn't discussed it with Pence and that he'll just stick with Assad and Putin instead. As dozens of Republican elected officials called on Trump to step down from the ticket, he said "I havent heard from anyone saying I should drop out, and that would never happen, never happen. Thats not the kind of person I am. I am in this until the end." SS Trumpanzee. GOP Congressmembers Tom Rooney, David Jolly, Carlos Curbelo, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen are publicly saying they won't vote for him. Wormy little coward Marco Rubio is still too scared to unendorse Trump and hopes to get away with just saying, "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious and impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." He's said even worse thing about Trump, but still urges his supporters to vote for him. That's the opposite of leadership and a perfect definition of political cowardice. In Patrick Murphy, Rubio has the weakest and most unqualified opponent the Democrats are running for Senate anywhere this year-- and because of his Trump-cowardice, he may even lose. Even before we were reading the polls showing Florida voters abandoning Trump and ready to hand the state's must-win (for Trump) 29 electoral votes to Clinton, Florida Republicans joined the other rats in abandoning the. GOP Congressmembers Tom Rooney, David Jolly, Carlos Curbelo, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen are publicly saying they won't vote for him. Wormy little coward Marco Rubio is still too scared to unendorse Trump and hopes to get away with just saying, "Donald's comments were vulgar, egregious and impossible to justify. No one should ever talk about any woman in those terms, even in private." He's said even worse thing about Trump, but still urges his supporters to vote for him. That's the opposite of leadership and a perfect definition of political cowardice. In Patrick Murphy, Rubio has the weakest and most unqualified opponent the Democrats are running for Senatethis year-- and because of his Trump-cowardice, he may even lose. Florida Republican congressional incumbents with challengers attacking then for still still backing Trump-- Mario Diaz-Balart and John Mica-- are both frantically running around like chickens without heads trying to decide what to do. Maybe listening to GOP strategist Steve Schmidt on Meet the Press yesterday will help them. This is very powerful: UPDATE: This Morning's Polling Catastrophe Wall Street Journal and NBC reflects how likely voters were thinking after Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" tape came out. A month from tomorrow, America votes. Over the weekend they told the pollsters that Clinton was going to win-- and win very big. In the 4-way match-up she's sitting with 46% to Trump's 35% and in a head-to-head, it's Hillary 52%, Trumpy-the-Clown 38%. The new polling from theand NBC reflects how likely voters were thinking after Trump's "grab 'em by the pussy" tape came out. A month from tomorrow, America votes. Over the weekend they told the pollsters that Clinton was going to win-- and win very big. In the 4-way match-up she's sitting with 46% to Trump's 35% and in a head-to-head, it's Hillary 52%, Trumpy-the-Clown 38%. 10.10.2016 LISTEN By Elizabeth Tetteh, GNA Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - A service was held to consecrate Rev Dr Gordon Kisseih, Founder and General Overseer of Life International Church, formerly known as Miracle Life Gospel. The Communion of Covenant Ministers vested the new title Bishop upon him at the main auditorium at the weekend. A profile about Bishop Kisseih described him as a man of integrity and dedicated to serving God and His Kingdom and also training the next generation of transformation leaders. He was described as a motivational speaker as well as an international conference speaker and in his insightful teachings on Leadership and Wisdom dubbed: 'Treasures of Wisdom.' Bishop Kisseih, who is an alumnus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana, Arthur D. Little Management Educational Institute Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the Oral Roberts University. He is a Chemical Engineer. He worked with the then Ghana Italian Petroleum Company, now the Tema Oil Refinery and after a few years of diligent service he responded to the call of God to enter full-time ministry in 1987. The Life International Church which was officially launched on Oct. 25, 1987, stands to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to all humanity and in 2008, the Founder handed over the thriving church in Tema to an associate Pastor and moved to Accra to commence a new work at an ordained location. As part of Bishop Kisseih's vision, the church in 1995 established the Heritage Bible Institute (now Life Bible College) to train competent, New Testament Pastors and lay Christian Workers to fulfil the mandate of the Great Commission. The College which is situated in Achimota, Accra has graduated and ordained more than 100 Pastors, Evangelists, Teachers and Lay workers since its inception. GNA By Paul Achonga Kwode, GNA Tamale, Oct. 10, GNA - The Rotary Club of Accra, Ring Road Central has begun a process to raise 2,000 pints of blood across the country to save lives to improve good health in Ghana. Maame Kwaaba Stephens, Service Projects Director of Rotary Club of Accra, Ring Road Central said the move is to ensure adequate blood for patients in need of it so as to prevent avoidable deaths. Maame Stephens was speaking to the media in Tamale at the weekend during a blood donation exercise organised by the Rotary Club of Accra, Ring Road Central where more than 270 people voluntarily donated their blood for society. The exercise, which is being carried across the country, is supported by Nestle Ghana, Idomine, Telekay, authorised Tigo dealers and other sponsors under the theme: 'give blood, safe a live'. Maame Stephens said Rotary Club has decided to undertake such an exercise across the country with its regional bodies because there has been low supply of blood in many health facilities in Ghana. She said the country needs about 250,000 pints of blood annually but is unable to achieve this because people are not ready to donate their blood and urged the public to voluntarily donate the blood for the good of the public. She said the move by Rotary Club was a tip on the iceberg since many people die yearly due to lack of blood. She said it was humanitarian service to donate blood for the good of society. Mr Patrick Asebga, Manager of the Tamale Teaching Hospital Laboratory said the exercise was successful since many people turned out to donate their blood. He said the demand of 100 per cent voluntary non-remittable blood donation was unachievable in the country and praised families and individuals who have been donating blood in aid of their families and relatives. Mr Asebga said the Tamale Teaching Hospital was not in dire need of blood since many families have been replacing blood for their relatives. Ms Emmanuelle Annan who has been donating blood for the past 19 years encouraged the youth to donate blood to save lives. GNA Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - Global Media Alliance (GMA), organisers of Ghana Beverage Awards (GBA), has closed nominations for the awards in order to round up preparations for the big event in November. GBA is Ghana's first industry awards instituted to celebrate the efforts of the beverage industry of Ghana. A release issued in Accra, said the awards ceremony seeks to create a networking and marketing platform for industry players while encouraging best practices in the beverage industry. Ghanaian beverage companies across the country have submitted their nomination forms to enter 15 award categories in this year's edition of GBA. The award, which encompasses both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, has been grouped into product specific categories and general categories. The product specific categories include; spirit of the year, wine of the year, beer of the year and bitters of the year while the general categories include; product of the year, manufacturer of the year, innovative product of the year amongst others. The Director of GMA, Mr. Edwin Amankwah said: 'The entries that we have received prove that beverage companies in Ghana have embraced GBA and we are looking forward to having a successful event.' 'We are particularly excited about the confidence beverage producers have in their brands as many of them have submitted entry forms for various categories. 'This is the kind of healthy competition we seek in the industry. 'Apart from beverage producers, we are looking to engage beverage consumers, distributors and the public' he added. GBA is set to take off in November this year and is expected to gather all the big names in the industry. GMA would publish the full list of all nominees and their categories. GNA By Dennis Peprah, GNA Sunyani, Oct. 10, GNA - Mr Eric Tukuu, the Acting President of the Brong-Ahafo Chapter of the Association of Human Resource Management in Health, has called on the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission to undertake job re-evaluation for practitioners. He expressed confidence that the re-evaluation exercise would correct all anomalies identified with the implementation of the Single Spine and Salary Structure (SSSS). Mr Tukuu underlined the need for the Commission to use proper job analysts and set-up a committee of professionals that understand the work impact of the human resource practitioners in the health service to do the review exercise. The Acting President made the call at the inauguration of the Chapter, which has a total membership 60 practitioners in Sunyani. Mr Tukuu noted that the work of human resource practitioners is very exacting, but practitioners in the public health sector are virtually ignored in the payment of market premium under the SSSS. He said for practitioners under the SSSS working conditions are very poor, hence the need to reverse the trend. Mr Tukuu expressed optimism that with the bound of unity, the association would be able to unlock the productivity potentials in the healthcare system. Mr Peter Obiri Yeboah, a Deputy Director the Ghana Health Service, asked the association to adhere to high professional standards. GNA By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - The Progressive People's Party (PPP) on Monday submitted the banker's draft for the filing fees of its 170 parliamentary aspirants for the December 7 general election to the Electoral Commission (EC). This was after an Accra High Court has dismissed an injunction suit by the PPP that sought to stop the EC from collecting filing fees from nominees for the 2016 general election. In all the EC has so far received 13 presidential nominees of political parties and two independent candidates' submitted their bank's draft for their filing fees. It would be recalled that during the two-day filing of nominations the EC Chairperson, Mrs Charlotte Osei declined to accept the filing fees of 16 of the presidential aspirants owing to the injunction filed by the PPP. She however, took that of the PPP, questioning the Party's National Chairman Dr Nii Allottey Brew-Hammond why they filed an injunction at the court against the filing fees and at the same time making the payment. Mr Murtala Mohammed, National Secretary of PPP told the Ghana News Agency that the Party is a law abiding party and that they were at the Commission to make payment for their 170 Parliamentary aspirants. GNA Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) said it was unable to accept Dr Hassan Ayariga, All Peoples Congress (APC) nominations as he failed to provide evidence on his statutory declaration. This was in regard to his hometown or residence in the constituency as per the legal requirements. Mrs Charlotte Osei, EC Chairman stated in Accra that the Commission noticed that two subscribers to Dr Ayariga's nominations also subscribed for another Presidential candidate. 'This is in breach of Regulation 7 (4) of CI 94. The implication is that the two subscribers are disqualified and therefore, Dr Ayariga does not have the requisite number of subscribers under Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. 'Abaaka Issifu Voter ID Number 2988006876 with Polling Station Code J110202; Abdudu Ayuba with Voter ID Number 6303005554 with Polling Station Code H200201'. The EC said in addition the signatures of both voters are different on the two nomination forms. This raises questions as to the legitimacy of those signatures. 'We will refer the matter of the possible forgeries of these signatures to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29),' Mrs Osei stated. GNA By Iddi Yire, GNA Accra, Oct 10, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) on Monday Okayed the candidature of three political parties' presidential aspirants and an independent aspirant to contest the December 7, general election. They include incumbent President John Dramani Mahama of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Ivor Greenstreet of the Convention People's Party (CPP) and an independent candidate, Mr Jacob Osei Yeboah. Mrs Charlotte Osei, the EC Chairperson, speaking at press briefing in Accra, following the receipt of filing fees, said statutes regulating the filing of nominations for Presidential Elections is the 1992 Constitution, Public Elections Regulations 2016 (CI 94), Representation of People's Law, 1992 (PNDC Law 284) and the Presidential Elections Law, 1992 (PNDC Law 285). She said the criteria for the approval of presidential candidates include nomination papers being signed by the candidate and the forms must be signed by two registered voters in every administrative district - thus 432 valid endorsements required. She mentioned that one voter cannot endorse more than one presidential candidate and Vice Presidential Nominee must be named and must meet the constitutional requirements for the office of Vice President. She said the Commission had disqualified the candidature of 13 presidential aspirants for their inability to meet the requirements of the law. They include former First Lady Nana Konadu Agyemang-Rawlings, National Democratic Party (NDP); Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom, Progressive People's Party (PPP); Madam Akua Donkor, Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and Mr Hassan Ayariga, All People's Congress (APC). The rest are Dr Nana Agyenim Boateng, United Front Party (UFP), Dr Edward N. Mahama, People's National Convention (PNC) and Mr Kofi Akpalo, Independent People's Party (IPP). Others are Mr Kwabena Adjei, Reformed Patriotic Democrat (RPD); Mr Kwasi Addai Odike, United People's Party (UPP), Dr Henry Lartey, Great Consolidate Popular Party (GCPP), Mr Thomas Nii Arko Ward-Brew, Democratic People's Party (DPP), Warrant Officer (WO) Class One Richard Nison Tetteh, United Development System (UDS) and an independent aspirant Mr Asiedu K. Walker. For the case of Mr Odike, Mrs Osei explained since there was intra-party wrangling over his candidature and the case was pending before court, it was difficult for the EC to accept his candidature. However, she gave him up to October 24 to resolve the intra-party wrangling and get back to the Commission for consideration. As for both WO1 Tetteh and Mr Ward-Brew, aside not meeting some of the statutory legal requirements, they also failed to pay their filing fees of GHa 50,000.00. GNA Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) said it was unable to accept Dr. Papa Kwesi Nduom, Progressive People's Party (PPP) nomination because the number of subscribers to his forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. Mrs Charlotte Osei, EC Chairman stated in Accra that the Commission noticed one subscriber Richard Aseda ('Asida' on the Voters' Register), with Voter ID no 7812003957) endorsed the forms in two different districts (pages 21 and 39 of Dr Nduom's nomination form). The EC said the subscriber was found to be on the Voter's Register in one district thereby disqualifying his second subscription and reducing the total number of subscribers to below the minimum required by the Law. The Commission said the same subscriber (Richard Aseda ('Asida') endorsed Dr Nduom's form with different signatures in both portions of the nomination form. This according to the EC raises questions as to the legitimacy of one or both signatures. 'We will refer the matter of the possible forgery of the signature(s) to the Ghana Police Service and the Attorney General for investigation and prosecution in line with the following sections of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29)'. GNA 10.10.2016 LISTEN Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - The Electoral Commission (EC) said it was unable to accept Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings, National Democratic Party (NDP) nomination. This was because the number of subscribers to her forms did not meet the requirements of Regulation 7 (2) (b) of CI 94. Mrs Charlotte Osei, EC Chairman has stated in Accra that the Commission noticed that one subscriber on page 89 of her nomination forms is not a validly registered voter and illegally registered twice and so is the exclusion list of multiple voters. Details are: Salifu Abdulai, District: Nanumba South, Voter ID no: 6617004814 (28.3.2012); Voter ID no: 2126900022 (04.8.2014). The Commission said key criteria for presidential candidates: Forms must be signed by candidate; Forms must be signed by two registered voters in every district (432 valid endorsements required). One voter cannot endorse more than one presidential candidate; Vice President nominee must be named and must meet constitutional requirements for the office of Vice President. Properly filled forms must be delivered to the Returning Officer on or before the date appointed for receipt of nominations and forms should be submitted in quadruplicates. The forms should include properly attested statutory declarations stating that candidate has provided accurate details to the Commission, has met all the requirements and is qualified for the office of President. Other criteria are that four pictures in accordance with dimensions and specifications in the law; Payment of filing fees as determined by the Commission. The Commission may disqualify a candidate if one of these requirements is not met. The nomination form is not properly signed by the candidate; the statutory declaration is not properly executed; filing fees not presented in requested mode or amount. Others are: Less than two registered voters per district sign the nomination forms; the nomination forms are not properly signed by all the subscribing voters; and the candidate or the designated vice president nominee does not meet the legal requirements of the nominated office. Prior to the close of nominations on the September 29 and September 30 September, candidates whose nomination forms had obvious errors and who submitted early enough, were called by the officers of the Commission and given the opportunity to correct obvious errors or omissions on their nomination forms. The Commission said the Law permits such corrections only within the nomination period hence our earlier call on candidates to submit as early as possible. Following the receipt of nomination forms last week, and the payment of filing fees earlier today, the EC is now in a position to announce candidates whose nominations have been accepted by the Commission having met the requirements. GNA By Emmanuel Asante Attakora, GNA Accra, Oct. 10, GNA - As part of efforts to empower women to become successful in the science and technology fields, Vodafone foundation has awarded scholarships to 10 science and technology students at the University of Education Winneba (UEW). The project which is managed by British Council on behalf of Vodafone saw 10 new level 200 female students of the UEW enrolled on to provide technical and financial support. At the scholarship award ceremony at the UEW campus in Winneba, the Deputy Registrar, UEW, Mr William Agyei-Bieni thanked Vodafone Foundation for the UEW Education Fund for future women leaders in science and technology. 'On behalf of the University management, I wish to welcome Vodafone Ghana and British Council Ghana. 'We very much appreciate your commitments and dedication to support the education of female students in the science and technology. 'This gesture from you falls in line with the tenets of the 2010 sustainable development goals and UEW's commitment to promote gender equality and the empowerment of women. 'We are hopeful this investment would go a long way to increase the representation of female students in the science and technology programmes by ensuring that they remain and successfully complete their programmes of pursuit.' Mr Agyei-Bieni used the occasion to appeal to Vodafone Foundation to increase the number of beneficiaries to help more needy girls to get the chance to also fulfil their dreams in the science fields. Mrs Rhodaline Dzade, Specialist, Vodafone Ghana Foundation, speaking in an interview with GNA said Vodafone believes that the Vodafone scholars would help bridge the gender gap in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). 'The idea from Vodafone Ghana Foundation scheme is to feed the pipeline for STEM careers which is currently lopsided male to females. 'We are currently on our second year and we are yet to see our students pass out, however the academics performances have been good. 'We chose UEW because we want to put teaching women in front of the girls, teaching women do a better job because when they become passionate about something they do it well. 'This is also to show the girls in the classrooms that someone has done it and they could also do same. 'These women will also serve as role models to the young ones coming up,' she added. Mr Samuel Gyedu-Brefo, Project Manager, British Council, said there was the need to bridge the gap in the STEM field, thus, the partnership with Vodafone Ghana. 'The scholarship is sponsored by Vodafone Ghana Foundationis in two tranches, one for Junior High students and the one for UEW. 'Tertiary education in the UEW is four years but the scholarship is for three years, so we start from level 200. 'It covers their fees and other study materials as well as their uniforms so they could concentrate only on their education. Gyedu-Brefo urged other corporate bodies to emulate the gesture from Vodafone Foundation saying there are a countless number of needy yet brilliant students out there that need support. 'Corporate bodies should come on board so that we can expand the number of scholarships given to young girls. 'I look forward to an organisation coming out and say I want to sponsor for boys. 'There are also some boys who are also going through difficult situationsit might not necessary be for the STEM space but outside that.' Acting Head, Gender Mainstreaming Directorate, UEW, Obaapanin Adu Oforiwaa, in an interview that the scholarship scheme has been very incredible. 'The impact has been very tremendouswe did a study in 2005 to access the male and female ratio in terms of students pursuing science related programmes. 'The figures were very appallingwe had one female to about 10 males and since the introduction of the scheme we have had the numbers encouraging. 'These girls will also serve as role models to girls in the higher schools since we organise educational talk programmes in some of the schools.' The event which also included a mentoring session saw some staffs of Vodafone Ghana engaging the beneficiaries in educational talks. Research has shown that the disinterest of studying STEM is due to lack of financial and technical support for students who may want to consider a career in STEM. It is therefore crucial to smoothen the path for female students who are passionate about science and technology in order to decrease the high attrition rate of women in this area. Vodafone scholars project seeks to increase women's engagement in science and technology in Ghana by providing technical and financial support to 100 young girls at the senior high school level annually. Additionally, the Foundation offers scholarship to 10 brilliant but financially challenged female students in the UEW studying science and mathematics related courses. Vodafone scholars would help bridge the gender gap in STEM. GNA you are here: business Hold GSK Pharma, says Prakash Gaba Prakash Gaba of prakashgaba.com is of the view that one may hold GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals. Only 10 percent of the 21,600 workers who sat the exam will be selected to work in S Korea. About 21,600 Vietnamese workers sat a South Korean language exam in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Nghe An Province on September 8 and 9. This is the first time a South Korean language test has been held in the country after South Korea in May agreed in principle to a memorandum of understanding to receive 3,500 workers from Vietnam this year. Vietnam began sending workers to South Korea in 1993, but the latter stopped receiving Vietnamese workers in August 2012 due to the high rate of laborers who overstayed their visas. The trade resumed in 2013 but is limited by agreements reached by both countries on an annual basis. The exam was jointly organized by Vietnams Center of Overseas Labor and the Human Resources Development Service of Korea. More than 10,000 workers, most of whom below 20, attended the Hanoi University of Industry and the University of Labor and Social Affairs in the capital. Attendees were required to show up before 7 a.m. Tran Thi Nhat Le, a 20-year-old female worker from the northern province of Bac Giang, more than 50km from Hanoi, arrived at the test site early. She said she wanted to test her language skills to see if she was qualified to work in South Korea. It is difficult to get a chance to work in South Korea as there are too many people competing for a limited number of positions, Le said. Security forces check registration cards before letting workers in. If they pass the exam, the results will be valid in two years. Those who fail will have another chance to sit the exam in November. A registration card. Attendees are checking their names and test rooms. The competition test is as fierce as admission tests for colleges and universities in Vietnam. Some people didn't bother queuing and tried to climb over to check for their names and test rooms early. Attendees queue to enter their test rooms. Dang Sy Dung, deputy director of Vietnams Department of Overseas Labor Management, said the South Korean side sets the exam questions and marks the exam. The exam questions are confidential and are sent from South Korea so no individual or organization is able to interfere with the exam results. Laborers should not trust anyone who says they can change the exam results, Dung warned. Attendees are checked to make sure they are not carrying electronic devices. Some, however, intentionally cover their mobile phones in foil so they can carry them into the exam rooms. Nguyen Tien Tung, chief inspector from Vietnams Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social affairs, inspects an exam room. Attendees were given 50 multiple choice questions to answer. Some mobile phones were covered in pieces of rubber for protection and thrown into the exam rooms. Attendees who violated the exam regulations were banned from sitting the test for two years. Related news: > Vietnamese workers overstay their welcome in S.Korea > Vietnam stops 10 provinces from exporting laborers to South Korea Vietnamese high school students attend an international education fair in Hanoi on October 26, 2014. The fast-growing number of Vietnamese people leaving the country is also believed to be closely linked to employment and education opportunities overseas. Photo by AFP Scores of wealthy families, investors have moved overseas. A foreign bank in Vietnam finds it increasingly difficult to hire local senior managers because there is a growing trend among highly-educated Vietnamese professionals to move their families abroad. More young and well-educated Vietnamese see the importance of raising their kids in a clean environment, good heathcare services and high-quality education, said the banks country manager who now prefers recruiting committed employees for long terms. According to the International Organization for Migration, nearly 100,000 Vietnamese people leave the country each year to live in a more developed nation. The trend is apparent in the growing number of Vietnamese investors moving overseas and wealthy families deciding to emigrate, despite the higher costs of living, cultural differences, language barrier and complex visa requirements. But for those with the means to move, all it takes is between $3 million and $7 million of investment to apply for permanent residency in the U.S., according to Chris Loc Dao, chief executive of U.S. Immigration Services company. He said that over the past 10 years, the company has managed to advise more than 100 Vietnamese individuals on making investments worth a combined $1 billion in the U.S in exchange for green cards. Unofficial statistics suggest that affluent Vietnamese may have invested between $10 billion and $20 billion a year through immigration programs like the U.S.s EB5 Immigrant Investor Program. The fast-growing number of Vietnamese people leaving the country is also believed to be closely linked to employment and education opportunities overseas. The Ministry of Education and Training reported that 125,000 Vietnamese students went abroad in 2013 for studying, a 15 percent increase from 2012. Over 90 percent of international students of Vietnamese origin are self-funded and the total spending on overseas education amounted to roughly 1 percent of the countrys GDP in 2013. The U.S., followed by Australia and the U.K., is by far the favorite destination for Vietnamese students. Vietnam now ranks sixth with 28,883 students studying at U.S. colleges and universities, spending nearly $1 billion, according the latest quarterly update published in December 2015 by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The World Bank said in its 2016 fact book on migration and remittances that Vietnam was among the top 10 emigration countries as of 2013, just behind China, the Philippines, Indonesia and Myanmar in the East Asian and Pacific region. As many as 26 percent of total five million Vietnamese overseas, equal to 1.3 million people, are living in the U.S., according to the World Bank. Migrant workers While Vietnam is losing skilled workers to more developed countries, it is also exporting workers who are now responsible for a major source of overseas remittances. According to the Ministry of Labor, Invalid and Social Affairs, Vietnam has sent about 500,000 Vietnamese to 40 countries and territories. On average, more than 90,000 Vietnamese workers leave the country each year, mainly for labor-intensive and low-skilled jobs overseas. Vietnam's total workforce is around 50 million. Nguyen Van Hoang, 32, from the northern province of Thai Nguyen, has been working in South Korea for nine years. I can send about $1,000 back to my family in Vietnam every month," Hoang said. "In Vietnam, being a high school graduate, I wouldn't be able to earn that much. He is helping a cousin, the seventh in his family, to fly to South Korea next spring to work. Vietnam's annual average income was around $2,100 last year, according to the World Bank. Remittances from Vietnamese overseas remain a key source of funds for the country's economy, equivalent to about 8-10 percent of gross domestic product. More than half of the money comes from the U.S. Vietnamese-Americans sent back home about $7 billion last year and are expected to remit $8 billion this year. Vietnam recorded roughly $13 billion in overseas remittances last year, slightly up from $12 billion in 2014, according to the World Bank, which ranked Vietnam as the worlds 11th largest remittance recipient country and the third in the East Asian-Pacific region, after China and the Philippines. Related news: > Nearly 4,500 Vietnamese renounce citizenship in 2015 > Vietnam steps up efforts to bring overseas experts home > Vietnamese fishermen head overseas for work after pollution kills off catch Ted Budd, the Republican nominee for the new 13th Congressional District, stopped by Lake Norman Airpark west of Mooresville on Thursday to tour its IOMAX facility. He received a hands-on look at three of the companys Archangel planes designed and upfitted with a compact surveillance and heavy-strike weapons platform for border protection. Two of the aircraft were still being constructed while a third on the property had recently been completed and will be sent off in the next month. All that was left to install on the plane, said Ron Howard, IOMAX president and CEO, were the wing stores which carry the weapons systems. The aircraft are destined to be sent to the European Union and will be used in the conflict against ISIS in Yemen and Libya, Howard said. By the end of the year, the company will have 48 planes in the Middle East. The two-manned planes have been designed to operate at 20,000-25,000 feet in the air and can stay airborne for eight hours straight. I love this place, said Budd, an Advance businessman. They have a great team spirit. Its so important to have entrepreneurs like this in the community that are designing and building these planes. Theyre doing a great job with border security. Budd also commended the company for hiring veterans. I think thats really important, he said. The more Im in Mooresville (and Iredell County), I meet other entrepreneurs who are getting involved in the community and seeing people helping the economy. Howard said among its three facilities, which includes the airpark, the company employs 225 people. Narinthip Pommarin feeds her son during an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation at her home in Samut Songkhram, Thailand, September 20, 2016. Picture taken September 20, 2016. Photo by UNICEF/Andrew Brown/Handout via Reuters The initiative comes amid the concern that Thailand's children have lower IQs than the global average. After the birth of her second son six months ago, Narinthip Pommarin stopped work to focus on her boys but soon found her husband's sporadic $12-a-day roofing jobs could not cover their needs. They were forced to borrow money for the rent on their tiny, airless room in a rowhouse behind a car wash in Samut Songkhram province, southwest of Bangkok, and were struggling to repay the debt. Then a friend suggested Narinthip sign her baby Ang Bao up for Thailand's new child support grant providing 400 baht ($12) a month. "It's not a lot, but it helps," Narinthip said, sitting in the trash-strewn alley outside her home, tugging a rope to rock Ang Bao to sleep in a hammock. "We save it, we have not used any of it yet, but at least when we do not have work, we can rely on this amount to buy milk and food." Thailand launched its child support grant a year ago to help tens of thousands of its poorest children get a better start in life. The initiative comes amid concerns that a lack of proper nutrition and early years care has led to Thailand's children having lower IQs than the global average which could have longterm repercussions for the country. U.N. children's agency UNICEF, which spent seven years helping the government develop the program, hopes other countries in the region will follow suit. Research shows that the first few years of a child's life are crucial for mental and cognitive development. Investing in the early years leads to healthier children who do better at school and have higher earning potential as adults - which helps break entrenched cycles of poverty, experts say. "It is during the (first) six years that investment in a child's development is most critical and yields the highest long-term returns - not only for the individual child, but for society as a whole," said UNICEF representative for Thailand Thomas Davin. Earlier this year Thailand extended the grant until a child's third birthday, from the original plan for a year of support, and this month bumped up the monthly amount to 600 baht ($17). "In the past, Thailand did not have any program to care for young children," said Maitri Inthusut, permanent secretary of Thailand's Ministry for Social Development and Human Security. "The child support grant is a way to look after children ... to build a strong foundation for our country in the long term." Saipiroon Poonsawat spends time with her nephew during an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation at her home in Samut Songkhram, Thailand, September 20, 2016. Picture taken September 20, 2016. Photo by UNICEF/Andrew Brown/Handout via Reuters Helping hand Families with a monthly salary of less than 3,000 baht ($86) per adult are eligible for the grant. Among its 65 million people, Thailand estimated 128,000 of the 710,000 babies born each year would qualify for the grant. So far 154,000 have registered, Maitri said, meaning the government has underestimated the number living in poverty. The grant has also opened a crucial channel of communication between families in need and local authorities, increasing access to social services. "The government is directly reaching its hand out to help. This keeps (families) in close contact with the local government (services)," Maitri said. Statistics from the program are sobering. Among the mothers of the registered babies, 46 percent are unemployed, 23 percent are under 20 years old, 40 percent are single mothers, and 10 percent lack secure housing, Maitri said. For 40-year-old Saipiroon Poonsawat, the main carer for her baby nephew who has severe developmental problems, registration has linked her to social workers and much-needed assistance. Saipiroon Poonsawat spends time with her nephew during an interview with the Thomson Reuters Foundation at her home in Samut Songkhram, Thailand, September 20, 2016. Picture taken September 20, 2016. Photo by UNICEF/Andrew Brown/Handout via Reuters Eleven people live in her leaky, ramshackle hut, including seven children and her pregnant daughter-in-law. Soon there will be a twelfth mouth to feed. "Even now, we skip meals," Saipiroon said, cradling her skeletal nephew, Porsche, his feeding tube sticking out from under his shirt. During a visit, social workers brainstormed ways to tap into other funds for Porsche's healthcare and infant formula, as well as tuition for Saipiroon's 16-year-old son who had to quit school to save money. Thailand, which launched its grant after a visit to see South Africa's child support program, will share its experiences at a meeting in Kuala Lumpur next month of regional ministers and officials, organized by UNICEF and the Malaysian government. Cambodia and Bangladesh are already planning to visit Thailand with a view to setting up similar child support grants, UNICEF's Davin said. Related news: > Where Vietnams poor go to borrow Javier Fernandez, head of the PSOE's management committee. ULY MARTIN (EL PAIS) Javier Fernandez is chairman of the interim management team that took over from Pedro Sanchez after the latter resigned as secretary general of the Spanish Socialist Party (PSOE) on October 1, at a dramatic party meeting in Madrid. Since then, Fernandez has been dealing with the challenging task of pulling a deeply divided party back together again in time to find a common position on the issue of whether the PSOE should take the historical step of letting its traditional rival, the Popular Party (PP), form a minority government. Such a move would unblock the 10-month stalemate in Spain and prevent a third general election in a country where voters have grown weary of the prolonged political bickering. Polls indicate that turnout at a third election would be significantly low and that the winner would, once again, be Mariano Rajoy of the PP. Reality is complex and somebody needs to deal with it Question. Should a Socialist abstention at the investiture vote to enable a Mariano Rajoy administration be considered a victory for the right wing of the party? Is voting against Rajoy the only left-wing thing to do? Answer. I hope not. That would be a mistaken way of interpreting things. Its not right to make an ideological reading of something that is complex but simply tactical. Ideology is something else: its your position on taxes, the labor market, universal health care, the role of education, equality...But debating whether its in the best interests of Spain and the PSOE to hold new elections under these conditions is merely a tactical question. Q. What has happened to put the PSOE in a position of having to decide this in just 20 days, when nearly four months have elapsed since the last elections? A. We became frozen in a state of silence with regard to what was best for Spain and for the PSOE. Debate should not be forbidden. Its good to talk. Its indispensable. A no to a PP government is deeply ingrained in our party members because of so much PP corruption and all the cuts [under the previous Rajoy administration]. This position was reinforced by Socialist leaders resounding rejection of the idea of abstaining. But all other options have proven impossible, and now we need to effect a crash landing into reality. Q. How do you convince the average PSOE voter who has been hearing no is no for weeks that the time has come for an abstention that will deliver the government to Rajoy? A. I would tell them that there is no left-wing alternative to a PP government. To abstain is not the same as to support. That is a very primary concept in politics. Politics is not poetry, it is prose. It is not feeling, it is reason. Q. And who should make the final decision on whether to abstain at the investiture vote? The federal committee or the party grassroots? A. The federal committee; although we will keep the grassroots clearly in mind. We have the obligation to create a debate at the grassroots level, but it must be the federal committee [which makes the decision.] I know that mediation and representation gets a lot of bad press, but its the committee delegates who must make the decision and later defend it before the grassroots. This tendency towards direct democracy is not in the PSOEs culture. It has a representative culture. Pedro Sanchez resigned as PSOE secretary general on October 1. Reuters Q. Youve already warned Rajoy that you will not guarantee stability throughout the term. Are you aware that he will ask for your support on a bill-by-bill basis? A. It should be clear that the PSOE is not considering any kind of alliance with the PP, but there are affairs of state on which we will always support the government. Opposition should not always be construed as antagonism, but as what is useful to people. Let me stress again that abstaining is not the same as supporting. We have to drop this confrontational idea of politics we have in this country, where politics is reduced to mere antagonism. Q. If there are third elections after all, all other parties will blame you for it. Is this one of the reasons why you want to avoid them? A. Its absolutely unfair to lay all responsibility at our door, but in politics its not enough to have reason on your side. I am absolutely certain that if there were new elections, we would get the blame. The PSOE would be the scapegoat. Q. Is the PSOEs problem one of lack of leadership or lack of a project? A. Victory brings you together just as defeat pulls you apart. If we hadnt suffered the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression in 2008, the PSOE would not be in this situation. It was because of the crisis and our own mistakes. We have seen workers, the urban middle classes and young people walk away from the PSOE. We have not conveyed a sense of reliability, of a party that is able to manage the economy efficiently. We had social credibility, but not economic credibility. In government, and in the party, we need to have the best. And thats not always been the case. Q. Has the PSOE given up on being a party able to command an absolute majority? A. The PSOE must not give up on being a majority party, although Im not sure about absolute majorities. We define ourselves as socialist, working class and federal. But we need to reach out to the liberal professions, to entrepreneurs, to government employees, to the middle classes who want to see change but without breaking the basic balance of our society. These people would never vote for Podemos. We became frozen in a state of silence with regard to what was best for Spain and for the PSOE Q. Yet you seem to be losing votes on the left. R. Objectively we have lost votes to Podemos and due to abstention. But we had lost a lot before that. In any case, the PSOE should not move away from the center left in order to be the only hegemonic left-wing force. That would rule us out as the alternative to a PP government. Even so, we must defend our left flank. Q. You said recently that the PSOE was Podemizing itself. What did you mean by that? A. Part of Podemos culture is basically disjunctive: up and down, the people versus the caste, the good and the bad, the elite versus the citizens...Its Manichean, and it is always resolved through plebiscites rather than deliberation. Podemos has lots of well-meaning proposals, for instance on social policy. But besides being well-meaning, they should also be useful. And most of Podemos proposals are not useful, because they ignore the principle of reality. Populist culture is the culture of simplification, and that can never be the PSOEs culture. Q. Has your party descended into oversimplification? A. Reality is complex and somebody needs to deal with it. The right has always liked to simplify, and so does the populist left. The only party with a real calling for reform is the PSOE. Q. Yet hasnt the party given the impression these days that its all essentially an internal power struggle? A. I will not deny the disagreements between party leaders and relevant officials, myself included. But were talking about something else, which is the position the party must adopt in order to avoid new elections. I will not go into the events of the last two years, or what happened on October 1 at the Federal Committee. I want to forget that as quickly as possible. As chair of the management team, it is my job to calm the waters, not to agitate them. English version by Susana Urra. Banking shares fell in early trading on Monday, after leaked documents appeared to show that Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) was mired in another scandal. The documents passed to Buzzfeed News and BBC Newsnight show that the beleaguered bank profited from struggling businesses by buying up assets cheaply. This has renewed fears among investors that RBS could face substantial compensation claims and hefty regulatory fines if its actions caused otherwise viable businesses to fail. On the FTSE100 this morning RBS shares were the worst performing stock, falling by 2.25% in early trading to 177.80p. However, fears of further banking scandals dragged down the performance of other leading UK banks. Shares in Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) were down by 2.06%, to 51.42p, while Barclays (BARC) fell by 1.84% to 170.40p. Laith Khalaf, a senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown said: The evidence now looks pretty damning against RBS, yet the irony is the taxpayer is going to end up carrying most of the can for any misconduct costs, as the Exchequer still owns around three-quarters of the bank. Mis-selling fines threat to RBS RBS is already potentially facing a multi-billion dollar fine in the US for mis-selling in the run up to the credit crunch. These latest revelations suggest the financial crisis may not have brought an end to bad behaviour at the bank however, which looks to have continued while under government ownership. Its a sad fact that despite the spectre of the Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scandal beginning to fade away conduct costs remain a material threat to the Royal Bank of Scotland. In 2014 the Financial Conduct Authority commissioned Promontory Financial Group and Mazars to investigate allegations against RBS by some of its business customers. This investigation has been concluded and the findings are with the regulator for further review. RBS: We Let Our Business Customers Down The leaked documents concern RBSs controversial Global Restructuring Group - which was set up to turnaround struggling businesses. The activities of this division appear to have increased substantially following the financial crisis in 2008. These documents reveal that bank staff were rewarded with higher bonuses based on fees collected for restructuring business customers debts in other words cutting the size of their loans in exchange for cash or other assets, such as business premises or property. In these documents this was described by one RBS executive as Project Dash for Cash. The question for regulator is whether these smaller businesses would have failed anyway, or whether the actions by RBS staff pushed them into administration. In a statement RBS said: RBS has been very clear that GRGs role was to protect the banks position. In the aftermath of the financial crisis we did not always meet our own high standards and we let some of our SME business customers down. Since that time, RBS has become a different bank and significant structural and cultural changes have been put in place, including how we deal with customer in financial distress. The bank said after a detailed review of its documents that there was no evidence that it artificially distressed otherwise viable SME businesses or deliberately caused then to fail. Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos on Friday. Mauricio Duenas Castaneda (EFE) More information Santos donara el dinero del Nobel a las victimas del conflicto en Colombia Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has announced he will donate the 830,000 he received as part of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded on Friday to victims of the countrys five-decade long civil war. Santos made the announcement on Sunday in the municipality of Bojaya, where 119 people were killed in a 2002 attack carried out by the leftist guerrillas of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC). This global recognition is for all of the victims, for you Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos I want to tell you that I met with my family last night and we have taken the decision to donate the money so that victims can be compensated, said Santos, who was awarded the prize for his role in brokering a peace deal with the FARC that promises to end a civil war that has cost the lives of at least 220,000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. We are going to choose projects, or foundations or programs that are connected to the victims, the 65-year-old leader explained, without providing further details. Santos was awarded the Nobel Prize on Friday in a move many observers see as a huge shot in the arm to the countrys faltering peace process. The Nobel Prize Committees decision to give the prize to came just days after voters in Colombia narrowly rejected the text of the peace deal between the government of Santos and the FARC. A total of 50.21% of voters said no the deal in a plebiscite that saw some 60% of voters abstain. That shock result has plunged the country into political crisis and has stalled the peace process. An initial meeting between Santos, president since 2010, and his predecessor Alvaro Uribe who led the no campaign in the lead-up to the referendum proved fruitless, and Santos has described the situation in the country as a dangerous limbo. The Peace Prize is a boost to the countrys faltering peace process However, Nobel committee spokesperson Kaci Kullmann Five downplayed the negative result in the referendum saying it was not a vote against peace. The committee hopes that the peace prize will give Santos strength to succeed in this demanding task. Further, it is the committees hope that in the years to come, the Colombian people will reap the fruits of the reconciliation process, Kullmann Five said. This global recognition is for all of the victims, for you, said Santos on Sunday. It is a mandate for us to not just the president of the republic but all Colombians to keep seeking and guaranteeing this peace, he said. I am not going to lose heart for even a minute, and Im not going to give up for a single second. I am going to keep going, the president added. Santos is just the second South American to win the Nobel Peace Prize, the first being Guatemalan political activist Rigoberta Menchu, who received the award in 1992. English version by George Mills. Text in which the author defends ideas and reaches conclusions based on his / her interpretation of facts and data Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold W. B. Yeats, Irish poet. The week that saw Donald Trump clear up any remaining doubts regarding his aptness to be president of the United States was the same week during which UKIP, Britains populist xenophobic party, revealed itself to anyone still in the dark that it is a band of drunken bullies. The trouble is that while there is still time to stop Trump, its too late with UKIP. The damage is already done. If UKIP had not existed, there would have been no referendum on whether the UK should leave the European Union; Brexit would not have won, the pound would not have plummeted, and the stability of the European project would not be as deeply questioned as it is today. History will tell that a bunch of idiots who represent the quintessence the distilled and concentrated version of English peoples worst faults once got to decide the destiny of the worlds oldest parliamentary democracy. A country defined throughout the 20th century by the values of tolerance and common sense is currently being identified by the rest of the world as a place of petty insularity, ideological confusion and nationalist paranoia. And the conservative government of Mother Theresa May is well on its way to adopting UKIPs cheap demagoguery as its own. The British prime minister, Theresa May, is leading the UK into murky waters The recent video showing Trumps attitude toward women forced those still looking the other way to gaze upon the true nature of the Republican candidate to the White House. And the Strasbourg incident, in which the newest candidate to lead UKIP, Steven Woolfe, collapsed and required hospitalization after a fight with a fellow UKIP MEP, evidences who is behind the disaster facing Britain. None of this should really be surprising. Anyone who bothers to read the news must have known for years that UKIPs internal modus operandi works as follows: first, get drunk; then, sit down to define the party line; third, exchange insults among each other; fourth, insult Europeans and in general everyone on Earth who did not have the immense good fortune of being born in England; and finally, go address your voters with a racist message. UKIPs public voice has been Nigel Farage, the leader who always made efforts to show up in photographs with a beer in one hand and a cigarette in the other. He resigned right after the Brexit victory the cause that had given meaning to his political life. According to party dissidents, at UKIP leadership meetings nobody hurled insults with more ferocity or banged the table harder than Farage. Neil Hamilton, a former conservative MP who joined UKIP in 2011, said last week that the partys growing unpleasantness stemmed from Farage himself. Steven Woolfe in hospital following his fight. AP The verbal abuse that has been hurled about in public and social media is quite appalling and unacceptable, said Hamilton in an interview with UK channel Sky News. Even more alarming is the fact that Hamilton is selling himself as UKIPs more acceptable face. His own resume shows that he supported Apartheid in South Africa, and was on friendly terms with figures of Italian neo-fascism including Alessandra Mussolini, the Duces grand-daughter, and with Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the Front National in France. The good news for Hamilton is that, with UKIP in suicide mode, he suddenly has the pleasant possibility of feeling at home again in the party he abandoned. For the first 100 days after the referendum on the EU, after Theresa May replaced David Cameron in Downing Street, the new PM gave little indication of what she wanted the new governments identity to be. But last week, at the Conservative Partys annual conference, she finally showed her cards. After correctly deducing that the spirit of UKIP had taken over the hearts and minds of the slight majority of Britons (52%) who voted for Brexit, May decided that the sensible thing to do, in order to reinforce her hold on power, would be to embrace that spirit herself. We are leaving to become, once more, a fully sovereign and independent country, she said. We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration all over again. At UKIP leadership meetings nobody hurled insults with more ferocity or banged the table harder than Nigel Farage May said that from now on, Britain will be free again to make its own decisions from the way food gets labeled to how immigration is controlled. And Home Secretary Amber Rudd stated almost simultaneously that British companies should publish lists of their foreign employees as part of a plan to keep immigration in check. Nobody should panic. Foreign residents in the UK will not be forced to wear a yellow star on their sleeves. Following May and Rudds statements, the most pro-Brexit member of government, David Davis, said that Europeans currently working in Britain are 100% guaranteed that they will not be deported. Meanwhile, corporate Britain has strongly protested Rudds proposal, which is unlikely to see the light of day. But political language matters. The tone set by Theresa May comes so close to UKIPs own that even Farage is celebrating. Nearly everything that May said at the Tory congress, Ive said at UKIP congresses in recent years, he noted. There is still time to rectify, and a good portion of the British establishment will do everything possible to make this happen. But Theresa May is leading the UK into murky waters, and for now at least, it would be premature to celebrate UKIPs self-destruction. The party of the drunks may be dying, but Theresa May is showing signs of wanting to revive it. English version by Susana Urra. A year on from their launch, the distinctive blue-and-white electric vehicles belonging to car-sharing firm Car2go, part of Germanys Daimler-Mercedes Benz group, have become a common sight in downtown Madrid. In fact, the roll-out of the cars in the Spanish capital has been so successful that Thomas Beermann, the man responsible for Car2gos European operations, describes it as the companys best ever. Car2go doesnt compete with public transport, it supplements it European operations chief Thomas Beermann The numbers seem to back that up. The company now has more than 112,000 users in Madrid and its fleet of 500 Smart Fortwo cars has already traveled 5.8 million kilometers, for a saving of 568 tons in CO2 emissions in a city that has long been plagued by pollution. On top of that, Madrid can boast of Car2gos greatest number of vehicles per user, while each of the firms cars in the capital is hired out from 12 to 15 times daily. Results in Madrid have exceeded the companys most optimistic forecasts, Beermann says. When you are looking at such high daily-usage rates there are always going to be incidents related to the flexible car-sharing model, but we try and respond fully to these, he notes. In more good news for the company, initial problems with vandalism seem to have become a thing of the past, with no incidents reported since the company went to the authorities complaining that 60 of its vehicles had been damaged. The Madrid Taxi Association, which was very active in opposing the entry of transport service Uber into the Spanish market, denied that it had anything to do with the vandalism to the companys fleet. In fact Beerman says the company has good relations with taxi organizations in those cities where it operates. We see ourselves as providing a service that complements their activities, he explains. Car2go doesnt compete with public transport in cities, instead it is a useful addition because there are a lot of situations where people who live downtown prefer individual transport instead of buses, underground trains or taxis, he adds, citing as examples trips that would require a lot of changes, or weekend journeys when public transport is less frequent. Car2gos fleet of 500 cars in Madrid has already saved 568 tons of CO2 emissions The company is now evaluating its service beyond the 53 square kilometers where it operates at present, Beermann says. Car2gos vehicles are more than capable of going to the airport and back, as long as all trips begin and end in the current operational zone, the executive adds. There are no plans to change the companys current pricing structure in Madrid, according to the Car2go executive. Most Car2go users in the city are aged from 26 to 35, while men account for 70% of customers. The average trip time is 20 to 30 minutes, with peak periods being from 12pm to 3pm and then again from 6pm to 9pm, according to the company. English version by George Mills. Triad Advisors, a hybrid advisor-focused independent investment broker-dealer, has raised more than $45,000 for a nonprofit organization for veteran housing, according to a news release. Triad Advisors raised the money for Operation FINALLY HOME, an organization that brings together homebuilders, the military and communities to build custom, mortgage-free homes for wounded or ill veterans, surviving spouses and their families. Since its founding in 2005, Operation FINALLY HOME has completed or is in the process of planning and building more than 180 homes across more than 30 states. We are honored to help support the exceptional work of Operation FINALLY HOME, said Jeff Rosenthal, president and CEO of Triad Advisors. By providing custom-built, mortgage-free homes to both wounded veterans and the widows of those who have lost their lives defending our country, Operation FINALLY HOME helps to provide a strong foundation for these worthy Americans, better enabling them to move forward with their lives. We are tremendously grateful for Triad's efforts to engage its advisors, business partners and employees in so generously supporting our cause, said Dan Wallrath, president and founder of Operation FINALLY HOME. Their efforts will provide vital assistance in enabling us to continue in our mission of helping those who have done so much and who have given so much to defend our nation and its freedoms, and to help them get their lives back on track after the hardships they have faced. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Counseling services offered to grieving individuals through new nonprofit Rachel Austin has a vision that any and every person who is hurting and in need of counseling is able to receive that help. Austin became painfully familiar with grief in May 2015 when her 15-year-old son, Cole, died by suicide. The grief that followed losing her sweet, sarcastic and intelligent son has been deep and intense, but Austin attributes her faith, strong support network of friends and family, and regular sessions with her counselor for helping to manage her emotions. This summer, Austin launched Coles Grace Project, a nonprofit affiliated with Agape Counseling Services of West Texas to give hope to individuals grieving the loss of a family member due to suicide, homicide or an accidental death. Currently in the fundraising stage, Coles Grace Project will pay for up to six counseling sessions for family members who desire counseling services after the loss of a loved one. The need for an organization to fund counseling sessions for those dealing with grief became apparent to Austin as she shared snippets of her healing journey on Facebook. The good and the bad, I tried to incorporate some of the encouragement and positives I was able to find throughout that time, said Austin, mom to sons Zane, 12, and Sawyer, 9. Through that, I started having different strangers approach me and people recommend I connect with others who had experienced loss, whether it be loss by suicide or loss of a child. Austin found that many individuals were raw and hurting, but werent able to see a counselor because of the financial expense. I have this rumbling in my heart. ... If anyone experiences feelings similar to those I have, that they would have the opportunity to receive counseling, Austin said. Ideally, I want to tuck everyone under my wing and help them, but I realize I am only one person. Under the fiscal sponsorship agreement, 10 percent of every donation Coles Grace Project receives will go to Agape Counseling Services. All other funds will go directly to counseling services, training and enrichment for affiliated counselors. Coles Grace Project is currently fundraising and assembling a team of highly qualified therapists able to meet the needs. Applications for counseling services through Coles Grace Project will be available Oct. 1. To learn more about Coles Grace Project, visit http://www.colesgrace.org/. To contribute to a Go Fund Me fundraiser for CGP, visit https://www.gofundme.com/2cc52akc. Hitchcock-Hall picked for Texas Womens Hall of Fame Midlander Susie Hitchcock-Hall is one of five women who will be inducted into the Texas Womens Hall of Fame Oct. 21 on the campus of Texas Womans University in Denton. I was totally blown away, Hitchcock-Hall said about the honor. I couldnt believe it. I am so flattered. All I do is what I love; to be honored like this is incredible. Hitchcock-Hall launched her business, Susies South Forty Confections, from her kitchen in 1991. It has since expanded both in its production capacity and its unique collection of Texas-based candy recipes such as Pecan Toffee and Texas Trash enjoyed across the state and country. Hitchcock-Hall said she ships to all 50 states and 35 countries. (The growth of the business) is way beyond what I would have imagined, said Hitchcock-Hall, who has earned a Master Confectioner Emeritus status with Retail Confectioners International. I wanted it to be a business to be proud of and the best candy you can buy. STEWART DOREEN Area 432 opens as hackerspace Summer events included the opening of Area 432, a common workspace downtown for those interested in computers, technology and programming. Brandon Howard opened the workspace off Ohio Avenue next to So Fly Boutique. This is something for people to do or go to who arent into going out, sitting at bars or dancing at clubs, but who also dont want to just sit at home. Its something else to do, Howard said. Members pay $50 a month for 24/7 access and perks that include use of the in-house 3D printer, Wi-Fi, projector and the space. Currently, he hosts a programming group and Dungeons & Dragons players. Although members have complete access to the club, Howard didnt want to exclude the public. Area 432 is open every Saturday so people can see what its all about or just to use the Wi-Fi connection. Howard recently hosted a free workshop on his hobby of how to pick a lock. The workshop approached it from a puzzle-solving context. RICH LOPEZ UTPB to construct engineering building Construction on an 80,000-square-foot engineering building at UT Permian Basins Midland campus is expected to begin in spring 2017. UT System regents in August approved plans for the $52 million building. $48 million of funding will come from tuition and revenue bonds and $4 million from permanent university funds. The building will house petroleum, mechanical, aerospace and nuclear engineering classes. FROM STAFF REPORTS Lee grad launches make-up line After more than a decade working as a make-up artist, former Midlander Gertie Wilson launched Eleve Cosmetics, all-natural, vegan-based products free of GMO, gluten, paraben, sulfate and phthalate. I had a lot of experience working in the industry and found that everyone had different needs or allergies, so I had a lot of different brands in my make-up kit. It stood out to me and brought me to the idea of creating Eleve, something that would work for everyone, said Wilson, who graduated from Lee High School in 2002 as Gertie Murray. Wilson launched her first product, lightweight liquid foundation named the Bombshell Beauty Bomb, in April 2015 and has introduced new products one at a time. Her products are currently sold online and in select Central Texas retailers. She plans to begin partnering with a Midland retailer soon. I never dreamed that I was going to come out with my own make-up line; life just led me there, Wilson said. I take my time and make sure everything is right before launching new products. MEREDITH MORIAK WRIGHT Midland College offers conversational sign language as continuing education course Midland College began offering conversational sign language through the continuing education department this fall. All courses are taught by certified sign language instructors employed at the Highland Council for the Deaf. Classes are offered at noon and in the evenings on the MC main campus. Three courses Foundations, Basic Signs 001 and Basic Signs 201 are offered for $100 each. For more information, visit ce.midland.edu/cp or call 432-685-4518. UTPB president Watts announces retirement After 15 years as president of UT Permian Basin, W. David Watts has announced he is retiring effective Aug. 31, 2017. Watts has been integral in making Midland a bigger part of the schools footprint, with the Wagner Noel Performing Arts Center and future engineering building located at the Midland campus, State Highway 191 and Farm-to-Market Road 1788. During his tenure, enrollment increased from 2,200 to 6,315 and student housing increased from 96 beds to 1,197 beds. It is time to get to think about the next stage of development of UT Permian Basin, Watts said. I think a young, more energetic and talented person can take the university to the next level. A search committee will be formed according to UT Board of Regents rules. Regents plan to have a new president in place by fall 2017, according to a press release. FROM STAFF REPORTS Habitat celebrates 25 years, expands to Odessa Habitat for Humanity celebrates a quarter century of providing homes for low-income applicants and changing lives. Over the course of its tenure in Midland, Habitat has provided 139 homes for more than 600 Midlanders. The organization will host a 25th anniversary celebration Oct. 13 at the Horseshoe Pavilion with special guest speaker Marcus Luttrell, the decorated U.S. Navy SEAL who wrote Lone Survivor, and was the subject of a film by the same name. Also during the event, Habitat will present its annual Mark B. Merritt Golden Hammer to Concho. The event will give a nod to its beginnings in 1991 while looking at the present with the number of homes completed in Midland and the future expansion into Odessa. Habitat has announced that it has opened up the application process in Odessa while raising money to put toward those new homes. Odessa once had a Habitat and six homes were built before the organization ceased operating. The Midland chapter was asked by Habitat for Humanity International to take over the assets. For Executive Director Alynda Best, the process has been slow and steady, but already is rewarding. It has taken us a while but Odessa welcomed us with open arms, Best said. It was meant to be. Land is becoming scarce but there were three lots in the area next to the existing homes. Well be able to finish out that block. For more information about the event or to volunteer, visit habitatmidland.org or call 432-686-8877 RICH LOPEZ Organization educates children about Texas history Members of the Permian Basins Aaron Estes chapter of the Children of the Republic of Texas received 56 certificates recognizing completion of Texas state history projects at this summers state convention. Membership in the organization is open to children age 21 and under who can prove ancestry in Texas during the Republic, from 1836 to 1846, and are interested in completing projects about Texas History. I think its a wonderful opportunity to help our kids learn about Texas and Texas history, because theyre getting less and less in the public schools, said Geri Lilly, sponsor of the Aaron Estes CRT chapter. In addition to hosting quarterly chapter meetings and completing a variety of projects, CRT facilitates Texas Honor Days and conducts the annual Texas Essay Contest. Members have the opportunity to earn state awards and scholarships. The Aaron Estes chapter currently has 22 members, 13 prospective members and accepts applications for new members on a rolling basis. To learn more, visit drtinfo.org. MEREDITH MORIAK WRIGHT This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Petroleum Museum birthday bash The Permian Basin Petroleum Museum celebrated its 41st birthday on Sept. 16. The "40+1 Birthday Bash featured a catered buffet meal of chicken and beef fajitas, crispy and soft tacos, chips with queso and guacamole, beans, rice and an open bar. After the meal, guests danced to music by Ransom Rhodes of Fort Worth. Guests dressed in Texas-casual attire, and put on stuffed animal hats to have their picture to be taken in front of an oil derrick backdrop. The bash was underwritten by Concho Resources, and Flowerland of Midland donated the flower arrangements. Among those celebrating were Leah and Stephen Robertson, Donna Robertson, Jim and Karen Nicholson, Fran and Grant Billingsley and Barbra and Trey Grafa. Very Eric Carle The Midland County Library Foundation hosted a private evening at the Centennial branchs Very Eric Carle exhibit for members, their children and grandchildren. Bowls of fruit and candy adorned the tables for attendees to munch on while playing. Clifford Clifford the Big Red Dog recently made a special appearance at the Midland County Public Library Centennial branch. Kids lined up to get their picture taken with big red dog after being read a book from the Clifford series. The event was in celebration of Clifford turning 54. To have an event included in "Out and About," contact Julie Donnelly at mrtjulie@outlook.com. AKRON, Ohio -- Kareemah Jackson knows what it's like to be bullied. "I've always been a tall, thick girl, since I was a little girl. So, people always thought of me as being a bully, but I have always been a gentle giant, like my father. He was 6-foot 8-inches and he was very gentle," said Kareemah, a 14-year-old freshman. "Bullying is a serious topic and it has a cycle. Children learn to be bullies from teenagers and teenagers learn to be bullies from adults. We have to stand up and break the cycle." Kareemah, who has faced and stood up to both peer and adult bullies, created the slogan and designed the blue "STAND UP 4 WHAT'S RIGHT" T-shirts worn Monday by all of the participants at an anti-bullying forum with parents and students at Buchtel high school. Kareemah started an anti-bullying campaign when in sixth grade at Crouse school. The forum _ sponsored by the Akron Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., Akron Public Schools and the city of Akron _ included about 40 parents and nearly 100 student ambassadors from the school district's middle schools. It was the local extension of a national partnership with Delta's Grand Chapter and the National Institute of Health, known as the Mental Health Across the Lifespan initiative. "As adults, we sometimes think we have all the answers, but we need to listen to the voices of our kids to understand what they are living and walking everyday," said Merle Bennett Buzzelli, a counselor at Buchtel. "I don't believe there could be anything more impactful than listening to kids share their stories." Bennett Buzzelli charged the student ambassadors with going back to their schools to spread a message of caring, kindness, inclusiveness and fairness in an effort to create an anti-bullying climate. She recruited three Buchtel high school students to share their experiences. Ja'Sean Smith, a junior, shared how he is picked on every day because he doesn't like sports, likes to cook and is more comfortable around girls than boys. Dealing with the name-calling was particularly hard for him as he navigated through his grief after his grandmother's death, he said. "I pretty much stay in my own lane. I don't bother anybody. But because I don't necessarily fit into a category that some people think I should, people resort to name-calling," said Ja'Sean, 16. "Not only is it hurtful to hear the words coming from the bully, but it is hurtful to see bystanders laughing or just watching. Somebody's got to stand up and say it's not right." Ja'Sean's schoolmates, Tesha Strobelt-McCann and Marnetta Singleton, agreed. The two girls shared their stories of being told that "something is wrong with you" and being called "weird" and "ugly." "I don't think people realize how powerful words are. Words are important. Don't speak words that you don't mean," Tesha, a 17-year-old senior, told the audience gathered in the Buchtel auditorium. Both Tesha and Marnetta, a junior, shared how the things people said about them caused them to doubt their self-worth. Fortunately, they were both able to build their self-esteem, with the help of family, friends and God. "Something within me said, 'You're worth more than that. Don't let a situation [do you in], let it make you stronger,'" said Marnetta, 17. "People can talk all they want, but you can't let what they say control who and what you are." DeKayla Bell, a senior, summed up what her classmates said and shared some advice with the seventh- and eighth-graders in the audience. "Nobody deserves to be treated that way. Everybody is unique and should be respected for who they are," said DeKayla, 17. "You shouldn't call people gay or weird because they're smart and if a boy really likes you, he won't ask you to send [nude or half-nude] pictures. And when you stand by and laugh or don't speak up, it's the same thing as bullying." Bennett Buzzelli and Joan Evans, who chairs the educational development committee for the Delta alumnae chapter in Akron, said the goals of the program were to create a forum for safe and open dialogue, to create an action strategy to address bullying and to provide anti-bullying resources to all Akron middle schools. "I hope something was said today that will cause students to evaluate what they say to other people and that will give them the strength to stand up and speak out when they see someone being mistreated," Kareemah said. "Everyone is unique and nobody deserves to be disrespected, embarrassed and harassed. It's never wrong to stand up for what's right." Distributed by Tribune Content Agency Ex-PP treasurer Luis Barcenas arriving in court. Javier Lizon (EFE) Spains Popular Party (PP) benefited from funds derived from bribery and embezzlement, according to one of the prosecutors at the ongoing Gurtel corruption trial. But for the moment at least, Concepcion Sabadell opposes having acting Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy take the witness stand, as demanded by the private prosecutions in representation of the Socialist Party (PSOE) and the Association of Democratic Lawyers for Europe (ADADE). Its been accredited that it is the PP itself that benefited Prosecutor Concepcion Sabadell This prosecutor has rejected all of the defendants attempts to be exonerated from the trial or to have it altogether canceled. Sabadell has accepted banking information provided by Swiss authorities as valid evidence in court. These documents involve former PP treasurer Luis Barcenas, who is a key figure in the case. However, Switzerland has yet to confirm whether the information it provided may be used to prove fiscal crimes. The sprawling Gurtel case involves a corrupt business network that operated across six regions between 1999 and 2005. It was allegedly run by Francisco Correa (whose name loosely translates as belt, or gurtel in German), a businessman who cultivated relationships with PP officials, allegedly offering them gifts in exchange for government contracts in public works and event organization. Francisco Correa, the alleged mastermind of the Gurtel network, arriving in court. Javier Lizon (EFE) With nearly 200 official suspects, it became the largest pre-trial probe in modern Spanish history and was broken up into sections to facilitate the investigation. In the end, 37 suspects became official suspects. One of the ramifications of the case is the suspicion that the PP also indulged in illegal party financing. Secret accounts kept by former treasurer Luis Barcenas suggest the existence of a slush fund within the conservative party. On Wednesday of last week, the PP argued that the alleged benefit of 250,000 it made from illegally obtained funds should be attributed exclusively to the partys municipal groups in Pozuelo de Alarcon and Majadahonda, two wealthy suburbs of Madrid. But the prosecutor rejected this premise. Its been accredited that it is the PP itself that benefited, said Sabadell. She also rejected claims that the secret recordings by a Majadahonda councilor that led to the Gurtel investigation should be thrown out of court, or that the alleged crimes have expired through the statute of limitations. English version by Susana Urra. Demonstration for missing students in Veracruz. Luis Monroy (EFE) More information Hallados los cuerpos de los estudiantes desaparecidos en Veracruz The search for three missing students in the tumultuous Mexican state of Veracruz has come to an end. Their remains were found on Saturday next to three other bodies in the town of Camaron de Tejeda, near its port, according to the Veracruz Attorney Generals Office. Relatives identified the students and officials believe the victims were murdered by organized crime groups. Leonardo Arano, Gustavo Garcia Baruch and Genesis Urrutia were all university students aged between 22 and 24. On September 29, they left a shopping mall together and then failed to contact their families. Relatives reported them missing on October 1. After a full week passed without anyone asking for ransom, authorities discarded any kidnapping theories and said some factors in the case were possibly linked to organized crime. Officials were also searching for another young man who disappeared from the same town on the same day. On Friday, Camaron de Tejeda residents reported finding some foul-smelling black bags on an estate On Friday, Camaron de Tejeda residents reported finding some foul-smelling black bags on an estate. Inside were six dismembered bodies burned with acid, some of them decapitated, local media said. After several days of grappling with uncertainty, probing for answers and staging protests to call for justice, the missing students parents traveled to the state capital, Xalapa, to meet with forensic experts. At the weekend officials confirmed that the three missing students are among the bodies found. The Veracruz Attorney Generals Office did not offer more details about the discovery. It only said three of the bodies located were fully identified by family members, and that the other missing youth was not among the remains. Officials say they will continue to search for him. Authorities have not presented any motives for the killings or any details about which elements in the case were linked to organized crime. Genesis Urrutias father says some witnesses said the students may have been abducted while walking at night. Others suggested they took a taxi when they left the girls house and then disappeared. Little is known about the two men but Urrutias classmates, friends and family members have spoken out about her disappearance and pressed authorities to take action. She was an outstanding student in communication studies and received a scholarship to study in Ecuador. Marco Malpica, director of her college, told the press: We are fed up. Criminal delinquency is winning. The crime took place at a particularly delicate moment in Mexico, especially in the south and southeast of the country The crime took place at a particularly delicate moment in Mexico, especially in the south and southeast of the country. The students disappeared in Veracruz three days after the second anniversary of the mass disappearance of 43 student teachers in Iguala, Guerrero. In January, Veracruz police arrested another group of students while they were out having fun. They were found dead the next day. Veracruz has one of the highest crime rates in the country, authorities are always finding new secret grave sites and Veracruz Governor Javier Duarte is under federal investigation for corruption. English version by Dyane Jean Francois. Be measured in the margins you ... STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces Google Ad There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Google Ad Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens Sonora, CA Two tour buses full of folks with eyes, ears and minds on the Mother Lodes tree mortality disaster devoted a day, sharing and learning how to make the forests more resilient to rising bug kills and calamitous wildfire threats. Themed Tree Mortality: There Is Hope for the Future, the recent tour made pit stops near Mi-Wuk Village and Pinecrest, where a roster of experts frankly spoke about the enormity of the growing catastrophe and how various agencies are collaborating to cope with it while working to establish new best practices. Officials from Tuolumne County, the US Forest Service and CAL Fire as well as the volunteer-led Yosemite Foothills Fire Safe Council were among the participants who spoke; along with managers from Sierra Pacific Industries and PG&E. It was sponsored by the Tuolumne County Alliance for Resources and Environment (TuCARE) and Yosemite-Stanislaus Solutions (YSS). Tuolumne Countys tree mortality task force, aligned with the state-level task force, is one of the leading counties responding to the tree mortality emergency. Its response plan taps state funds and integrates efforts and resources with CAL Fire, PG&E and other utilities such as Tuolumne Utilities District (TUD). Although funding to help private landowners remains a major issue, efforts are in place and a few large-scale tree removals underway in the county, as reported here. Big Ideas and Cranes At Work At the initial stop, tour-goers were treated to a demonstration by a PG&E contractor impressively using a master tree climbing crew and a monster crane to mechanically take down dead big trees in a Mi-Wuk Village neighborhood. (To view video of the crew and crane with commentary, click here.) A new program to help low-income and disabled landowners remove hazard trees around their homes was also discussed. (Details and links of this program, called TMAP, are available by clicking here). Addressing the tour at Mi-wok Ranger District headquarters, Stanislaus National Forest Supervisor Jeanne Higgins did not pull any punches about how complex managing just shy of 900,000 drought-weakened bark beetle-infested forest acres has become with warming temperatures and increased fire risk. Large wildfires present huge challenges in terms of response and recovery actions..but this situation that we are facing here in the Sierras is unprecedentedand presents a problem that we cannot solve with our traditional approach. Back in June, the US Forest Service reported that an additional 26 million trees have died in California since October 2015 all in a six-county spread across 760,000 acres in the southern Sierra Nevada region. Adding that to the 40 million trees that died statewide from 2010 to October 2015 brings the estimated dead-tree total to historic die-off numbers that now probably exceed 66 million. Higgins further estimated a current mortality rate of 90 to 95 percent in the pine belt on the south side of the Stanislaus. She said, that since shifting the focus of her departments work away from Rim Fire recovery to the daunting task of dealing with dead trees, We have been cutting trees every day since then close to 30,000 trees on the national forest in the last year. Complex Issues, Collaborative Solutions Setting a tone that continued to echo through the comments of every other speaker for the rest of the day, Higgins stated, It takes a community to actually respond to this and we need to bring our best thinking to thiseverybody is scratching their heads. We need to come up with strategies and tactics that are going to be far different from what we have employed in the pastand also incorporate the use of prescribed fire. She added that past fire prescriptions, which did not include dealing with drought conditions, are being retooled to address complex challenges both on the ground and with managing risk. Along for the tour, Jodi Axelson, an entomologist recently hired as a Cooperative Extension specialist at UC-Berkeley, piped up that her department will be developing an extension program to address the infestation issue. Sharing expertise on dealing with outrageous bark beetle breakouts in British Columbia, she said insecticide injections and anti-aggregation pheromones are more effective in protecting individual trees. For stands with low numbers of beetles just starting to increase in population, Axelson advised, You can make a dent by cutting down the trees that are still greenwhen they are full of beetles, even if the crown is green, they are dead they just dont know it yet. She further recommended that an active sanitation program, to remove these trees along with the visibly dead ones especially while the beetles are wintering in them, prevents those populations from reemerging in spring. (Click here for more details from her talk.) While speaking for CAL Fire, Tuolumne-Calaveras Unit Forester Adam Frese highlighted advice and recently streamlined regulations that enable landowners to remove trees on their properties by filling out a one-page form and site map, (detailed here). He called it a credit to the foresters, loggers and local timber industry facilities that there have been very few issues after over a thousand such permitted-projects have been enacted through his unit office. Along with helping remove debris from tree-felling projects Frese said that CAL Fire remains busy doing outreach and inspections to ensure that residents are doing their part to maintain defensible space around their homes. He also credited area fire safe councils for their collaborative efforts in helping fund and execute fuel break projects in fire-sensitive areas such as the one that helped contain the Oak Fire near Sonora last summer, as reported here. Taking Lessons From History Onsite at the USFS experimental forest in Pinecrest, ecologist Eric Knapp stood in a clearing on a formerly fire-suppressed forest plot where scientifically determined, variable thinning to a much lower tree percentage, along with debris removal was subsequently followed up with prescribed fire. The result was the creation of a demonstration forest area that was more resilient to drought, wildfire and bug kill. He stressed that fewer trees, more site management and returning fire to its historical role were all key tools that needed to be used together. Colleague Malcolm North, chiming in, stated experiments across western forests are showing that maintaining spatially variable tree patterns in restored forests are more in line with how they naturally developed; they are also conducive to providing habitat for sensitive species like the spotted owl. USFS silviculturalist Ramiro Rojas dryly opined, after sharing a dire report of nearly complete pine devastation due to tree mortality in the Sierra National Forest where he works, that such strategies should be enacted while there are still trees. Tuolumne County Supervisor Randy Hanvelt offered his takeaway from the experimental forest that the tree mortality crisis came from forest managers simply not doing enough for too long. Said Hanvelt: The trees are healthier here [in the demonstration area] so they are withstanding this bark beetle better than our standard forests, which are the overgrown forests. So it is just a clear answer to me that we really to be need to be doing is upping the pace and scale of everything that we are doing in the forest to thin it, make it look more like it did 100 years ago, and somehow introduce fire back in a judicious fashionand do mechanical removals where there is a place. The bark beetle kill is a result of not doing enough. For speaker highlights from CAL Fire/Frese and USFS/Knapp, along with Hanvelt commentary, click here. To view tour images, click the slideshow link in the upper left image box. The tour was followed up last Friday by a summit at the Mother Lode Fairgrounds, featuring some of the same speakers. Mother Lode lawmakers Congressman Tom McClintock and Assembly Frank Bigelow were also featured guests, as reported here. Clouds Visible From Highway 108 In Sonora View Photos A big pattern change arrives in the Mother Lode today as stormy weather will impact Northern California through Monday. According to the National Weather Service, two primary waves are expected. The first wave will be tonight through Friday. Half an inch to an-inch-and-a-half of total rainfall is expected across the Northern San Joaquin Valley. Wind gusts of thirty to fifty mph are forecast across the valley. Up to five inches of rain is likely over the Sierra Nevada. Snow levels will remain mostly above 7,500 feet. The second wave will be Saturday afternoon through early Monday. Wind gusts of thirty to fifty mph are forecast. Up to one inch of rain is expected across the Central Valley. Up to five inches of rain is likely over the mountains. Snow levels will remain mostly above 7000 feet. Some of the impacts could include slick roads, urban ponding, flooding, clogged gutters and drains from fallen leaves, downed small branches, weakened trees, power outages and blowing debris including loose Halloween decorations. There is a high potential of spinouts and accidents, especially for the Friday morning commute. Travel across the local mountain passes will also be affected. STATEMENT OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF THE REPUBLIC OF ARTSAKH SUBSCRIBERS OF UCOMS ALL TIME BEST OFFER TO ENJOY ADDITIONAL BENEFITS Armenia-Azerbaijan: EU sets up monitoring capacity along the international borders PACE co-rapporteurs on Armenia concerned by reports of alleged war crimes or inhuman treatment perpetrated by Azerbaijans armed forces There is still 35% gender pay gap: Sona Ghazaryan Global Finance Names Ameriabank the Safest Bank in Armenia Mikayel and Karen Vardanyans provided 136 million AMD support for the overhaul of the Myasnikyan statue, which was in unsafe state of disrepair Believe me, as a representative of a country which uses the Schengen system very often, it is quite important. Vardanyan I really look forward to having answers from the Azerbaijani side for these alleged gross human rights violations: Secretary General I call on Armenian and Azerbaijani parliamentarians to use this Assembly as an agora of opportunities President Tiny Kox UCOMS SPECIAL OFFER OF THE UNLIMITED INTERNET IS NOW TERMLESS There is no place for the death penalty in a State that respects human rights: PACE General Rapporteur EU and CoE call on two Member States that have not yet acceded to this Protocol Armenia and Azerbaijan to do so without delay An urgent debate requested on "The military hostilities between Armenia and Azerbaijan". UCOM AND PES-PES CONTINUE COOPERATION WITHIN THE FRAMEWORK OF EDUCATIONAL PROJECT The statement of the meeting between Prime Minister Pashinyan, President Aliyev, President Macron and President Michel of October 6, 2022 Google Ad Largest Corporate Bond Program at the Securities Market of Armenia Completed Successfully The statement of the Defender on the video of the execution of Armenian PoWs by the Azerbaijani armed forces LEVEL UP ONLY FOR STUDENTS: UCOM OFFERS X2 AND X3 MORE INTERNET STATEMENT BY SECRETARY ANTONY J. BLINKEN This criminal act is another proof that the Armenophobia policy. Tatoyan Nikol Pashinyan, Nancy Pelosi discuss a number of issues related to the Armenian-American agenda and regional developments Delegation by Nancy Pelosi Accompanied by Alen Simonyan Visits Tsitsernakaberd Memorial Complex Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives Nancy Pelosi Arrives in Yerevan Armenian Revytech, global technology leader SAP and financial services software specialist SAP Fioneer sign a cooperation agreement With 120 million drams donated by Mikael Vardanyan, the defenders of the homeland will be treated in a new building OSCE Chairman-in-Office and OSCE Secretary General call for immediate cessation of hostilities along Armenia-Azerbaijan border Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Artsakh USA Embassy Message for U.S. Citizens Working as a police officer is all about teamwork. But Samantha and Caleb Reeder arent just partners on the job, they're partners in life. The two new St. Petersburg Police officers are married. And their love story couldnt be more perfect. Samantha and Caleb are both officers with St. Pete Police The newlyweds wanted a career that would keep them together They've been dating since middle school It all started in Kentucky. "We actually met in middle school, Samantha said. We went to the same middle school together, met in the 6th grade." "There was a dance, a middle school dance and our relationship started when I asked her to go to the dance with me, Caleb said. They began officially dating after high school and then throughout college. Samanthas familys farm in Kentucky was next to a now-retired St. Petersburg Police officer. "He told us about how they were hiring so many new officers and all the opportunities St. Pete had, so we applied right after we graduated college and now we are here, Samantha said. The couple got engaged in 2014, but pushed back the wedding so they could move to Florida and start the academy. This Memorial Day weekend, Samantha and Caleb finally tied the knot. "I cant take credit for it, she planned most of it and it was perfect, Caleb said. But the couple was still in the academy, so they put their honeymoon on hold and came right back. It was all worth it though, when the Reeders were sworn in as officers Friday. "She helped me and I helped her kind of deal, Caleb said. It nice to have someone at home to say hey what do you think about this and bounce ideas off each other." The two are now completing their post-academy training. The death toll in North Carolina continues to rise from Hurricane Matthew. 10 dead, 3 still missing in North Carolina Hundreds of thousands without power Interstate 95 closed in several locations At a news conference Monday morning, Gov. Pat McCrory gave the public an update about the storm's aftermath including ongoing water rescues. Overall, there have been 1,400 water rescues and 600 North Carolina Guard troops on hand. More than 700 of those rescues were in Cumberland County. Matthew left devastating effects in North Carolina with 10 deaths in the state as a result of the storm and subsequent flooding. At last report, there were three missing people two in Cumberland County and one in Johnson County. Fayetteville police say 43-year-old Boris Abbey was last seen late Saturday afternoon. Christy Woods, 45, was last seen Sunday afternoon. Two people thought to be missing in Cumberland County have now been found safe. There are still rescues occurring in Lumberton, including rescues off the roofs of some homes. There are about 1,500 residents stranded in knee-deep water. McCrory said they think this is because of a breach in a levee in Lumberton. Rescue crews, boats and water teams are going to that area. The FAA has issued a temporary flight restriction over Lumberton because of helicopters to assist with the rescue. He asked operators of drones to keep them out of the airspace over flooded areas so they do not endanger helicopter teams. He also said that inland flooding" remains the greatest threat to the state. The governor also said there are still about 506,000 structures without power. "By the way, when you say 506,000 structures that means that's a lot more people, McCrory said. Think about it. That's well over a million people without power; that's ten percent of our population in North Carolina." The governor says the greatest threat remains inland flooding in central and eastern North Carolina. He stressed to stay off flooded roads, especially in those areas. McCrory also said to stay out of downtown Fayetteville because of activity with emergency vehicles. He will tour the damage in Fayetteville on Monday afternoon. In addition to the 10 deaths in North Carolina, there were six in Florida and three each in Georgia and South Carolina. Some were killed by falling trees, others by carbon monoxide fumes from a generator. One 66-year-old man near Columbia, South Carolina, died at a nursing facility when he got pinned under his electric wheelchair in water after the heavy rains. Property data firm CoreLogic projected that insured losses on home and commercial properties would amount to $4 billion to $6 billion, well below Hurricane Katrina's $40 billion and Superstorm Sandy's $20 billion. Road closures Officials said in a news release Monday that Interstate 95 continues to be closed in several locations. Flooding has closed the road in several places between the South Carolina state line and Dunn. Officials said the road will be closed until further notice and motorists are urged to plan alternate routes. McCrory warned that the state's priority is to keep evacuation routes clear. He said it would be a good idea for visitors to avoid I-95. I-40 is closed on a three-mile stretch between Newton Grove and Benson because of the flooding. Again, officials urge motorists to plan an alternate route. Information from the Associated Press was used in this report. 3:25 p.m. update: Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said it was a security guard at a Memphis hospital who tipped off police about 4-year-old Rebecca Lewis and West Wild Hogs. Judd cited the power of social media as key in the rescue of Lewis and capture of Hogs. "The baby is in the arms of the Memphis Police Department," Judd said. Judd said the fact that Tennessee eventually issued an Amber Alert about the case also helped. He didn't hide his displeasure Monday morning that an Amber Alert had not been immediately issued Sunday night. Hogs was previously known as Matthew Clark Pybus. The Amber Alert has been canceled. 2:55 p.m. update: Authorities have rescued Rebecca Lewis, 4, from her alleged abducter, West Wild Hogs. According to the Tenessee Bureau of Investigation, Hogs is now in custody. Authorities surrounded Hogs at a Memphis hospital after receiving a tip about a suspect vehicle. The girl and suspect were both in the vehicle, police said. 1:25 p.m. update: The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation posted on Twitter a photo of the suspect, West Wild Hogs, and 4-year-old Rebecca Lewis. The photo was captured at a convenience store off Interstate 24. You can see it above, or please click here. 10:30 a.m. update: Amber Alerts have been issued in Florida, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia and Kentucky. 9:30 a.m. update: The Amber Alert suspect, West Wild Hogs, was spotted just before 2:30 a.m. Monday in Nashville, Tenn. Hogs, formerly known as Matthew Clark Pybus, is both depressed and bipolar, according to Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd. "Our detectives have been chasing them all weekend as if it was their 4-year old child," Judd said at a Monday morning news conference. "Now we need the community to keep their eyes open like its their 4-year-old child." Judd said Hogs is a former truck driver and is comfortable on the interstates. He said Hogs needs to turn the child over to authorities. "We want that baby back, we want that baby back right now," Judd said. "Just go to a responsible adult and turn her over. New info-Hog spotted in Nashville around 2am this morning. pic.twitter.com/hFl9guUoWm Polk County Sheriff (@PolkCoSheriff) October 10, 2016 PREVIOUS STORY: There is a credible sighting of missing 4-year-old girl Rebecca Lewis and the man who is believed to be with her in Tennessee, according to the Polk County Sheriff's Office. "The Tennessee Bureau of Investigations (TBI) has had a credible report of a possible sighting of (Wild West) Hogs and Rebecca in the area of Cove Lake State Park in Campbell County Tennessee," according to a Polk County Sheriff's Office press release. Between 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday, a park ranger reported seeing a man and girl matching the descriptions of Hogs and Rebecca at the park. Multi-state law enforcement agencies in Georgia, Tennessee, Kentucky and Alabama are aware of the sighting. The little Lakeland girl went missing Saturday morning at her home in the Lazy Daisy Mobile Home Park. Her family last saw her at home around 9 a.m. on Oct. 8 by her 16-year-old sister. The girl was wearing a pair of blue shorts. Also missing was a former family friend, West Wild Hogs, who showed up unexpectedly and spent the night with the family. A possible sighting of this missing FL girl has us using our AMBER Alert system to notify East TN to be on the lookout! Spot them? Call 911! pic.twitter.com/0bOPNcAP11 TBI (@TBInvestigation) October 10, 2016 Hogs, 31, legally changed his name. Hes formerly known as Matthew Clark Pybus. On Saturday morning, Hogs allegedly took Rebecca to a nearby McDonald's and then started driving her to Georgia, the press release stated. However, later in the day at 6:30 p.m., Rebecca and Hogs were last seen in Forsythe, Ga., at a gas station just off Interstate 75. "She can be seen wearing a pink dress with light colored leggings and he was wearing a light colored t-shirt and blue jeans. He was still driving a 2012 Grey Nissan Versa 4-door with Alabama Handicapped plate: 4JL26 (reported as stolen out of Alabama)," the press release stated. Heartland Crime Stoppers is offering a $3,000 reward for information leading to the recovery of Rebecca Lewis. Anyone with information who wants to remain anonymous and be eligible for a cash reward is asked to call 1-800-226-8477 or log onto www.heartlandcrimestoppers.com. To submit a web tip, go to www.P3Tips.com and follow the prompts. With a little over a month left before Election Day, News 13 is hosting a town hall meeting today with Democrat Darren Soto and Republican Wayne Liebnitzky. The town hall will air tonight at 7 with Soto and at 8 with Liebnitzky. Tune into News 13 or watch on our BHTV app. We recently sat down with the two candidates running in Florida's 9th U.S. Congressional District seat to learn more about them and their platforms. Democratic candidate: Lawyer and current State Senator Darren Soto in town hall at 7 p.m. Republican candidate: U.S. Navy veteran, businessman Wayne Liebnitzky in town hall at 8 p.m. Need more election info? Check out our Florida Decides Voting Guide In November, voters will choose between Democrat Darren Soto and Republican Wayne Liebnitzky. Soto is a former attorney who has previously served in the Florida House of Representatives and more recently in the Florida Senate. Liebnitzky is an engineer, a U.S. Navy veteran and a businessman. The two candidates have very different priorities they wish to pursue should they win the race for the seat vacated by Alan Grayson. Fighting for immigrants, fighting to protect our environment and, of course, fighting for higher paying jobs, which is key as well as healthcare, and access to high quality education, said Soto. Liebnitzky, on the other hand, said he wants to focus on veterans and seniors. We have people that have defended our country, said Liebnitzky, and we have people that have built our country, and we treat them like second-class citizens. That's not how I plan to represent this country. Soto said what drives him is the satisfaction of helping people. Hes been a public servant for the past decade, and wants to continue serving his community. I believe that my experience and my hard work over the last 10 years would distinguish me for voters in this race, Soto added. Liebnitzky, who won the Republican nomination back in August with more than 60 percent of the vote, calls himself a veteran with a voice, and asks voters to jump on board. I am not going to be able to fix all the problems," said Liebnitzky. "If anyone says they can fix all these problems, stay away from them -- theyre a liar. But I am going to go up there and do the best I can. Oct. 11, 1936: Frank P. Bain has resigned as secretary of Plainview Production Credit to accept a position with Hale County State Bank. --Winning first place in the Hale County Fire Prevention Poster Contest were Jimmy Grigsby and Bobby Harder of Plainview and Irene Rastetter of Hale Center. --Gertrude Burbank will conduct the Heralds four-day Kitchen Chautauqua cooking school which begins Wednesday at the City Auditorium. Oct. 11, 1946: Wayne Buzan and Cecil Joslin have purchased the Triangle drive-in cafe at 10th and Broadway, and are operating the place. --Southwestern Crop and Stock, a new magazine dedicated to the farmers, ranchers and agricultural interest of West Texas and the Southwest, will make its initial appearance Dec. 15, according to Raymond Lee Johns of Plainview, publisher. The magazine will be printed in Lubbock. Initial printing will be 25,000 copies. --Temporary officers have been named for the proposed Optimist Club here. L.D. Strickland will serve as president until the group is charted, T.W. Neil is temporary vice president and K. Crouch is secretary. Oct. 11, 1976: The second annual Runningwater Draw Arts and Crafts Festival will feature art by Margarite Butler. --The Hi Plains Genealogical Society heard Estelle Owens discuss Brawling Brass among the Confederate and Union armies. --Terry Teague was judged table topics winner and best speaker at the Plainview Toastmasters International meeting at the White Rooster Restaurant. Oct. 11, 1996: The Plainview Herald will honor 20 outstanding local citizens at the Citizenship Hall of Fame dinner at Wayland. --La Tienda Thriftway offered three heads of iceberg lettuce for $1 as one of its grand opening specials. --A 13-foot python kept as a pet in the Bronx killed its 19-year-old owner, according to an Associated Press report. Compiled by Doug McDonough Armenian lawmakers cannot solve problems in Georgia (video) Parliamentary elections held in Georgia on October 8 showed that this country has taken a democratic path, said today the experts on Georgian studies Alik Eroyants and Joni Melikyan during the interview with journalists. According to Joni Melikyan , there were some violations during the elections registered both by the international observer groups and by the CEC of Georgia but they are not the violations to take under the doubt that the elections were fair and transparent. Alik Eroyants added that after these elections Georgian Parliament will have three Armenian deputies. Though, he thinks that Armenian deputies will not have authority to solve any problems there: Mostly the MPs elected by the majoritarian can have more authority for solving problems, the chances in the party system are less. For example, there are some problems connected with the recognition of the Armenian Genocide, etc. What will be the impact of these elections on Armenian-Georgian relations? According to Joni Melikyan, they will have an indirect impact: As Georgian dream, we can say, has got rid of the pro-European forces, so it will be freer in the relations with Russia, and it, in its turn, will have positive impact on Armenian-Georgian relations. G. Yeghiazaryan: Gagik Tsarukyans return is peoples demand (video) The Armenian authorities dont hurry to transfer Armenians from Syria and accommodate them in Armenia. These activities imply great expenses for the Armenian state budget. According to Gurgen Yeghiazaryan, former Deputy Head of the NSS, first the means plundered from the state budget should be returned. Its enough to give instructions to the National Security Service; during several months those sums will be brought back. I say that USD 7-8 billion will be easily brought back in 2 months, as the sum of plunder is larger. It is enough to call the plunderers and tell that you approximately plundered USD 2 billion, put USD 1 billion on the table, and they will put, says Yeghiazaryan. During these days different posts appear on the Internet, by which Syrian Armenians ask to transfer them to Armenia. What does the state do? Why doesnt the state take any measures? Many people dont want to come to Armenia. If the war continues even longer, they may be transferred from Syria. Those, who had turned to the Ministry of Diaspora, received aid, adds the NA HHK lawmaker Lernik Aleksanyan. According to the information, 600 people expressed willingness to move to Armenia. Gurgen Yeghiazaryan also touched upon the local elections, In Gyumri HHK lost, but in Vanadzor HHK won and Serzh Sargsyan won, how, you will soon learn. He urges Gagik Tsarukyan, former leader of Prosperous Armenia Party, to return to politics, If he was present and supported BHK, BHK wouldnt be in such a situation in Vanadzor. Tsarukyan Gagik had better listen to the calls of the people. His return is peoples demand. He will return. If he returned earlier, the picture would be different in Vanadzor. I have nothing against Marukyan, but it isnt the way that he could come at once and take the power. Michael Short/Special to the Chronicle An 11-month-old girl is expected to survive after a bullet went through her back and out her chest when her father accidentally fired his gun inside their Petaluma home while trying to secure the weapon, police said Monday. Police were called to the 500 block of Reynolds Drive near Kresky Way at 6:13 p.m. Saturday after the babys parents reported that she was accidentally hit by a bullet, said Sgt. Ed Crosby of the Petaluma Police Departments investigations unit. The infant was transported to Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital but was soon flown to UCSF Benioff Childrens Hospital Oakland because of the severity of her injuries. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Local marching bands beat drums and twirled batons, a 93-year-old in a chicken suit danced atop an Italian Catholic Federation float, and a 1938 motor bus decked out in Giants colors drove through cheering crowds Sunday in the 148th Italian Heritage Parade in North Beach. Run by a local nonprofit called the Columbus Day Parade, the parade started in 1866 and has proceeded for the most consecutive years compared with similar parades across America, many of which stopped during World War II, said Cynthia Marcucci, a volunteer with the nonprofit. The parade started at Fishermans Wharf and made its way to SS Peter and Pauls Church in San Franciscos historically Italian American neighborhood. Formerly known as the Columbus Day Parade, it was rebranded in 1993 after protesters objected to an event celebrating Christopher Columbus. Its one of the greatest days in San Francisco, said 49ers announcer Paul Tonelli, who served as a parade grand marshal along with U.S. Olympic figure skating gold medalist Brian Boitano. Tonelli is a second-generation Italian American whose family comes from Lucca and Florence in the Tuscany region of Italy. Boitano recently reconnected with his Italian roots by renovating his great-great-grandfathers homes in a small village in Liguria, where he vacations in the summers and visits aunts, cousins and other family that hes since reconnected with. Each year, the organization dubs a local Italian American woman Queen Isabella, selecting based on character and involvement in the San Francisco Italian American community. San Bruno native Alexandra Cotroneo, 21, rode the royal float as Queen Isabella this year. A second-generation Italian American, Cotroneo and her Calabrian family celebrate Italian traditions like the Feast of Seven Fishes and making special pasta dishes for Christmas. She has long looked up to the queen and her court, admiring their sparkling dresses, shaped in the traditional voluminous style. Its special because its a chance to represent my heritage, Cotroneo said. Not just the past tradition, but also the present. San Franciscos new Consul General Lorenzo Ortona attended the parade with his family, three weeks after moving to the city from Rome. Proud to celebrate and welcome Italians in San Francisco, Ortona is eager to tap into the technology community to help support small-business owners and inspire job creation back home. The pride of Italian Americans here and the joy they have in representing Italy is fantastic, Ortona said. They are our greatest ambassadors. Ortona noted Ferrari, Maserati and Energica Motorcycles, an electric super-sport motorcycle company representing Italys technical achievement and ambition. Italians found integrating into San Francisco culture easier than those moving to the East Coast, Ortona said. Many came during the 1849 Gold Rush and opened up shops that had a large patronage due to the wealth found in the rivers and mines. Decades later, Sicilian Americans built Fishermans Wharf. San Francisco police Sgt. Angelo Spagnoli has attended the parade since he was 3 years old. This year, more than 20 family members looked on as he marched with other members of the San Francisco Police Department, whose participation in the parade he organized this year. One of the things I noticed is the support from the community when we walk this parade, Spagnoli said, the young officers getting a cheer form the crowd, it lights up a fire under them. While Spagnoli misses the carnival that used to accompany the festival when he was a kid, he appreciates that the parade has become more inclusive of different ethnicities. Police Commissioner Thomas Mazzucco, Spagnolis cousin, also attended. He remembers his father saving a mans life at the parade when he was a kid. He watched his father, a police officer, hold a compression to the chest of a man who had just been stabbed. This year, the police smiled, marched and handed out miniature Italian flags. Jessica Floum is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: jfloum@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @jfloum This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Lowes Home Centers Inc. is suing Bexar County to try to cut its property assessment by more than half, worrying San Antonio leaders as big box retailers exploit legal loopholes in hopes of reducing local taxes in Texas and other states. The tactic has been successfully deployed in Michigan and Indiana where major retailers have driven down property values and tax revenue. Michigan taxpayers had to refund about $100 million to retailers while Indiana reduced their taxes by more than $120 million. Yet cities and counties still need the revenue to pay for roads and other municipal services. The worry is that local governments will have to cut programs, as they have in Michigan, or raise residential property taxes like Indiana to make up the shortfall, officials say. If a company is allowed to avoid paying their fair share of property taxes, it will shift the burden onto other taxpayers, particularly our homeowners, City Manager Sheryl Sculley said. City officials are monitoring the Lowes lawsuit here. The City of San Antonio is greatly concerned about this, and our taxpayers should be too. Lowes, The Home Depot Inc., Kohls Department Stores, Target and Wal-Mart are trying to persuade judges in Texas and elsewhere that their stores should be appraised as as so-called dark stores which are vacant buildings instead of fully functioning businesses. Appraisers generally value a property at its highest and best use, meaning at whatever function makes the most money from the property in its current condition. However, retailers argue that their stores should be assessed as if the building were vacant and the property carried onerous deed restrictions thus lowering its marketability and value to potential buyers. Lowes has taken the lead on dark store lawsuits, according to appraisers. The home improvement retailer currently has three lawsuits against the Bexar County Appraisal District contesting the values of its 11 stores in the San Antonio area for the past three years, Bexar County chief deputy appraiser Mary Kieki said. Lowes also has a pending lawsuit in Harris County concerning its five stores around Houston, court records show. Lowes declined to comment for this story. People make all kinds of assertions in litigation hoping to lower their value, but weve never specifically faced this kind of an argument, Kieki said. The North Carolina-based chains 11 area stores, all measuring roughly 136,000 square feet, were appraised at about $81 per square foot for tax year 2016, Kieki said. If Lowes gets its way, that value could drop about 58 percent to $34 a square foot. And, because Article 8 of the Texas Constitution states that taxation shall be equal and uniform, other retailers would likely follow suit, she said. Others wont even have to assert this theory, Kieki said. They can simply say make me like Lowes. On top of lost revenue from lowered property values, Bexar County would also have to reimburse Lowes for legal fees if the retail giant prevails in court, which could strain the countys finances, Bexar County Tax Assessor-Collector Albert Uresti said. In any system where one group is not paying their fair share of taxes, its going to be shifted to the remaining groups that are having to pay taxes, Uresti said. The idea behind taxation is to make sure its fair and equitable. Click here for the full story at ExpressNews.com. jfechter@express-news.net Twitter: @JFreports This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate COLLEGE STATION Apollo Global Management bought Rackspace Hosting Inc. knowing it was different from its past ventures into publishing companies, Vegas casinos, or even the maker of Ding Dongs and Twinkies, Rackspace co-founder and Chairman Graham Weston told the San Antonio Express-News. The $4.3 billion transaction, set to close this year, will take the publicly traded company private again. But Weston is confident the San Antonio companys withdrawal from the glare of Wall Street is temporary. I think its likely that Rackspace will go public again in the next five to seven years, he said in an interview Friday at Texas A&M University where he graduated 30 years ago with a degree in agricultural economics. Apollo, known for successful takeovers of iconic brands such as snack baker Hostess and educational publisher McGraw-Hill Education Inc., on Aug. 26 announced it had finalized a deal valued at $4.3 billion for the citys largest publicly traded technology company. The agreement, the best of three leading offers, cashes shareholders out at $32 a share, a 38 percent premium to Rackspaces closing price when news of an imminent deal leaked to the media. Shareholders are set to vote on the transaction Nov. 2. I think they were the high bidder for a reason, Weston said. They spent a substantial amount studying Rackspace and the opportunity of Rackspaces future. While news of the sale came within days of news another local Fortune 400s acquisition Corner Store owner CST Brands Inc. on Aug. 22 said it was being bought for $4.4 billion by Circle K owner Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. Weston said the scenarios were very different. CST was bought by another convenience store chain, he said. I think Apollo has no other business in this industry. Its not a Twinkie, he said, referencing Apollos ability to return the all-but dead Hostess Brands and its cream-filled sponge cakes to grocers shelves. A favorite story in San Antonio is how Rackspace was founded when three college students met with Weston and business partner Morris Miller at the Chesters Hamburgers on Loop 410 and pitched the idea of renting data storage space. While Rackspace started out in 1998 as a sort of real estate firm for server space and went on to become one of the early pioneers in cloud computing, it was by 2015 being elbowed out by Silicon Valley. The big players had jumped into the cloud game by then, and Rackspace found it couldnt compete price-wise with the likes of Amazon, Microsoft and Google. Investors realized it, too. The crisis was reflected in Rackspaces sliding stock price. The decision was made to focus on Rackspaces trademarked fanatical support. The company went from competing with Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft to offering them complimentary services like support and cloud management But Rackspaces deep pool of sales executives, Weston said, is no small part of the package Apollo is buying nor is having a San Antonio-Austin hub and Rackspaces current leadership team at the helm. We have a very strong professional sales team that is among the best in the industry, and I think they can add additional services to the same sales force, he said. They see Rackspace as a platform that they can build other services on top of. That sales focus ended up being Westons most formative takeaways from his days as a student at A&M even if it was almost by happenstance. Westons parents were British, and he remembers growing up in a small country school in Marion as the kid with the foreign parents. He enrolled in A&M, fully intending to help work his familys ranch in Guadalupe County. Real estate called him instead, whether with data storage or his ventures as a co-founder of local developer Weston Urban. The company plans to break ground in December on San Antonios first new downtown office tower in more than 25 years. The sale has made Weston rich, but not as wealthy as he once was. Weston was worth more than $1.5 billion at Rackspaces peak price at least on paper. Hes walking away with approximately $606 million in cash on the Apollo sale. Despite his fortunes, he still thinks his father now 93 is disappointed he didnt get into raising cattle. Weston said his move toward a more informal supporter of Rackspace will allow him to focus on reinvigorating San Antonios urban center. Im focused on how do we make San Antonio a place my our children want to move home to, he said. In 2015 he donated an undisclosed amount to fund the Weston Sales EQ Program, which will offer a minor degree in sales to A&Ms Department of Agricultural Economics. The program will be managed by Kerry Litzenberg, whom Weston remembers as his favorite professor at A&M. He made a huge impression on me, Weston said of Litzenberg. One, he was my first computer class. And secondly, he taught us about professional sales. On Friday, Weston was on hand to cut the ribbon for the first classroom dedicated to coursework in the minor. Sales as a profession has had a bad brand, Weston said. And yet as we look at many organizations, many businesses, often the highest paid people in the organization are in sales. And I think that this is not known. While he said there would inevitably be changes at Rackspace, he said its sales acumen was something that he imagined Apollo would strive to retain. I think so many of our competitors didnt believe in having live people to help customers make decisions and decide what to buy, he said. These systems are new, theyre still evolving. Amazon last year launched 750 different features. How do customers find their way through that number of features to figure out what to do? lbrezosky@express-news.net Getty Images A man from Sebastopol was arrested on suspicion of vehicular manslaughter and driving under the influence after he crashed into a 42-year-old pedestrian who was crossing a street Saturday in Petaluma, police said. The victim, identified Monday as Luis Picon-Estrada of Petaluma, was crossing East Washington Street near the Petaluma Library when he was struck by a white Mercedes a few minutes before 11 p.m., police said. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street is in very good hands at the Woodlawn Theatre. The musical, directed with clarity and attention to detail by Rick Sanchez, tells the story of a barber once known as Benjamin Barker (Roy Bumgarner) who returns to London after years of wrongful imprisonment. He is determined to have vengeance against Judge Turpin (the aptly menacing Joshua Goldberg), who sent him to prison in the first place. The judge was infatuated with the barbers wife and needed to get him out of the way. The wife, the barber is told, took her own life; their daughter Johanna (Kathleen Langford) is now the judges ward, one more reason for the barber to want to spill his blood. The barber, now going by the name Sweeney Todd, returns to the still-empty apartment he once shared with his wife and child and resumes his friendship with the landlady, Mrs. Lovett (Sara Brookes), who has always had a fondness for him. She admits to serving The Worst Pies in London in her filthy bakery. The problem, as she sees it, is that meat is hard to come by. That issue is solved as Todd begins dispatching people in his barber shop; the bodies are ground up, the flesh baked into meat pies, which are soon the talk of the town. Things do not end happily. Bumgarnger, always an engaging presence, is in fine voice and delivers a terrific performance throughout. He is compelling from the moment he appears onstage, looking haunted and haggard. Brookes is wonderful, too, playing up the pitch-black humor in the role. A Littel Priest, the song in which she and Todd first merrily discuss the idea of her making use of the bodies, is one of many highlights in the show. Brookes also captures the softer side of Mrs. Lovett as she nurtures Tobias (the heartbreaking James R. Welch), the young man who comes to work for her after his previous employer, the brash barber/con artist Pirelli (the wonderful Adam Zuniga), mysteriously vanishes. Zach Heywood is a treat as Anthony, the brave sailor who falls for Johanna after hearing her sing and devotes himself to winning her and then rescuing her. The action plays out on a first-rate set, another marvel designed by Kurt Wehner. And music director Josh Pepper and the orchestra handle the score deftly. In another fun touch, concessions include small fruit and pecan pies. The show is tremendously entertaining. Dont miss it. Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street can be seen at 7:30 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays and 3 p.m. Sundays through Nov. 6 at the Woodlawn Theatre, 1920 Fredericksburg Road. Tickets range from $17 to $26 at woodlawntheatre.org or by calling 210-267-8388. dlmartin@express-news.net Twitter: @DeborahMartinEN This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate GREENWICH With less than one month until the election, candidates for State Representative of the 151st district, comprising parts of central Greenwich, Cos Cob, Riverside and Old Greenwich, are locking down their campaign promises and scheduling regular events to reach out to voters. Fred Camillo, the republican incumbent, is running to retain his seat. He was first elected in 2008, and this would be his fifth term. He is being challenged by Dita Bhargava, a newcomer to the Greenwich political scene who was nominated by the Democratic Party in May. Each campaign is holding a slew of events to reach out to voters and give them a chance to interact with their candidates. Camillos appeared at Mondays flag raising at Town Hall to mark Columbus day followed with an event that evening at the St. Lawrence Club to honor fellow Republican Sam Romeo. Tuesday, Bhargava is holding a press conference about the state of transportation in the area with Rep. Jim Himes at the Greenwich Train Station and Camillo will be participating in a ribbon cutting ceremony at the Greenwich Catholic School North Street campus. Camillo is a Greenwich Catholic School alum. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar On Oct. 13, the candidates will go head-to-head in the first of two debates, this one sponsored by the League of Women Voters. The debate will be from 7 to 8 p.m. in Town Hall and will be moderated by Jean Rabinow of the Bridgeport League of Women Voters. There arent many opportunities for the candidates to be face-to-face with each other, Jara Burnett, a member of the Greenwich chapter of the League, previously told Greenwich Time. We see them at public meetings and other events, but here they will be able to explore the issues in a face-to-face setting that should lead to an excellent discussion. Audience members will be allowed to submit questions in writing at the debate. The debate is free and open to the public. The next night, the candidates will again debate on the Lisa Wexler radio show starting at 5 p.m. The debate can be heard on the radio channel AM 1490 or on the Lisa Wexler website, wgch.com. On Oct. 17, Camillo is going to a fire safety event at the Boys and Girls Club with New York giants wide receiver Victor Cruz from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. Camillo is scheduled to speak with girl scouts from 6:30 to 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 at the North Mianus School. A little over a week later, he will speak at the International School at Dundee, at 11 a.m. on Nov. 1. pfrissell@hearstmediact.com; @PeregrineFriss This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Two Bethel men are vying for Republican Dan Carters open seat in the District 2 election in November. Democratic candidate Raghib Allie-Brennan, 25, has served on Bethels Inland and Wetland Commission and worked for two congresswomen in the U.S. House of Representatives. Republican candidate Will Duff, 48, is the former chairman of the Bethel Republican Town Committee, candidate for Bethel first selectman in 2013 and 2015, a former selectman, former member of the Board of Education and former member of the towns tax review board. The 2nd District includes Bethel, Danbury, Newtown and Redding. Duff said his history in local government and his life experiences set him apart. Ive been on top of the mountain and Ive been deep down in the ravine, he said. Ive had great success in business. Before that there were times where I was on the unemployment line. There were times when I needed to use a number of the state programs, which I proved to them pays dividends. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Meanwhile, Allie-Brennan emphasized his energy and his desire to work across party lines. People are sick and tired of bringing the same old, same old suspects up to Hartford, he said. Its not working. I think the way we can change the Democratic party is from within and Im a new voice and a new face and I plan to go up there, shake things up and really get some answers about how we can grow our economy and work in a bipartisan way. He said he is ready to stand up to Democrat Gov. Dannel Malloy, who Allie-Brennan said dropped the ball on the state budget by focusing on getting money from taxes, rather than incentivizing small businesses to come and stay in Connecticut. Duff said he recognizes this problem, too, saying residents, businesses and jobs are leaving the state because sales, corporate and real estate taxes are too high. Instead of increasing taxes, the state should deal with its budget deficit by eliminating and reconfiguring state personnel positions as staff retire, he said. As soon as they retire or are expected to retire, we really have to evaluate is there a real need to fill that position? Duff said. And if so look at the existing resources, are there other employees that we can grab a hold of? Is there someone else that can be moved up into that line where they dont have be filled? But Allie-Brennan said he wanted to wait until after he had listened and learned as a congressman before saying what should be cut from the budget. I can have my agenda and say all I want that I think this is this, but when you go up there its a different reality, he said. Its going up there to see what we actually can move on, what we can cut, what we should be saving. Yet, the candidates agreed the way the state funds education needs to change. A judge ruled in September that the state needed to fix what he called an irrational school funding formula. We know the cost-sharing formula isnt working, Allie-Brennan said. Our schools [in District 2] are getting punished. Duff said it is not okay that the schools in District 2 receive less money than city schools in New Haven, Bridgeport and Hartford, despite the fact that the demographics are often similar. It seems to me that at any point in time if youre friends with the governor youre going to get more money and if youre not friends with the governor youre pretty much thrown by the wasteside, he said. The candidates, however, disagreed on gun control. Duff called the states gun laws draconian. He said he would consider appealing them because the laws have not helped to reduce gun violence. I dont own a gun, I have no desire to own a gun, he said. But Im not going to stop someone from owning a gun. I think its their right and I see no reason why as long as they they are trained properly and are mentally fit that they should be able to have a gun. Meanwhile, Allie-Brennan said he would defend the states gun control laws, which Carter voted against. I am strongly pro-gun safety protections and I will defend anything--not anything, but whats on the books for gun safety, he said. I think its a shame that Dan Carter would represent Newtown and not really listen to the voices in Redding and in Newtown who desperately wanted common-sense gun protection. CORRECTION: This article was corrected to reflect that Allie-Brennan is 25. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate The race for the 123rd District seat is coming into the homestretch, Republican incumbent Dave Rutigliano hopes to retain his seat for a third consecutive term against Democrat Lino Costantini. Both candidates have much to bring to the table for the district that covers the majority of Trumbull. Costantini, a former business owner, was the president and co-founder of Hamden Tool & Die Co. and Hamden Medical Co., before retiring after 28 years. After years of mounting frustration, Costantini said he made the decision to run for office in the town he has called home since 1977 the same year the native of Italy became a naturalized citizen. Im quite disappointed with the lack of cooperation among the state representatives of lower Fairfield County, because I dont see the cooperation among them, Costantini said. Costantini had served on the Trumbull Town Council for nine years prior to spending 20 years on the Trumbull Police Commission. Costantini said the experience of working within the town and knowing the residents will go a long way in getting elected. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar But the fight will be an uphill battle, Costantini said his focus will be on a fair and balanced budget, equal education for all students, and addressing issues that directly effect the people of Fairfield County like Metro-North. I want to go up there and do the right thing for the people of Connecticut and I dont see that happening now. Thats why Im running, Costantini said. On the other side, Rutigliano also a small-business owner has owned and operated several bars in the area, including the Sitting Duck Tavern. During the first two terms in office, Rutigliano has been a ranking member of the labor and public employees committee, as well as, holding a seat on the finance revenue and bonding committee and the general law committee. Rutigliano said an important focus needs to be figuring out a way to keep people from leaving the state by continuing to bolster and create jobs across all of Connecticut. I would like to make this a place where they want to stay here, Rutigliano said. Im tired of hearing about people and jobs getting driven out of the state. Rutigliano said he believes overspending and high taxes has led to this mass exodus of people, many of whom are young adults, from the state. A problem, if re-elected, that will be one of the things at the top of the list. We have to live within our means, Rutigliano said. AJohnson@hearstmediact.com While Hurricane Matthew forces blood donation centers to temporarily close their doors, the Red Cross reports a critical shortage of blood and platelets. Almost 40 blood drives in Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia have been canceled, meaning more than 1,500 blood and platelet donations have gone uncollected. The Red Cross said more cancellations are expected across the Southeast. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Education, theater and craft brewing expansions in the Capital Region are the most costly and most common projects vying for funds from the state's Regional Economic Development Council this year. The contest is in its sixth year and makes millions available for projects that promise economic revitalization and job creation. The largest request comes from the Palace Theatre, which is asking for $4.24 million from the state to help pay for a proposed expansion that would triple its capacity and add other services like video production. The award request says the money would contribute to the $29.7 million bill. Organizers have previously said the transformation would total $65 million. The Palace project has already run into some controversy this past summer after the theater's nonprofit arm requested the city of Albany sell back the main theater building at North Pearl Street and Clinton Avenue to the nonprofit for a nominal fee. The Albany Common Council has yet to rule on that issue. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Other big ticket requests, which were detailed in a 2016 council progress report released last week, include: A $4 million request toward $20 million in renovations and upgrades at University at Albany's Health Sciences Campus in East Greenbush. UAlbany applied for the money under the name University at Albany BioSciences Development Corporation. A $3.9 million award that would help pay for Albany County's enclosure and renovation of the Times Union Center front atrium and walkway that connects to Empire State Plaza. The $19.7 million construction project is already under way. Albany County also is asking for $200,000 to open up a new egress from the Times Union Center parking garage after another exit was blocked off by the Albany Capital Center, the convention center that is under construction. Another request is for $3 million for renovation of the Nipper building in Albany's warehouse district. That project, which would turn the former warehouse into apartments, already received some money during the 2015 Regional Economic Development Council awards for an indoor farm and local goods market that is planned for the building's first floor. Brown's Brewing Company in Hoosick Falls, Adirondack Brewing in Lake George and a New York City-based cider company that wants to locate in Ancram, Columbia County, have all requested money to expand as well. And as for additional theater projects, Bonacio Construction has requested $610,000 to refurbish the American Theater in Troy, and there is a similar monetary request for a redo of the Park Theater in Glens Falls. The Regional Economic Development Council awards were started by Gov. Andrew Cuomo six years ago in an effort to take the politics out of pork barrel funding that was being approved through the State Legislature. Capital Region projects have received $353.9 million since 2011. This area's regional council, which is made up of community and business leaders who are volunteers, recommends projects to the state, which will then name award winners before the end of 2016. While some of the biggest previous award recipients have their projects off the ground, like Mohawk Harbor near the future casino site in Schenectady, others have not received the money because the proposals have yet to come to fruition including a redevelopment project by First Columbia that was supposed to happen next to Quackenbush Square in Albany. This year's regional council progress report said 36 percent of Capital Region projects that have received funding since 2011 are done, while another 52 percent are "on schedule" or "in progress." The report said 11 percent of projects didn't happen and others were delayed. lstanforth@timesunion.com 518-454-5697 Contributed GREENWICH For the second year in a row, Sacred Heart Greenwichs student-produced multi-cultural art and literary magazine Voices received a gold medal from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association (CSPA). "We are thrilled that for the second year in a row our Upper School students have been awarded a gold medal for their work on the art and literary magazine, Voices, said Montserrat Garcia, chair of the world languages department for the Upper School. It is a pleasure to work with such a talented and motivated group of students, and we look forward to another successful magazine." This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Inside Doris Taylor's lab at the Texas Heart Institute are ethereal white pig hearts, stripped of their cells and now a blank slate of an organ. Removing cells from an organ is fairly simple for scientists like Taylor. Rebuilding the organ by injecting stem cells is the tricky part. But that's exactly what Taylor hopes to do: grow a human heart by injecting human stem cells into a "decellularized" organ. "It's very cool, the stuff we're doing," Taylor told the Houston Chronicle a few years ago. While Houston is internationally known for being at the apex of cancer treatment, the city is also quickly establishing itself as a leader in regenerative medicine. At its core, the regenerative medicine is focused on finding new ways to help the body repair itself, often through the use of stem cells. For example, scientists at Houston Methodist are hoping to someday restore hand function to paralyzed patients by using stem cells to help repair the spinal cord. Baylor College of Medicine is invested in research that might prevent cerebral palsy by coaxing cells into the brain to produce myelin, which foster communication between nerve cells. Children with brain injuries are benefitting from stem cell research at UT Health Science Center at Houston Medical School. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar At the Texas Heart Institute, a dream team of scientists that includes Taylor are studying various ways to compel damaged hearts to self-repair, including zeroing in on the best stem cells to use for treatment. "Our goal in research at the Texas Heart Institute is ultimately to prevent cardiovascular disease, and along those lines make it tolerable for people to relieve symptoms, their pain and help improve their overall lifestyle," said James T. Willerson, the Institute's president. "And this is the important piece of it. I think it's one of the most important things we do. More Information ReGENERATeKey developments in stem cell research and regenerative medicine 1961: Canadian scientists James Till and Ernest McCulloch confirm the existence of stem cells. 2000: James T. Willerson and Emerson Perin of the Texas Heart Institute receive permission to treat advanced heart- failure patients in Brazil with stem cells taken from their own bone marrow. 2004: Willerson and Perin get permission from the FDA to treat patients in the U.S. 2005: Baylor College of Medicine opens the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. 2006: Shinya Yamanaka of Japan discovers that mature cells can be converted into stem cells. See More Collapse The use of stem cells in medicine has evolved rapidly since a pair of Canadian scientists first confirmed the existence of stem cells in 1961. Stem cells are found both in early stage embryos and in adults, in the blood marrow and elsewhere. They are of particular interest to scientists because of their ability to easily divide and develop into various types of cells, sometimes repairing damaged cells. Because of their potential to repair damaged organs, Willerson got interested in stem cells in the 1990's and began working with them in animal research. In 2000, that research took a monumental leap when he and a Brazilian colleague, Emerson C. Perin, got approval to perform the first ever injection of human stem cells into 14 patients suffering from advanced heart failure in Rio de Janeiro. Using a specialized catheter, Willerson and Perin injected stem cells taken from the patient's bone marrow and injected them into 15 sites in the heart. Within a year, the results were nothing short of amazing. "Some that couldn't walk from here to the door were now jogging on the beach in Rio, not very fast, but quite an improvement," Willerson said. That study was the first of its kind in the world and in 2004 Willerson and Perin asked the Food and Drug Administration for permission to replicate it in the U.S. After much scrutiny, permission was granted and 20 patients in various throes of heart failure were injected with their own stem cells. That study taught them not all stem cells were created equal. Stem cells that come from people under the age of 60 tend to perform better. Perin, who is now the medical director of the Institute's Stem Cell Center, has focused his research on a more specialized type of stem cells known as mysenchymal cells. In a 2015, he was the lead author on a study that found injecting 150 million precursor mysenchymal cells into patients with severe heart failure prevented future heart attacks, death, and worsening heart failure. "That's almost unheard of," Willerson said. "And this was a very sick group of people." Working with stem cells is not without controversy, particularly if that means using embryonic stem cells. In 2006, a Japanese researcher found a way to reprogram adult stem cells to behave like embryonic stem cells. These cells known as induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) became a game changer by removing some of the moral objections over research with fetal tissue. The technology to create iPSC's combined with a brand new genome editing tool known as CRISPR-Cas9 are giving scientists a new way to detect genetic mutations and possibly fix flaws that in the past caused debilitating diseases. "I would say the sky is the limit," said Ben Deneen, an associate professor at Baylor College of Medicine's Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine Center. Deneen's research is focused on coaxing cells in the brain to make myelin, which is often damaged when an infant suffers a loss of oxygen to the brain. When that happens, cerebral palsy or multiple sclerosis occurs. It's just one example of a regenerative medicine that doesn't involve injecting stem cells directly into a damaged organ. Scientists at Houston Methodist's Center for Neuroregeneration are also looking at new ways to trigger the brain to repair itself in hopes of someday helping people with severe paralysis recover the use of their hands. "When you survey people who have had severe strokes or are quadriplegics, they most want to see function of their hands restored," said Phil Horner, the Center's director. "Way down that list is walking." Historically, scientists have had to rely on wires to stimulate the parts of the brain that control movement. But that method tends to cause scarring and isn't a good long-term fix for patients. That's why Horner and others are excited about using new mechanisms to stimulate the brain such as lights, and magnetic fields. "To me it's an extremely exciting time," Horner said. "Instead of the old trial and error ways of the past, we're starting to approach the brain like engineers. We are moving toward being able to re-engineer specific pathways in the brain. It's radically different way of helping patients." 1 Casino closes: GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump opened the Trump Taj Mahal casino 26 years ago, calling it the eighth wonder of the world. But his friend and fellow billionaire Carl Icahn closed it Monday, making it the fifth casualty of the casino crisis in Atlantic City, N.J. The Taj Mahal shuttered its doors amid a strike by union members. Local 54 of the Unite-HERE union went on strike July 1, after it could not agree with Icahn on a new contract to restore health insurance and pension benefits that were terminated two years ago in Bankruptcy Court. Icahn decided to close the casino, saying it lacked a path to profitability. 2 Deadly crash: Communities in central Vermont are mourning the loss of five high school students who were killed when a pickup truck speeding in the wrong direction on an interstate highway slammed into their car, sending it up in flames. The governor ordered flags to fly at half-staff for the group, four of whom attended Harwood Union High School in Moretown. They were Mary Harris, 16, of Moretown; Cyrus Zschau, 16, of Moretown; Liam Hale, 16, of Fayston; Janie Cozzi, 15, of Fayston; and Eli Brookens, 16, of Waterbury. State police say Steven Bourgoin, 36, was driving the pickup late Saturday when he crashed into the students car. Bourgoin is hospitalized in critical condition. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate NORWALK A 4-month-old girl who died last Wednesday at a Norwalk day care center has been identified as Corinne Magda. Connecticut State Police have yet to release the identity of the child five days after the investigation began. A source close to the childs family confirmed the childs identity. An obituary for Corinne posted by the Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home in Stamford says Corinne Nicole Magda, daughter of Matthew Magda and Jill Cimminello Magda passed away suddenly ... at Norwalk Hospital. She was born at Greenwich Hospital on June 24, 2016 and in her brief time here touched many lives. All that came in contact with Corinne knew her beautiful smile, awesome laugh and sweet cry. Her memory will continue to strengthen our family always, the obituary reads. A wake has been scheduled at Nicholas F. Cognetta Funeral Home & Crematory, 104 Myrtle Ave., Stamford on Tuesday, from 4-8 p.m. with a funeral service at 7 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family has requested that donations be made in Corinnes memory to either JDRF, Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, 14th Floor, New York, NY 10004 or directly to the family. On Wednesday, Oct. 5, the Norwalk Police Department went to Christine Limones 9 Hunters Lane home after receiving a report of an unresponsive 4-month-old. The infant was taken to Norwalk Hospital for evaluation, and was later pronounced dead there. Limone, a licensed day care provider, is the daughter of Norwalk Mayor Harry Rilling. The investigation into the death has been taken over by detectives from the Connecticut State Polices Western District Major Crime Squad. Norwalk police had been handling the probe. The investigation into the infants death is ongoing, according to Trooper Kelly Grant, a Connecticut State Police spokesperson. Bridgeport attorney Frank J. Riccio II confirmed this weekend that he has been retained by Limone and issued the following brief statement by email: It is too early to discuss the events of October 5, 2016 at this time. The state police is currently conducting its investigation, and out of respect for that ongoing investigation, we will continue to refrain from commenting on its substance. An autopsy of the child was performed Friday. However, a representative of the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the office would not report on the cause and manner of death pending further studies. The OCME issues pending death certificates for cases in which further testing, such as toxicology testing, is required to make a definitive determination on cause and manner of death. Toxicologic results can take one to four weeks to complete. Residents along FM 1097 West are fighting to keep large power lines from being placed in neighborhoods and over Lake Conroe. Entergy released plans for its Western Region Economic Project recently, which detail two project options to bring additional power to the Lewis Creek Substation near Willis. One of the plans would draw the power from Entergy's plant in Shiro to the Willis substation, bringing up-to 130-foot tall power lines through Bentwater and along FM 1097 over Lake Conroe. Though the project is in the early stages of development, and no plans are concrete yet, more than 1,500 residents signed a petition opposing the lines, according to Bentwater resident Thomas Watkins. Watkins is heading up a committee of residents against the route over the lake. "I think (Bentwater) will go from a community on the lake to a community behind power lines," Watkins said Sunday. "That is absolutely going to affect property values. And if it affects property values in Bentwater, it will of course affect them all up and down FM 1097." More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Watkins and a handful of other residents wrote the Public Utilities Commission of Texas, which would ultimately have to approve the Entergy plans, urging it to scrap the Lake Conroe route altogether. Entergy's alternate plans for drawing power from the Shiro plant would have lines running along FM 2854 or Texas 105 and then back up towards the Willis substation. Some Montgomery County commissioners are hoping to join the fight, with a possible resolution opposing the Lake Conroe route on Tuesday's commissioners court agenda. Precinct 1 Commissioner Mike Meador, whose precinct encompasses the entirety of Lake Conroe, said the transmission lines over the lake could stifle economic growth in one of the county's most explosive areas. "That's a very, very good corridor for economic development in the near future," Meador said. "They're wanting to bring it right across Lake Conroe at the bridge, which is a pristine view on Lake Conroe. I just think it's a bad business model." County Judge Craig Doyal is proposing the resolution to show opposition to the lines. "The beauty of the lake will be damaged," Doyal said. "(There's also) danger of having boats around those power lines. There's already one out there. There are alternative routes, and I believe the alternatives routes would be the better choice." Entergy officials were not available Sunday. The company has already filed a request to create a docket with the Public Utilities Commission of Texas. The project is going set to be finished by the mid-2020s, according to Entergy's website. Sam Hulon did not live to see the end of his lawsuit against the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, one of at least nine federal suits challenging the state prison system's oversight of brutally hot facilities, which some say endanger inmates and correctional officers alike. Hulon, who suffered from obesity and diabetes among other illnesses, was fired from TDCJ after three heat-related incidents at the Beaumont Stiles Unit in August 2014, which he said was in violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act. He asked for accommodations under the disabilities act, hoping TDCJ would allow him to work in an air-conditioned portion of the prison. Hulon's requests were denied, and he was "constructively terminated," according to the lawsuit Hulon died Sept. 29 after a short battle with cancer. While his attorneys do not believe Hulon's death is linked to his work at the Stiles Unit, they are waiting to hear from his family about how to proceed with the lawsuit filed in June. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Hulon's attorneys attribute the firing to his disability and TDCJ's failure to accommodate his condition. Like most state prisons in Texas, the Stiles Unit inmate housing area is not air-conditioned. Where prisoners live and correctional officers work, the heat index can hit 120 degrees in a Southeast Texas summer. "This is one of the very rare situations where the prison officers have the same interests as the prisoners," said Scott Medlock, an attorney for Hulon and others suing the state's prison system. "(The officers) want a safe working environment, and the inmates want a safe living environment. "What TDCJ needs to do is figure out a long-term strategy to bring down the temperatures inside (the prisons). We know it's not getting any cooler here in Texas, and this is a problem we experience every single summer." TDCJ officials insist it would cost far more to retrofit many of the older facilities with air conditioning than it does to operate them. Instead, the prisons have "system wide protocols that units utilize during extreme heat," according to a TDCJ spokesman. Fans are strategically placed near open windows to take advantage of the fresh air exchange. Inmates can take additional showers. Foot traffic at the prisons is closely linked to the coolest hours of the day, while vehicles moving inmates are loaded and unloaded as quickly as possible. Employees and offenders are trained to be aware of signs and treatment for heat-related illnesses. "The well-being of staff and offenders is a top priority for the agency, and we remain committed to making sure that both are safe during the extreme heat," TDCJ spokesman Jason Clark said in an email. TDCJ has 109 facilities across the state. Thirty of those have air conditioning in all offender housing areas, Clark said. Medical, psychiatric and some geriatric units are air-conditioned. Every prison unit has some areas that are air-conditioned. Where it isn't, water and ice is distributed to staff and inmates during the hottest parts of the day, Clark said. Medlock calls the TDCJ protocols "wholly ineffective." He is working with the Texas Civil Rights Project attorneys for more than 1,400 inmates at the Wallace Pack Unit in Navasota trying to compel TDCJ to provide air conditioning. A federal judge in Houston granted class-action status to the lawsuit in June, allowing the suit to include the Pack Unit's general population and those in geriatric units. U.S. District Judge Keith Ellison in June ordered the Navasota facility to find an immediate alternative to arsenic-laden drinking water that "violates contemporary standards of decency." Wallis Nader, a Texas Civil Rights Project attorney, said TDCJ's efforts to mitigate extreme heat are not eliminating the deadly conditions. "It's clearly a widespread problem," she said. "There needs to be another step and a way to cool down the facilities." BScott@BeaumontEnterprise.com Twitter.com/BrandonKScott NORWALK Democratic incumbent Bob Duff and Republican challenger Greg Ehlers will square off during a 25th State Senate District debate sponsored by The League of Women Voters of Norwalk at City Hall next week. Each candidate will be asked a series of questions prepared by the leagues Voter Services Committee, said Mary Oster, committee member. Then theyll answer questions from the audience and each have a two-minute prepared closing. The debate is scheduled for 7 to 8 p.m. Oct. 20 in the Community Room of City Hall, 125 East Ave. A 137th State House District debate between Democratic incumbent Christopher R. Perone and Republican challenger Darline Perpignan will follow from 8:15 to 9 p.m. at the same location. Its important for voters to be informed and educated so that when they go to the polls they will have a good sense where each candidate stands on the issues, Oster said. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Jean Rabinow, a member of the LWV of the Bridgeport Area, will moderate the debates, which are free and open to the public. Duff, a Norwalk resident and real estate broker, is running for seventh term representing the 25th District. Senate majority leader since 2015, he chairs the Executive and Legislative Nominations Committee and co-chairs the Legislative Management Committee. Ehlers, a Darien resident and small businessman, is running for his first term representing the district, which includes Norwalk and part of Darien. Perone, a former Norwalk councilman, is running for his seventh term representing the 137th District, which includes part of Norwalk. He chairs the Commerce Committee. Perpignan migrated with her mother and sister from Haiti to Connecticut at age 12. She has worked as a motivational speaker, youth advocate, womens activist and outreach specialist. Last fall, she ran unsuccessfully for a District A seat on the Norwalk Common Council. Congressman Jim Himes, D-4, and Republican challenger John Shaban will square off twice in back-to-back debates later this month. The first debate, sponsored by the LWV of Norwalk and 11 other Fairfield County league chapters, is from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Oct. 23 at the Clune Performing Arts Center at Wilton High School, 395 Danbury Road/Route 7, Wilton. The questions are going to come from the audience. They will be in writing, said debate facilitator Jara Burnett of the LWV of Greenwich. They will be on index cards and they will be screened by a bipartisan committee of league members for relevance. Stamfords Kay Maxwell, a former president of the League of Women Voters of the United States and currently executive director of the Stamford-based World Affairs Forum, will moderate. It will be possible to register to vote and get absentee ballot information prior to the event. Himes and Shaban will face off again in a Congressional Debate on Foreign Policy, which is from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Oct. 24 in the University of Connecticut Stamford Genre Auditorium, 1 University Place, Stamford. The World Affairs Forum, Moffly Media, Inc. and the Lukaj Foundation are co-sponsoring the debate, which is free and open to the public. Himes, a Greenwich resident and former banker, is running for a fifth term representing the 4th Congressional District. He is a member of the House Committee on Financial Services and serves as ranking member of the NSA and Cybersecurity Subcommittee of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Shaban, a Redding resident and attorney, has represented the 135th State House District since 2010. He is Republican leader of the Environment Committee, and a member of the Judiciary Committee as well as the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee. The 4th Congressional District includes Bridgeport, Darien, Easton, Fairfield, Greenwich, Monroe, New Canaan, Norwalk, Oxford, Redding, Ridgefield, Shelton, Stamford, Trumbull, Weston, Westport and Wilton. NORWALK Four members of the Norwalk Police Department were among 22 officers throughout the state recognized by the United States Attorneys Office for their community policing efforts. Thomas Carson, a spokesperson for the District of Connecticut, said the agency hosted a Community Policing Awards Ceremony Friday in New Haven to commemorate National Community Policing Week. In Norwalk, Lt. Terrence Blake, Sgt. Sophia Gulino, and Officer Felipe Taborda were recognized for their creation of a semester-long weekly program about policing for students at Pathways Academy. Officer Cesar Ramirez was recognized for his organization of an Interfaith Prayer Vigil in the wake of officer-involved shootings. Beginning in January 2016, the Norwalk Police Department partnered with Pathways, an alternative high school, to create a curriculum to educate its students about policing in a fun and positive manner, Carson said. The class is taught entirely by members of the Norwalk Police Department, and provides students with insight into law enforcement as a career. According to Carson, the program seeks to bridge a gap between the police and younger members of the community, many of whom did not previously hold a positive opinion of law enforcement. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Over the course of the 17-week program, the students participated in police officer training through academic and practical offerings. The students spent three weeks learning about different roles within the police department by investigating a mock homicide. This scenario a domestic violence homicide was also used as an opportunity to discuss family violence, which is a pervasive issue in many of the kids homes, Carson said. The team also arranged for the students to meet with key participants in the justice system, including a states attorney, a public defender, police chiefs, a Superior Court judge, and a U.S. District judge. All of these individuals met with the students in informal settings to discuss the educational and career choices they had made and the hardships they overcame along the way. The sincere commitment by the NPD to connect with its citys youth in such a constructive and innovative manner has been an inspiration to all, Carsons said. On Aug. 3, in the wake of officer-involved shootings in Louisiana and Minnesota and the subsequent murders of five police officers in Dallas, the Norwalk Department of Police Service sought to find ways to ease tensions and to promote unity between the community and law enforcement. To that end, Ramirez, a Norwalk resident who has also been a member of the Norwalk Police Department for over 25 years, planned an Interfaith Prayer Vigil. On the day of the vigil, more than 200 people gathered on the courtyard in front of the police department. The widely diverse crowd joined hands, prayed, and sang together in a great show of solidarity. Representatives from 20 of Norwalks faith-based institutions spoke and prayed in English, Spanish, Italian, French, Creole, Hindi, and Hebrew. The event not only fostered a positive dialogue between law enforcement and the community, but also joined together different segments of the community who displayed a great respect for one anothers cultures and beliefs, Carson said. If the man, who brought bread, is freed, justice will find its rights place (video) The poster of a citizen itself hints that the flash mob at Liberty Square is dedicated to Arthur Sargsyan, the man, who took bread to Sasna Dzrer (Daredevils of Sasun) group. We want to remind through Facebook photos, shooting, such actions that Arthur Sargsyan has been imprisoned for a thing, which is called to carry bread, which doesnt have any criminal basis, says one the organizers of the action, journalist Tehmine Yenokyan. Arthur Sargsyan, who received the man, who brought bread nickname, entered Erebuni police station by car, by breaking the police cordon. He took food to Sasna Dzrer group, who seized Erebuni police regiment. He stayed there till the end and surrendered together with the members of the group. Arthur acted the way most of us werent able to do. Arthur Sargsyan is my conscience; my conscience is jailed and we are trying to do our best to see our conscience in freedom, says member of Yerevan Council of Elders Davit Sanasaryan. All the photos can prove one thing that the freedom fighter, who received the nickname The man, who brought bread must be released. The action participants dont think that just after this action Arthur Sargsyan will be released, but they dont lose their hope. Arthur is a prisoner of conscience and directly Arthur didnt commit any crime. I am sure that as a result of our pressure, our voice Arthur will appear in freedom, notes Sanasaryan. Other Yerevan residents, taking a photo holding the poster with Arthur Sargsyans image, join the demand. They will post the photos on the Internet, reminding Arthurs action. Lilith Baghdasaryan is one of his supporters, He acted like Sasna Dzrer; he went hot bloodedly and entered the police regiment. Being a citizen, being worried about todays situation, I cannot pass indifferently. Its important that he be freed so that the justice can find its right place, notes Sukias Matevosyan. Today Arthur Sargsyan is charged with supporting the members of the armed group, which implies 8-15 years imprisonment. The participants of the actions are going to voice the action of Arthur Sargsyan during the whole October. With just four weeks remaining until the Nov. 8 General Election, when voters throughout Hale County will be joining with other Americans in deciding who will serve as U.S. president for the next four years, Hale County commissioners on Monday approved voting locations. County Clerk Latrice Kemp in her presentation at Mondays meeting reminded the public that Tuesday, Oct. 11, is the final day Texans can register to vote in the Nov. 8. You can register at the County Tax Assessor-Collector Roland Nashs Office in the Courthouse Annex at Sixth and Broadway. Early in-person voting starts on Monday, Oct. 24 -- less than two weeks from now. Locations for early voting, which runs from Oct. 24-28 and Oct. 31-Nov. 4, include: --Hale County Courthouse Basement, 500 Broadway, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday --Abernathy City Hall, 811 Avenue D, Abernathy, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday --Hale Center ISD Technology Building, 1209 Ave. D., Hale Center, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar --Petersburg City Hall, 1524 Main, Petersburg, 8 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30-5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Registered voters in Hale County can cast their ballots at any of the early voting locations. However, if they wait until Election Day, they are required to vote at the location corresponding to the election precinct showing on their current Voter Registration Card. If they show up at one of the other locations, election workers will direct them to the correct polling place. On Election Day, polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They include: --Pct. 101, 102, 112: Ollie Liner Center, 2000 S. Columbia, Plainview --Pct. 103, 104, 105: First United Methodist Church, 1001 W. Seventh St., Plainview --Pct. 110: Martin Resources, 1920 Hwy. 194, Plainview --Pct. 111: Seth Ward Baptist Church, 601 E. 24th St., Plainview --Pct. 202, 203, 204, 205, 206: Hale County Courthouse, 500 Broadway, Plainview --Pct. 213, 316: Hale Center School Technology Center, 1209 Ave. D, Hale Center --Pct. 214: Petersburg Community Center, Petersburg --Pct. 215, 318: Abernathy City Hall Courtroom, 811 Ave. D, Abernathy --Pct. 304, 306, 307, 308: Trinity Building, Wayland Baptist University, 820 Utica, Plainview --Pct. 305: YMCA, 313 Ennis, Plainview --Pct. 317: Cotton Center First Baptist Church, 2324 FM 179, Cotton Center --Pct. 406, 408: PISD Education Complex, Board Room, 2411 Yonkers, Plainview --Pct. 407, 409: First Assembly of God, 1300 N. I-27, Plainview --Pct. 419: Edmonson Baptist Church, 113 E. First, Edmonson --Pct. 420, County Barn Precinct 4, 883 FM 179, Halfway Voters should bring both their voter registration card and an approved form of photo ID to cast a ballot. Those who do not possess and cannot reasonably obtain a form of approved photo ID now have additional options when voting in person. According to the Office of the Texas Secretary of State, those who dont have any of the required photo IDs can still vote by (1) signing a declaration at the polls explaining why the voter is reasonably unable to obtain one of the seven forms of approved photo ID, and (2) providing one of various forms of supporting documentation. Supporting documentation can be a certified birth certificate (must be an original), a valid voter registration certificate, a copy or original of one of the following: current utility bill, bank statement, government check, or paycheck, or other government document that shows the voters name and an address, although government documents which include a photo must be original and cannot be copies. If a voter meets these requirements and is otherwise eligible to vote, the voter will be able to cast a regular ballot in the election. The seven forms of approved photo ID are: --Texas driver license issued by the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) --Texas Election Identification Certificate issued by DPS --Texas personal identification card issued by DPS --Texas license to carry a handgun issued by DPS --United States military identification card containing the persons photograph --United States citizenship certificate containing the persons photograph --United States passport With the exception of the U.S. citizenship certificate, the approved photo ID must be current or have expired no more than four years before being presented for voter qualification at the polling place. Voters with a disability may continue to apply with the county registrar for a permanent exemption to showing approved photo ID (which now may be expired no more than four years) at the polls. Also, voters who (1) have a consistent religious objections to being photographed or (2) do not present one of the seven forms of approved photo ID because of certain natural disasters as declared by the president of the United States or the Texas governor, may continue to apply for a temporary exemption to showing approved photo ID at the polls. Residents of the greater Houston area have the chance to help Bayou Land Conservancy receive funding for the Spring Creek Nature Trail. The Conservancy is competing for funding against 11 other trail projects across the country through the Michelob Ultra "Go the Extra Mile" campaign. Michelob Ultra and the American Hiking Society are working together to restore local trails in communities across the nation. As part of the campaign, from now until Nov. 26, Michelob Ultra is donating a portion of every case sold, with the end goal of raising and distributing up to $200,000 between 12 trail restoration projects. Residents can vote on the projects through Nov. 26 at www.michelobultra.com/theextramile. "Public participation is vital to our success with this campaign," Bayou Land Conservancy Executive Director Jill Boullion said. "Votes determine what percentage of the overall funds are donated to this local project." The Spring Creek Nature Trail, a planned 11-mile, natural surface, multi-use trail extending from the George Mitchell Nature Preserve in The Woodlands to the Montgomery County Preserve in Spring, is part of the evolving Spring Creek Greenway project. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar This project is the longest contiguous, urban-forested greenway in the country, defining the border between Harris and Montgomery counties. It is now close to 80% complete and will ultimately be 33 miles long and cover over 12,000 acres of land. Bayou Land Conservancy is executing a grant from Texas Parks & Wildlife to blaze new trail and restore overgrown, informal trails for recreational use. The funds raised through the Michelob Ultra campaign will contribute to the construction of the future Spring Creek Nature Trail. Bayou Land Conservancy is a community-sponsored land preservation organization working to permanently protect land, with a focus on the 13 watersheds that feed Lake Houston. The Conservancy preserves river and bayou corridors, other properties with significant wildlife habitat value and places where family recreation can occur in harmony with nature. Their "No Child Left Inside" education program connects tomorrow's conservation leaders with nature today. For more information on Bayou Land Conservancy and the Spring Creek Greenway project, visit www.bayoulandconservancy.com. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Choco Meza, a Democratic Party organizer and longtime fixture in West Side politics, died early Sunday afternoon at the age of 64. Meza, who was most recently an organizer for the Hillary Clinton campaign headquarters in San Antonio, had been quietly fighting a battle with cancer at University Hospital for the past two weeks, according to longtime friend Henry Cisneros. Clinton tweeted her condolences, stating that she was saddened by the passing of Choco Meza, a historic figure in Texas politics (and) beloved friend on our team. My prayers are with her family. Cisneros, a former San Antonio mayor, worked closely with Meza during his time as secretary of the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department under President Bill Clinton. Cisneros said Mezas tenacity and dedication to the Democratic cause were unparalleled, noting that she was working as recently as two weeks ago, despite the onset of the cancer. Choco has been a tireless force for change, said Cisneros, noting that Meza was like a sister to him. Shes touched so many lives by example shes a special human being. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Ive seen so many San Antonio leaders pass away, but Ive never seen anything like what happened with Choco in the hospital, Cisneros continued. These last few days, 30, 40 people area leaders, politicians, friends, family have been standing in the hospital hallways, in the waiting rooms, just waiting for a chance to say goodbye. Meza, an Eagle Pass native who came to San Antonio in 1971, found a calling in political activism and quickly became a leader among area Democrats. Most recently serving as an organizer for the Clinton campaign headquarters in San Antonio, Meza also served on the Democratic National Committee, as a chief of staff for District 5 Councilwoman Shirley Gonzalez and was elected Bexar County Democratic chair in 2011. Meza also worked for a variety of other institutions, including the San Antonio Housing Authority, after serving as deputy assistant secretary for Cisneros at HUD in the 1990s. Former state Sen. Leticia Van de Putte, a dear friend of Mezas for 40 years, said the pair grew up together while working on their first campaign in 1978, having children at similar times and working for Hillary Clinton together during the 2008 Democratic primaries. She had a constant energy and a core activism she was an amazing fighter for social justice, Van de Putte said. Shes the type of friend who is in your corner when everybody else has turned their back on you. Van de Putte, who waited with Meza during the night hours of her hospital stay, said she was shocked by the time frame of Mezas passing. Ten days ago, she thought it was (something minor), and to go from that to knowing earlier this week that things werent going to go her way she faced it with much bravery, Van de Putte noted as she was on her way to a Democratic Party debate watch-party Sunday evening. Everybodys just going to hug and cry there because now theres a huge hole in this community. Texas Democratic Party Chairman Gilberto Hinojosa said in a statement that he had no words to describe the energy and sheer force Meza brought to her organizing efforts, and that the party had lost a champion. Texas families live with more opportunity today because of the service, advocacy, and fierce willpower of Choco Meza, Hinojosa said. Her impact on civil and voting rights, the Democratic Party, and the opportunity that the Latino community now experiences is immeasurable. Former state Rep. Pete Gallego was saddened to hear of his longtime friends death. Maria Elena and I are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Choco Gonzalez Meza, a true champion of Texas Democratic causes, Gallego said. Her example, her activism, her strength and her lifetime of service have left a mark on all who knew her and even on many who didnt. Meza is survived by her husband, Daniel, daughter Ivalis, son Danny and granddaughter Emma. Her family meant the world to her, Van de Putte added. A doting grandmother that was her life, too. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate San Antonians and area visitors will soon be able to get an up-close look at a dozen newborn Tomistoma crocodiles at the San Antonio Zoo. Zoo caregivers were at the birth last month of the dozen newborn Tomistoma crocodiles, a rare reptile that is fast vanishing as its Malaysian and Indonesia habitats are increasingly lost to urban growth. This particular clutch was a record breaker, said Craig Pelke, the zoos director of ecotherms. What was really neat was the future survival program coordinator said just by hatching 12 Tomistomas, weve increased the North American managed population by 50 percent. It was the third successful clutch in the zoos conservation program to help ensure survival of the species. The previous record was six hatchlings in one clutch, which occurred in 1995 at the Bronx Zoo. It was in 1995 that the San Antonio hatchlings parents, Nadia and Boris, joined the San Antonio Zoos program. A long-lived species, Nadia and Boris are the parents of the newborns, who are expected to make their public appearance at the zoos Reptile House in the coming months. To follow their progress, visit the zoos Facebook page. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Pelke said the small reptiles brown and black coloration is the perfect camouflage in their natural habitat in remote freshwater area of Malaysia and Indonesia, where they blend in with logs. As they grow older, the juveniles will take on an orange color, he said. Males can grow to more than 19 feet long and weigh up to a quarter ton; females can grow to more than 14 feet long and weigh more than 400 pounds. Everything is built for a purpose, Pelke said theyre kind of a perfect animal, and pretty discreet, almost shy. They have a slender snout and are primarily fish eaters, but they will also eat mammals. If they can catch it, crunch it and swallow it, they will eat it, he said. The species, known formally as Tomistoma schlegelii, is on the endangered list and some estimates put their numbers at only 2,500 in the wild. The name Tomistoma stems from the Greek words tomos, for cutting, and stoma, meaning mouth. Schlegelii comes from the name of Dutch zoologist, H. Schlegel, credited with discovering the species. Because of their largely inaccessible natural habitat, Tomistoma schlegelii is one of the least studied of the 24 different living species of crocodilians. vtdavis@express-news.net This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate Donald Trump is headed back to Texas, yall. On Tuesday, the Republican nominee for president, fresh off the second general election debate, is expected to visit the Grand Hyatt hotel, 600 E. Market St., in downtown San Antonio for a private fundraiser, where donation levels range from $500 to $100,000, at noon. He will be joined by Bexar County GOP Chairman Robert Stovall, among other prominent Republicans. RELATED: Trump Texas finance chair 'offended' by candidate's video comments, will still host S.A. fundraiser At his June fundraiser at the Oak Hills Country Club on the Northwest Side, Trump was greeted by more than 500 protesters, and according to a Facebook event page, demonstrators are planning to protest again during his Tuesday visit. In an an event labeled, NeverTrump San Antonio Rally, 279 people have expressed interest in attending the protest and 57 are confirmed to be attending. RELATED: Up to 500 demonstrators gathered outside Donald Trump fundraiser in San Antonio More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar This rally is a peaceful community gathering, open to all people of San Antonio. We will join in solidarity for every individual, family and community that Trump has demeaned, mocked or threatened, including but not limited to: women, the disabled, reporters, journalists, war veterans, prisoners of war, Asians, African-Americans, Mexicans, refugees, all immigrants, Iowans, Muslims, Seventh Day Adventists, and doctors and scientists, the event page reads. Although city officials, the San Antonio Police Department and the Texas Department of Transportation could not confirm if there would be road closures downtown for Trumps visit, there may be heavy congestion in the area. RELATED: Carrie Fisher Says Donald Trump's Sniffles Are 'Absolutely' a Cocaine Thing On Monday, the San Antonio Police Department was unaware of whether Trump was for sure visiting the city, or where he would be going, Sgt. Jesse Salame said in an email. If we get updates on traffic or the need for increased police presence in response to a visit, we will let you know, he said. At Trumps June fundraiser, protesters met with SAPD prior to the event to ensure everything went peacefully, according to news archives. Despite an audio clip unveiled by the Washington Post Friday where Trump is heard bragging about grabbing women without their consent, San Antonio developer Gene Powell is fulfilling his obligation to host Tuesday's fundraiser, he announced Monday. I am deeply disappointed and offended by the comments made by Mr. Trump on the video released on Friday. However, I made a commitment to the campaign and I have one obligation left to the campaign and that is a fundraising event tomorrow in San Antonio and I will fulfill that obligation as promised, he said in a statement. Powell, who was named a Trump Victory Texas finance chair, hosted the nominee during his first visit to San Antonio in June at the members-only Oak Hills Country Club. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If you live in Texas, and you plan to cast a ballot on Nov. 8, you have one day left to register to vote. The last day to register to vote in Texas is Oct. 11. If you're not registered yet, or you're not sure how to register, here's everything you need to know: The last day to register to vote in Texas is Oct. 11. You can register to vote in person or by mail. You cannot register to vote online in Texas. In Bexar County, you can register in person or drop off your application at the Voter Registration Office, 1103 S. Frio, Ste. 100, in downtown San Antonio. You can download and print a registration form here. You can call the Bexar County registration office (210-335-8683), and request an application be sent to you. Then, you can fill it out, sign it and mail it back to the office. Not sure if youre eligible to vote? You have to be a United States citizen You have to be registered to vote in the state You have to be at least 18-years-old If you are a convicted felon, you are only eligible to vote if youve completed your sentence, are on probation or parole You have not been declared mentally incapacitated or partially mentally incapacitated without the right to vote by a court exercising probate jurisdiction More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar You can mail in your voter registration card and still be eligible to vote, as long the form is postmarked 30 days before Election Day. Still not sure what to do? Visit the Bexar County Elections Department. There is no word yet if any San Antonio taco trucks are taking a cue from the trucks serving as voter registration booths in Houston. RELATED: Bexar elections officials add hours for voter help line Marco Gutierrez, founder of Latinos for Trump, told MSNBC earlier in September: "My culture is a very dominant culture, and it's imposing and it's causing problems. If you don't do something about it, you're going to have taco trucks on every corner." RELATED: Some Houston taco trucks to serve as voter registration booths The comment quickly went viral with most wondering how taco trucks on every corner could be a bad thing. Now, Mi Familia Vota, a Latino advocacy group, and Thomas Hull, founder of Houston design firm Rigsby Hull, are pairing up to turn some taco trucks voter registration booths, according to news archives. Election Day is Nov. 8. kbradshaw@express-news.net Twitter: @kbrad5 This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate SAN ANTONIO Crimes Stoppers is asking for assistance in solving the homicide of 25-year-old Paul Nieves, who was shot and killed last year on the West Side. The homicide occurred at about 6 a.m. on Sept. 6, 2015 near North Rosillo Street and Barnes Alley. RELATED: A man is dead following a shooting on the West Side SAPD officers responding to the scene of a shooting found a vehicle stopped in the middle of the intersection at North Zarzamora and Morales Streets. Nieves was found nearby lying at a corner of the same intersection in front of a nearby insurance office, according to a news release issued Monday. The man was shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene. RELATED: Police: Man opened fire at West Side barber shop over money dispute Evidence indicated the original crime scene was nearby at North Rosillo Street and Barnes Alley, the release said. The suspect could have been driving a gray or silver sedan, according to the release. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to send a tip to San Antonio Crime Stoppers at 210-224-7867. RELATED: Police: Speeding vehicle rolls, crashes through utility pole on Loop 410 on the West Side Crime Stoppers is willing to pay up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person responsible for the homicide. Text "NEWS" to 72727 to sign up for breaking news from mySA twhite@mysa.com Twitter: @tylerlwhite AUSTIN San Antonio heavyweight Gene Powell said he isnt abandoning a Tuesday fundraiser for Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, despite news reports that he had pulled out as a host. But Powell in a statement made clear his displeasure over recent revelations showcasing Trumps crude remarks about women, including the candidate bragging about groping them. The following list includes recent reports from the Midland County Sheriffs Office and the Midland Police Department. Saturday, Oct. 8 1:46 a.m. Police were sent to a report of a loud party in the 4500 block of North Saginaw Road. 2:23 a.m. A motorist was arrested at Warwick Court and Dilloway Drive for driving on a suspended license. 8:47 p.m. A motorist was arrested in the 2000 block of North Saginaw Road for driving on a suspended license and ticketed for improper plate. 10:48 p.m. A motorist was arrested at Bay City Road and Kuipers Street for driving on a suspended license. Friday, Oct. 7 10:22 a.m. A motorist was arrested at Eastlawn Drive and Carolina Street for third-offense drunken driving. Thursday, Oct. 6 12:58 a.m. Property was stolen from the 5600 block of Sturgeon Avenue. 1:19 p.m. A Saginaw man, 44, was arrested in Mount Haley Township on two warrants. A Saginaw woman, 30, was arrested for driving while her license was suspended and on a warrant. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar 1:44 p.m. A motorist was ticketed for improper registration and no insurance at Jefferson Avenue and Rodd Street. 3:20 p.m. A deputy assisted Michigan State Police detectives with a narcotics investigation in Greendale Township. 7:27 p.m. A traffic stop in Mills Township resulted in citations for no trailer plate and no trailer lights. 8:41 p.m. A Rhodes man, 46, was arrested in Homer Township for driving on a suspended license. A 42-year-old man was cited for driving while his license was expired, and a Mills Township man, 20, was ticketed for uninsured vehicle and unregistered vehicle. 8:59 p.m. The owner of a dog at large in Mills Township was located and cited for the offense. 9:34 p.m. A deputy assisted Coleman Police with a traffic stop in Coleman. 11:45 p.m. A deputy was sent to a report of a boy, age 13, who was being disorderly at his Lincoln Township home. An informational report is being sent to the prosecutors office. People are ready to provide their flats to Syrian Armenians (video) The house of Sargis Hatspanyan, participant of Artsakh Liberation War, is in a pleasant mess now. He is going to accommodate an Aleppo-Armenian family in his house. After the recent tension, many citizens have expressed their willingness to aid Aleppo Armenians by joining Aleppo Armenians, we arent absent! Facebook initiative. Aleppo reborn after 1915 is collapsing in front of our eyes. We are constantly criticizing the Ministry of Diaspora that this one doesnt do its work, that one doesnt do, but what do we do? We dont want to continue criticizing government and authorities; we can see that those people are deaf and dumb, they dont want to see this situation, dont want to aid their compatriots, and we should do it, Sargis Hatspanyan told A1+. Some citizens express willingness to provide their houses or several rooms in their houses to Aleppo Armenians for free. Hatspanyan would like the family accommodated in his house to settle in Armenia. The Semerjyan family migrated from Lebanon in1946 is also ready to provide one room of their house to an Aleppo Armenian. My parents passed the migration route. I would like them to live peacefully, said Armen Semerjyan. ALEPPO organization starting from May till today has received 600 requests from Syrian Armenians, who are in hopeless situation in Aleppo, to aid them to move to Armenia. For transferring from Syria to Armenia through Lebanon USD 500 is needed. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate If Americans needed any reminder that this election is perhaps the most bitter in U.S. history, Sunday evening's second presidential debate did the job. Both candidates went on the attack, alternating between offense and defense Donald Trump almost immediately on defense for the lewd video in which he appears to feel entitled to sexually assault women. And Hillary Clinton on emails, inadequately explaining why she deleted some 33,000 of them after she was subpoenaed. But if truth matters, there was a winner. It was, as in the first debate, the more scripted candidate, Clinton. RELATED: Choco Meza, longtime West Side activist, dead at 64 Trump had two tasks at this debate at Washington University in St. Louis. He had to go on the attack missed opportunities occurring in that first debate and divert attention from things he has said and done, particularly the latest revelation. He succeeded in one, the attack part, but, though he tried mightily, he did not erase what he has said and done, "locker room talk" providing thin defense of those lewd comments. Neither could he bring much coherence to policy prescriptions he brought up. And his consistent complaining of unfairness by the moderators came off as not just inaccurate, but whiny. Clinton's tasks were to remind voters of Trump being Trump audience questions in this town hall format did much of the work here, including a first one that inevitably led to discussion of the lewd clip. And Clinton had to be more cogent on policy than Trump, a decidedly low bar. Trump was simply more misleading and outright false than Clinton. Trump said the Muslim community needs to report suspicious activity. But the FBI says it does. He said his "ban" on Muslims has morphed but was unspecific on what it had changed to, though perhaps that might be "extreme vetting." But, what morphing? He alleged that letting thousands of Muslims into the country represents "the great Trojan Horse of our time." RELATED: 90 minutes of fire: Trump, Clinton trade charges, insults Hillary Clinton said, vetting yes, but no bans and rejected his harsh rhetoric on Muslims. "This is a gift to the jihadists ... we are not at war with Islam." On federal taxes, Trump appeared to admit again that he used a $916 million loss in 1995 to avoid paying years of federal taxes. "Of course I do, of course I do," he said. But he sought to deflect the question with claims that all of Clinton's wealthy donors do the same, that he pays his share of other taxes and that Clinton did nothing as senator to close loopholes. But she had. On Syria, Trump likely scored points. The initial stages of the Syrian civil war started on Clinton's secretary of state watch, but he was flat out wrong that President Obama's "red line in the sand" over the regime's use of chemical weapons happened during Clinton's tenure. She had left the office by then. And, in fact, while she was secretary of state, Clinton urged the president to be more aggressive in Syria than the president was willing to be. On the Iraq War, Trump was quite correct that Clinton voted for the war something she has now said was a mistake. But he erred, again, on claiming that he opposed the war. Publicly he didn't, various reports have confirmed. RELATED: Twitter reacts to man's plea for presidential candidates to 'name one positive thing' Nasty? It's doubtful that any presidential debate has featured a threat to have a special prosecutor investigate a rival once elected. But that is precisely what Trump did. When Clinton said, "It's just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country," Trump, in one of his many interruptions, responded, "Because you'd be in jail." The lewd videotape in which Trump makes demeaning comments about women was sure to play a prominent role. And it did in the debate's first minutes. Aside from "locker room talk" as defense and a weak apology, Trump mostly tried to deflect attention, invoking ISIS beheadings at one point and Bill Clinton at another. "Bill Clinton was abusive toward women. Hillary Clinton attacked those same women," he said. But, of course, Bill Clinton isn't running for president, and equating the reactions of a betrayed wife with Trump's documented sexism is simply apples and oranges. Trump did much better than the first debate another low bar but on policy still managed to mangle facts and sputter incoherence. If fitness is the question before the American public, we believe he fell short in answering it. Clinton had it right. "What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald Trump talking about women, what he thinks about women, what he does to women and he has said that the video doesn't represent who he is," she said. "It represents exactly who he is." Ten years after Mexican-American activist Willie Velasquez died, then-President Bill Clinton awarded him the posthumous honor of the Presidential Medal of Freedom, declaring: No person in modern America who has run for public office wherever Hispanic Americans live has failed to feel the hand of Willie Velasquez. His appeal to the Hispanic community was simple, passionate and direct Su voto es su voz. Your vote is your voice. If the name doesnt ring a bell, dont feel bad. Unless you have a few Latino studies courses under your belt, Velasquez is another unsung American hero youve never heard of but should know. For the anecdote about the presidential honor, we must thank Hector Galan, the producer and director of the new VOCES/PBS documentary Willie Velasquez: Your Vote is Your Voice, which premiered last Monday and is available to stream free on the PBS website. Galan, a longtime chronicler of Mexican-American history, takes viewers through a crash course on the long and still-in-progress road to Hispanic political empowerment through the story of Velasquez, who grew from a poor kid living in a barrio on the west side of San Antonio, to the leader of the Southwest Voter Registration and Education Project. That organization became the nations largest Hispanic voter registration effort at the time and helped increase the number of Hispanic elected officials in the U.S. by 82 percent between 1974 and 1987. Credited with beginning a voting revolution, Velasquez started out counting and courting Latino voters manually by using the local phone book to find Hispanic surnames and then cold-calling them at home with a civic participation pitch. Galan connects the dots between Hispanic Americans coming home after World War II to face the disappointment of not having equal stature in society even though they served alongside whites and the eventual political agitation resulting from a disproportionate number of Latinos being drafted to serve in Vietnam. All too brief in this one-hour special is the fascinating discussion about how the African-American civil rights movement, the anti-war movement and the Chicano movement combined to both spur real political participation and stoke intergenerational anxieties among Latino families with the older generation being scandalized that their children were protesting in the streets instead of keeping their heads down and going along to get along. From there, the filmmaker delves into how Velasquez maneuvered the differing levels of radicalism and militancy in the Chicano movement in order to achieve the momentum necessary to organize folkloric dancers and Mexican bands at festival-like gatherings designed to register people to vote. From there we witness Velasquez helping get Henry Cisneros elected as mayor of San Antonio the first Mexican-American mayor of a major city and then his involvement in gathering national Latino leaders to cooperate on shared goals and, eventually, in getting Ronald Reagan elected president. Velasquez died in 1988 at age 44 from cancer. The nonpartisan streak in this documentary is notable. The filmmaker even highlights the Libre Initiative, a nonprofit organization that seeks to introduce more Latinos to conservative politics and the Republican Party. Mostly, though, Galans main objective appears to be illustrating what Latino political empowerment can look like even as Hispanic voters are being blitzed with simultaneous conflicting messages about their lack of voting prowess and their potential impact this November. Some rah-rah nostalgia about how it was done back in the 1970s is sorely needed at a time when the first presidential debate relegated Hispanics to the mentioned-in-passing roles of NAFTA-fueled Mexican job stealers and a victimized Venezuelan beauty queen. (My hope for this film) was to tell who we are, Galan told Victor Landa, editor of the Latino-centric news site News Taco and host of its podcast. Galans film can be viewed in its entirety at www.pbs.org/video/2365847657. PBS will be counting how many views this special gets as it decides how much to invest in future Hispanic-focused content. So, in the run-up to Election Day, treat yourself to a compelling yet overlooked part of our nations history and help ensure that more such stories are told in the future. estherjcepeda@washpost.com Federal authorities should not be able to seize assets unless there is clear and convincing evidence that a crime was committed. Unfortunately, federal authorities use a looser preponderance of evidence standard. The potential for abuse is great. The Due Process Act would curb what many civil libertarians view as too much power for authorities to seize assets to fund their operations. A recent Express-News article by Jason Buch examining the case of Gerardo Serrano, his truck and federal asset forfeiture generally reported that the Treasury and Justice departments seized more than $5 billion in assets last year. Serranos woes began when he was traveling to Piedras Negras, Mexico, in September 2015. He took a cellphone photo of the tolling booth on the bridge to Piedras Negras. Ordered to delete it, he said he complied, but it went to his iCloud account and the agent asked for the code. He refused. Agents searched his truck and found a pistol magazine with five .380-caliber rounds. In documents later, authorities said the truck was being used to smuggle arms and munitions of war. Serrano asked to be arrested, believing the agents had to conclude there was intent to commit a crime to do that. He wasnt arrested. His truck was. Serrano, who has a concealed weapon permit, said the magazine was left in the truck by mistake. He believes that asset forfeiture was invoked because he argued with the agents about his cellphone. There was no gun. Yes, agents should stop ammunition from entering Mexico, but five rounds is not precisely an arsenal, and its presence seems to fit with Serranos explanation of mistaken transport. Its called judgment. Serrano is contesting the seizure. Asset forfeiture can be a proper tool to stymie organized crime and crime generally. This clearly does not fit that scenario. Theres some irony here. The U.S. Justice Department is closing its private prisons, and Homeland Security is reviewing its own private facilities. This follows criticism that the profit motive should not be a factor in filling prisons. But that same profit motive funds for agencies clearly exists when it comes to federal forfeiture law. The Due Process Act is unlikely to be acted upon before the congressional break. It will likely be inserted into a larger justice reform bill. But that legislation is also on shaky legs. When it returns if not before Congress must raise the standard of evidence for forfeitures. In the meantime, return Serranos truck. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate ST. LOUIS - Donald Trump trashed his wife and suggested his father was involved in John F. Kennedy's assassination, but Texas Sen. Ted Cruz still endorsed him. Trump mocked his cotton mouth and slight stature, but Florida Sen. Marco Rubio still got in line. Trump turned House Speaker Paul D. Ryan's mentor and former running mate Mitt Romney into a personal whipping post, but Ryan (Wis.) still hopped aboard the Trump train. These were not the only Republican luminaries to link arms with Trump. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker testified to his leadership strength. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and party chairman Reince Priebus, who once committed themselves to diversifying the GOP coalition, flew around on Trump's luxury jet and defended his racially charged, nationalistic rhetoric. And the special guest celebrated by Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst at her "Hogs and Harleys" political festival? Yes, it was Trump. Trump's turbulent campaign, on display here at Sunday night's second presidential debate with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, has damaged far more than his own White House prospects. It threatens to diminish an entire generation of Republican leaders who stood by him and excused his behavior after countless attacks against women, the disabled, Latino immigrants, Muslim-Americans, Syrian refugees, prisoners of war, Gold Star parents and others. "There is nobody who holds any position of responsibility who in private conservations views Donald Trump as equipped mentally, morally and intellectually to be the president of the United States," said Steve Schmidt, a veteran GOP strategist. "But scores of Republican leaders have failed a fundamental test of moral courage and political leadership in not speaking truth to the American people about what is so obvious." When this election season began nearly two years ago, Republicans were as excited as they had ever been by the diverse galaxy of stars that rose to prominence in the Obama era. Most of them hitched their wagons to Trump's, out of both loyalty to their party and fear of alienating his fervent supporters. Although some withdrew their endorsements and disavowed Trump over the weekend after The Washington Post unearthed video of Trump making lewd comments about sexual assault, they nevertheless are tainted by their associations with him. The question being asked Sunday was how long the stench would last. "Everything Trump touches dies," said Republican consultant Rick Wilson, who is advising independent candidate Evan McMullin. John "Mac" Stipanovich, a GOP insider and lobbyist in Florida, said, "Most Republican office holders gritted their teeth and endorsed and even embraced Donald Trump ... All of those people were collaborators and all of those people will have to live with their collaboration for the rest of their political lives." A handful of Republicans resisted Trump throughout. Sens. Jeff Flake (Ariz.) and Ben Sasse (Neb.) spoke out loudly and consistently, as did Ohio Gov. John Kasich, who withstood pressure to endorse Trump from Priebus, the Republican National Committee chairman. Romney, the party's most recent presidential nominee, delivered a forceful and complete condemnation of Trump and his brand of politics during the primaries. And the Bush family kept its distance; patriarch George H.W. Bush, the 41st president, let it slip privately that he intended to vote for Clinton. These were not the only Republicans warning against the political dangers posed by Trump. "Since Day One, I have been waving these giant red flags in front of people saying, 'No, no, no, don't go down this road because this road leads to our party being very tainted and a candidate who's dangerously unfit to be president,' but people went storming ahead down that road anyhow," said Katie Packer, a former Romney adviser who ran an anti-Trump super PAC in the primaries. John Weaver, a longtime strategist and Kasich adviser, likened the situation to going back in time and offering Republican office holders a ticket on the maiden sailing of the Titanic. "They bought the ticket knowing there wouldn't be enough life rafts once the ship hit the iceberg," Weaver said. "We knew that no one who has gotten involved with Donald Trump in his personal life, in his professional life or in his political life has come out of that for the better. No one," he added. "So why any of our aspiring political leaders thought that they could survive being associated with him and grow from that is beyond me." Wilson fears that the legacy of Trump's campaign could haunt Republican candidates for many election cycles to come, just as Democrats in the 1980s and 1990s were hurt by their ties to former president Jimmy Carter and iconic liberals like the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (Mass.). "This is going to last forever," Wilson said. "For years now, Democrats will be able to roll out TV ads and say, 'When John Smith says today he's for a brighter future, remember who he stood by: Donald Trump. He stood by Donald Trump's misogyny, racism, sexism and stupidity.'" Schmidt warned that elected officials who "were scared and cautious about confronting this manifest disgrace to our national life will not be serious candidates for national office." "The Republican Party will look like Berlin circa 1945," Schmidt said. "The wreckage will take a substantial amount of time to pick up. There will be a restoration, but it is going to require a monumental feat of leadership by someone who has not yet revealed themselves to the American people." That wreckage extends to older luminaries like former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, who sacrificed his reputation as "America's mayor" - earned in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks - to become, in the eyes of many fellow Republicans, a Trump toady. Again and again, Giuliani rushed to Trump's defense and punched back on his behalf, including on Sunday when he spoke on all five television public affairs shows as a substitute for Trump campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Christie and Priebus, who backed out of their scheduled appearances. Then there are the politicians who thought Trump could give them a leg up in their own careers. In Virginia, Corey Stewart, a county-level official with eyes on the governorship, appointed himself Trump's "mini me." He gave fiery introductions at rallies across the commonwealth, and on Friday defended Trump's bragging about groping and aggressively pursuing sex with married women. "He acted like a frat boy, as a lot of guys do," Stewart said. In Florida, attorney general Pam Bondi, who also has ambitions for higher office, stepped forward during the primaries as one of Trump's most loyal spokeswomen. But she got caught up in a Trump scandal over her political group's acceptance of an undisclosed and unlawful $25,000 contribution from the Donald J. Trump Foundation and her office's subsequent decision not to investigate alleged fraud at Trump University. Stuart Stevens, a veteran strategist who helped run Romney's 2012 campaign, said the Republican Party is in "a nightmare scenario." "Donald Trump has always been a ridiculous candidate for president and the only thing that's surprising is that it took this long for that ridiculousness to gel," Stevens said. "It's already hurt our country, it's already hurt our politics. It's just been a very destructive candidacy." Philip Rucker is a national political correspondent for The Washington Post, where he has reported since 2005. For those wondering how Donald Trump would respond to the release of an 11-year-old recording of him making lewd remarks about how he uses his celebrity to sexually assault women, didnt have to wait until Sundays presidential town hall debate began. More than an hour before the debate, Trump held a surprise news conference with three women who have accused Bill Clinton of assaulting them. Also seated with Trump was Kathy Shelton, who was 12 years old when she said she was raped. Clinton, as a public defender, represented the man accused of assaulting her. You went through a lot, Trump says softly to her. Trump posted video of the 3 minute press conference on his Facebook page under the phrase Join me in St. Louis, Missouri as I conclude my debate prep. Paula Jones, the former Arkansas state employee who said Bill Clinton sexually harassed her in 1991 they settled out of court several years later said she was there to support Trump. More for you Greg Casar gets major boost from political superstar They should look at the fact that hes a good person, hes not what other people have been saying hes been like Hillary. Jones allegations led to the revelation of Bill Clintons affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky and his eventual impeachment. Mr. Trump may have said some bad words. Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me. I dont think there is any comparison, said Juanita Broaddrick, who alleged in 1999 that Bill Clinton had raped her in Arkansas in 1978. No charges were filed. Also there was Kathleen Willey, a former White House volunteer aide who alleged that Clinton assaulted her in the White House in 1993. No charges were filed. When a reporter tried to ask Trump about touching women inappropriately, Jones said, Why dont you all go ask Bill Clinton that? Go ahead ask Hillary as well. All of the women will be in the debate hall a way, perhaps much like the press conference to get into Hillary Clintons head before the debate or to neutralize Trumps damning audio. Clinton communications director. Jennifer Palmieri, said: Were not surprised to see Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom. Hillary Clinton understands the opportunity in this town hall is to talk to voters on stage and in the audience about the issues that matter to them, and this stunt doesnt change that. If Donald Trump doesnt see that, thats his loss. As always, shes prepared to handle whatever Donald Trump throws her way. Joe Garofoli is the San Francisco Chronicles senior political writer. 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Simply type your search term into the window. For example: Chicken, Chocolate, Cookies, Potatoes, Appetizers, Dinner, Desserts, Side Dishes, etc... Meanwhile, NACS President and CEO Henry Amours op-ed shows how important debit swipe fee reform has been to merchants and consumers alike. SAN FRANCISCO A district court judge has ruled that the retailers who have filed an antitrust and conspiracy lawsuit against credit card networks over EMV may proceed with their case, Mobile Payments Today reports. Two Florida merchants filed the lawsuit in March. District Court Judge William H. Alsup overruled the motion by American Express, Discover, MasterCard and Visa to dismiss B & R Supermarket, Inc., et al v. Visa Inc., et al. The lawsuit claims that large banks and card networks colluded to put the liability of card fraud onto retailers, but they still charge fraud protection via interchange fees to those merchants. The amended complaint sufficiently alleges a context that raises a plausible and reasonable suggestion of collusion, wrote Alsup in his opinion. Plaintiffs have sufficiently pled the basic evidentiary facts as to involvement in Visa, MasterCard, and American Express in the alleged conspiracy. Also last week, NACS President and CEO Henry Armour blasted Congress for entertaining the idea of repealing the debit card reforms enacted. Congress struck a blow for free and competitive markets in 2010 when it told the debit card industry it must compete on its prices or face some reasonable limits on its price-fixing from the Federal Reserve, he wrote in an opinion piece for Forbes. However, thats not the only benefit of the reform: Congress also ended the practice by Visa and MasterCard paying to block their competitor networks from handling many transactions. These exclusivity deals between the giant card brands and mega-banks resulted in a majority of debit transactions being processed without any competition. Now, however, the banks and card companies are back and hoping that Congress doesnt remember that the market was broken and based on price-fixing before reform. Congress should be trying to bring more competition to the debit card market, not wiping out the progress weve already made, Armour wrote. Armour went on to say that the debit card reforms are working. Lo and behold, free markets do work. They have brought savings, cost efficiency, increased volume, increased transparency and security innovation to the debit market. The one and only problem with debit reform is that banks and card networks dont like having to compete with each other. Anyone who is willing to look at the actual results of reform (as opposed to the bank talking points) with an open mind will see that it is better in every way than the price-fixed, anti-competitive system we had before reform. Congress needs to look at that evidence and preserve the progress we have made, Armour concluded. Learn everything you need to know about the NACS Show before you get to Atlanta in the latest Convenience Matters podcast. ALEXANDRIA, Va. Whether you are a first-time attendee or a regular, there is always something new to see and do at the NACS Show. So how do you get the most out of your experience? In the new Convenience Matters podcast titled, The Greatest Show on Earth, NACS staff who have cumulatively attended 50 NACS Shows discuss how to make the best of the NACS Show. Co-hosts Jeff Lenard, NACS vice president of strategic industry initiatives, and John Eichberger, executive director of the Fuels Institute, talk to Carolyn Schnare, NACS director of strategic industry initiatives, and Donovan Woods, director of the Fuels Institute, and share tips and stories about their NACS Show experiences. Whats our advicebeyond to wear comfortable shoes? Its really about having a plan for success because all it takes is one great idea to change your business, Lenard said. The program can be downloaded on iTunes by searching for Convenience Matters. It also is available at nacsonline.com/podcasts. A new Convenience Matters podcast is released every week, focusing on topics related to convenience stores. By Lambert Strether of Corrente. The second Presidential debate will be held at Washington University in St Louis, Missouri at 9PM EST less than a half-hour from now! and will run 90 minutes with no commercial interruptions. Martha Raddatz of ABC News and Anderson Cooper of CNN will moderate. Here are some viewing options. The debate is in Town Hall format: According to the Commission of Presidential Debates, the questions will be split between the moderators and audience participants. The candidates will have two minutes to respond, followed by an additional minute should the moderator want further discussion. The audience participants will be uncommitted voters selected by the Gallup Organization, according to the commission. And heres a link to the Democracy Now feed, featuring real-time responses by Jill Stein and (possibly) Gary Johnson, erased by the Commission, which really ought to be abolished, and the debates returned to unscummy League of Women Voters, who once ran them. In case you cant bear to watch, but want to hang out in the comments section, heres an excerpt from Peter Fischli and David Weisss The Way Things Go to entertain you. Things catch on fire; the center cannot hold * * * All I can do is hope that the town hall audience rises to the occasion; they often do. Since the debate is in St Louis, it would be nice if there was at least one question about Ferguson, where both parties have much to answer for. Assuming the debate continues along the lines of the last few days (and the press is recommending that small children be shielded): When Clinton is speaking: A useful article about Clintons penchant for oppo* (and you have to wonder how a woman so focused on the footnotes of ginormous briefing books could answer Like with a cloth or something? when asked whether she wiped her server before handing it over to the FBI); and a promise that the Access Hollywood/Billy Bush hot mike tape was just the beginning: As a producer on seasons 1 & 2 of #theapprentice I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse. #justthebegininng Bill Pruitt (@billpruitt) October 8, 2016 When Trump is speaking: A useful guide to the Big Dogs complicated life; the article on Juanita Broaddrick recommended by Nick Confessore of the New York Times; and Buzzfeed on the same topic. Of course, the possibility exists that Trump, in the best traditions of kayfabe, could turn himself from a heel to a face with a humanizing moment; and likewise Clinton, who has so far stayed silent on Trumps hot mike tape, could, in her own way, be moving (these stories certainly are). Please add your comments as the debate proceeds! * If anybodys ever read Joe Kleins roman a clef, Primary Colors, that really rings true. Its always a bit fraught to comment on the internal politics of a foreign country, so I hope reader will regard this post as being as much a forcing device as an attempt to gauge the state of play. One of the things that has been apparent about the posture of Tory party both before and after the Brexit vote is that its decision-making has been driven entirely by short-term political considerations. The very fact that major Conservative players in the Brexit negotiations and the related policy-making keep saying things that are utter nonsense about how the process will work, and kpt acting as if the EU will yield on central issues like the terms of access to the single market, when they been consistently told no. This is a frightful disply of unseriousess when the future of the nation is at stake. And the failure to plot even one step ahead was on display at the famed Birmingham Conservative party conference at which May committed herself to an end of March deadline for triggering Article 50 and taking a firm stance on cutting immigration, which is tantamount to a hard Brexit. If youve been following the Brexit machinations at all, one of those very consisent messages from EU leaders, from Merkel on down, has been that to have access to the single market, the UK must accept the four freedoms. One of those is freedom of movement, meaning immigration. Mays move toward restrictions on immigration, and with it trade, triggered a swoon in the pound and much consternation among members of the City, since that meant they would lose their passporting rights, necessitating the relocation of some important operations and personnel. May has succeeded in uniting a large swathe of the country, both Leave and Remain backers against her, including many with her own party, with her hardline anti-immigrant posture. Its a confusing wild lurch in Tory politics, throwing big business, London, social liberalism, elites, liberal Brexiteers under the bus and courting UKIP voters, the provinces, little Englanders and the English working class, or whatever is left of it these days. Richard Smith called the Birmingham meeting the most toxic Tory conference evah. In fact, immigration was a clear second priority among Leave voters. From Lord Ashcroft polls, based on a survey of 12,000 voters: Nearly half (49%) of leave voters said the biggest single reason for wanting to leave the EU was the principle that decisions about the UK should be taken in the UK. One third (33%) said the main reason was that leaving offered the best chance for the UK to regain control over immigration and its own borders. Just over one in eight (13%) said remaining would mean having no choice about how the EU expanded its membership or its powers in the years ahead. Only just over one in twenty (6%) said their main reason was that when it comes to trade and the economy, the UK would benefit more from being outside the EU than from being part of it. Yet the Government, without skipping a beat, launched xenophobic talk and actions. From InFacts: Theresa May didnt have to become prime minister. She took the job because she was ambitious. This involved a Faustian pact with the Tory hardliners to get into Downing Street deliver Brexit even though she herself campaigned for Remain, albeit in a lukewarm manner. Nobody should feel sympathy as her government flails around, damaging our country in the process. Nobody should feel sympathy when the Foreign Office gets into a spat with the London School of Economics over whether it said it would only take Brexit advice from UK passport holders. The Foreign Office later claimed it was a misunderstanding and that it would continue to take advice from the best and brightest minds, regardless of nationality. Was there really a misunderstanding? The governments anti-foreigner rhetoric means it is hard to give it the benefit of the doubt. This, after all, was the week when cabinet ministers who like May had backed Remain promised the Conservative Party to make the NHS self sufficient in doctors, cut the number of foreign students and crack down on migrants more generally. There was even the suggestion that companies should be forced to say how many foreigners work for them a name and shame policy designed to flush out organisations that arent doing enough to recruit Brits. Wheres the shame in employing talented hard-working foreigners? In this case, too, the governm As a result of Mays miscalculation, MPs are now working across party lines to force a Parliamentary vote on Brexit. As one American observer said as soon as he heard of Mays hardline stance, With a 12 seat majority in Parliament, this is an unstable situation. From the Guardian over the weekend: Theresa May is under massive cross-party pressure to grant MPs a vote on any decision to leave or limit UK involvement in the European single market, amid growing outrage at the prospect that parliament could be bypassed over the biggest economic decision in decades. Tory MPs joined forces with former leaders of Labour and the Liberal Democrats, the SNP and Greens to insist that parliament have a say and a vote, pointing out that, while the British people had backed leaving the EU, they had not chosen to leave the biggest trading market in the western world. Former Labour leader Ed Miliband held discussions with pro-EU Tory MPs on Saturday, and was said to be considering tabling an urgent question in the Commons, demanding that May appear before parliament to explain its future role in Brexit decisions, when MPs return on Monday. The SNP and pro-EU Tory MPs Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry were also considering tabling questions, while former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg, now the partys Brexit spokesman, said it would be appalling if detailed terms of Brexit, including the UKs future relations with the single market, were not voted on by MPs. Bloomberg listed a raft of British political leaders objecting to a hard Brexit on Sunday political shows. For instance: Keir Starmer, Labours spokesman for Brexit, said on Sunday that it could be a disaster if lawmakers werent able to have a say on the terms of Britains departure from the EU. The terms on which we are going to negotiate absolutely have to be put to a vote in the House, because if we cant get the opening terms right, well never get the right result, he said on the Andrew Marr Show on the BBC. Nobody, whether they voted to leave or remain, voted for the government to take an ax to the economy, and the prime ministers stance on the single market is making it nigh on impossible to have access to the single market, and that is a huge risk to the economy, jobs and working people. Former Conservative Education Secretary Nicky Morgan, in an interview on Sky News on Sunday, also called for parliament to have a vote on Brexit negotiations, saying it would be extraordinary for that not to happen. And Bloomberg indicates the rifts go even further: Splits have also emerged in Mays administration. A government minister speaking on condition of anonymity condemned a proposal to force companies to list foreign workers, proposed by Home Secretary Amber Rudd at the Conservative Party conference on Tuesday, as illegal and discriminatory and said it would have to be abandoned because it wouldnt pass a vote in parliament. The only way Mays bone-headed move makes any political sense is if shes executing a clever scheme to back away from Brexit by putting forward the ugliest version possible, generating a public rebellion. If that turns out to be the case, and shes also managed to keep her scheme well under wraps, this will have been adeptly played indeed. But the UKs Brexit politics have been a massive cock-up, and theres not much reason to see this as a sudden improvement from a bad new normal. As the old saying goes, a politician is someone who gets in front of a mob and calls it a parade. A lot of pent-up frustration over the failure to do anything serious about pervasive bank misconduct has blown up with Wells Fargo in its settlement involving over 2 million fake customer accounts. The sheer scale of the activity, and the fact that for over 500,000 of bogus credit card accounts, it sometimes also involved purloining funds from deposits to cover fees, has led not just to a firestorm of criticism from Congressmen of both parties, but has also led state treasures to suspend their business with the miscreant bank. Californias John Chiang was first out of the box, saying hed use other banks for a year and was quickly followed by Illinois Michael Frerichs, who announced a open-ended freeze. But as Gretchen Morgenson pointed out in the New York Times, private equity firms have been required to pay much more in restitution to investors than Wells Fargo has or expects to pay. Wells Fargo has doled out $2.4 million in purloined monies; its settlement with the CFPB, OCC, and Los Angeles City Attorney called for it to set aside a total of $5 million for this purpose. Needless to say, thats much smaller than the pilferage that the SEC identified in recent settlements, such as $40.3 million for Apollo, $29 million for Blackstone, and $18.7 million for KKR. Morgenson focused on Apollo and identified 13 public pension fund investors whod put at least $100 million Apollo VII funds that the SEC said had been fleeced in its order (CalPERS, on whose board Chiang sits, has $800 million committed to Apollo VII). She confirms the pattern weve seen again and again: these fiduciaries, who by law are required to put the interest of their beneficiaries first, make it clear that making nice with private equity firms is actually far more important to them. From her story: In an email to Mr. Chiangs office, I asked whether hed put Apollo into the penalty box as hes done with Wells Fargo. No response. O.K. What about the other public pension fund officials who invest with Apollo?. Some funds didnt respond; one declined to comment. And some said they had responded to the S.E.C. case by increasing their demands for fee transparency from Apollo and other investment managers. Thats not enough to move the accountability needle. Others like Calpers and the California State Teachers Retirement System told me they were monitoring the Apollo situation. Fine, but isnt that their job? Matthew Sweeney, a spokesman for the New York State comptroller and overseer of the Common Retirement Fund, seemed to indicate that assessing an investment firms potential return took a higher priority than weighing a managers integrity. The fund will continue to review all investment opportunities based on their ability to meet its standards of risk and return, he said in a statement. Apollo says that the VII fund has had strong returns since its inception in 2008. In response to my questions, other pension officials said that some ethical flaws were to be expected or that Apollo had been transparent about its fees. Given the size and breadth of our portfolio and our investment manager network, it is likely that there will be occasional lapses, Dennis D. MacKee, spokesman for the Florida Board of Administration, said in a statement. To the extent these occur, the forthrightness with which they are addressed, both to remedy any damage done and prevent recurrence, is what we focus on, he said. The view these fiduciaries took on Apollos breach could not be clearer: Theres nothing here. Move along. This is simply a continuation of the sort of shirking of duty weve called out repeatedly. For instance, a group of state treasurers plus the New York State and City comptrollers called for the SEC to deliver them more private equity transparencysomething they were perfectly able to advance on their own. From a July 2015 post: If you didnt know better, and the tacit assumption is that the dumb chump public does in fact not know better, you might easily think a letter by state officials to SEC chairman Mary Jo White amounted to meaningful action. Heres the overview from the Wall Street Journal: A group of states and cities said it intends to send a letter to the Securities and Exchange Commission late Tuesday asking for greater transparency and more frequent disclosures by private-equity funds This is patently ridiculous. The SEC does not have the authority to order more frequent fee and expense disclosures. The information that the investors receive now is what they have obtained in their negotiations at the time they invest. They can calculate management fees from one of the documents they sign, the subscription agreement; they should be able to derive the so-called carry fees from annual audited fund financial statements. Those audited financial statements also contain fund-level expense information. These limited partners have chosen, for decades, to give private equity general partners a blank check by allowing them to use the portfolio companies purchased with the limited partners monies as piggy banks, with virtually no checks or oversight. Critically, the limited partners have no right to see the financial statements of the portfolio companies, nor do they get information about transactions or business arrangements between the portfolio companies and parties related to the general partner and its owners, employees, and affiliates The elected officials who are asking the SEC to intervene on their behalf are all board members or trustees of pension funds that have agreed to sign remarkably one-sided agreements with private equity general partners. So why, pray tell, have they sat pat and allowed this sort of thing to go on? Admittedly, later that year, Chiang did rouse himself to say hed sponsor a bill that would provide transparency for all private equity fees charged to California funds. As we discussed, the resulting bill, AB 2833, was quickly watered down and can readily be circumvented. An easy proof that the bill wont inconvenience the secretive private equity industry? It didnt get a single opposing vote in either house of the California legislature. So while it is good to see state officials get on the Wells Fargo bandwagon, bear in mind theyve done so only after the bank become a safe target. By contrast, theyve sat on their hands as far as private equity is concerned, when they have an actual duty, as opposed to garnering headlines, at stake. Three ways organic electronics is changing technology as we know it (w/videos) (Nanowerk News) One day, your latest gadget wont be in your pocket like a phone or even wrapped around your wrist like a smartwatch, but stuck to your skin like a transparent plaster. Researchers at the University of Tokyo are the latest group to attempt to make this kind of optoelectronic skin, with an ultra-thin, flexible LED display that can be worn on the back of your hand (Science Advances, "Ultraflexible organic photonic skin"). What makes this possible is the field of organic electronics, which can also be used to create a range of technologies from printed solar cells to computer screens you can roll up and put in your pocket. The name comes from the use of organic semiconductors, which are made with materials based on carbon rather than silicon as in conventional electronics. And while optoelectronic skins are still being developed organic electronics are already changing the technology we buy. Tokyos ultraflexible organic optical sensor. (Image: Someya Laboratory/University of Tokyo) Organic semiconductor materials typically come in two forms: as a small molecule consisting of a few tens or hundreds of atoms, or as long chains of thousands of repeating molecules (a plastic). The latter is particularly interesting, because we dont normally think of plastics as conductors of electricity. But during the 1970s researchers realised they could make some plastics act as conductors, and some as semiconductors (which conduct electricity only under certain conditions). For many years the electrical performance of semiconducting plastics and small molecules has lagged behind the inorganic (non-carbon based) semiconductors that underlie many of our modern computer chips. But thanks to continued research and development (Advanced Materials, "25th Anniversary Article: Organic Field-Effect Transistors: The Path Beyond Amorphous Silicon") there are now organic semiconductors with good enough performance that they are starting to be commercialised in new and exciting applications. Video of organic semiconductor inks being used to print electrical circuits. The chemistry of organic semiconductors can be modified in ways that are impossible with materials such as silicon. Organic semiconductors can be made to be soluble, and can be turned into an ink. This means its possible to print electronic circuits, with the potential to manufacture components as fast as printing newspapers. And because theyre based on plastic materials, these circuits can also be made flexible and so no longer need to sit inside rigid boxes. Here are three ways organic electronics are already altering the way we use technology. Flexible lights Organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) are the big success story of organic electronics so far, and you may already use them as part of OLED displays in some high-end TVs and smartphones. They are now being considered as a new way to light homes. OLEDs are effectively a sandwich of one or more organic semiconductors in between layers that allow different electrical charges into the semiconductor. As charges meet in the middle of the sandwich, they combine together to give out light. Unlike inorganic light-emitting diodes, an OLED light can be made on large plastic sheets. This means you could use OLEDs as flexible light-emitting surfaces to create new ways of lighting rooms, that arent reliant on point sources such as bulbs. Flexible displays Another application for OLEDs are in displays. They are particularly popular with TV manufacturers because they generate light directly and so dont need the white backlight and filters that are found in other technologies, meaning the overall display can be thinner. They also open the possibility of making flexible displays and several electronics manufacturers are expected to launch bendable products in the next few years, although this is not without its challenges. Flexible displays rely upon electronic switches known as transistors. These organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are also made from organic semiconductors. Behind each OLED pixel in the display is an OFET, ready to turn it on and off as required. OFETs work by having three electrical connections: the gate, source and drain. A voltage applied to the gate makes the semiconductor either more or less conductive. This either allows or prevents electrical current from flowing between the source and drain. Printed solar cells Just as organic electronics can be used to generate light, they can also convert light into electricity when used in solar panels. Organic photovoltaics (OPVs) have a very similar structure to OLEDs and can do the same job as the silicon-based solar panels already used across the world. The key difference is that they can be made rapidly on thin plastic sheets using established printing processes. As well as reducing manufacturing costs, this means you could stick them to virtually any surface or object for a ready-made source of power. Although organic photovoltaics arent currently as efficient at generating electricity as conventional solar panels, their performance has been steadily increasing over the past decade. However there are still significant research efforts and there are a number of companies already developing and selling panels. Electron spins talk to each other via a 'quantum mediator' (Nanowerk News) The unparalleled possibilities of quantum computers are currently still limited because information exchange between the bits in such computers is difficult, especially over larger distances. FOM workgroup leader Lieven Vandersypen and his colleagues within the QuTech research centre and the Kavli Institute for Nanosciences (Delft University of Technology) have succeeded for the first time in enabling two non-neighbouring quantum bits in the form of electron spins in semiconductors to communicate with each other. They publish their research on 10 October in Nature Nanotechnology ("Coherent spin-exchange via a quantum mediator,") Artist impression of two electron spins that talk to each other via a 'quantum mediator'. The two electrons are each trapped in a semiconductor nanostructure (quantum dot). The two spins interact, and this interaction is mediated by a third, empty quantum dot in the middle. In the future, coupling over larger distances can be achieved using other objects in between to mediate the interaction. This will allow researchers to create two-dimensional networks of coupled spins, that act as quantum bits in a future quantum computer. (Image: Tremani/TU Delft) . Information exchange is something that we scarcely think about these days. People constantly communicate via e-mails, mobile messaging applications and phone calls. Technically, it is the bits in those various devices that talk to each other. "For a normal computer, this poses absolutely no problem," says professor Lieven Vandersypen. "However, for the quantum computer which is potentially much faster than the current computers that information exchange between quantum bits is very complex, especially over long distances." The chip with the electrical contacts used to create the quantum dots. (Image: Tim Baart) Electrons talk with each other Within Vandersypen's research group, PhD student Tim Baart and postdoc Takafumi Fujita worked on the communication between quantum bits. Each bit consists of a single electron with a spin direction (spin up = '0' and spin down = '1'). "From previous research, we knew that two neighbouring electron spins can interact with each other, but that this interaction sharply decreases with increasing distance between them," says Baart. "We have now managed to make two non-neighbouring electrons communicate with each other for the first time. To achieve this, we used a quantum mediator: an object that can exchange the information between the two spins over a larger distance." Mediator Baart and Fujita positioned the electrons in so-called quantum dots, where they were held in position by an electrical field. Between the two occupied quantum dots, they positioned an empty quantum dot that could form an energy barrier between the two spins. "By adjusting the electrical field around the empty quantum dot, we could enable the electrons to exchange their spin information via the superexchange mechanism: when the energy barrier is lowered, the spin information is exchanged," says Baart. "This makes the empty quantum dot act as a type of mediator to make the interaction between the quantum bits possible. Furthermore, we can switch this interaction on and off at will." Fast quantum computer The research of Vandersypen and Baart forms an important step in the construction of a larger quantum computer in which the communication between quantum bits over large distances is essential. Now that the concept of this quantum mediator has been demonstrated in practice, the researchers want to increase the distance between electron spins and place other types of 'mediators' between the quantum bits as well. Physicists observe diffusion of individual atoms in light bath (Nanowerk News) In a combination of experiments and theory the diffusion of individual atoms in periodic systems was understood for the first time. The interaction of individual atoms with light at ultralow temperatures close to the absolute zero temperature point provides new insights into ergodicity, the basic assumption of thermodynamics. Quantum physicists at University of Kaiserslautern have published their results together with colleagues in the renowned scientific journal Nature Physics ("onergodic diffusion of single atoms in a periodic potential"). Series of fluores-cence images, show-ing the diffusion of a single atom. (Image: University of Kaiserslautern/Widera) Diffusion is a universal physical phenomenon, describing the motion of particles in their particular environment, whether solid, liquid or gaseous. The first observation of Robert Brown and the subsequent explanation by Albert Einstein are already more than a hundred years old: Robert Brown observed the random, irregular dithering movement of pollen in a liquid. Albert Einstein and his colleague Marian Smoluchowski interpreted this "Brownian motion" correctly as a result of random collisions of molecules of the liquid with the pollen. The diffusion in complex systems goes one step further and can have very diverse characteristics: Tumor movement in living organisms, DNA transport within cells, ion flow in batteries, moving atoms on surfaces - all these are diffusion processes in complex systems. Uncovering of the underlying mechanisms is of great interest as these could reach far into daily applications one day. Physical studies of ultracold atoms, carried out at the University of Kaiserslautern, now provide an understanding of diffusion in periodic structures, relevant for various complex systems. Physicists at the University of Kaiserslautern together with scientists from the Universities of Erlangen-Nuremberg and Kyoto in Japan have made an important step towards the fundamental understanding of complex diffusion and the interpretation of their experimental data. For the study, published in the prestigious journal Nature Physics, the Kaiserslautern team around Professor Widera (Department of Physics and State Research Center OPTIMAS) developed a novel model system: A single atom is cooled by lasers near to absolute zero temperature and trapped by light within a near-perfect vacuum. The atom is then transferred into an environment of a light field in which the light-absorption and light-emission of the atoms act as collisions with other particles. In this environment, the diffusion can be readily set and the motion of the atom be tracked by a camera. In parallel, theoretical physicists from Erlangen-Nuremberg and Kyoto developed a model for the description of the dynamics of the system. A central aspect here was to understand the processes in terms of the physical phenomenon of ergodicity. Due to the excellent agreement between experiment and theory, diffusion processes can now be understood beyond Brownian motion. These results have potentially an impact on the understanding of various complex systems in medicine, biology, physics and engineering in the future. Fundamentals of diffusion The motion of individual cells in the body or the transport of charge carriers in energy storage systems can be understood only in the context of the particular environment. The particles within the environment encounter permanent collisions with a cell or a carrier, thus influencing their motion. These processes can in many cases be described through Brownian motion by Einsteins theory. S ometimes the observations can, however, not be described within this model, and in some cases this non-Brownian dynamics are not obvious at first glance. The scientists of the three universities have succeeded in showing both theoretically and experimentally, how the diffusion in certain complex systems can be characterized. Ergodicity is a key to understanding complex diffusions A central aspect of the study was to investigate the atomic system on time scales that are relevant for the establishment of ergodicity. Ergodicity is a basic assumption of thermodynamics and an important factor for the description of diffusion processes. In simple words, the ergodicity hypothesis states that in an ensemble of particles, the motion of a single particle is representative for the entire ensemble. This assumption is usually valid for all observed phenomena in our everyday lives. Strictly seen, this applies, nevertheless, for most systems only on very long time scales. The scientists could now show in their study that even seemingly "normal" diffusion processes in certain cases may violate ergodicity on surprisingly long time scales. 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. Two interactive Design Thinking workshops will be hosted by Sheelagh Carew, Product Designer at IBM as part of DesignFest Clonmel 2016. The day-long workshops will be held at the new Questum Enterprise and Research Centre in Clonmel on Monday 7th and Tuesday 8th November. The workshops are aimed specifically at Transition Year students involved in the Young Scientists and Young Social Innovators projects. The workshops will take students through the design thinking process to assist them in creating innovative project solutions. Students will engage in hands-on design challenges that focus on developing empathy, encourage ideation and foster active problem solving. As Product Designer for IBM, the multinational technology company with office locations in over 170 countries, Sheelagh (pictured) works with a global team to produce creative enterprise solutions at their Dublin Office. Product Designers work on various stages of product development to help teams solve end-user (customer) problems at the speed and scale that modern enterprises demand. Commenting at the workshop launch in Cashel community school during last weeks teachers workshop, Sheelagh said As a native of Dundrum and a graduate of the B.Sc in Creative Multimedia at LIT Clonmel, I am delighted to return to my home county to inspire others to get involved in the field of Design Thinking. I would like to thank DesignFest for including this workshop as part of their impressive events schedule. Design Thinking is an integral part of degree programmes at LIT Clonmel. According to John Hannafin, Interaction Design Lecturer at LIT Clonmel, more and more product and service providers are seeking to improve customer value through user centered design. Design Thinking in a key enabler for such improvements. Design Thinking is a methodology used by designers to solve complex problems and find desirable solutions for clients. Design Thinking draws upon logic, imagination, intuition, and systemic reasoning, to explore possibilities of what could be, and to create desired outcomes that benefit the end-user (the customer). There will be a number of other Design Thinking workshops during DesignFest aimed at small enterprise, start-ups, teachers, designers and young teens. For more details of these and the entire programme and to book tickets for DesignFest events, visit www.designfest.ie and follow us on Facebook and/or Twitter. (NaturalNews) A powerful new video documentary links psychotropic drugs to mass murders, citing evidence from several shooting incidents dating back to the late 1990s.The video, "Medicated to Death: SSRIs and Mass Killings," which can be seen in its entirety here , notes that beginning with 15-year-old student Kip Kinkle in 1998, who murdered his parents and two classmates, nearly every mass killing in the U.S. has involved a shooter who was taking prescription SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.SSRIs are frequently used to treat depression and anxiety, but they have increasingly been linked to erratic behavior that often turns deadly.In Kinkle's case, an ensuing investigation found that he had been taking a popular SSRI, Prozac, since the summer of the previous year.Most recently, the shooter at Fort Hood, Spc. Ivan Lopez, had also been taking a raft of antidepressant drugs when he "snapped" after a request for leave was denied by his superiors.In the video, Dr. Xavier Amador, a clinical psychologist who interviewed Maj. Nidal Hassan, who killed several soldiers at Fort Hood in 2009, warned that those who have exhibited psychiatric problems should be treated aggressively, especially when given antidepressants."You have to take care to be aware of which symptoms are improving more quickly than others," he said. "People whose motivation comes back, their ability to sleep comes back, they feel more energy -- but they're still feeling hopeless and suicidal."What is notable is that the manufacturers of these drugs are quick to downplay any dangerous links, the video says."Too often, people like to assume -- they project. They make a little bit of logic, and they say, 'Whoa, that could theoretically explain a large problem," Dr. Abbey Strauss, a psychiatrist, told a localaffiliate, in the video. "That's faulty logic."He went on to say that linking violence to SSRI use was "over-simplistic."As documented in the video, in 2010 the Public Library of Science published a study titled "Prescription Drugs Associated With Reports of Violence Towards Others," which examined how 484 drugs were associated with 1,937 cases of violence. Of the 484 drugs, 31 of them were associated with 79 percent of violent behavior; 11 of the 31 were antidepressants. Food inspectors don't test for MRSA Antibiotics in agriculture threaten global health system with collapse (NaturalNews) A previously unknown strain of the superbug methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) appears to be able to pass to consumers from contaminated poultry, according to a new study in the journalThe study was conducted by an international research team led by scientists from Statens Serum Institut, Milken Institute at the George Washington University.Although typically thought of as an infection acquired in institutions such as hospitals, prisons and schools, MRSA is also known to infect people who work in close proximity with livestock, such as veterinarians, farm workers and workers at slaughterhouses and meat plants. The new study is the first to show, however, that MRSA can spread to consumers from contaminated meat."This poultry-associated MRSA may be more capable of transmitting from food to people," lead author Jesper Larsen said. "As MRSA continues to evolve, it may spread from animals to people in new ways."The researchers reviewed the Statens Serum Institut's national database of Danish medical records, and conducted genetic analysis on the strains of MRSA collected from people infected in various urban areas of the country. They then compared the genetic profiles of these bacteria with MRSA strains known to colonize humans, livestock and food products from across Europe.The researchers identified at least 10 cases of people in Denmark who had been colonized or infected with a new type of poultry-associated MRSA never seen before. None of them had a history of working on farms or being exposed directly to food animals. The genetic profiles of the bacteria were nearly identical to each other, suggesting that all 10 people were exposed from a single source, likely contaminated poultry meat.Notably, the strain in question was not found in Danish livestock, but was the same as strains found in meat imported from other countries in the European Union.Meat safety inspectors rarely test for MRSA, focusing instead on species such as Salmonella or E. coli."We need to expand the number of pathogens that we test for in our food supply, and we need international leadership to reduce unnecessary use of antibiotics on industrial farms around the world," researcher Lance Price said. Superbugs don't respect political or geographical boundaries , so we have to work together to address this public health threat. I'm not sure that our international trade agreements are prepared to handle the specter of superbugs in meat."The findings lend urgency to growing calls to phase out the use of antibiotics in agriculture . In order to encourage growth and protect animals from the unsanitary conditions of modern factory farming, farmers regularly dose livestock with low-grade antibiotics, including many of the same ones used in human medicine. Experts have warned that this is a major cause fueling the evolution of superbugs worldwide."I fear that if we don't get antibiotic use in livestock under control, then new, more virulent strains of livestock-associated MRSA will emerge that pose a much greater threat to human health than what we are currently facing," researcher Robert Skov said.In 2015, the World Health Organization head Margaret Chan warned that without urgent action, the spread of antibiotic resistance "will mean the end of modern medicine as we know it."Antibiotics are not just needed to save lives in cases of severe infections. In fact, many infections now considered minor can become life threatening if not treated. Additionally, many now-routine medical procedures such as basic surgery, cancer treatment and care of premature infants would all be lethal without reliable antibiotics."The rise of antibiotic resistance is a global health crisis," Chan said. "More and more governments recognize [it is] one of the greatest threats to health today." Doctors still using tests from the 1950s "Too reliant on tests" (NaturalNews) Modern screening tests fail to detect urinary tract infections (UTIs) half the time, new studies have revealed.This contributes to a problem in which patients with UTIs go undiagnosed and untreated, or are instead diagnosed with psychological or "unexplained" physical health problems and subjected to a battery of painful and ineffective treatments.Approximately one-third of women under age 24 experience UTIs at some point. The incidence of UTIs increases for both women and men as they age.A wide variety of natural remedies exist to help prevent and treat UTIs, including cranberry juice, herbal remedies such as Echinacea, goldenseal or pau d'arco, and even colloidal silver. If natural remedies fail, the typical course of treatment is antibiotics to prevent infection of the bladder or kidneys.Most UTIs clear up within a few days of antibiotic treatments, but as many as 30 percent can persist after antibiotics are completed. It is this 30 percent that place people at highest risk of developing chronic, undiagnosed UTIs.The standard test for UTIs, developed in the 1950s, consists of a dipstick or urine culture. But recent studies show that dipsticks detect just 50 percent of UTIs.Cultures have their shortcomings, as well. Traditionally, doctors have believed that a strong growth of a single disease-causing bacteria, such as E. coli, indicates a UTI. But modern research has shown that UTIs can also be caused by a mixture of bacterial strains simultaneously, and that many UTI-causing strains do not reproduce effectively in the cultures used.An undiagnosed UTI can have serious consequences, even if it doesn't move into the bladder or kidneys. Patients not only must endure constant uncomfortable and painful sensations such as burning during urination, they risk being diagnosed with a condition called interstitial cystitis (IC), painful bladder syndrome, or urethral syndrome. According to the British National Health Service's website NHS Choices, this condition is "poorly understood," its exact cause is not clear" and "there is no cure."In other words, it's a fancy way of saying "we don't know what's wrong and there's nothing we can do."Not that this stops doctors from trying. A wide variety of invasive and painful techniques are commonly used to try and treat IC, including probing and stretching of the bladder. Patients often end up prescribed painkillers and antidepressants just to help them cope with their chronic symptoms.Chronic UTI sufferers who are not diagnosed with IC instead run the risk of being diagnosed with a psychiatric illness.Penaran Higgs was one woman who suffered from a chronic, undiagnosed UTI for months, whose symptoms did not clear up after a course of antibiotics for a UTI."It got rid of the stinging but I still had severe abdominal pain and the feeling that I desperately needed the loo all the time," she said.But when Higgs returned to the doctor, she was just given another three-day antibiotic course. A dipstick test turned up no UTI. There was no change in her symptoms.For the next six months, Higgs underwent a battery of tests , including an ultrasound, a cytoscopy (probe), and having her bladder filled with water."It was hideous," she said. "But it didn't show anything.""The GP was dismissing me and saying it was all in my head. Eventually they sent me to a psychiatrist," she said. "He basically said: 'You're quite anxious. You've regressed back to being a baby.' That was terrifying to hear."Finally, however, Higgs found a London clinic on the cutting edge of UTI treatment."We have become too reliant on tests and imagine wrongly they can give us clear yes or no answers to ease our doubts. They cannot," said James Malone-Lee, head of the clinic at Whittington Hospital."We should get back to the old clinical bedside skills." (NaturalNews) Just because a food product doesn't contain wheat, rye, barley, or one of the other common gluten offenders as a labeled ingredient on the package doesn't necessarily mean that it's gluten-free. New research by a reputable gluten watchdog group found that many seemingly gluten-free foods actually contain trace amounts of gluten that could cause problems for people with Celiac disease or severe gluten intolerance.The group "Gluten Free Watchdog" looked at 101 food products sold in the U.S. that fit the bill for not containing gluten ingredients, but that may or may not contain trace amounts of gluten from other sources. Some of these products contained advisory labels warning about possible cross-contamination with gluten, while others did not -- such labels are voluntarily, and not all food manufacturers use them.Of the 101 products tested, 87 of them were not affixed with advisory labels, meaning customers who purchase them aren't being told that they may contain trace amounts of gluten. The good news is that most of them were, indeed, found to be clean and free of gluten . But 13 of the items, or 15 percent, tested positive for gluten, with nine of these containing gluten in amounts ranging from 5-20 ppm of gluten. Four of the items were found to contain at least 20 ppm of gluten.On the flip side, of the 14 items that included allergy advisory statements -- these included cereals, spices, candy, baked goods, and tea and various other beverages -- only one tested positive for gluten. These and other findings were published in the September 14th online edition of the"In our research, the use of an allergen advisory statement for wheat on products not labeled gluten-free but appearing to be free of gluten-containing ingredients was not a useful predictor of gluten content," lead author Tricia Thompson stated about the findings."Allergen advisory statements are voluntary and not currently defined by any federal regulations," she added. "Some manufacturers use these statements to alert consumers to processing practices that may result in cross contact with allergens; many manufacturers do not." Current U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) guidelines require that all food products claiming to be "gluten-free" contain no more than 20 parts per million (ppm) of gluten, this being a precautionary measure for the roughly one in 100 people who currently suffers from Celiac disease.Celiac disease is an autoimmune condition of the gut marked by damage to the small intestine whenever it's exposed to even small amounts of gluten, hence the importance of this new research. Constant exposure to gluten in a Celiac-afflicted individual not only inhibits the absorption of nutrients from food, but it can also provoke bone loss, infertility, and other serious health problems.Though the study is relatively small in scale, its findings raise some important questions about the need for improved labeling requirements when it comes to possible contamination by gluten in apparently gluten-free foods. Its findings hold major scientific significance , and will serve as a foundation for further research into this important issue."Gluten-sensitive consumers should rely on products with gluten-free labels," says Steve Taylor, a food allergy researcher from the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. Taylor believes that there really isn't an issue when it comes to labeling, and that Celiac sufferers should simply avoid all food products that aren't verified to be gluten-free according to standardized measures."They should be careful about grain-based foods that have no gluten-free statement," he adds. "I don't think that they should worry about spices and tea." (NaturalNews) The Middle East has exploded one country at a time and the great powers are the closest they've been to war since the last global conflagration, thanks to the foreign policy "leadership" of the Democratic presidential nominee.But, when Hillary Clinton was Obama's secretary of state, the Middle East wasn't her only massive policy bungle. She should also be made to answer for the gross mismanagement of events that took place in Honduras during her tenure at the State Department, including the assassination of one of the country's most prominent human rights activists.As reported by the, the trouble in Honduras began when the military staged a coup in 2009, kidnapping the country's democratically-elected president, Manuel Zelaya and flying him out of the country. Immediately, several organizations including the Organization of American States and the European Union began calling for Zelaya's reinstatement, but Clinton waffled and wavered, eventually backing the coup.Initially, she tried to claim that what happened was the military, the country's judiciary and its legislative branches were attempting to "follow the law," even though it's difficult to see how kidnapping the president in the middle of the night and shipping him off is lawful.What's more, the rest of the world outside of Hillary's incompetent State Dept. certainly saw the act as unlawful, thenoted. And indeed, Clinton's director of policy planning, Anne-Marie Slaughter, advised her to "find that [the] coup was a 'military coup' under U.S. law and revoke the visas of more de facto regime members."In addition, Slaughter voiced concern in the same email that "high level people" from the business and non-governmental organization communities were beginning to form the impression that the Obama administration and the Clinton State Department weren't as committed to constitutional democracy as both claimed publicly.Finally, even the U.S. Embassy in Honduras made the determination "that there is no doubt" that the country's military, National Congress and Supreme Court all conspired in late June "in what constituted an illegal and unconstitutional coup..."But what did Secretary of State Clinton do? Only everything she could to ensure that the coup succeeded, consolidated and became legitimized even as the military began cracking down violently on political opposition and the media.One of those caught up in the violence, as reported , was noted human rights activist Berta Caceres. She had singled out Clinton as backing the coup and claimed in 2013 that she would be killed when the coup government determined it was time. Caceres was shot and killed in her home in March.In her book,, Clinton describes how she essentially helped keep the democratically elected president out of office, despite the fact that most of the rest of the world demanded it."In subsequent days [following the coup] I spoke with my counterparts around the hemisphere...We strategized on a plan to restore order in Honduras and ensure that free and fair elections could be held quickly and legitimately,."Even she must have thought that to be a damaging admission of her incompetence because, as HuffPo noted, that quote above is from her original hard-cover book;The "elections" she claimed to have helped arrange did not satisfy nearly everyone else. The European Union, the OAS and the Carder Center all refused to send observers.Clinton's time at the State Department was notable only in the number of failures she presided over, not successes. And again, as you can see, people died as a result. Let patients decide Good riddance, Harry Reid (NaturalNews) Retiring Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the chamber's minority leader, has a well-deserved reputation for being hyper-partisan and downright obstinate. Though he regularly blames Republicans for being "obstructionists," there are few in Congress' upper chamber who can out-obstruct the obstructionist-in-chief.Now, with just a few months left in office, he's up to his old tricks again, this time holding Americans hostage who are suffering with terminal illnesses. reports that Reid is blocking legislation authored by Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., that would allow patients with terminal illnesses to use experimental treatments that have yet to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration (more on this in a moment).Johnson's measure, which has 42 co-sponsors, including a pair of Democrats, recognizes that drug and medical treatment approval from the FDA is often a very long and costly pursuit. Sometimes drugs and treatments are shelved for years pending the final approval process, as testing and other procedures are performed. In short, the FDA approval process most often comes with many hurdles to leap, even after initial safety trials come back with favorable results.So, their bill, the Trickett Wendler Right to Try Act of 2016 ( S. 2912 ), gives patients the right to access those drugs and medical treatments, while offering legal protection to manufacturers and distributors for experimental usage, provided such usage is in accordance with state laws.In addition, the measure would allow the experimental treatments to be administered without affecting the results of clinical trials.In late September, Johnson attempted to gain "unanimous consent" to fast-track the bill into consideration by the full Senate. Only Reid objected, claiming that the measure is too partisan and demanding hearings on it.Johnson responded the next day, noting that the Senate panel he chairs, the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, has already held two hearings on the bill. He also noted that Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Joe Donnelly of Indiana were co-sponsors. And, as to Reid's charge that his attempt to fast track the bill was a "cheap stunt" to help Johnson's reelection campaign, the senator from Wisconsin further noted that Reid's own home state of Nevada passed similar legislation last year, becoming the 18th state to do so at the time with unanimous support from Republicans and Democrats alike."I assure you that whatever the result [of the November election], I will return to the Senate floor in November on behalf of all those terminally ill patients who could care less about partisan politics in Washington and want only the right to save their own lives," Johnson wrote in a letter to Reid about his obstructionism.Since then, another 14 states have passed so-called "right to try" legislation, making it one of the country's fastest-growing policy innovations,reported."A lot of people are willing to try a medication that hasn't been proven to work, on the chance that it might work," Timothy Sandefur, an attorney with the Arizona-based Goldwater Institute, told. "It should be the patient's right to decide." (More on that in a moment, too.)As for Reid, Johnson rightfully accused him of putting his own personal political agenda ahead of suffering, terminally ill patients, like the young mother from a Milwaukee suburb that the bill is named after. Trickett Wendler passed away in March after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS.Reid has a history of checking his compassion at the Senate door. During an October 2013 press conference , Reid upbraided areporter and questioned her intelligence for asking him why he then leader of the Senate refused to allow a vote on a spending bill that would have provided funding for children with cancer.As for the entire premise of this bill, Sandefur is exactly right: Government shouldhave the final say over an individual's medical care, and Reid is the reason why.Such decisions should be taken out of the hands of vindictive, obstructionist lawmakers like him, and given back to the people who are living through terminal illness and searching for something that might save their lives.Again, Reid is retiring this year. Good riddance. 'We were being tested to see what effect gases had on black skin' Remember the 'syphilis' experiments on poor African-Americans? (NaturalNews) Tens of millions of Americans are put off by so-called "Black Lives Matter" protests and other racially-charged demonstrations that have sprung up largely in response to police shootings of black suspects, some of whom were unarmed. But the reality is, the U.S. government, as well as the Democratic Party that dominated elected and appointed offices in the 19th and 20th centuries, both have an undeniable history of discriminating against, and abusing, U.S. citizens of color.That includes the military, reports, which noted recently that during World War II, the War Department (the predecessor to the Defense Department) used black troops as guinea pigs in dangerous experiments.Though the Pentagon said in the early 1990s that enlisted troops during the war were used unwittingly as test subjects in military-led experiments, officials have since noted that some 60,000 troops mostly soldiers of color were used in chemical warfare experiments that have had lasting effects.As reported in June 2015, young U.S. Army soldiers like Rollins Edwards, who was black, were subjected to horrifyingly painful "tests" involving mustard gas and other similar chemical agents.Edwards recounted his story to, stating that he and about a dozen other troops were led into a wooden gas chamber, the door locked behind them, when suddenly toxic mixture of gases permeated the room."It felt like you were on fire," Edwards then 93 said. "Guys started screaming and hollering and trying to break out." He said others fainted outright.Finally, when the doors were opened, "guys were just, they were in bad shape."But why would the military do this? Why would they test chemical weapons that were banned after World War I The military'sreason was to see if mustard gas and other agents had different effects on different skin colors, as unbelievable as that sounds."They said we were being tested to see what effect these gases would have on black skins," Edwards said.But, asdiscovered, it wasn't just African-American troops involved in this "research." Japanese-Americans were also used as test subjects, sort of stepping in as proxies for enemy soldiers so researchers could determine whether mustard gas would have a different effect on their skin. In addition, troops of Puerto Rican descent were also singled out.Meanwhile, white enlisted men were utilized as scientific control groups, and their reactions were gauged to determine what was "normal." They were then compared to minority troops.All of these experiments using mustard gas were done off-the-books, so to speak in secret. None of them were recorded in test subjects' official military records. Most of them, thus, do not have any direct proof of what they were made to endure, and they were afforded no follow-up healthcare or health monitoring.What's more, all troops involved were sworn to secrecy under threat of a dishonorable discharge and prison in a military facility. That meant that they could not receive adequate civilian medical care either, since they could not tell their civilian doctors what they had endured.In an interview with, Army Col. Steve Warren, the Pentagon's director of press operations, confirmed the news agency's findings, but was quick to point out that the military does not conduct or condone such testing today."The first thing to be very clear about is that the Department of Defense does not conduct chemical weapons testing any longer," he said. "And I think we have probably come as far as any institution in America on race. ... So I think particularly for us in uniform, to hear and see something like this, it's stark. It's even a little bit jarring."But for those soldiers of color and of a different ethnicity, that explanation is probably of little consequence especially after learning that the U.S. government performed a "syphilis study" on poor, black Alabama residents beginning in the 1930s (NaturalNews) The failure of President Obama and the Democratic Party's health care "reform" law Obamacare is nearly complete, as insurance pools collapse, out-of-pocket expenses rise faster than consumers' ability to pay for them, and deductibles spiral through the roof., in a recent report , listed five things that prove, beyond a doubt, that the president's "signature" law is falling apart just like we said it would.In no particular order:As noted by, just six of the original 23 Obamacare co-opts are still operating. The other 17 have either closed or are in the process of closing because they are unable to attract enough members and earn enough premium coverage revenue to offset the massive regulatory costs associated with, and mandated by, the law.Long gone are the days when candidate Barack Obama lied repeatedly about "working with" our employers to "lower premiums by an average of $2,500 a year." In fact, ashas reported, premiums are getting higher and higher, in some cases as high as 50-67 percent just to keep insurers from bailing on state exchanges.One of the "threats" made by the law was that, after a certain period, anyone who did not bend to the government edict to buy health insurance would be slapped with a penalty, issued by the 'beloved' IRS. They are here. reports that, in 2016, the Obamacare fine hit 8 million Americans, totaling more than $3 billion in penalties.First, Democrat-driven legislation forces you to buy an ever-more-expensive product (health insurance). Then the president lied repeatedly about how it would cost us less. And finally, the people are penalized when they don't buy something they literally cannot afford. How's that for "benevolent government?"In millions of cases, the deductible amount for individual plans is so high the plans are essentially worthless. You'd have to be dropped out of an airplane and then get hit by a bus and survive in order to meet it. Otherwise, every other medical expense for the year, for average folks, is out-of-pocket.Asnoted, the Kaiser Family Foundation reported that 18 percent of covered workers in 2008 had deductibles of at least $1,000, up just 10 percent from 2006.By this year, however, 51 percent of all covered workers and 65 percent of workers in small firms have deductibles of $1,000 or more. The foundation reported further that workers at smaller firms have to pay "an average of $2,069 before insurance payments kick in..."Just days ago, the former president whose wife, as the Democratic party's presidential nominee, has pledged to double-down on Obamacare - said the law is "the craziest thing in the world."And finally, the lord of left-wing media,For long-timereaders, none of this should surprise you. That's because on this site in May 2011, and at several points since, we warned that Obamacare was destined to fail. Its structure and economic model made failure inevitable.Even then, before much of the law had been fully implemented, costs were already beginning to rise. A hearing of the House Committee on Education and the Workforce subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor and Pensions noted that employer-provided health insurance coverage costs were beginning to creep upward, with members citing several factors, "including the Democrats' recent government takeover of health care."Various small business owners testified before the subcommittee that the law had already begun to put economic pressures on them regarding health insurance coverage for their employees."Every year we pay more and get less, and under the new law it appears that this process could get even worse," said Brett Parker, a finance officer for a small business in New York City.He added then that Obamacare failed to "rein in costs, and instead increased them, while loading job creators with mandates, regulations, new taxes and burdens." Hurricane Matthew pounded on Haiti and the Bahamas the last few days, leaving properties wrecked and some people dead. Matthew, the category 4 hurricane, was even spotted from space by the camera aboard the International Space Station (ISS). As it turned out, even the Kennedy Space Center and SpaceX facility in Cape Canaveral Air Force Base were not spared from its wrath. The launch pads in Cape Canaveral Air Force Base in Florida and their high-tech facility were not spared from Hurricane Matthew. Both launch pads serve as bases for many space flight activities for NASA and other commercial space flight service companies such as SpaceX. NASA's rocket launch facility was also pounded by hurricane Matthew last Friday, Oct. 7. The storm caused power outage and many physical damages. Images of Kennedy Space Center were released to the public to show the damage incurred during the storm. The photos show roof damages and not an imminent threat to NASA's crucial equipment and rockets. Read: Brace Yourselves, We Are Approaching the Peak of Hurricane Season However, the space agency is still thankful that no major hardware was damaged when Matthew plowed through Florida. Most rockets, space crafts and other space exploration equipment on the launch pad remained unharmed. "While there is damage to numerous facilities at Kennedy Space Center (KSC), it consists largely of roof damage, window damage, water intrusion, damage to modular buildings and to building siding," NASA representative Sarah Loff said in a statement. "There does not appear to be damage to flight hardware at this time," Loff added. Although there were scattered debris, power outage and roof damage, none of these bear a huge impact on equipment and rockets owned by NASA. The storm passed Cape Canaveral at 9:45 am, according to NASA. The impact of the storm was felt at 8:30 am at NASA's launch pad located about 26 miles from the tip of Cape Canaveral Air Force Base. The storm had recorded winds of 107 miles per hour. Because of Matthew's powerful winds, employees were forced to evacuate; however, a crew composed of 116 people remained throughout the storm to secure the facility. SpaceX also confirmed that they were closely monitoring the weather conditions in their launch pad during the storm. However, it looks like SpaceX suffered more damages compared to NASA's as Saturday's initial investigation shows. "Hurricane Matthew caused some damage to the exterior of SpaceX's payload processing facility at Space Launch Complex-40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The company has a ready and fully capable back-up for processing payloads at its SLC-40 hangar annex building," a SpaceX official said in an Interview with Ars Technica. "There was no damage to the company's facilities at Pad 39A at Kennedy Space Center." Researchers from the University of California - Riverside have recently refuted a long-held theory that the Earth, billions of years in the past, stayed warm with the help of methane. According to a study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, unlike today that the planet is rapidly heating due to greenhouse gases, ancient Earth needed more heat because the Sun was 10 to 15 percent dimmer than what it's today. Because of the presence of a weaker Sun, the planet needed the help of heat-trapping gases to make the water on Earth foster life. Scientists assumed that methane played a large part in heating ancient Earth as its heating capacity is 34 times stronger than carbon dioxide. However, the researchers found out that there was actually not enough methane in the past, Science Daily reports. Read: Global Methane Emissions 110 Percent Higher Than Previously Thought "A proper accounting of biogeochemical cycles in the oceans reveals that methane has a much more powerful foe than oxygen. You can't get significant methane out of the ocean once there is sulfate," said Stephanie Olson, lead author of the study. By creating a numerical model that is divided into 15,000 three-dimensional regions, the researchers calculated the sulfate reduction, methane production and other biogeochemical cycles in the ancient past. Results showed that unlike past climate models (which claim that methane was 300 parts per million in the past), it was only 1 to 10 parts per million. This is because the presence of sulfate in water destroys methane. Because of this discovery, scientists need to determine what greenhouse of mixture of greenhouse gases was responsible for heating Earth. "If we detect methane on an exoplanet, it is one of our best candidates as a biosignature, and methane dominates many conversations in the search for life on Mars. Yet methane almost certainly would not have been detected by an alien civilization looking at our planet a billion years ago -- despite the likelihood of its biological production over most of Earth history," said professor Tim Lyons from UC Riverside. China wants to become the next 'Space Giant' and they saw an opportunity to dominate the space industry by building their own space station that will be operational the same time the International Space Station (ISS) will retire. The International Space Station (ISS) is the most popular artificial science lab in the world, but it is about to retire in 2024. But China, with ambitions to become the next space giant, is building its own space station. Will they be the only nation to have a space-based science laboratory by 2024? The China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) is currently building their own space station and it could be the only one to exist in 2024; if that happens, the whole world will rely on it when it comes to space research and other space flight services off-Earth. Part of the preparation of this is China's launch of space modules Tiangong-1 and Tiangong-2. Although China had already lost its contact with Tiangong-1, Tiangong-2 is currently in position after a successful launch on Sept. 14. A report says that China is about to launch one of the main space station modules in 2018 called the Tianhe-1. The module will be carried to space by no other than the most powerful Chinese rocket Long March 5. According to the Chinese space agencies, there will be several launches related to its new space station in the coming years. The target completion of the space station is by the end of 2024, right when the ISS will retire. China's space station is a modular model that will be built by combining several modules into one. The most crucial part is a core module and two lab modules. This new Chinese Space Station will have several docking ports for spacecraft. The 20-ton module of the station will be sent to orbit in 2022, according to a report. There's not a lot of information is available about the Chinese Space Station, but reports say that the module will orbit Earth at 400-kilometer altitude and it will be operational for 10 years. China's plan to build a space station has been around since 1992. And if they succeed in making one, they will be the second nation, next to Russia, to have built a space station. Currently, the International Space Station (ISS) is the main station for space research. It was launched in 1998 and orbits the Earth 15.54 times every day. The largest artificial body in space can be seen by the naked eye. Hollywood has once again taken movie lovers in a world of terror and pain as they portray the "real" events that occurred before and during the explosion of the offshore drilling rig Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico. According to the report from Forbes, Deepwater Horizon is an oil rig about 41 miles southeast of Louisiana Coast. It is owned Transocean under contract with British Petroleum (BP). On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon exploded, sending plumes high in the air and a barrage of oil and debris were spewed in the ocean. The tragic event, which is considered to be the worst man-made oil disaster in the U.S., took 11 lives and has a devastating impact in the environment. NASA is preparing the James Webb Space Telescope for its one-of-a-kind mission: to peer at the first stars in the universe. The James Webb Space Telescope will allow scientists to see the farthest reaches of the universe and search for life on distant planets. But for now, it will be sitting at one of the world's largest clean room at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland and remain on Earth for the next two years. "We want to see the first stars and understand how stars, galaxies, and planetary systems are formed," John Durning, deputy manager for James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), said in a report by Edinburgh Review. "We don't understand how we got here and we need to go to the beginning to figure out." The JWST is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Canadian Space Agency. It is made of 18 highly sensitive gold coated-mirrors designed to detect light even from a solitary match lighted on the moon. The development process of the James Webb Space Telescope is being documented on the Webbcam. During the telescope's final levels of assembly in the past two months, its mirrored face has been facing away from the viewing gallery. The primary mirror, which is made of 18 hexagonal segments of ultra-lightweight beryllium, has been fully assembled since June 2016, and the secondary and tertiary mirrors are also in place. In the next few weeks, the JWST team will conduct interferometer measurements, as well as vibrations and temperature tests to make sure the mirror will hold its shape during launch. Each of the 18 segments has been tested already, but further testing will be done after the whole mirror is assembled. "This'll be the first data we'll have of the overall primary mirror... This'll be the start of proving that each of the 18 segments works together," Mike Menzel, senior engineer of JWST told Popular Science. The $8.7 billion project, which was named after the NASA administrator who helped launch Apollo to the moon during the 1960s, is scheduled to launch at the French Guiana on board an Ariane 5 rocket in October 2018. A scientist has found a strange underground bug that opens the possibility of alien life thriving elsewhere in the universe. The rod-shaped bacterium called Desulforudis audaxviator was found 2.8 kilometers beneath a gold mine in South Africa. A scientist has found that the microbe survives on byproducts of radioactive uranium, thorium, and potassium in the depths of the mine since it doesn't have access to light, oxygen, and carbon. The discovery led to the theory that alien life might be living in uninhabitable environments in the universe, feeding on cosmic radiation to survive. "It really grabbed my attention because it's completely powered by radioactive substances," Dimitra Atri, an astrobiologist and computational physicist from the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science in Seattle, Washington and author of the study, said in a report by Science.com. On Earth, plants get energy from sunlight through a process called photosynthesis. Light converts water and carbon dioxide into hydrocarbons and the molecules are broken down through oxidation. Humans, animals, and other organisms feed on the plants and absorb the energy stored in them. D. audaxviator, on the other hand, gets energy from radioactive uranium in the rocks. The radiation breaks up the sulfur and water molecules in the rocks, which the microbes easily take in as food. According to Atri, extraterrestrial life forms are likely to adopt the same system. Instead of radioactive materials beneath the planet, the microbes feed on galactic cosmic rays (GCR), which are high-energy particles that are thrown across the universe from a supernova. After simulations based on existing data about cosmic rays, Atri found that there are enough cosmic rays to supply energy to a simple underground life on the moon, Mars, Pluto, the outer shell of Europa, and comets. However, the hypothetical alien life form should still require water, food and heat source. Atri considered Mars to have the biggest potential to host life thriving on GCR, as the planet is rocky and could likely hold liquid water. But according to NASA astrobiologist Chris McKay, who wasn't involved in the study, such an ecosystem would find it difficult to evolve into complex, multicellular life. "The energy itself is so small, and because of the high radiation, the organism would have to spend a lot of energy repairing damage from radiation. It uses a lot of its energy in this process," McKay said in a report by Popular Science. Atri aims to conduct further studies on the gold mine microbe to determine how it would respond to cosmic radiation levels similar to those on Mars and in other celestial bodies. The research is published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface. Kids throughout southern California took action Saturday as a way to help raise funds for Childrens Hospital Los Angeles. The fundraising events were part of Action Day, during which Childrens Hospital Los Angeles junior ambassadors hold different fundraisers in their own communities to benefit the hospital. This year, more than 30 ambassadors mostly kids in middle and high school hosted bake sales, pizza parties and other events in an effort to raise $10,000 plus matching funds for the hospital. I just love the opportunity to give back to my community with my community, said 12-year-old Sandra Koretz, who is an outpatient at the hospitals orthopedic department. A photo posted by THE SASHA PROJECT LA (@thesashaprojectla) on Oct 8, 2016 at 7:32am PDT Koretz and Kalea Doryon, 13, struck up a deal with Big Sugar Bakeshop in Studio City in which half of all the cupcake and pastry sales went to the hospital. As part of their participation in Action Day, kids can choose which hospital department their money benefits. Koretz decided the money she and Doryon collected will go to the Mark Taper and Johnny Mercer Artists Program, which teaches patients about music, art and drama. On Nov. 29, the kids will hand-deliver checks to various departments at the hospital. "It's really heartwarming to see kids who care about someone other than themselves, especially at their age," said Bridgette Thompson, one of the Big Sugar Bakeshop customers. American Airlines' partner Sky West will begin flying between Santa Rosa and Phoenix in February, the Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport manager announced Monday. There will be one daily, non-stop flight to and from the Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport starting Feb. 16. The less than two-hour flight will arrive in Santa Rosa at 3:42 p.m. p.m. and leave for Phoenix at 4:12 p.m., airport manager Jon Stout said. The American Airlines CRJ-700 Bombardier regional jet seats 70 and will have three rows of first-class service, in flight Wi-Fi and food and beverage service. Tickets are available today at www.aa.com. The flights will present an opportunity for easy connections from Phoenix to cities like Albuquerque, Dallas and Salt Lake City. Stout said the Phoenix-Sky Harbor International Airport service will compliment Allegiant Air's existing service between the Sonoma County and Phoenix-Mesa airports. Allegiant Air concentrates on the leisure traveler and the American Airlines service will provide service opportunities for business travelers, Stout said. The Charles M. Schulz-Sonoma County Airport also offers direct daily flights on Alaskan Airlines to Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, Orange County and San Diego and twice a week flights on Allegiant Air to Las Vegas and Phoenix-Mesa. Business at the airport is up 30 percent this year, Stout said. Two men have been arrested in connection with the July 17 slaying of a mental health clinic worker in San Francisco's Tenderloin, officials said. Joshua Mejia, credited with aiding hundreds of people with psychiatric distress during his time as a Marin County behavioral health clinic employee, was gunned down back in mid-July and now his loved ones are calling for due process. "Joshua Mejia deserves justice," Marlene DeLeon, the victim's girlfriend, said. "His life mattered and he was someone that was very, very loved." Mejia, a resident of Alameda, was leaving a bar located near Geary Street and Larkin Street around 2 a.m. when a fight broke out on the city block. The quarrel reportedly calmed down until a car rolled up on the scene and an armed suspect emerged. That suspect fired several shots, killing Mejia and injuring another man, police said. DeLeon said that Mejia was just socializing with some friends when the act of violence claimed the 26-year-old's life. "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time," DeLeon said. "He got shot for no reason." While DeLeon and Mejia's family continue to battle the grief, they received some closure with the arrest announcement. "That call, of course, brought a lot of relief, happiness, but at the same time it just opened back the wounds from day one," DeLeon said. "It was a bittersweet moment." Tony Gonzalez, 25, from Oakland and Francisco Heredia, 23, from San Francisco were booked into county jail last week on suspicion of homicide, attempted homicide, assault with a firearm and conspiracy, officials said. Heredia was already behind bars at the time of the announcement for unrelated charges. Police have not yet released the mugshots of the two suspects. Samsung Electronics seemed to have its smartphone troubles under control - until authorities had to evacuate a Southwest Airlines flight in Kentucky last week for an incident that involved a replacement phone. The reason: Authorities said a Samsung smartphone started smoking and making "popping" noises, just moments after its owner had boarded the plane and turned off the device. Passenger Brian Green, 43, says the device was a Galaxy Note 7 he had picked up from an authorized AT&T retailer Sept. 21 as a replacement for another Note 7 phone he returned when Samsung announced a global recall a week earlier. The recall came after a series of incidents last month in which Note 7 batteries overheated or caught fire. But Samsung had promised that the replacement models were safe. Reports of more replacement phones catching fire are trickling in, and the South Korean tech giant faces more scrutiny after earlier criticism for being slow to react and sending confusing signals in the first days of the recall. "They're in a really tricky spot," said Ben Bajarin, a tech industry analyst with the Creative Strategies research firm. "There's such a stigma around this device now that it's hard to see how sales can do well going forward." Consider Green's reaction: "I really liked the device. It had a lot of nice features," he told The Associated Press in an interview Friday. But after the incident on the plane, he bought a new iPhone 7 from Apple, rather than take his chances with yet another Samsung Note. "At this point, I don't want to mess with it anymore." Authorities haven't confirmed what model of Samsung phone was involved in last week's incident. A spokeswoman for the Consumer Product Safety Commission said Friday that her agency is still investigating and had no further information. AT&T, one of the nation's largest phone retailers, said Sunday that it will stop giving customers the replacement phones. "We're no longer exchanging new Note 7s at this time, pending further investigation of these reported incidents," A&T said in a statement. AT&T encouraged customers with Note 7 phones to exchange them for other products. The company says it hasn't sold Note 7 phones since the initial recall was announced. Verizon, another major seller of smartphones, said it doesn't have any Note 7 phones but they are on back order. Sprint said customers can exchange their replacement Note 7 phones for any other device while the situation is being investigated. The Galaxy Note 7, which sells for $850 to $890, competes in the high-end smartphone market with Apple, which recently released a new iPhone 7, and other premium brands such as Google's new Pixel phones. Samsung says it has recalled about 2.5 million Note 7 devices around the world since problems emerged last month. Analysts estimated the recall would cost the South Korean tech giant as much as $1.8 billion. A San Quentin State Prison death row inmate attacked a correctional officer in a shower area last week, a Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation spokeswoman said. Richard Penunuri, 38, grabbed the correctional officer's right forearm arm and slashed it with a weapon as Penunuri was being secured in a shower stall in the East Block around 3 p.m. on Oct. 3, spokeswoman Terry Thornton said. The officer was removing Penunuri's handcuffs at the time and he suffered a significant injury. He was taken to a hospital outside the prison for treatment and is expected to make a full recovery, Thornton said. Penunuri, a convicted gang member, was sentenced to death in Los Angeles County on Feb. 1, 2001, for the 1997 gang-relayed murders of the unintended targets, Bryan Molina, 17, and Michael Murillo, 18, who were not gang members, Thornton said. While in prison, Penunuri ordered the murder of Jamie Castillo to prevent him from testifying in the pending double-murder trial, Thornton said. He was convicted of Castillo's first-degree murder and has been on death row since Feb. 7, 2001, Thornton said. Secretary of State John Kerry arrives in the Bay Area on Monday for a couple of global tech industry events. In the morning, Kerry will be at the Four Seasons Hotel Silicon Valley in East Palo Alto to host a roundtable with clean energy leaders to discuss new and innovative ways that the industry can help the United States meet climate commitments and promote both economic development and security. The event begins at 9 a.m. In the afternoon, Kerry will participate in a conversation with E.B. Boyd, a contributor to Fast Company, at the Internet Association Virtuous Conference. The conference is designed to create robust discussion and audience interaction with the most important stakeholders of the internet economy. The conference begins at noon at Rosewood Sand Hill in Menlo Park, and Kerry's appearance is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Donald Trump's campaign wanted the women who have accused Bill Clinton of sexual abuse to sit close to the center of Sunday night's presidential debate, NBC News reported. The four women Juanita Broaddrick, Paula Jones, Kathleen Willey and Kathy Shelton were to walk in the debate hall at the same time as the former president and confront him in front of a live television audience, according to sources. The plan was thwarted moments before the event went on-air when the Commission on Presidential Debates intervened to prevent it, even threatening to get security to block the women. "We were going to put the four women in the VIP box," Trump supporter and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani was quoted as saying by the Washington Post. "We had it all set. We wanted to have them shake hands with Bill, to see if Bill would shake hands with them." Bill Clinton has denied all the allegations lobbed by his accusers and was never charged with any crimes. With a month to go until the November general election, Ward Room offers a list of some of the most competitive down-ballot races in the state. Check the blog for further coverage, as well as weekly Campaign Round-Up and twice-weekly Race to Watch Columns. U.S. Senate Mark Kirk (R): Incumbent Kirk is a veteran of the U.S. Navy Reserve considered to be a social moderate and fiscal conservative. The congressman disavowed Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump in June and continues to be critical of the candidate. He has served as an Illinois senator since 2010. Tammy Duckworth (D): Duckworth currently serves as the U.S. Representative for Illinois' 8th Congressional District. A combat veteran of the Iraq war, she subsequently served in the Illinois and national offices of Veterans Affairs before being elected to Congress. Libertarian Party candidate Kenton McMillen and Green Party candidate Scott Summers will also be included on the ballot. Storyline: Kirk and Duckworth are locked in one of the nations most-watched Senate races. Although some polls show Kirk gaining ground, FiveThirtyEight gives Duckworth an 87 percent chance of winning in November. 8th Congressional District Raja Krishnamoorthi (D): Krishnamoorthi was appointed a special assistant attorney general in the Public Integrity Unit by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan before leaving the office to serve as Illinois' deputy treasurer in 2007. He has received a host of high-profile endorsements, including one from President Barack Obama. Pete DiCianni (R): DiCianni, who ran unopposed in the Republican primary, has served as a member of the DuPage County Board of Commissioners and the Illinois Autism Task Force, which he was appointed to by former Gov. Pat Quinn and re-appointed to by Gov. Bruce Rauner. He also served as mayor of Elmhurst. Storyline: Krishnamoorthi and DiCianni face off in the race for Tammy Duckworth's soon-to-be-vacated House seat in Illinois strongly Democratic 8th Congressional District. 10th Congressional District Bob Dold (R): Incumbent Dold is facing another rematch with Brad Schneider in November. Since December of last year, Dold, who serves on the U.S. Houses Ways and Means Committee, has worked to distance himself from Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump. In June, he confirmed to WLS-AM's John Howell that he would not endorse Trump's candidacy. Brad Schneider (D): Schneider beat out Dold for the 10th district House seat in 2012, but lost his reelection bid to him in 2014. Schneider is committed to accelerating long-term growth and creating economic opportunities for middle class families. Like Dold, he also supports gun control and abortion rights. Storyline: Dold and Schneider face off for the 10th Congressional District seat for the third time since 2012. Illinois Comptroller Leslie Munger (R): Incumbent Munger was appointed state comptroller by Gov. Bruce Rauner in 2015. She previously served as a corporate executive for the Chicago-based Helene Curtis Industries, Inc. During her time as comptroller, she has made state lawmakers wait in line to receive paychecks with other state vendors and pushed a "No Budget, No Pay" bill for legislators. Susana Mendoza (D): Chicago City Clerk Mendoza is a formidable opponent for Munger. Aside from her work as city clerk, she also served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives from 2001-2011. Libertarian Party candidate Claire Ball and Green Party candidate Tim Curtin will also be included on the ballot. Storyline: The race, which is being framed as a proxy battle for Rauner and House Speaker Mike Madigan, is primed to be one of the states most expensive this election cycle. According to a recent Paul Simon Public Policy Institute poll, Mendoza leads Munger by a margin of 40 percent to 32 percent among likely voters. Cook County States Attorney Kim Foxx (D): Foxx, a Chicago native raised in the Cabrini-Green housing projects, served as an assistant states attorney for Cook County for 12 years. More recently, she has served as chief of staff for Cook County Board President Toni Preckwinkle. Christopher Pfannkuche (R): Pfannkuche served as a criminal prosecutor for the Cook County States Attorneys office for 21 years. He ran unopposed on the Republican ballot in March. Storyline: Foxx, who is riding a wave of high-profile endorsements and substantial contributions, will likely beat out Pfannkuche to replace current Cook County States Attorney Anita Alvarez. Foxx beat out Alvarez in the March Democratic primary while the state's attorney was still reeling from the fallout from the Laquan McDonald shooting video. According to a new poll conducted by Southern Illinois Universitys Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, 47 percent of registered Illinois voters want to leave the state. In comparison, 51 percent of the poll's respondents said theyd prefer to remain in the state, while 2 percent remained undecided. According to the poll, 20 percent of respondents said it was likely, somewhat likely or likely that theyd leave the state in the coming year. Nearly 80 percent said it was unlikely. Respondents cited the states taxes, weather, government and jobs as the main reasons for wanting to leave the state. According to the poll, 27 percent cited taxes, 16 percent blamed the weather, 15 percent cited government and 13 percent pointed to jobs and education. There are lots of reasons why people want to leave, David Yepsen, director of the institute, said in a statement. Not much can be done about the weather but policy makers can do something about perceptions of the quality of services, tax competitiveness, tax fairness and educational and job opportunities. The poll of 1,000 registered Illinois voters was taken Sept. 27- Oct.5 using live telephone interviews, 60 percent of which were cell phone interviews. The poll has a margin of error of 3.1 percentage points. The survey also found that a majority of Illinoisans think the country and state are moving in the wrong direction. Fifty nine percent of those polled said the country was moving in the wrong direction, while 33 percent said it was moving in the right direction and 9 remained undecided. However, 84 percent of Illinoisans said the state was moving in the wrong direction, while 10 percent said it was moving in the right direction and 6 percent didnt know. Respondents were most confident in the direction of their local governments. Fifty percent of respondents said they were moving in the right direction, while 43 percent said they were moving in the wrong direction and 8 percent remained undecided. In terms of quality of life, 15 percent of respondents said it was Excellent in Illinois. Additionally, 37 percent said it was Good, 31 percent said it was Average, 10 percent said it was Not so good, and 6 percent said it was Poor." A child was taken to the hospital after suffering burns from riding his bike over a pile of flaming books and other objects on Chicagos South Side, police said Monday. The boy, 11, was with a group of children near West 86th and South Peoria streets in the Auburn Gresham neighborhood about 3:15 p.m. starting miscellaneous objects on fire, police said. When the boy rode his bike over the flaming objects, his pants caught fire and he suffered burns to his legs, police and fire officials confirmed. The boy was transported to Comers Children Hospital where his condition had stabilized, police said. Kanye West returned to his tour Friday night after canceling dates earlier in the week when his wife Kim Kardashian West was robbed at gunpoint in Paris. The rapper resumed the Saint Pablo Tour in his hometown of Chicago without mentioning the crime at the show. He did tell the crowd "it's good to be home." West performed for about 90 minutes straight. The rapper abruptly cut short a New York concert earlier this week citing a "family emergency." It was later reported that robbers held Kardashian West at gunpoint Monday and locked her in the bathroom of a Paris residence before stealing more than $10 million worth of jewelry. She returned to the U.S. later Monday and West announced that he had rescheduled for December planned concerts on Tuesday in Philadelphia and Thursday in the Detroit area. Kardashian West, known for prolific posting on social media, has been publicly silent since the ordeal. No arrests have been made. Chicago shoppers could soon have a new incentive to use their own reusable bags: saving money. Mayor Rahm Emanuel is proposing a 7-cent tax to be added for each plastic or paper bag given at stores to begin as early as next year, the Chicago Tribune reports. The city-imposed fee is the latest effort of Emanuels to generate revenue to help close a massive budget gap, while also encouraging consumers to bring their own bags when they shop. Five cents of each charged fee would go to the city, with the additional 2 cents given to local merchants to help defray the cost of paper and thick plastic bags. Its expected to raise roughly $13 million a year, with the city receiving about $9.2 million, according to the Chicago Tribune. Sources tell the Tribune that Emanuel will likely present the new tax to alderman as part of his planned 2017 budget proposal Tuesday. It didn't take long for Hillary Clinton to weigh in on the war of words between billionaires Warren Buffett and Donald Trump. Hours after Buffett issued a statement rejecting Trump's assertion that they both use the same tax avoidance strategies, Clinton worked Buffett's denial into her campaign speech on Monday. Clinton was paraphrasing Buffett's statement point by point, noting he says he's paid federal income tax since he was 13-years-old and would be happy to release his tax returns, unlike Trump. She said her Republican opponent messed with the wrong billionaire: If you're going to call out Buffett, you better be ready to be dealt some "good, ol' fashioned, honest facts." Clinton, appearing at Wayne State University, said Trump, at Sunday's debate, "doubled down on his excuse" for a 2005 tape showing him speaking about women in predatory terms. At the debate, Trump described the recording as "locker room talk." Clinton said: "That is just a really weak excuse for behaving badly and mistreating people." The Democratic presidential candidate said Trump spent his time attacking "when he should have been apologizing." She's urging voters to back her candidacy to show that "we are not who he is." Clinton is campaigning in Detroit to urge voters to register in Michigan before Tuesday's deadline. Later in the day, Clinton hit Trump with the allegation that he uses Chinese steel in his construction projects. Clinton raised the charge while campaigning in Ohio, a rust belt state hit by the downturn of the American manufacturing and fierce competition from overseas. Clinton said that "for his talk of putting America first," Trump doesn't support American industry with his products and projects. She said "that kills jobs right in this state." Clinton campaigned on the campus of The Ohio State University in Columbus. She was urging students to register to vote before Tuesday's deadline. Citing the Secret Service, the campaign said about 18,500 people attended the outdoor event on campus. Walk with NBC Connecticut on Saturday, October 15 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. at the Greater Hartford Heart Walk at Rentschler Field in East Hartford, sponsored by the American Heart Association. NBC Connecticut reporter Catalina Trivino will be serving as emcee of this event. Friends and family are encouraged to walk together to celebrate their heart-health or re-commit to taking better care of themselves. Joining more than a million people in 300 cities across America, walkers can commit to taking a stand against heart disease and stroke. Walkers can register online or at the event to participate. Registration is free. Each walker is asked to raise money to help the American Heart Association. Click here to register or donate. NBC Connecticut is proud to connect you with the American Heart Association, the nations oldest and largest voluntary organization dedicated to fighting heart disease and stroke. No matter where theyre from or how long theyve been going to the polls, voters who talked with NBC Connecticut reporter Leslie Mayes Monday all seemed to feel the same way about the 2016 presidential election season. They said its gotten way too negative. The morning after Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican nominee Donald Trump faced off in a heated second debate, NBC Connecticut talked to voters in downtown New Haven to get a sense of what Connecticut residents think about the back and forth between the reality star businessman and First Lady turned secretary of state. None of the reactions were good. Im trying to find something positive in it and struggling, Ken Carlson, of New Haven, said. I think both of them are a joke, completely, Stephen Dest, of New Haven, said. I dont like the candidates, said Willie Davis, of New Haven, who added that his distaste for the candidates might force him to stay home on Nov. 8. Sundays debate only reinforced the negative views of Elm City residents we talked to, including Generosa Joyner. Hillary and her husband, I dont want to hear no more about that, she said. Joyner said she plans to vote for Clinton. With less than a month to go before the election, some people said the negativity and their overall views about each of the candidates still have them undecided about which candidate to support -- if either. This is the first election where I cant find a candidate that in good conscience I can vote for. I cant vote for Trump because Im an intelligent man. I cant vote for Hillary because Im a moral man, Eric Stockman, of Monroe, said. Voters said they never expected to see a day where lewd language about women and the past indiscretions of a president would be the main talking points of a presidential campaign and an entire debate, especially this close to Election Day. What can you say about it? It was just vitriol on both sides said Debra Simon of Guilford. Connecticut Children's Medical Center and Yale-New Haven Hospital will discuss a partnership to create a new state and regional system of pediatric care, the hospitals and governor's office said. "While we share this important vision, talks are at an early stage and are ongoing," the hospitals said in a joint statement. The hospitals said the merger would create a new system that would have "national prominence and deep community engagement." Connecticut Children's Medical Center is a Hartford-based hospital serving the city for 20 years. Yale-New Haven Hospital has been in Fairfield County since opening its doors in 1826. Rep. Themis Klarides, not only the highest ranking Republican in the Connecticut House, but the highest ranking female in the entire General Assembly said Monday that she won't commit to voting for Donald Trump. During an interview at her office, Klarides, said, "My vote is my vote and I dont think that thats a conversation but I will not be voting for Hillary Clinton." Klarides initially endorsed Ohio Governor John Kasich during the state's presidential primary back in April, but later attended the Republican National Convention as a delegate for Trump. Trump, who held three campaign visits in Connecticut during the primaries, walked to an easy primary victory in the Nutmeg State on his way to the nomination. Klarides said the comments that came to light over the weekend, and were a consisten topic during last night's debate, were disgusting, but said shouldn't define the race. "I think whether we have a daily conversation about Donald Trump making offensive comments or we have a conversation about Hillary Clinton allowed herself to be disrespected for years and years with her philandering husband. I dont like either one of those things," she said. On the issue of bringing up decades-old accusations against former President Bill Clinton and his improprieties while both in the White House, and in the Arkansas Governor's Mansion, she said, "I think its old news, all of it." The prize for Connecticut Republicans in the Fall would be to win the House or Senate in the General Assembly. Based on competitive seats, it appears the Senate is more likely, though Klarides points out the party has had success across the board, even in elections where Democrats have won statewide offices. "In the past three election cycles we have beaten 27 Democrats in the House and that was in Obama years and a year where Dan Malloy won reelection," she said. Klarides doesn't think Trump and the firestorm of bad press he's created will have an impact on down-ballot races. She says voters know the difference between the name at the top of the ticket, and those further down. "People vote for the person. They do not connect anyone to Donald Trump. I dont think they connect anybody with Hillary Clinton. I think people will vote for the people they know, particularly in a House or Senate race where you are able to knock on five, six, seven thousand doors." Police are searching for four men who beat, stripped, pistol whipped and kidnapped a 23-year-old man in New Haven early Sunday morning and said they do not believe it was a random attack. Police said they responded to a home on Newhall Street at 12:49 a.m. to investigate an assault and found the victim in a bloodied T-shirt, underpants and socks. Ripped pieces of duct tape were still on his wrists and ankles. He had cuts on his head and his eyes were bruised and swollen shut, police said. Officers called for medical help and the victim said hed been with two friends and they were planning to go to a nightclub, but wanted to smoke weed first, so the driver pulled into a yard on Thompson Street. Once the car was stopped, a stranger opened the door and pulled the victim from the car, then four men beat him, the victim told police. As the victim fought back, the assailants pistol-whipped him and lost consciousness, he told police. When he regained consciousness, a man was pointing a gun at him and the friends he had been with drove away, he told police. The assailants took the victims outer clothes off, bound his hands and feet and took him for a ride until letting him out of the car and assaulting him again, police said. Officers found duct tape nearby and the victims bloodied clothing in an unoccupied home near Newhall and Cave streets, police said. Investigators suspect the attack was not random and the victim was targeted, police said. He was treated at Yale-New Haven Hospital and has been released. Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence emerged Monday after a weekend out of the public eye reaffirming his relationship awkward as it seemed with Donald Trump. After canceling a weekend campaign appearance and leaving Trump alone to deal with a video of sexually predatory remarks, Pence trumpeted the GOP nominee's debate performance and hit the road for swing-state North Carolina. "Donald Trump stepped up and won a debate last night that seemed against all odds," Pence said in an interview on Fox News Channel. "He stepped up, he showed humility and showed strength." In that way, Pence was answering any doubts he would remain with Trump, after a 48-hour stretch in which scores of Republican candidates and leaders abandoned the presidential nominee over the 2005 remarks. Addressing a town hall event in North Carolina, Pence said, "You have nominated a man for president who never quits, who never backs down. He is a fighter. He is a winner. Pence added that Trump showed those qualities at the debate when he apologized for his remarks about women. "It takes a big man to know when hes wrongand Donald Trump showed that hes a big man," Pence said, later adding that he's proud to stand with Trump. Pence and Trump spoke Sunday evening after the GOP nominee faced Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton in their second debate, where Trump apologized but also dismissed the vivid and degrading sexual comments as "locker room talk" and blasted former President Bill Clinton as having been "far worse." After the publication of the video and story about the comments by The Washington Post, Pence issued a statement saying he was "offended by them" and did "not condone his remarks and cannot defend them." Pence, who is married and has two daughters, also canceled what was to be a joint appearance with Trump Saturday in Wisconsin with House Speaker Paul Ryan and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. A Pence aide said he had spoken with Trump after Sunday's debate. Pence also posted a Tweet Sunday evening praising Trump's debate performance. Pence was en route to North Carolina for public events in Charlotte and Fletcher, and had stops in Iowa and Virginia planned for later in week. House Speaker Paul Ryan, the nation's top elected Republican, effectively abandoned Donald Trump Monday, telling anxious fellow lawmakers he will not campaign for or defend the floundering businessman in the election's closing weeks. Pro-Trump members rebelled in anger, accusing Ryan of conceding the election to Hillary Clinton. Indeed, Ryan said he would devote his energy to ensuring Clinton doesn't get a "blank check" as president with a Democratic-controlled Congress, according to people on his private conference call with GOP House members. While the Wisconsin Republican did not formally rescind his own tepid endorsement of Trump, he told lawmakers they were free to do just that and fight for their own re-election. Trump fired back on Twitter, saying Ryan "should spend more time on balancing the budget, jobs and illegal immigration and not waste his time on fighting Republican nominee." Trump retained the backing of the Republican National Committee, which has overseen crucial field efforts for the candidate in battleground states. On a conference call with RNC members, chairman Reince Priebus said the party remains in full coordination with Trump. "Everything is on course," Priebus said, according to a participant in the call. Still, Ryan's announcement underscored the perilous predicament Republicans find themselves in one month from Election Day. Recent revelations of Trump's predatory sexual comments about women deepened the worries among GOP officials who fear he'll drag down their own electoral prospects in November. But others look at Trump's loyal bands of supporters and see no way for Republicans in other races to win without their support. Trump himself made no reference to Ryan and the GOP defections at a Pennsylvania rally, except perhaps one line that could apply to fleeing Republicans as well as the Democrats. "The last 72 hours has framed what this election is all about. It's about the American people fighting back against corrupt politicians who don't care about anything except for staying in power," he said. Running mate Mike Pence said he was staying with Trump. "I'm honored to be standing with him," Pence said. Trump's candidacy long ago laid bare the turmoil roiling the GOP. Some party leaders had hoped to push off a reckoning until after the election, but with Ryan and other lawmakers publicly distancing themselves from Trump and in some cases even calling for the real estate mogul to drop out of the race that now appears impossible. For Ryan, the most pressing goal through the next four weeks is preventing Republicans from losing control of the House, a scenario that seemed remote as recently as a week ago. Although Republicans are not yet panicking given their wide 246-186 seat majority, Ryan and Greg Walden, the chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee, both acknowledged on Monday's conference call that the majority was more in peril in light of Trump's problems. Clinton's campaign hammered Republicans for recoiling from Trump at this late date and urged voters to hold GOP candidates accountable for standing by their nominee for months. The campaign had earlier tweeted that "Ryan is still endorsing Trump." The remarkable development came as Trump battled to rescue his campaign after the release last week of a 2005 video in which he is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. Several leading Republicans have withdrawn their support or even called for him to drop out of the race. Several people on the call said Ryan explicitly told House members, "You all need to do what's best for you in your district." Ryan said he was "willing to endure political pressure to help protect our majority," a person on the call said. In the eyes of many Republican leaders, the recently released tape of a 2005 conversation in which Trump made vulgar, predatory comments about women not only jeopardized his own uphill candidacy but that of Republicans fighting to hold their majority in the Senate. Their commanding majority in the House could now be in peril, too. Some conservatives expressed alarm with Ryan's tone, according to those on the call. California Rep. Dana Rohrabacher called Republican leaders "cowards," one person on the call said. On the other side of the Capitol, there were signs that more Republican Senate candidates were moving to distance themselves from Trump. Two Republicans said they expected to see ads urging voters to back GOP Senate candidates as a check on Clinton's power in the White House. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell refused to even acknowledge Trump, telling business leaders in his home state of Kentucky that if they expected to hear him discuss the presidential race they "might as well go ahead and leave." Questioned at Sunday's debate about his vulgar remarks, Trump turned his fire on the Democrats. He accused Bill Clinton of having been "abusive to women" and said Hillary Clinton went after those women "viciously." He declared the Democratic nominee had "tremendous hate in her heart" and should be in jail. "Anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it's exploding," Clinton countered. For voters appalled by Trump's words, the businessman's debate performance likely did little to ease their concerns. He denied he had kissed and groped women without their consent, dismissing his claims that he had as "locker room" talk. Clinton on Monday tweeted: "If Trump stands by what he said about women as 'locker room talk,' he's clearly not sorry." "Just like Michelle says, when they go low, we go high," President Barack Obama added on his account. "@HillaryClinton went high and showed why she'll be a POTUS for all Americans." Trump's intensely loyal supporters might well be energized by his vigorous criticism of Clinton. He labeled her "the devil" and promised she would "be in jail" if he were president because of her email practices at the State Department a threat that drew widespread criticism. "That was a quip," Kellyanne Conway, Trump's campaign manager, said Monday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe." She also wouldn't confirm what he said at the debate: that as president he would appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton. Trump was "channeling the frustration" of voters, she said. But Trump doubled down on the prosecuting Clinton at the Pennsylvania rally on Monday afternoon: "I win, we're going to appoint a special prosecutor." And he said that if more tapes are released of Trump saying inapporpriate things, "we'll continue to talk about Bill and Hillary Clinton doing inappropriate things." Going into Sunday's debate, Trump trailed Clinton by double digits among likely voters, according to a new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll that showed Clinton with 46 percent support among likely voters in a four-way matchup, compared to 35 percent for Trump. The Trump video overshadowed potentially damaging revelations about Clinton's paid speeches to Wall Street firms. Emails released by WikiLeaks last week showed Clinton told a group that it's acceptable for a president to project differing positions in public and private. Asked if that's "two-faced," Clinton pointed to Abraham Lincoln's effort to get the 13th Amendment passed, allowing emancipation of slaves, by lawmakers who did not support African-American equality. Rolling his eyes, Trump said, "Now she's blaming the late, great Abraham Lincoln." WikiLeaks published another 2,000 emails Monday that it said belonged to Clinton campaign chief John Podesta. North Texas pediatricians say they're dealing with a dramatic rise in parents asking about making do-it-yourself "EpiPens" as a way of saving money. The cost of EpiPens has skyrocketed in recent months, and many families who bought several packs at the start of the school year are now realizing how big of a financial burden it's become. "Its important they have EpiPens both at school and at home, so it can cost a couple thousand dollars to make sure they have all the EpiPens that they need, so its become a real problem for my patients," said pediatrician Cynthia Webb." It's become a real problem for a lot of my patients." Doctors say a lot of families have been coming in in recent weeks and asking them to create a do-it-yourself EpiPens for them, which pediatricians generally won't do for liability reasons. There's no hard data in North Texas about the increase in parents asking doctors to make a "do-it-your-self" EpiPens for their kids -- or tips on how to do at home but many pediatricians say they're fielding requests daily. The cost of the EpiPens skyrocketed from about $90 a few years ago to more than $600 this summer. A generic version is rolling out and Mylan, the manufacturer behind EpiPen, is offering new coupons, but it's become a steep burden for many families who have to buy several EpiPen packs for their kids for home, school or a relatives house. Doctors say the biggest risks in doing-it-yourself is getting the dose of epinephrine wrong. Too much of the drug could cause cardiac arrest in a child. "I think we need to be sure we have good quality control in the medications we use, especially when we inject it into a child," Dr. Webb said. "The main problem that I see with the do-it-yourself trend is that if youre doing it by yourself at home theres no quality control whatsoever." "So I would be concerned about the amount of epinephrine youre using is appropriate, that its being done in a sterile fashion, that you wont be causing more harm," she added. According to the Food Allergy Research organization, severe food allergies account for about 200,000 hospital ER visits annually. A driver from California is in custody and more than 11 pounds of methamphetamine worth nearly $1 million has been seized in a weekend traffic stop in the Texas Panhandle. The Texas Department of Public Safety said a state trooper who pulled over a driver on Interstate 40 in Carson County called in a canine unit for help. Troopers then found several tape-wrapped packages of methamphetamine inside a spare tire. The driver, 29-year-old Carmalia Bautista, of Corcoran, California, was jailed in Carson County on a charge of felony possession of a controlled substance. Authorities said it's believed the illegal drugs were being taken from California to Missouri. When local civil rights advocate Willie Hudspeth and Cross Roads resident Gary Holtzman first rediscovered a forgotten cemetery near Pilot Point earlier this year, it was an overgrown mess, barely distinguishable in the middle of the field, and only marked by a rickety wooden sign that said Old Slave Cemetery. Then the duo fought for it, and just months later Holtzman could barely believe he was standing in the same spot. "Oh I mean it's awesome, he said overlooking the grounds on Saturday, it's almost like a real cemetery now." Truly, a lot has changed since NBC5 first told the cemeterys story in late June. At the time, Hudspeths efforts had helped convince county commissioners to take-up the cemetery and commit to restoring and maintaining it; as he and Holtzman visited the grounds every weekend to slowly clear away the brush personally. Since then Denton County has sent in crews to start cleaning the place up as well as historians and volunteers to start learning more about it. Now theyve cleared up the brush and debris through the tree-dense field and allowed light to again reach graves that have been covered for years. A new group of volunteers, including many local high school students, worked Saturday morning to spread mulch over the grounds and make it a little more presentable. Peggy Riddle for the Denton County Office of History and Culture said efforts were underway to identify how many people are buried in the cemetery and who some of them are; possibly locate living relatives. One of the biggest efforts though: to restore the cemeterys true identity. The sign labeling it the Old Slave Cemetery has been removed; likely added with the rusty barbed wire fence sometime through the years. Riddles team is now working to get it labeled and recognized for the church and community that once buried its fallen members there: the St. Johns community. A predominantly African American community of freed former slaves, Riddle said the St. Johns community likely utilized the cemetery until as late as the 1930s when the community was absorbed into surrounding ones and the cemetery was lost. "They came here to start a new life, and they prospered, and I think it's evident they prospered, said Riddle. The county has already started working to get a historic marker placed for the community so they, and the church are never again forgotten. As for the actual cemetery, Denton County leaders plan to continue the work to reclaim it and then to work providing regular maintenance. Holtzman praised the efforts of the county leadership and said he looks forward to keep volunteering on the project and learning more about the cemetery as it finally gets the respect its long lacked. Rep. Kay Granger is the first member of the Republican congressional delegation from North Texas to state that Donald Trump should end his Presidential campaign. On Sunday, Rep. Granger's spokesperson shared her reaction to lewd comments made by Trump in 2005 with this statement: "We have hard rumors about the insensitive and vulgar things Mr. Trump says about women. But watching that video is disgusting. Mr. Trump should remove himself from consideration as Commander in Chief." Trump has insisted he will "never" abandon his White House bid despite calls for him to step aside after his vulgar descriptions of sexual advances on women were revealed. Granger represents the 12th congressional district of Texas, which includes the western half of Tarrant County, all of Parker county and parts of Wise county. She has been steadily re-elected since her first bid for congress in 1996. She was elected Fort Worth's first female mayor in 1991. In April 2016, Rep. Granger criticized Trump on NBC 5's Lone Star Politics. She said Trump's call for a wall between the United States and Mexico would hurt our relationship with the country. NBC 5 reached out to the entire republican congressional delegation. Rep. Will Hurd is the only other GOP member of congress from Texas to ask for Trump to step aside. Besides Congresswoman Granger, Representative Michael Burgess issued a statement, as well. When I heard of the comments made by Mr. Trump in 2005, I was distressed," Burgess said. "I cannot condone nor defend these remarks. However as Mr Trump stated, this campaign has changed him as a candidate and a man and this election needs to be about which candidate will advance our conservative principles. Based on comments made by Hillary Clinton in paid speeches, there is no doubt Mr. Trump remains the best candidate for President. Saturday morning I was contacted by a constituent. Her observation: 'A vote for Trump is not to condone his behavior, but to preserve what little freedom we have left in America.' I could not agree more." Other North Texas Republican lawmakers condemned his remarks but not asked him to end the campaign. Fort Worth Representative Roger Williams spokesperson says he is still supporting Donald Trump. Some republican strategists think this could affect how Texas votes. Some republican strategists think Donald Trumps comments about women could affect how Texas votes. One said that Trump will still win, but by a smaller margin, while another saying Trump is in danger of losing the state. Dallas State Senator Royce West has been saying for months that he thinks Texas could possibly go blue, but it depends on voter turnout. NBC 5 asked him whether the Democratic National Committee is investing more in Texas. Have not talked to members of the DNC to see whether more money will poured into the state of Texas, but I can assure you that those of us who care about Texas, care about the direction of this country, will put the resources in thats necessary in order to get out the vote, said Senator West. NBC 5's Julie Fine contributed to this report. Two missiles were fired Sunday at a U.S. Navy destroyer in the Red Sea from territory occupied by Iran-allied Yemeni rebels, but they missed, the Pentagon said. The attack began about 7 p.m. (noon ET) as the USS Mason was conducting routine operations in international waters, the Pentagon said in a brief statement shortly before midnight. The two missiles were fired over the course of an hour and "impacted the water before reaching the ship," according to the statement. No injuries or damage were reported in the attack. The Houthi rebels, who are Shiite, are currently fighting the government of President Abed Rabbo Mansour Hadi. A house in Sylmar that had been tented for fumigation was hit by a burglar, who was discovered by police, treated by paramedics and taken to a hospital Sunday. Police were first on the scene, at about 8 a.m. Sunday, according to Officer Liliana Preciado of the LAPD's Media Relations Section. Officers extracted the suspect from the home at 15564 Lucky Place, said Erik Scott of the Los Angeles Fire Department. Firefighters were called in at 8:25 a.m. and searched the home for any accomplices, but found no additional patients, Scott said. Paramedics transported the man to an area hospital for exposure to toxic chemicals, as firefighters searched and found no one else inside the home. If you've watched a Disney film lately, you're probably familiar with a little clip that plays before the movie even starts featuring Mickey Mouse, whistling along as he operates a steamboat. You can probably even hear the little tune he is whistling in your head right now. The origin of that short clip comes from the first cartoon Mickey was ever featured in called "Steamboat Willie." Now, the script for the once-considered long lost first draft of that iconic cartoon will go to the highest-paying Disney fan at an auction in late October. The "Steamboat Willie" script is being offered by S/R Labs in a phone auction Oct. 24. The minimum bid is $300,000. "Steamboat Willie" is not just famous for introducing Disney's character of Mickey Mouse. It was also the first cartoon to have sound. S/R Labs did not come by this draft easily. While the second draft has been the property of Disney for a long time, the first draft had been missing for decades. "It was gone for almost 20 years, and it was thought to be destroyed," said Ron Stark, director of S/R Laboratories Animation Art Conservation Center. The cartoon also gave Disney Studio a new iconic character after the studio lost its rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. The script is copyrighted May 19, 1928, by Walt Disney Productions and lists Ub Iwerks and Walt Disney as co-authors on the cover. Other pages in the script have sketches of both Mickey and the steamboat. Accompanying the script is a notarized statement of authenticity from David Iwerks, Ub Iwerks' son, who worked at the Disney studios for many years. He is an authority on his father's work and spent over a year and a half verifying the script, according to S/R Labs. The typewriter used to type the script has also been verified as from that time period by the American Society of Questioned Document Examiners. The draft of "Steamboat Willie" and accompanying documents are available for viewing at the S/R Laboratories offices by appointment. A former Camp Pendleton Marine who served his country is now fighting the U.S. government to bring his deported father back home from Mexico. I drive a little ways, but its worth it. I'm glad he's still alive and still with us, Jorge Alvarez told NBC 7 of visiting his father at the border wall. Alvarez said its extremely frustrating his family has to meet him there. Alvarez is the oldest of six children. His father, Jose Alvarez, was deported earlier this year after being pulled over by police in Long Beach. Jose Alvarez was a legal resident in the 1980s, but a drug conviction in the 90s changed that. After serving time in prison he lived in the country as an undocumented immigrant. He committed a crime, he did his time, Jorge Alvarez said. And now he paid for a broken tail light. In 20 plus years he hasn't done anything wrong. Its ironic. I thought serving the country would be good for me. I did so much and now they're separating my family, Jorge Alvarez said. Lawyers have been trying to convince U.S. courts to give the Alvarez case special consideration. We're not excusing anybody, Congressman Alan Lowenthal told NBC 7. Everybody should be held accountable. But it should be considered in context ... He was a model American. As lawmakers in Washington fight over which immigrants get to stay, the Alvarez family will keep fighting to bring their father home. One non-violent crime that happened so many years ago shouldn't define who you are, Jorge Alvarez said. The following content is created in consultation with the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida. It does not reflect the work or opinions of NBC Miamis editorial staff. To learn more visit Miccosukee.com. Did you know that the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida have a proud history that predates Columbus? Originally part of the Creek Nation in present-day Georgia, a small group of Miccosukee Indians migrated to Florida during the Indian Wars of the 1800s. Rather than surrender and be forced to relocate West of the Mississippi (as was the case for most Native Americans), these 100 Miccosukee hid out in the Everglades, living in hammock style camps to both elude capture and adapt to their new river grass living environment. Over the centuries, the Miccosukee would modernize while also proving savvy diplomats, brokering treaties with Spanish, French and English crowns. By 1962, the tribe had legally established itself as a sovereign, domestic dependent nation within the United States thanks to the bold leadership of Buffalo Tiger, first Chairman of the Miccosukees modern government. Today, the Miccosukee are located in the Everglades of South Florida, operate hotels and casinos in Miami, and have a business council that conducts affairs on the world stage. They also remain a distinct, government-to-government political entity within the United States. As a tribute to their rich history, the Miccosukee recently re-inaugurated their Miami-based Embassy. Located above the iconic limestone caverns that once provided refuge on the banks of the Miami River (an important point of commerce and social life in Miccosukee culture), the renovated Embassy is composed of soaring glass, towering wood ceilings, and elegant stone walls. By combining history with bold, modern architecture and design, the building is a beautiful symbol of the diplomacy the Miccosukee have engaged in for centuries. Establishment of this Embassy will foster Miccosukee sovereignty and our government-to-government relationships throughout the world, says Billy Cypress, Chairman of the Miccosukee General Council. To learn more about the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, visit Miccosukee.com. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation confirms officers have found a 4-year-old girl who was taken from her home in central Florida by a longtime family friend. Little Rebecca Lewis was found safe in Memphis. The suspect, 31-year-old West Wild Hogs, was arrested. Investigators say they received a "credible report" of a sighting of Lewis and Hogs on Sunday night. The Polk County Sheriff's Office in Florida said a park ranger in Campbell County, Tennessee, reported seeing a man and child matching the description of Hogs and Rebecca on Sunday night. The pair was spotted at a gas station in Forsythe, Georgia, on Saturday evening in a car with a stolen Alabama license plate. Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd held a news conference Monday, saying Hogs of Seale, Alabama, took Rebecca Lewis with the disappearance. He was originally known as Matthew Clark Pybus, and legally changed his name to Hogs. "Here's a message for West Wild Hogs: don't you hurt that baby," Judd said. "You keep her safe." Earlier, Judd pleaded with the public to help search for the girl. The sheriff says he's "not above a bunch of good ol' boys grabbing that 4-year-old girl." Authorities say Hogs took Rebecca from her home Saturday morning. A 16-year-old sister says she saw Rebecca sleeping about 9 a.m. but when she woke up again 45 minutes later, she was gone. The Florida Department of Law Enforcement issued an Amber Alert for the girl Saturday evening. That Amber Alert has now been canceled. Police say they found a disturbing 10-page journal belonging to one of two teenagers arrested Monday at Coral Springs High School. The journal, which was released late Monday, depicted violence and talked about shooting up the school in January 2017. The notes belonged to an associate of a former student who was taken into custody after he showed up at the school with a loaded gun, officials said. The teen who detectives say had the journal was also detained and Baker Acted. The associate told officers that the former student told him "Today is the day, it's going down," police said. Police said they are friends but said they are separate incidents. The school at 7201 W. Sample Road was placed on lockdown around 12:45 p.m., Coral Springs Police said. The lockdown was later lifted around 2 p.m. According to police, a student saw the former student with the gun in his waistband in the school's parking lot. The student told two other students who alerted a school resource officer who detained him and found a 9mm in his waistband, police said. "The SRO found the person inside the cafeteria, a former student. He detained him and recovered a firearm on him," Coral Springs Police Sgt. Carla Kmiotek said. Broward Schools officials said all students were safe. "It was pretty hectic, they were pulling us into classrooms, turn off the lights, hide under the desks and everything," student Anthony Carlo said. "They kept me safe but it was pretty scary." The 17-year-old suspect had attended the school last year but was no longer enrolled, officials said. He was later charged with possession of a firearm on school property, possession of a firearm by a minor, trespassing and disruption of school function. "He's not supposed to be at school right now, he came in, they pulled him out," student Daniel Lane said. "They pulled a gun out of his waistband. I don't think he had intentions to use it, he's a good kid, you know." Students were released on schedule and school is expected to be normal on Tuesday. Hollywood Police arrested a 57-year-old-man they say was allegedly exposing himself near a childs birthday party this weekend. According to witnesses inside TY Park on Sunday afternoon, Joseph Ramsingh was seen by someone attending the party standing near a car with his pants down to his knees and his penis exposed. Police said kids were playing about 40 feet away. Ramsingh attempted to drive away from the scene, but one witness removed the keys to keep him from succeeding, a police report said. Ramsingh was charged with one count of indecent exposure and was being held on $5,000 bond, records showed. It was unknown if he's hired an attorney. "It's disgusting, it's nasty. You don't do that to kids," park visitor Daniel Hernandez said. "You don't belong around people, you belong in jail." A Broward County inmate may need to wash his mouth out with soap after he unleashed profanity-laced insults at a judge Monday. Julio Torres, 24, appeared in bond court after he was arrested Sunday for allegedly stealing a car in Fort Lauderdale. When he faced Broward Circuit Court Judge Stephen J. Zaccor, Torres learned he would face an additional trespassing charge, which he vocally objected to. "Why did I get a trespass?" said Torres. Judge Zaccor continued listing the alleged offenses and Torres appeared agitated in bond court video. The public defender told the judge that Torres wanted to know why was being charged with trespassing. "I found probable cause," said Judge Zaccor. That ignited Torres. Video showed him hurling an F-bomb at the judge. Portions of the outburst were muted. The judge asked to have the microphone unmuted so that he could hear what Torres had to say. The inmate continued his rant, "P**** a** n****!" "You're so wack, man! Yo, just take off all the charges," yelled Torres. At one point, the inmate is heard calling the judge a gay slur. Zaccor questioned Torres, "Is there any reason right now I should not hold you in direct criminal contempt for you behavior in the court?" Torres responded,"No." The judge continued with," Do you have any explanation to why you would say something like that?" "I'm God." That response put the final nail in the coffin. Judge Zaccor ordered Torres to be held in contempt of the court. The 24-year old was sentenced to 60 days in jail for that single charge. The public defender later asked the judge to have Torres undergo a mental evaluation. A New York City activist who founded an anti-gun violence group was shot and killed while vacationing in Miami over the weekend, police say. Lavon "Boo" Walker of Brooklyn was shot oustide a Miami Beach cafe just before 7 a.m. Sunday, Miami Beach police said. Walker was a founding member of Save Our Streets and "dedicated his life to working for peace and uplifting communities," according to the group's Facebook page. Walker was struck twice by bullets near News Cafe along Eighth Street and Ocean Drive, according to police. Witnesses told NBC Miami they heard multiple gunshots. Bystander Tavin Reiter said he and his friends immediately rushed to the victim's side, who at the time was dining at the News Cafe. "He was groaning and he was in and out of consciousness and got a little scared like he was going to die," he said. Walker, 30, was transported to Jackson Memorial Hospital where he later died, police said. In a Facebook post, Save Our Streets said: "Since 2010 Lavon was out on the streets of his beloved Crown Heights working to end gun violence and participating in street interventions and mediations. To us in the office, he was our heart. He was always smiling, cracking jokes and keeping us honest. He saw the vision for a violence-free Brooklyn." Police in Miami say they're still looking for the suspects. What to Know Brooklyn D.A. Ken Thompson died Sunday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. Thompson, who was elected in 2013, announced a leave of absence to battle the ailment on Tuesday. Thompson has been credited with setting up a review board that has helped free 21 people wrongly convicted of murder and other crimes Brooklyn District Attorney Ken Thompson died Sunday after a battle with cancer, his family announced. He was 50 years old. Thompson's death comes days after he took a leave of absence from the Kings County District Attorney's Office to battle his ailment. In a statement Tuesday, Thompson didn't specify what type of cancer he had or any timeframe for treatments. His family said in a statement Sunday that he was surrounded by loved ones when he died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital. Gov. Andrew Cuomo said he was "profoundly saddened" to learn of Thompson's death and said he was directing all flags to fly at half staff on Monday "as a tribute to Ken's enduring legacy." "A lifelong New Yorker, Ken was known as an effective, aggressive civil rights leader -- and anational voice for criminal justice reform," Cuomo said in a statement. The office has been led by Chief Assistant Eric Gonzalez since Thompson announced his leave of absence. Thompson took office in January 2014 after defeating Charles Hynes, who had been the district attorney for more than 20 years. He was the first African American to be elected as Brooklyn's district attorney. Thompson's also worked as a former federal prosecutor, where he prosecuted the case against a police officer accused in the 1997 assault of Abner Louima in a precinct bathroom. He also spent some time in private practice, where he represented Nafissatou Diallo, the hotel maid who accused former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique Strauss-Kahn of sexual assault in 2011. His family said he also worked with the U.S. Congrss to get the Justice Department to reinvestigate the 1955 murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in Mississippi.. As prosecutor, Thompson expanded an initiative in the office that reviews cases for potential wrongful convictions. In the last three years, 21 people who were wrongfully convicted of murder and other crimes saw their convictions vacated or dropped. Among his high-profile prosecutions in office has been that of Peter Liang, an NYPD officer who was tried in the death of an unarmed black man in a housing project stairwell. Liang was found guilty of manslaughter, but a judge downgraded it to criminally negligent homicide. Thompson decided against seeking prison time in sentencing. Thompson was the son of one of the first female NYPD officers and a graduate of New York City public schoools. He graduated magna cum laude from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and earned his law degree from NYU Law School. Thompson his survived by his wife, Lu-Shawn Thompson; two children, Kennedy and Kenny; his mother; father; brother; and sister. Funeral arrangements haven't been announced. Bruce Springsteen does not find Donald Trump amusing. Speaking at the annual New Yorker Festival, the rocker slammed Trump when asked about his rise to Republican presidential nominee by New Yorker editor David Remnick. "When he was just a big, sort of bloviating New York billionaire he could be highly entertaining," Springsteen said. "He's not funny as a presidential candidate." He predicted Trump would not win the election, but warned the nominee had "done a lot of damage already". "I believe he's let loose some forces from the alt-right movement - he's brought them into the mainstream - that are not going to go away when he goes away." Springsteen's Friday evening appearance kicked off a three-day event featuring authors, actors, filmmakers and more on panels at various venues. The rocker was the marquee event, with tickets to see him selling out in six seconds, Remnick told the crowd. Not every panel was about politics, but there was plenty to satisfy the political junkie, including a panel offering what the moderator called "political seismologists," to examine earthquakes of the political variety. New Yorker writers Jane Mayer and George Packer also looked at the big picture, examining the historical factors leading to Trump's success. When asked what Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton had done that was "so terrible", Mayer suggested that, as a woman, Clinton was held to a different standard than Trump. "I don't think she'd still be in the race," Mayer said, in relation to the comments Trump made on the "Access Hollywood" video ricocheting around the airwaves. What to Know Several students and faculty at Princeton University received racist emails over the weekend A university representative said the university "deplores these revolting messages" and that the school is investigating the emails The university's student newspaper said the emails appear to have been sent by a supporter of the "White GeNOcide Project" A pair of racist emails were sent to students and faculty at Princeton University over the weekend, school officials said. The Ivy League school said in a news release Sunday afternoon that an undetermined number of students and staffers received the emails over the weekend. The emails appear to have been sent from off-campus server, and it's not clear how many people at the university received the messages. The Daily Princetonian, the university's student newspaper, reports that the emails were likely sent by a member of a white supremacy group named "White GeNOcide Project." The student newspaper reported that the email, which had the subject line "'NO CHILD LEFT WHITE'- Vote Trump!," accused that the university teaches "White students that they are immoral and contemptible if they don't support White Genocide" and accuses Princeton professors of being "anti-White." A website for the group has what appears to be an email template for supporters to use in sending messages to colleges. The group said on its site that it has also conducted mass emailings at West Virginia University and the West Virginia Legislature. Michele Minter, the university's vice provost for institutional equity and inclusion, said that the school "deplores these revolting messages." "We will not allow these hateful actions to undermine our commitment to creating an inclusive and harassment-free community on campus," Minter said. Anyone who received a racist email should call the university's public safety office at 609-258-100 or the university's hotline at 866-478-9804. What to Know Four protesters emerged from a 42-inch gas pipeline underneath the Hudson River as part of a negotiation with state police The quartet climbed into the pipe to protest a proposed fracked-methane pipeline near Indian Point Energy Plant They are expected to be charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing; Other protesters were arrested earlier in the day A quartet of demonstrators emerged from a 42-inch gas pipeline underneath the Hudson River on Monday night after they had climbed into it in protest of a proposed pipeline that would run from Pennsylvania to New York. The four protesters, Rebecca Berlin, Mackenzie Wilkins, Dave Publow and Janet Gonzalez had been inside the high-pressure fracked-methane pipeline near Indian Point Energy Plant since the morning and were settling in for the night Monday, according to the Sane Energy Project. The four of them are only expected to be charged with misdemeanor criminal trespassing because they left the pipeline Monday night as part of a negotiation with state police, although charges could change. Video from inside the pipe earlier in the day shows the group with food, water and blankets. Two other people helping the protesters get into the pipeline were arrested on criminal trespassing charges, and a third person had been detained under suspicion of illegal activity by association, the group said. Gonzalez, who is from Westchester County, said she was joining in on the protest because we imperil our future by depending on depleting finite resources. We must transition to a post carbon world with renewables, she said. Otherwise, we risk cooking the planet. Spectra Energy, which has been building the pipeline, said in a statement that it "respects the right of individuals to peaceful protest" but that the protesters were placing themselves and first responders at risk. "We do not condone actions that take critical first responders away from their duties, thus also placing citizens dependent on their assistance at risk," the company said. Gonzalez and her compatriots were also protesting in concert with another demonstration at the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota. More than 300 people participated in the arrest, including Divergent star Shailene Woodley. Woodley was streaming video from the protests on Facebook Live and said during the broadcast that she was walking to her RV when she was grabbed by the jacket and told not to continue. Then, when she tried to ask a question, one officer replied "We can't talk right here, but you're going to be placed under arrest for criminal trespassing, alright? Twenty-six other protesters at the North Dakota protest were also arrested. Officers inside Philadelphias Public Housing Police Department tell the NBC10 Investigators developments routinely go unpatrolled. We have several developments that go uncovered every single solitary night because we dont have the manpower, one officer who spoke on the condition of anonymity said. Junes police assignment sheets show some developments with blank space next to them or the abbreviation L-O-M-P to signal a lack of man power. Were tenants. We pay rent. We deserve just as much up here as others, Abbottsford Homes resident Vera Miller said. Miller is one of 90,000 public housing residents who rely on the Public Housing Police Department. As chief of police its my responsibility to ensure that we use the limited resources that we have efficiently and effectively, public housing police chief Branville Bard said. Junes public housing police assignment sheets also show a special detail assigned to watch the CEOs residence. Public Housing police officers said the detail affects their ability to patrol housing developments. To take one cop to make sure that your house is watched every single solitary night I think is totally unethical when that one cop could be in a development making sure thousands of people are safe, one officer said. Chief Bard disagreed. It doesnt have any impact, but its a necessary function, he said. An internal police memo obtained by the NBC10 Investigators says officers can break away from patrolling the CEOs residence to check on nearby public housing developments. Chief Bard said the special detail is necessary because in February two shots were fired at public housing CEO Kelvin Jeremiahs home. No one was hurt but to date no one has been arrested. Mr. Jeremiah is an asset of PHA and Im going to protect him as such, Chief Bard said. The NBC10 Investigators' review of three years of public housing crime statistics shows the developments with the fewest patrols in June have historically had some of the lowest arrest rates. The Abbottsford Homes development listed no assigned patrol during the month of June. Since 2013 there have been 43 felonies recorded and five arrests made in that development. I wish I had an officer for every PHA development and every PHA asset 24 hours a day, but I dont, Chief Bard said. Philadelphias public housing police department has 70 sworn officers. Philadelphia is the largest city in the country with its own public housing police department. New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles all consolidated their public housing police into the city departments. A woman died after being struck by a vehicle on a major roadway in Burlington Count, New Jersey early Monday morning. Police said the woman, whose identity was not released, was crossing Route 70 near Route 73 in Evesham about 6:45 a.m. when she was struck. The striking vehicle remained at the scene, and police said the driver is cooperating with investigators. Police shut down a stretch of Route 70's westbound lanes as they investigated the crash. Video from SkyForce10 showed police at the scene and an SUV sitting in the lanes of the highway with front-end damage. A day after facing off with Hillary Clinton in the second presidential debate, Republican nominee Donald Trump campaigned in Pennsylvania. Trump spoke at a rally at Ambridge Area Senior High School in Ambridge, Pennsylvania at 3:30 p.m. He then traveled to Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania where he spoke at the Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza at 7 p.m. The campaign events came as Trump continues to battle to rescue his campaign after the release last week of a 2005 video in which he is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. Several leading Republicans have withdrawn their support or even called for him to drop out of the race. Questioned at Sunday's debate about his vulgar remarks, Trump turned his fire on the Democrats. He accused Bill Clinton of having been "abusive to women" and said Hillary Clinton went after those women "viciously." He declared the Democratic nominee had "tremendous hate in her heart" and should be in jail. "Anything to avoid talking about your campaign and the way it's exploding," Clinton countered. During Monday's rally in Ambridge, Trump said Clinton was "the worst abuser of women" to ever sit in the Oval Office. He claimed the media "condemned my words" but ignored what Clinton did. He said the "last 72 hours has framed what this election is all about." He said that it's about the "American people fighting back against corrupt politicians who don't care about anything except for staying in power." Trump got backing Monday from his running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, who gave a series of television interviews, urging Republicans to stand behind Trump. "This is a choice between two futures," Pence declared, saying he never considered leaving Trump's ticket. "I'm honored to be standing with him," Pence said. But House Speaker Paul Ryan told his party Monday he's focusing his efforts on keeping majorities in the House and will no longer defend Trump, and while his office insisted he's not dropping his support for Trump, the announcement gave the impression Ryan was conceding the election. For voters appalled by Trump's words, the businessman's debate performance likely did little to ease their concerns. He denied he had kissed and groped women without their consent, dismissing his claims that he had as "locker room" talk. Authorities say a 17-year-old has been arrested in the shooting of a 21-year-old man that left him dead in New Jersey last week. Cumberland County Prosecutor Jennifer Webb-McRae says the juvenile was taken into custody in Millville on Sunday and charged with homicide and related offenses. Police say Davonte Lee was shot shortly after 6 p.m. Friday as he sat in a vehicle in Bridgeton. He was taken to his sister's home, where police and medical personnel responded. Lee was then transported to a Vineland hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The shooting remains under investigation. Philadelphia police say a predator who attacked women working in prostitution earlier this year, killing one of them, may be responsible for two more recent attacks. All of the attacks happened in the city's drug- and crime-ridden Kensington neighborhood. Police in July released surveillance video showing the suspect in some of the earlier attacks. Philly.com reports the most recent incident occurred Oct. 1 when a man on a bike propositioned a woman for sex on Ruth Street near Tusculum. She tells police the man choked her until she lost consciousness after sex. Police believe the same man also accosted another woman working in prostitution at gunpoint along Kensington Avenue Sept. 19. He took her to an alley off of Clearfield Street along nearby Stouton Street and sexually assaulted her while holding a knife to her face, according to authorities. Police believe the same man attacked Rickie Morgan, 35, a sex worker in the neighborhood, with a brick then stabbed her after making a sexual deal on July 16. She died. The same man, often arriving on a bike, is believed to have attacked at least two other women in April and July. The 45-year-old woman attacked in April told police he slashed her throat after approaching her along Frankford Avenue in Kensington. Relatives of people killed in the March 2014 Oso, Washington, mudslide reached a $50 million settlement Sunday with the state. It just one day before their lawsuit was scheduled to go to trial, lawyers for the families said, NBC News reported. The settlement, which must be approved by the judge overseeing the case, would dismiss almost all claims only hours before the civil trial was to have begun Monday in King County Superior Court. One defendant in the case, a timber company accused of contributing to the danger of the slide zone, wasn't included in the settlement, meaning the civil trial was still scheduled to proceed Sunday night. The families are seeking unspecified damages. Forty-three people were killed when the mudslide covered a square mile of Washington's Stillaguamish River Valley, destroying 49 buildings and closing a state highway for six months. An early morning shooting in El Cajon has neighbors on edge. The area has been a hot spot for crime over the past couple of weeks. A bullet hole now pierces the sign for Parkway Club apartments in the 1200 block of Graves Avenue in unincorporated El Cajon. Another bullet hole hit a car nearby. Both are from the aftermath of an early morning shooting. San Diego Sheriff's Deputies responded to multiple calls of shots fired around 2:00 a.m. Sunday. Two people were rushed to the hospital. Neighbors are concerned about this happening so close to their homes. "It makes me concerned because seeing how close that is to my actual apartment, one false move and that could've went in my window," said El Cajon resident Jon Fundingsland. The area of El Cajon has seen an increase in crime in past couple of weeks. Just down the street about a half mile, 21-year-old Brandon Deguzman was shot to death outside his home in the middle of the night. A suspect has been arrested, but nervousness still lingers for neighbors nearby. "I think all of El Cajon has been a hot bed lately. It's just a little bit uneasy," explained Fundingsland. Up the street on the 8200 block of Graves Avenue, there has been an up-tick in vehicle thefts. Four vehicles were reported stolen in the last couple of weeks. Loyal residents of El Cajon eager to see some change for their city. Fundingsland added, "just this frequently especially in the last two, three weeks now, it's getting a little out of hand." The two people who were shot are expected to survive. Witnesses tell NBC 7 they were very young, possibly in their teens. So far no arrests have been made. A local Red Cross team is heading to the Eastern Seaboard to help feed the victims of Huricane Matthew. The two volunteers said their goodbyes Thursday after packing up at their Red Cross Kearny Mesa headquarters. The team is driving San Diego's Emergency Response Vehicle cross country to Columbia, South Carolina, where they will be part of a national response providing emergency shelter and food to flood victims. Ron Clagett, of North Park, says this is why he signed up several years ago. "So you build a bond with these people," he said. "And the gratification we get is the appreciation people have for us." Local Red Cross workers say that, for the first time since Superstorm Sandy four years ago, all American Red Cross Emergency Response Vehicles nationwide will be deployed, due to the large amount of devestation caused over the past few days. A group of San Diego voters met at the Angelika Film Center for a debate watch party Sunday night, and after the contentious face-off, there was a mix of opinions. Voters who watched the second debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton said it was clear there was tension in the air from the very beginning when the candidates declined to shake hands at the top of the debate. For Trump supporter Morgan Brown the debate lived up to the hype. He did a better job tonight. When he looked at her and said he was going to open up a special cabinet to prosecute her that really shocked me, he said. But Clinton supporters like Erika Luna-Pewitt weren't satisfied with Trump's apology over his 2005 comments about sexually assaulting women. Frankly, I don't want a dirty old man as president, she told NBC 7. For some voters the debate only confirmed what they already believed. [He] does not care to prepare, does not care to learn the policies, he does not care to prepare what he is talking about, Luna-Pewitt said. Still, others found they couldnt stomach either one. The decorum in this debate has been disgusting, Johnson supporter Jake Schaible said. I started out as a life-long Republican. I cannot vote for Donald Trump ... There is no universe that exists that I would vote for Hillary." The third and final debate will be on Wednesday, October 19 at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. What to Know Republican women from Virginia helped organize the protest at the RNC to support Donald Trump. Several Republican politicians withdrew support for Trump after the release of audio of the candidate making vulgar remarks about women. Corey Stewart said he knew the risk of supporting the protest but he felt it was important to do and he remains loyal to Trump. Donald Trump's presidential campaign did one of the things the Republican candidate is best known for, firing his Virginia campaign chairman for leading a protest outside the Republican National Committee in Washington, D.C., News4 confirmed. Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chairman Corey Stewart confirmed for News4 he was fired over the protest Monday. He said he knew the risk going into the protest but felt it was important to do. "I stood up to the RNC today. I stood up to the Republican establishment," Stewart told News4. "They threatened to fire me and they made good on that threat." He remains loyal to Trump. "Tons of interviews today on behalf of Mr. Trump," Stewart posted on Facebook Monday afternoon. "Then, I went to start a rebellion against GOP establishment pukes who betrayed Trump." The protest was organized after several Republican politicians withdrew their support of Trump following the release last week of audio from 2005 of the candidate making vulgar remarks about women. Stewart singled out Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-10th District), who called on Trump to withdraw and is in a tough reelection fight in northern Virginia herself. "He might not be very popular in McLean and parts of Fairfax County where she lives, but I think she is misunderstanding her district. I really do," Stewart said. Comstock did not respond to requests for comment. Veteran Virginia Republican Bobbie Kilberg, who supports Comstock and has worked with three Republican presidents, said she's not supporting Trump either. "I think that we have crossed the line and that enough's enough," she said. Stewart, who is raising money to run for governor of Virginia, posted details about the protest on Facebook Sunday, writing that Republican women in Virginia helped organize a demonstration in support of Trump at the RNC at 2 p.m. Monday. He included the address of the RNC and the closest Metro station. "While this turn of events is disappointing, I support the Trump campaign's decision to remove their Virginia chairman," Republican Party of Virginia Chairman John Whitbeck said. "With less than a month until Election Day, we can't afford any distractions." Police at the University of Maryland in College Park are warning students that one of their classmates was extorted out of an undisclosed amount of money after someone threatened to post nude pictures of him on Facebook. The student told campus police Sunday that he had been the victim of a scheme in which the scammer may have taken the pictures during an online video chat session with a woman. Authorities said the victim complied with the demands of the extortionist, sending $1,000 to a place in the Philippines. Police did not release further details but said they wanted to warn the campus about the danger of such incidents. The University of Maryland Police Department Criminal Investigations Unit asked anyone with information regarding this incident to contact police at 301-405-3555. Two people accused in the murder of an elderly man in Orange, Massachusetts, last week could be back in the state as early as Thursday. Joshua Hart, 23, and Brittany Smith, 27, were arrested over the weekend in Virginia. Family, friends and neighbors of 95-year-old Thomas Harty are wrestling with a mix of anger and relief that the young Athol couple has been arrested and charged in his murder and the attempted murder of his 77-year-old wife Joanna Fisher stemming from a violent home invasion last Wednesday. Family members tell necn the victims were stabbed. They also say Joanna Fisher waited for hours for help. She is paralyzed from the waist down, and had to wait until a nurses aid arrived in the morning. Why did they have to do what they did to them? He would have given them the money, said Loreen Mascorft, the victim's niece. There was no need to kill him and do what they did to Joanna. It's just plain horrible. John Harty, the victim's brother, says he doesn't think there's any connection between the couple and his family. He was always trying to help everbody, said John Harty. According to authorities, Hart and Smith were arrested two days before the home invasion and murder for allegedly stealing her grandmothers car. They didnt have to kill the guy, they really didnt, I mean hes 95-years-old, they didnt have to do that, said friend Donald Buzzee. If they wanted money or they wanted the car, they would have just handed it to them. Why do you gotta kill the guy? Police said Hart and Smith took the Fisher's Toyota Corolla and were taken into custody not far from where car was found. A motive for the home invasion has not been revealed, but Harts landlords daughter says her mother recently kicked him out of the lower level of an Athol apartment because he was allegedly dealing drugs. After he got kicked out he broke back in, into our downstairs, so we had to call the cops, said Tiffany Wilder, who lived above the suspect. Wilder says they also called the police on Smith, who she says recently started dating Hart. That Brittany girl, she was in the car and she was screaming at my mom and I dont know why she was doing that and I came outside and she was trying to come up to me and attack me so I called the cops, Wilder said. Neighbor Charles Starkey says hes shocked someone he lived so close to would be charged with such a horrific crime. Makes me nervous, very nervous, were kind of a tight knit community here, said Starkey. For somebody to do that, they must have been pretty desperate. Police continue to investigate whether there is a connection between the elderly victims in Orange and the young suspects in Athol. Hart and Smith are being held without bail and are expected to be arraigned on fugitive from justice warrants in Virginia on Tuesday. If they waive rendition, they could be back in Massachusetts to face charges as early as Thursday. Area residents in the city of Weymouth, Massachusetts, are furious that a convicted sex offender who once was sentenced to 190 years in prison is now living in their community. Richard Gardner was convicted back in the 1980s and 1990s in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, of kidnapping and rape on a young child. Last week he walked out of prison a free man. Former Rhode Island Prosecutor Jeffrey Pine was the man who put Gardner away for the kidnappings and assaults on young boys that landed him the lengthy sentence at the time. I think he was dangerous then and I think he's dangerous now, Pine said. "His conduct was so brazen. He was literally snatching kids off the street. I believe he broke into one of the children's houses and took him out of his bed." A few years after Gardner's conviction was tossed out on evidentiary claims and through a new trial, he landed a much lighter sentence that allowed him to go free nearly 30 years later, something Pine wasn't expecting. "You'd like to think that with all those years he would have been locked up longer," Pine said. That sentiment has prompted residents in Weymouth to start an online petition to strengthen requirements for Level 3 offenders, like Gardner. But until that happens, parents on this street say they'll be on edge and on the lookout for a new face in their neighborhood. "You cant leave the back door open anymore," said parent of three, James Malary. "You can't be vulnerable, so the level of awareness has been raised and it's very concerning." Gardner is living with family in Weymouth who have been longtime residents. necn stopped by the home to talk to them about the response they have been receiving but no one came to the door. One person was injured after a car crashed into a telephone pole on Route 1 in Saugus, Massachusetts, early Monday morning. According to the Massachusetts State Police, the crash happened on Route 1 northbound near Lynn Fells Parkway. The car struck the pole causing severe damage to the pole, resulting in a blackout of electrical power on Route 1 North and Southbound from Main Street to Walnut Street. The driver, a female, was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital. No word on the extent of the victim's injuries. National Grid was on scene to repair the power and estimates the repairs will take a few hours. A wrong way driver on I-495 in Massachusetts will possibly face charges, according to state police. Authorities say the driver, only identified as an 89-year-old Franklin woman, was driving southbound in a northbound lane near exit 17 in Franklin just before 5:30 a.m. Monday. The driver, who was behind the wheel of a 2013 Honda Civic, is possibly facing charges because she was an immediate danger to other drivers, state police said. The investigation is ongoing. As police continue to investigate the shooting of a 9-year-old girl in Boston's Roxbury neighborhood, authorities have learned the attack was caught on camera. Investigators are now looking for two men who were seen on surveillance footage opening fire at children playing at a playground on Annunciation Road early Sunday morning. "A little 9-year-old," said neighbor Abraham Oliva. "How does a little 9-year-old get shot?" The girl was shot around 1 a.m. during a birthday party at the center of a housing complex. She was taken to a hospital, where she underwent surgery. The victim is expected to recover. Police say the gunmen came out of a white SUV and appeared to fire randomly. The housing complex is located behind the Boston Police headquarters and next to Northeastern University. One neighbor, who didnt want to be identified, said the area is too dangerous for children to be out at night. "It's upsetting because I have grandkids around that age," said the neighbor. "It's upsetting." Authorities would like anyone with information to call Boston Police. Two people wanted in connection with a home invasion and murder in Massachusetts last week have been arrested in Virginia. Thomas Harty, 95, was killed and his wife Joanna Fisher, 77, was seriously injured in the home invasion at their residence on East River Street in Orange on Wednesday night. Fisher was recovering at UMass Medical Center in Worcester. Authorities said they believed the suspects, identified as 23-year-old Joshua Hart and 27-year-old Brittany Smith, stole the victims' car after the home invasion. Massachusetts State Police say Hart and Smith were taken into custody by the Rockbridge County Sheriffs Department in Virginia on larceny and stolen property charges Sunday and are being held without bail. It's unclear if they have attorneys. Both suspects face numerous charges, including murder, attempted murder, home invasion, armed robbery, larceny of a motor vehicle and receiving stolen property. Both will be arraigned as fugitives from justice Tuesday and could return to Massachusetts as soon as Thursday. The stolen vehicle was recovered in a different location in Virginia, according to state police. Police said they will release additional details at a later time. A Vermont community is mourning the loss of five high school juniors who were killed when the car they were riding in was hit by a wrong-way driver. A candlelight vigil was held Monday evening at Harwood Union High School in Moretown, where four of the five young victims attended. The vigil attracted a crowd so huge on the road leading to the school, that it snarled traffic. Several area residents who attended told necn the loss was so profound, they wanted to be with their neighbors for support. The students have been identified as Eli Brookens of Waterbury; Janie Cozzi of Fayston; Liam Hale of Fayston; Mary Harris of Moretown; and Cyrus Zschau of Moretown. Ordering flags around Vermont to fly at half-staff to honor their lives, Gov. Peter Shumlin called the deadly crash "heartbreaking." "Vermont is a community, and today we share the sadness and loss of the families and friends of these teens," he continued. His order to lower flags takes effect on Monday; flags will be returned to full staff at sunrise on Thursday. Harris, Zschau, Hale and Brookens, all 16, attended Harwood Union High School in Duxbury. Cozzi, 15, was a student at Kimball Union Academy in Meriden, New Hampshire. "This is an unimaginable moment," Kimball Union said in a statement on its Facebook page. "Our hearts are with everyone affected by this tragedy." At the Moretown United Methodist Church, the bell rang five times and its worshippers lit five candles at a noontime prayer service Monday. Pastor Chico Garland said he hopes in the coming days, the community can focus on the joy with which the students lived their lives. "These were all good, smart, happy kids with lots of friends," Garland said. "Even as we mourn, we should remember that kind of joy." Meanwhile, State police say 36-year-old Steven Bourgoin was behind the wheel of a pickup truck traveling the wrong way on an interstate in Williston Saturday night when he crashed into the students' car, which caught fire. State police say Bourgoin then stole a police cruiser and crashed into seven more cars. Bourgoin was thrown from the vehicle, which went up in flames. He was taken to a hospital, where he's listed in serious condition. Officials say they were granted an arrest warrant for Bourgoin on two charges, aggravated driving of a stolen vehicle and gross negligent driving, on Monday; the court ordered him to be held on $1 million cash bail. Chittenden County Attorney TJ Donovan said Bourgoin is the primary suspect in law enforcement's ongoing investigation into the teens' deaths, which have been ruled as a homicide. "This case is a tragedy," he said in a press conference Monday afternoon. Donovan also revealed that Bourgoin has an open domestic assault case pending in Chittenden County stemming from an incident in May and recently lost custody of his child. His domestic assault case is set to go on trial in November. It was not immediately clear if Bourgoin had an attorney. The names of the people in the seven other cars were also released Monday morning. They suffered non-life threatening injuries, according to police. Vermont's governor has issued a proclamation rebranding Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples' Day in honor of the "sacrifice and contributions of the First Peoples of this land,'' including the Abenaki, their ancestors and allies. Gov. Peter Shumlin says in the executive proclamation a growing number of cities and towns across the country recognize the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples' Day. He says the day is an opportunity to celebrate "indigenous heritage and resiliency.'' Columbus Day traditionally recognizes Christopher Columbus's 1492 arrival in the Americas. The state Commission on Native American Affairs says the first British settlement in the state was at Fort Dummer in Brattleboro in 1724. Shumlin's proclamation only applies to this year. A spokesman tells WPTZ-TV it could be issued yearly by the next governor. A Stoughton, Massachusetts, woman is facing charges after a car accident occurred early Monday morning. According to the Massachusetts State Police the crash occurred on I-95 northbound in Attleboro. The driver, a 52 year-old woman, was driving a 2003 Nissan Altima when she crashed into another vehicle, a 2014 Honda CRV, which was carrying a man and a woman from Rhode Island. The driver was transported to Sturdy Memorial Hospital with minor injuries. The female passenger of the other vehicle was also transported to Sturdy. No word on her injuries. YMCA Norfolk backs youth mental health campaign YMCA Norfolk backs youth mental health campaign YMCA Norfolk has thrown its support behind a major new NHS mental health awareness campaign, as YMCA national research reveals more than one in three young people with mental health difficulties experience stigma. Challenge harmful language used to describe mental health difficulties so that young people can ask for help without fear of negative labels. used to describe mental health difficulties so that young people can ask for help without fear of negative labels. Ask for support from friends, parents, teachers, GPs or youth workers. from friends, parents, teachers, GPs or youth workers. Show support by joining the #IAMWHOLE movement on social media and posting circle on hand selfies in support of the anti-stigma message. by joining the #IAMWHOLE movement on social media and posting circle on hand selfies in support of the anti-stigma message. Find and get help by visiting www.findgetgive.com - a mental health services directory for young people created by YMCAs Right Here project in partnership with other local groups in Jordans childhood home of Brighton & Hove. This site allows users to search for support, share stories about their own mental health and give feedback on services they have used for others to read. Find Get Give also includes resources for parents and carers. More than three quarters (77%) of young people know someone who has experienced difficulties with their mental health. Anxiety (66%) and depression (51%) were the most common mental health conditions experienced by young people. Young people who believe stigma exists believe they can best tackle it by talking more about mental health (64%) and sharing their experiences (60%). 81% of young people who believe stigma exists say that school is the best place to combat it. The Norfolk-based youth charity is backing, an anti-stigma campaign run byin partnership withon social media and through a series of mental health-themed events. These include the launch of a new Mental Health First Aid Course specifically for schools and a series of Tea & Talk events to support its own staff across the county.The #IAMWHOLE campaign is launched today (October 10),by UK hip-hop artist. National research compiled by YMCA for the campaign has found that, of the young people who say they experience stigma around their mental health difficulties, more than a third (37%) say it happens at least once a week and 54% say it originates from their own friends.Researchers spoke to more than 2,000 11 to 24-year-olds and found that 38% of those with mental health difficulties felt they were stigmatised. Of those, 56% said this made them less willing to access professional support for their mental health difficulties and 70% said they were less likely to speak about their problems.As part of its support, YMCA Norfolk is asking its residents, staff and supporters to tweet photographs of themselves using the #IAMWHOLE hashtag with the campaign circle logo painted on their hands.Nationally, the campaign, which is supported by major celebrities, includingandis asking people to:In addition, Jordan has written a new song Whole about tackling mental health issues and the #IAMWHOLE campaign features in the songs music video, along with young people from YMCAs Right Here mental health project in Brighton.said: No young person should be treated differently because they experience mental health difficulties. Yet, todays research shows that mental health stigma is a sad reality for many young people.This is why were supporting the #IAMWHOLE campaign. Together we can tackle the stigma and the negative consequences young people are facing when trying to deal with their mental health difficulties alone and make sure they get the help and support they need., said: The #IAMWHOLE campaign message that together we are whole is so important and I am pleased to be launching it today on World Mental Health Day. My mum is a trained therapist so Ive seen how important it is for people to get the right support and not to feel isolated. Ive also had friends and people close to me seriously affected by mental health issues. I wrote Whole to express how I was feeling at the bottom of a situation. When the NHS suggested it could be used to give other people a way of feeling less alone, man that felt really good.Other findings from the YMCA's research report include: Dr Tim Kendall, National Clinical Director for Mental Health for NHS England, said: A lot of work is being done by the NHS in England to support improvements in children and young peoples mental health and wellbeing, including major investment and service transformation over the next five years. Reaching out to young people who arent coming forward to access services due to fear of stigma is so important and the #IAMWHOLE campaign is helping to start that conversation with young people today online, through social media and an anti-stigma challenge initiative for schools. Follow #IAMWHOLE on Twitter or visit www.ymca.org.uk/i-am-whole Pictured above are YMCA Norfolk CEO Tim Sweeting and Mental Health Engagement Worker Charlie Smith backing the campaign. Quiet Waters Christian Retreat in Bungay is holding a gentle day retreat exploring healing in the Kingdom of God. Quiet Waters Christian Retreat in Bungay is holding a gentle day retreat exploring healing in the Kingdom of God. Norfolk ministry coaching duo are guest speakers Former church leaders and now freelance ministry coaches, Jonathan and Paige Squirrell, are the guest speakers at the next dinner of Norwich FGB on Monday, November 21. Read more Bringing light to Halloween Anna Price encourages Christians to engage positively with Halloween rather than hide away, on what many see as the darkest night of the year. Read more First service takes place at Norwich church site SOUL Church hosted around 400 people for a special service on the site of their new building on Heartsease Lane. Read more Dereham draws up list of warm places for winter As rising energy prices make it harder to heat homes, churches in Dereham are leading the way in creating warm spaces where people can go. Read more South Norfolk church scoops national award A medieval Anglican church in a tiny hamlet in South Norfolk has won a national award and a 10,000 boost. Read more Dereham churches help people to help themselves A group of churches in Dereham have launched an ambitious project which aims to meet needs in the town, including the provision of food and skills training. Read more Executive assistant and nursery manager jobs SOUL Church is a vibrant, welcoming and growing church in Norwich. They are seeking an organised and versatile Executive Assistant to provide key support to the churchs Senior Pastors, as well as a qualified Nursery Manager to head up SOUL Nursery. Read more Halloween light in Gorleston church On Halloween this year, St Mary Magdalene Church in Gorleston will be preparing to welcome around 200 families to experience their Light on a Dark Night event. Read more An opportunity for Norwich to pray for the nation Rev Nigel Fox, who has served as a Methodist Minister for 15 years in Norwich, shares an open invitation to pray for the nation at a crucial moment. Read more Norwich church seeks musicians Kingdom Ambassadors International Church is appealing for instrumentlists, keyboardists and guitarists to be part of their worship experience. Read more Please keep Rishi in your prayers Andy Bryant urges us to pray for our political leaders, especially the new Prime Minister, and avoid unhelpful judgementalism. Read more Emilys art boosts growing Yarmouth foodbank A pupil at a primary school in Bradwell has been selling her pictures in order to raise money for the Yarmouth and Magdalen Foodbank, which is expanding its capacity and is seeking more volunteers. Read more Patrick Regan helps Norwich to bounce forwards On Saturday St Stephens in Norwich hosted Bouncing Forwards as part of a national tour by the mental health charity Kintsugi Hope. Read more Painting and biblical feasting in Overstrand There will be opportunities to improve your painting skills and indulge in some biblical feasting next month at the Pleasaunce in Overstrand in North Norfolk. Read more Latest Norfolk Christian community events Events of interest to the Norwich and Norfolk Christian community happening over the next few weeks are listed. Read more National award for Dereham Christian bookshop The Green Pastures Christian bookshop in Dereham has won a national award for providing boxes of Christian books to 21 local schools. Read more Norma's care home jigsaw challenge complete A resident at Norwich-based care home Corton House has completed an incredible 70 jigsaw puzzles in celebration of the homes 70th anniversary this year. Read more I was at a conference recently and came across Dawie Olivier, CIO of Westpac Bank and Australasian-operating bank. That it took a trip to Texas to discover someone who lives in the same country as me was an ironic reflection on why industry conferences are still useful events. Notwithstanding the weirdness that wed never met previously, I was interested to hear of Oliviers experiences within three different banks in different geographies. After the event, I caught up with him (and thanks must go out to Chefs awesome PR company for arranging the conversation) to get deeper insight into how banks operate and what it means to innovate within their traditionally constrained environments. Ive spent some time consulting within financial services organizations in general, and banks in particular, and I have always been surprised at just how much legacy technology solutions prove to be a barrier to innovation. Add to that a highly risk-averse complex where regulation is often held up as a reason for NOT moving faster, and you have a setting that is, perhaps, the very antithesis of Silicon Valley pace. So, with this background, I sat down to chat with Olivier about his experiences. CIO New Zealand Westpac Bank CIO Dawie Olivier Westpac is Oliviers third bank, and he has seen first hand what he calls banks' theatre of governancean overwhelming culture that creates a semblance of control that banks (and, in fairness, other large organizations) cling to. A culture exists that clings to strong and strict gated review-delivery mechanisms. Olivier paraphrased Conways Law, saying the complexity of the systems that an organization designs are domed to be as complex as the organizations themselves. Innovating within a complex organization How can you be innovative within an organization like that? In Olivier's view, innovation is a result of learning to be agile and requires thinking about different things and, fundamentally, thinking differently. Olivier reflects on a move from big-picture thinking to taking small hypotheses and reacting to them. This approach is, of course, the opposite of the orthodox approach, which seeks cycles of validation before a project is even undertaken. Riffing on his Conways Law theme, Olivier reflected on the approach that takes an existing complex organization and increases the complexity of the systems that are charged with maintaining them. Not too long ago, as he recounted, development teams at Westpac would have a work life that consisted of a series of individual tasks that needed to be fulfilled. These tasks were generally disconnected from any single outcomes. Developer performance was measured by specification and outputonce a task was finished, the developer would, waterfall style, move on to the next one. The problem with that approach is if the upfront documentation, or core hypothesis about the task was wrong, the work would simply be rejected. Similarly, work with errors would be rejected from downstream parties. This goes against the basic humanistic desire to work within a specific context. This waterfall approach has no context and simply consists of tick boxes. Developers working a 40- to 60-hour week in that style would complete their timesheet but have no sense of closure or completeness upon which to reflect. Thus, disempowered with any perspective on a finished product, organizations would have to create a large management overhead, with large teams of predominantly disconnected workers being applied to small tasks. This, of course, created a need for large resource planning systems and many management layers. Fundamentally this is not an inspirational way to live, and morale suffers. The reason, as Olivier sees it, why developers move form large organizations to startups is because in the smaller organizations, agile teams can understand a single, consistent vision. Smaller organizations dont have the luxury of lots of people waiting to be tasked, and hence people simply roll up their sleeves and get working. The feedback loops are immediate and obvious. And at the end of the week, workers can see progress to a bigger task and feel far greater job satisfaction. Breaking away from waterfall and moving to agile With this problem identified, what is a large organization to do? Moving from one culture to an entirely different one is a really hard thing. Simply saying to people lets change our working methodology doesnt help with the deeper-seated problem. The first step is simply to allow teams to have a conversation and identify how a great day at work would feel fro them. From there, you can uncover the behaviors that everyone individually would demonstrate. As Olivier put it, this creates a self-regulating principle. Banks should always be moving on to the next iterationstriving for a continuous evolution on the basis of what works well within the particular environment. Once this approach is created and people have the aspiration to feel and act differently, dissatisfaction with the current methods in place quickly rolls in. It then becomes a relatively easy step to allow people to experiment with the methods that allow them to work the way they really want to. It sounds trite, but Olivier's experience tells him that people aspire to be trusted and to trust others. They aspire to have their interests acknowledged, to collaborate, to learn and to have fun. But, and heres the rub, while those are lofty goals, how does that occur within an industry that is so focused, rightly or wrongly, on governance, risk and compliance? Olivier suggests something somewhat counter-intuitive: that these development stacks that are built to embrace and deliver agile actually result in better indications when things are wrong. There is hard engineering underpinning the softer cultural aims of the agile organization, and this ensures faster feedback loops and clearer visibility are all steps in the development chain. Olivier is a huge critic of what he calls Gartners bimodal nonsensethe idea of having two individual approaches to technology within an organization: one agile for blue skies projects and one traditional for more legacy projects. As he sees it, control from a heavily gated and governed process is an absolute fallacy. Compliance isnt actually measured until the end of the project, and hence risks and impacts are far larger. But Olivier isnt just a theorist. He is tasked with delivering product innovation for Westpac. He points to the example of an entirely new payment engine that the bank is building on an agile basis using DevOps approaches. It is a big, hairy project, and traditional planning processes would have tried to have delivered a specification from the outset that, as a matter of course, would have had poor visibility into issues until the go-live datedespite the fact that during a project, invariably things break. In terms of project planning, on a program like this, over half of what would have been original technical scope under traditional approaches was identified, in progress, as not being required. Much of the governance requirement that would have been in place from the outset to comply is no longer required. The new agile methods work The results, according to Olivier, speak for themselves. The team built compliance visibility throughout the project. What would have once been taken as faith until the go-live date can now be proved on an ongoing basis. Oliver and his team have added measures to show that the new methods are more effective and robust. I wanted to quiz Olivier on his views about monolithic banking stacks and the different philosophies around what to do them. As he sees it, banks have two options: They can replace their core systems internally, thereby creating new legacy systems that only the bank understands. Or they can outsource this work to a vendor and create a future that largely rests in those vendors hands. Far better, as he sees it, is to build a capability within the organization that is able to contemplate good customer outcomes and to create modular, componentized technology solutions. Oliviers mantra is to create nothing that is so monolithic that parts cannot be replaced in isolation. And so, with a destination point achieved, what comes next? Olivier is quick to point out that banking agility is not a journey with a destination. He says banks should always be moving on to the next iterationstriving for a continuous evolution on the basis of what works well within the particular environment. That is, of course, far from static. Olivier said in 10 years time, well likely look back and think of todays approaches a quaint and inefficient. Finally, Olivier said he has no expectation of homogeneity in terms of how teams work. Only the people themselves can define how work should be done, he said. He fosters an active process of crowdsourcing technology tools and method. This was a refreshing conversation with an industry thought leader. Olivier is aware of both the technological and cultural barriers and levers to innovation and agility, and he is doing a stellar job of shepherding his organization into the new age. By PTI NEW DELHI: Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara has completed the induction of Airbus A320 ceo planes in its fleet, with the arrival of the 13th and the last such aircraft from Toulouse in France this week. The airline will now induct fuel-efficient A320 neo (new engine option), which are scheduled to be delivered from the first quarter of the next fiscal. Vistara plans to use the 13th A320 plane in launching its operations from Kolkata to Bangalore, Guwahati and Port Blair. The city-headquartered airline had in 2014 announced leasing of 20 Airbus A320 planes 13 A320 ceo (current engine option) and seven A320 neo (new engine option) from Singaporean leasing firm, BOC Aviation. "We have taken delivery of the 13th and final A320 ceo plane. The aircraft will be based in Kolkata for carrying out services on Kolkata-Bangalore, Bangalore-Guwahati (via Kolkata) and Kolkata-Port Blair routes," a Vistara spokesperson told PTI. These new services would commence operations from the 18th of this month, the spokesperson added. "The deliveries of the remaining seven of the 20 planes, which are A320 neo planes, will commence from the first quarter of the next fiscal," he said. All these seven planes are to be inducted in the fleet by June 2018. "Our fleet is growing bigger and stronger. We welcome the 13th member of Vistara family," Vistara had earlier tweeted after taking delivery of the aircraft from the Toulouse manufacturing facility of the European plane maker, Airbus. Vistara, in which Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines own 51 per cent and 49 per cent stake, respectively, currently operates over 430 weekly flights from 18 domestic airports. As part of its winter schedule, Vistara, the third full service domestic carrier after Government-owned Air India and Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways, plans to offer a total of 490 flights besides adding some new destinations. Vistara had commenced operations from its base here in January 2015. It had flown a total of around 2.5 million passengers till August this year with 2.4 per cent market share. NEW DELHI: Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara has completed the induction of Airbus A320 ceo planes in its fleet, with the arrival of the 13th and the last such aircraft from Toulouse in France this week. The airline will now induct fuel-efficient A320 neo (new engine option), which are scheduled to be delivered from the first quarter of the next fiscal. Vistara plans to use the 13th A320 plane in launching its operations from Kolkata to Bangalore, Guwahati and Port Blair. The city-headquartered airline had in 2014 announced leasing of 20 Airbus A320 planes 13 A320 ceo (current engine option) and seven A320 neo (new engine option) from Singaporean leasing firm, BOC Aviation. "We have taken delivery of the 13th and final A320 ceo plane. The aircraft will be based in Kolkata for carrying out services on Kolkata-Bangalore, Bangalore-Guwahati (via Kolkata) and Kolkata-Port Blair routes," a Vistara spokesperson told PTI. These new services would commence operations from the 18th of this month, the spokesperson added. "The deliveries of the remaining seven of the 20 planes, which are A320 neo planes, will commence from the first quarter of the next fiscal," he said. All these seven planes are to be inducted in the fleet by June 2018. "Our fleet is growing bigger and stronger. We welcome the 13th member of Vistara family," Vistara had earlier tweeted after taking delivery of the aircraft from the Toulouse manufacturing facility of the European plane maker, Airbus. Vistara, in which Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines own 51 per cent and 49 per cent stake, respectively, currently operates over 430 weekly flights from 18 domestic airports. As part of its winter schedule, Vistara, the third full service domestic carrier after Government-owned Air India and Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways, plans to offer a total of 490 flights besides adding some new destinations. Vistara had commenced operations from its base here in January 2015. It had flown a total of around 2.5 million passengers till August this year with 2.4 per cent market share. By Express News Service KOCHI: It was only after suspected IS operative Subhani Haji Moideen was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), that his family members came to know about his extremist links. The NIA team, led by DySP Shoukath Ali, took Subhani to his native place in Thodupuzha on Sunday for evidence collection. Sources said that Subhanis father Haji Moidheen told the officers that Subhani left for Tamil Nadu and the family members had no knowledge regarding his activities there. Haji Moidheen, hailing from Kadayanallur, settled in Thodupuzha after he started a textile business here about 45 years ago. The sleuths recorded the statements of other relatives and friends of Subhani. The arrest of the 31-year-old by NIA was recorded on Thursday. According to NIA officers, Subhani was radicalised and recruited to IS by recruiters active on online social media platforms. He was taken to Mosul in Iraq, where he underwent detailed training in Shariya followed by combat training for more than five months. Besides, he was paid $100 per month as subsistence allowed by IS along with common available accommodation and food without any additional charges, NIA sources said. Subhani had left his home on April 8, 2015, on a visiting visa, telling his parents and wife that he was going to perform Umrah, from Chennai. The team recovered a few documents from the residence of Subhani on Market Road, Thodupuzha, after conducting searches for about one-and-a-half hour. Meanwhile, a few BJP workers protested by assembling near the house and raising slogans against IS fundamentalists, when the sleuths were taking Subhani back after the proceedings, on their vehicle. However, a police team from Thodupuzha, kept the situation under control. KOCHI: It was only after suspected IS operative Subhani Haji Moideen was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), that his family members came to know about his extremist links. The NIA team, led by DySP Shoukath Ali, took Subhani to his native place in Thodupuzha on Sunday for evidence collection. Sources said that Subhanis father Haji Moidheen told the officers that Subhani left for Tamil Nadu and the family members had no knowledge regarding his activities there. Haji Moidheen, hailing from Kadayanallur, settled in Thodupuzha after he started a textile business here about 45 years ago. The sleuths recorded the statements of other relatives and friends of Subhani. The arrest of the 31-year-old by NIA was recorded on Thursday. According to NIA officers, Subhani was radicalised and recruited to IS by recruiters active on online social media platforms. He was taken to Mosul in Iraq, where he underwent detailed training in Shariya followed by combat training for more than five months. Besides, he was paid $100 per month as subsistence allowed by IS along with common available accommodation and food without any additional charges, NIA sources said. Subhani had left his home on April 8, 2015, on a visiting visa, telling his parents and wife that he was going to perform Umrah, from Chennai. The team recovered a few documents from the residence of Subhani on Market Road, Thodupuzha, after conducting searches for about one-and-a-half hour. Meanwhile, a few BJP workers protested by assembling near the house and raising slogans against IS fundamentalists, when the sleuths were taking Subhani back after the proceedings, on their vehicle. However, a police team from Thodupuzha, kept the situation under control. By IANS CHENNAI: Actress Kajal Aggarwal, who is currently busy shooting for megastar Chiranjeevi-starrer Telugu actioner "Khaidi No 150," has revealed that her biggest source of inspiration in her life is her mother. During a Twitter chat with her fans, Kajal opened up on a lot of things. When asked about her source of inspiration in life, she said it has always been her mother. Commenting on her dream role, Kajal said she would love to see herself in a full-length action avatar. Currently busy shooting for Ajith's yet-untitled Tamil thriller, she also said she would love to work again with superstar Vijay, provided she gets a good script. On marriage plans, Kajal said it's not going to happen anytime soon. CHENNAI: Actress Kajal Aggarwal, who is currently busy shooting for megastar Chiranjeevi-starrer Telugu actioner "Khaidi No 150," has revealed that her biggest source of inspiration in her life is her mother. During a Twitter chat with her fans, Kajal opened up on a lot of things. When asked about her source of inspiration in life, she said it has always been her mother. Commenting on her dream role, Kajal said she would love to see herself in a full-length action avatar. Currently busy shooting for Ajith's yet-untitled Tamil thriller, she also said she would love to work again with superstar Vijay, provided she gets a good script. On marriage plans, Kajal said it's not going to happen anytime soon. By Reuters New Orleans is an eccentric city. Its a weird city. But most of allNew Orleans is a haunted city, perhaps the most haunted in all of America. Shows like "American Horror Story" and countless articles have highlighted the heavy hitters: a dangerous pharmacist performing illegal experiments on pregnant women, a murdered Turkish sultan and his exotic harem, and, of course, no list would be complete without Mad Madame Delphine LaLaurie. But what of the lesser-known haunted places of New Orleans? The next time you're in town dont forget that New Orleans has earned its reputation as Americas most haunted city. And it has earned that reputation one building, one story, one ghost at a time. 1. Mahogany Jazz Hall and Club In the 1880s, the current-day Mahogany Jazz Hall was the place where people went to die. Seated two blocks from the Mississippi River, this rowdy establishmentthen known as Folks Lodging Housewelcomed sailors, merchants, and the otherwise desperate within its bricked walls. 26-year-old Charles Murphy was a long-term guest. He was a shoemaker, an Englishman, and had worked for Andersons Shoe Factory in New Orleans for nearly two years when a debilitating fever struck him. By the time he returned to the lodgings at the end of his work shifts, shaken and drawn to the bone, Murphy only ever had enough energy to remind Mr. Folk to wake him at 6:00 A.M. the next morning. This was their ritual. On March 31, 1888, the ritual would break. At 6:00 A.M. on the dot, Mr. Folk strolled up the stairwell and went to Murphys room. He rapped on the door with a closed fist, lingered a moment when Murphy rose from bed for a quick chat, then descended back down the steps. Murphy shut the door behind Mr. Folk. Quietly, so as not to alert anyone, the young shoemaker secured a piece of clothing line about 2.5 feet long on an iron hook on the wall... the other side of the rope he fastened around his neck and strangled himself. Mr. Folk found Murphy three hours later. This was not the end for Folks Lodging House. 32-year-old German immigrant, George Kreis, had taken up residence at the lodging house after Mr. Folk found him living on the streets. Ill help you get a job, Mr. Folk must have promised to the desperate Kreis. And a job was exactly what the German needed; he was new to the city and completely broke. The job that Mr. Folk found for Kreis was in baking goods, and Kreis took him up on it. But there was a problem: Kreis did not know how to bake. He didnt even know how to cook. On Valentines Day in 1890, Kreis withdrew the last of his money and purchased a Defender.32 caliber revolver. He waved goodnight to Mr. Folk around 10 p.m., went up to his room, put the revolver in his mouth, and curled his finger around the trigger. Kreis blew his brains out that night. And poor Mr. Folk was left to find yet another suicide victim. Mr. Folks Lodging House was plagued by other deaths over the years, including a rather nasty 1892 murder broadcasted in the Times-Picayune with the headline, Shot in the Dark: Mysterious Killing on 125 Chartres Street. No one understands why this building has attracted such horrific events, but its safe to say that the ghosts of these victims still haunt the venue today. Guests have experienced phantom hands touching them, disembodied voices whispering in their ears, and even sightings of dark shadows moving about the bar. The Mahogany Jazz Hall might not be the place where people go to die any longer, but the darkness from that period lives on in the propertys countless spirits. 2. Fleur de Lis Mansion This beautiful Greek Revival mansion dates back to 1820s, when the Saulets, one of New Orleans founding families, acquired the property. The mansion is rumored to have been a brothel in the early 1900s, although no evidence of this survives. Despite such rich history, the Fleur de Lis slipped into disrepair by the 1990s, with itinerants living inside the abandoned home. Huddled in what is now known as the Red Room, these residents survived the winter months by burning fires inside. They hauled newspapers and wood into the property, struck a match and set the tinder ablaze. In 2008, one fire got out of hand. The flames spread through the rooms, burning through much of the mansion. Thankfully, the old bones of the structure survived. When new owners acquired the property a few years later, they sought to restore the mansion to its original grandness. Today, the Fleur de Lis is a bed and breakfast. Yet the ghosts of the past remain. In the River Suite, a pair of guests watched in fear as the door swung open and crashed against the wall. In the Red Room, with its doors still scarred by the fire, an unfortunate guest awoke in the middle of the night to see a man standing at the foot of the bed, watching her as she slept. His apparition dissipated as soon as she jerked upright and screamed. In the Fleur de Lis Suite, voices have been heard, murmuring as though begging the living to take note of the dead. While the historic hotels in the French Quarter represent New Orleans' better known paranormal hotspots, the Fleur de Lis Mansion, a charming bed & breakfast with original features, stands toe-to-toe with the best of them. If you dont believe us, book yourself a night at this haunted B&B and just wait until the stroke of midnight. 3. Loyola University New Orleans Marquette Hall, Loyolas very own castle (and its administration building) has a secret: from 1916 to 1966, its fifth floor was used as a morgue for the universitys anatomy majors. But as the elevators did not ascend to the fifth floor, Loyola installed a crane behind Marquette Hall. A external winch was also attached to the fifth floor, so that corpses could be lifted. Students seated in class on the buildings lower levels grew accustomed to the high-pitched creaking of the crane. Without even a glance at the windows, they knew that the groaning ropes and screeching pulleys meant that a body was being brought up for dissection. Sometimes, the universitys newspaper noted in 2002, the stretcher would tilt and a bare foot would stick out from underneath the sheet. According to former officers of the university, that external winch can still be found on the fifth floor. While Loyola no longer has a morgue, the haunting cranking of the pulley still echoes through the night. Temperature fluctuations are common in Loyolas most picturesque building, and so are doors flying open and slamming shut by unseen forcesbut only ever on the fifth floor. Two years after the morgue closed its doors, Loyolas dealings with the dead made news because of an exorcism that took place in the all-girls dorm. A group of female students believed that they had made contact with Satan, as well as with a female spirit named Hazel whose husband died in prison for a crime she herself committed. The more often the students attempted to communicate with the other side, the more intense the paranormal phenomena became. Objects rearranged themselves on their dorm room shelves, posters were ripped off the walls by an invisible hand, furniture slid unpushed across the floor. Most dont believe that Satan ever visited Loyola. Instead, skeptics contend that the girls simply played a prank. The truth has never been determined, though the ghostly activity continues to this daywhether it's the haunting sound of the pulley hauling up cadavers or strange sensations within the dorm. 4. Jackson Square Jackson Square is the heart of the French Quarterits a place for picnics, games, and weddings. But during the 18th and early 19th centuries, Jackson Square had a much different name and a much darker reality. It was known as the Place dArmas, thanks to the Army barracks that enclosed it, and it was not a slice of heaven but rather a slice of hell. It was the public execution square. On Sundays, church-going folk left Mass at St. Louis Cathedral, crossed the dirt path, and entered the Place dArmas. There they waited with for the prisoners to be selected from the Old Parish Prison, which was once tucked in the rear of the Cabildo, the old governing seat. Lesser criminals did their time in the stocks, positioned around the square for utmost humiliation. Those whose crimes were more severe were led to death. Some met the guillotine. Others were hanged. For Jean Baptiste Baudreau Dit Graveline II, however, it was a fate worse than death. He died upon a medieval contraption of pure painthe torture wheel. Born in 1710, Jean Baptiste was early colonialist in French Louisiana who repeatedly ran afoul with authorities. By the 1750s he found himself a prisoner of the French island prison on present-day Cat Island, Mississippi. When a mutiny broke out among the soldiers stationed there in 1757, Jean Baptiste was charged with participatingthis despite a signed document from the actual mutineers that he played no part in the revolt. On June 7, 1757, Jean Baptiste was brought to Jackson Square, and tied to the wheel. The executioner readied his club. Bone by broken bone, Jean Baptiste was bludgeoned to death. He was one of the few individuals ever executed in the Americas in this manner. They say that New Orleans was founded on violence, but perhaps it was also founded on the perception that misbehaving must be severely punished. As it turned out, not even the priests of St. Louis Cathedral blessed the criminals before they met their final match. They were given no absolution for their sins; no sign that they would ever ascend to Heaven. They met their maker believing that God had turned His back on them. With so much heartbreak, it only makes sense that Jackson Square is one of the most haunted places in the French Quarter. Death, torture... It seems that many of the people executed at the square remain, their spirits left to wander the place of their death for all of eternity. Today, those who brave a visit to Jackson Square after dark frequently catch paranormal activity on their cameras. Orbs dancing in the air. Eerie mists rising high above the grass. And then, almost like an echo of the passage of time, a scream rising above the sounds of jazz, joviality, and passing traffic. One must wonder to whom those ghostly screams belongthe prisoners, forced to relive their final moments of life forever in death? Or perhaps the priests themselves, who refused to bestow final rites on the criminals... and may now be suffering the consequences. About the Author Maria first came to New Orleans to attend college and quickly realized that the Crescent City's weirdness matched her own. Since then, she's left only to attend graduate school across the pond in England. She's been a tour guide in a medieval townhouse, a Viking museum, and, most recently, a guide for Ghost City Tours. Through working as a tour guide for Ghost City, Maria was offered her current position of Media and Public Relations Director. Her role for the company comprises her favorite topics: writing and history. If youre looking to talk murder, mystery and scandal in pre-20th century America or Medieval Europe, shes your girl! New Orleans is an eccentric city. Its a weird city. But most of allNew Orleans is a haunted city, perhaps the most haunted in all of America. Shows like "American Horror Story" and countless articles have highlighted the heavy hitters: a dangerous pharmacist performing illegal experiments on pregnant women, a murdered Turkish sultan and his exotic harem, and, of course, no list would be complete without Mad Madame Delphine LaLaurie. But what of the lesser-known haunted places of New Orleans? The next time you're in town dont forget that New Orleans has earned its reputation as Americas most haunted city. And it has earned that reputation one building, one story, one ghost at a time. 1. Mahogany Jazz Hall and Club In the 1880s, the current-day Mahogany Jazz Hall was the place where people went to die. Seated two blocks from the Mississippi River, this rowdy establishmentthen known as Folks Lodging Housewelcomed sailors, merchants, and the otherwise desperate within its bricked walls. 26-year-old Charles Murphy was a long-term guest. He was a shoemaker, an Englishman, and had worked for Andersons Shoe Factory in New Orleans for nearly two years when a debilitating fever struck him. By the time he returned to the lodgings at the end of his work shifts, shaken and drawn to the bone, Murphy only ever had enough energy to remind Mr. Folk to wake him at 6:00 A.M. the next morning. This was their ritual. On March 31, 1888, the ritual would break. At 6:00 A.M. on the dot, Mr. Folk strolled up the stairwell and went to Murphys room. He rapped on the door with a closed fist, lingered a moment when Murphy rose from bed for a quick chat, then descended back down the steps. Murphy shut the door behind Mr. Folk. Quietly, so as not to alert anyone, the young shoemaker secured a piece of clothing line about 2.5 feet long on an iron hook on the wall... the other side of the rope he fastened around his neck and strangled himself. Mr. Folk found Murphy three hours later. This was not the end for Folks Lodging House. 32-year-old German immigrant, George Kreis, had taken up residence at the lodging house after Mr. Folk found him living on the streets. Ill help you get a job, Mr. Folk must have promised to the desperate Kreis. And a job was exactly what the German needed; he was new to the city and completely broke. The job that Mr. Folk found for Kreis was in baking goods, and Kreis took him up on it. But there was a problem: Kreis did not know how to bake. He didnt even know how to cook. On Valentines Day in 1890, Kreis withdrew the last of his money and purchased a Defender.32 caliber revolver. He waved goodnight to Mr. Folk around 10 p.m., went up to his room, put the revolver in his mouth, and curled his finger around the trigger. Kreis blew his brains out that night. And poor Mr. Folk was left to find yet another suicide victim. Mr. Folks Lodging House was plagued by other deaths over the years, including a rather nasty 1892 murder broadcasted in the Times-Picayune with the headline, Shot in the Dark: Mysterious Killing on 125 Chartres Street. No one understands why this building has attracted such horrific events, but its safe to say that the ghosts of these victims still haunt the venue today. Guests have experienced phantom hands touching them, disembodied voices whispering in their ears, and even sightings of dark shadows moving about the bar. The Mahogany Jazz Hall might not be the place where people go to die any longer, but the darkness from that period lives on in the propertys countless spirits. 2. Fleur de Lis Mansion This beautiful Greek Revival mansion dates back to 1820s, when the Saulets, one of New Orleans founding families, acquired the property. The mansion is rumored to have been a brothel in the early 1900s, although no evidence of this survives. Despite such rich history, the Fleur de Lis slipped into disrepair by the 1990s, with itinerants living inside the abandoned home. Huddled in what is now known as the Red Room, these residents survived the winter months by burning fires inside. They hauled newspapers and wood into the property, struck a match and set the tinder ablaze. In 2008, one fire got out of hand. The flames spread through the rooms, burning through much of the mansion. Thankfully, the old bones of the structure survived. When new owners acquired the property a few years later, they sought to restore the mansion to its original grandness. Today, the Fleur de Lis is a bed and breakfast. Yet the ghosts of the past remain. In the River Suite, a pair of guests watched in fear as the door swung open and crashed against the wall. In the Red Room, with its doors still scarred by the fire, an unfortunate guest awoke in the middle of the night to see a man standing at the foot of the bed, watching her as she slept. His apparition dissipated as soon as she jerked upright and screamed. In the Fleur de Lis Suite, voices have been heard, murmuring as though begging the living to take note of the dead. While the historic hotels in the French Quarter represent New Orleans' better known paranormal hotspots, the Fleur de Lis Mansion, a charming bed & breakfast with original features, stands toe-to-toe with the best of them. If you dont believe us, book yourself a night at this haunted B&B and just wait until the stroke of midnight. 3. Loyola University New Orleans Marquette Hall, Loyolas very own castle (and its administration building) has a secret: from 1916 to 1966, its fifth floor was used as a morgue for the universitys anatomy majors. But as the elevators did not ascend to the fifth floor, Loyola installed a crane behind Marquette Hall. A external winch was also attached to the fifth floor, so that corpses could be lifted. Students seated in class on the buildings lower levels grew accustomed to the high-pitched creaking of the crane. Without even a glance at the windows, they knew that the groaning ropes and screeching pulleys meant that a body was being brought up for dissection. Sometimes, the universitys newspaper noted in 2002, the stretcher would tilt and a bare foot would stick out from underneath the sheet. According to former officers of the university, that external winch can still be found on the fifth floor. While Loyola no longer has a morgue, the haunting cranking of the pulley still echoes through the night. Temperature fluctuations are common in Loyolas most picturesque building, and so are doors flying open and slamming shut by unseen forcesbut only ever on the fifth floor. Two years after the morgue closed its doors, Loyolas dealings with the dead made news because of an exorcism that took place in the all-girls dorm. A group of female students believed that they had made contact with Satan, as well as with a female spirit named Hazel whose husband died in prison for a crime she herself committed. The more often the students attempted to communicate with the other side, the more intense the paranormal phenomena became. Objects rearranged themselves on their dorm room shelves, posters were ripped off the walls by an invisible hand, furniture slid unpushed across the floor. Most dont believe that Satan ever visited Loyola. Instead, skeptics contend that the girls simply played a prank. The truth has never been determined, though the ghostly activity continues to this daywhether it's the haunting sound of the pulley hauling up cadavers or strange sensations within the dorm. 4. Jackson Square Jackson Square is the heart of the French Quarterits a place for picnics, games, and weddings. But during the 18th and early 19th centuries, Jackson Square had a much different name and a much darker reality. It was known as the Place dArmas, thanks to the Army barracks that enclosed it, and it was not a slice of heaven but rather a slice of hell. It was the public execution square. On Sundays, church-going folk left Mass at St. Louis Cathedral, crossed the dirt path, and entered the Place dArmas. There they waited with for the prisoners to be selected from the Old Parish Prison, which was once tucked in the rear of the Cabildo, the old governing seat. Lesser criminals did their time in the stocks, positioned around the square for utmost humiliation. Those whose crimes were more severe were led to death. Some met the guillotine. Others were hanged. For Jean Baptiste Baudreau Dit Graveline II, however, it was a fate worse than death. He died upon a medieval contraption of pure painthe torture wheel. Born in 1710, Jean Baptiste was early colonialist in French Louisiana who repeatedly ran afoul with authorities. By the 1750s he found himself a prisoner of the French island prison on present-day Cat Island, Mississippi. When a mutiny broke out among the soldiers stationed there in 1757, Jean Baptiste was charged with participatingthis despite a signed document from the actual mutineers that he played no part in the revolt. On June 7, 1757, Jean Baptiste was brought to Jackson Square, and tied to the wheel. The executioner readied his club. Bone by broken bone, Jean Baptiste was bludgeoned to death. He was one of the few individuals ever executed in the Americas in this manner. They say that New Orleans was founded on violence, but perhaps it was also founded on the perception that misbehaving must be severely punished. As it turned out, not even the priests of St. Louis Cathedral blessed the criminals before they met their final match. They were given no absolution for their sins; no sign that they would ever ascend to Heaven. They met their maker believing that God had turned His back on them. With so much heartbreak, it only makes sense that Jackson Square is one of the most haunted places in the French Quarter. Death, torture... It seems that many of the people executed at the square remain, their spirits left to wander the place of their death for all of eternity. Today, those who brave a visit to Jackson Square after dark frequently catch paranormal activity on their cameras. Orbs dancing in the air. Eerie mists rising high above the grass. And then, almost like an echo of the passage of time, a scream rising above the sounds of jazz, joviality, and passing traffic. One must wonder to whom those ghostly screams belongthe prisoners, forced to relive their final moments of life forever in death? Or perhaps the priests themselves, who refused to bestow final rites on the criminals... and may now be suffering the consequences. About the Author Maria first came to New Orleans to attend college and quickly realized that the Crescent City's weirdness matched her own. Since then, she's left only to attend graduate school across the pond in England. She's been a tour guide in a medieval townhouse, a Viking museum, and, most recently, a guide for Ghost City Tours. Through working as a tour guide for Ghost City, Maria was offered her current position of Media and Public Relations Director. Her role for the company comprises her favorite topics: writing and history. If youre looking to talk murder, mystery and scandal in pre-20th century America or Medieval Europe, shes your girl! By IANS Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor; Author: Rick Riordan; Publisher: Puffin/Penguin Random House; Pages: 512; Price: Rs 599 It seems a straightforward heroic quest (as if they can ever be), searching an ancient tomb for a stolen divine weapon. But your informant is killed before your eyes, the assassin warns you are heading into a trap, there is no end to complications and eventually, you find your mission - on which rests the world's fate - might involve a forced and unsuitable marriage for one of your best friends. Par for the course for what Boston-born Magnus Chase, son of Frey or the Norse god of summer, healing and renewal, has to do in his new existence as an eternal warrior of Odin, the supreme god. But can he trust an ostensible enemy who again offers advice and help, while avoiding playing into the real enemies' hands, and complete his mission successfully? And will Magnus also manage to solve complications in the lives of his friends, old and new, not to mention his own? This is what we find out in the second Gods of Asgard novel, where Rick Riordan skillfully reinterprets the engrossing twists and turns of mythological lore with a most modern sensibility and settings, while entwining it with the glorious uncertainties of teenage life. Among all the prominent traditions, Norse (like its noir) may be the gloomiest and menacing, for while other pantheons face challenges, the outcome is never in doubt, this is one whose gods know most will not survive the inevitable, cataclysmic battle of Ragnarok (or Gotterdammerung, the more famous German term - courtesy Wagner) when the world will be destroyed. (It will be reborn and repeopled - but with a new set of gods). But Riordan, who has been termed the "storyteller of the gods" for the multiple ancient pantheons - Greek, Roman and Egyptian - he has brought to life across five cycles, is right up to the task here too. Not only does he introduce us to this sombre world (or worlds - nine of them) - of which we only usually know about Thor the Thunder God (thanks to the comic and movies), the Valkyries, and its reflection in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien - and its other inhabitants, but uses the ancient myths to provide an unforgettable and incisive view of modern life, and its problems. Riordan's intricately-plotted, but picturesque account is enlivened by irreverence only teenagers are capable of, while artfully satirising modern day fads that only teenagers are not only guilty of in the present (this includes but is not confined to selfies, being glued to TV, rock music, fashion trends and accessories), but also raises questions of choice (moral and otherwise), identity (including gender), parental expectations, costs and responsibilities of knowledge and loyalty - to family or friends, even when they may not be on the right track. And multiculturalism, diversity and acceptance are a major motif for Riordan as always. The author (who began the Percy Jackson series after retelling the old Greek myths to his dyslexic son) has focused on mental disabilities, homelessness, ethnic inclusiveness, and even homosexuality, in his earlier works, has a hijab-wearing Arab teenager among the principal protagonists. Samira Al-Abbas remains a devout Muslim despite her exacting work as a Valkyrie - and she herself points out, her situation is unique but not incongruous, due to the well-attested historic links between the Vikings and the Arabs (Remember Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead?") The second in the series, (which is likely to be a trilogy like Riordan's Carter series about Egyptian demigods, rather than the five-volume Percy Jackson series), this can be read on its own too, though reading "The Sword of Summer" (2015) will make this more fulfilling. Riordan also ties it in with his earlier works - Annabeth Chase, daughter of Greek wisdom goddess Athena and major protagonist of the Percy Jackson series, is a cousin of Magnus and makes an appearance in both installments so far, while seeming set for a more active role in the next one. And while Percy Jackson (or Harry Potter or aficionados of magical fantasy) fans will enjoy this, a bonus Percy story in this volume will be an added allurement. Magnus Chase and the Hammer of Thor; Author: Rick Riordan; Publisher: Puffin/Penguin Random House; Pages: 512; Price: Rs 599 It seems a straightforward heroic quest (as if they can ever be), searching an ancient tomb for a stolen divine weapon. But your informant is killed before your eyes, the assassin warns you are heading into a trap, there is no end to complications and eventually, you find your mission - on which rests the world's fate - might involve a forced and unsuitable marriage for one of your best friends. Par for the course for what Boston-born Magnus Chase, son of Frey or the Norse god of summer, healing and renewal, has to do in his new existence as an eternal warrior of Odin, the supreme god. But can he trust an ostensible enemy who again offers advice and help, while avoiding playing into the real enemies' hands, and complete his mission successfully? And will Magnus also manage to solve complications in the lives of his friends, old and new, not to mention his own? This is what we find out in the second Gods of Asgard novel, where Rick Riordan skillfully reinterprets the engrossing twists and turns of mythological lore with a most modern sensibility and settings, while entwining it with the glorious uncertainties of teenage life. Among all the prominent traditions, Norse (like its noir) may be the gloomiest and menacing, for while other pantheons face challenges, the outcome is never in doubt, this is one whose gods know most will not survive the inevitable, cataclysmic battle of Ragnarok (or Gotterdammerung, the more famous German term - courtesy Wagner) when the world will be destroyed. (It will be reborn and repeopled - but with a new set of gods). But Riordan, who has been termed the "storyteller of the gods" for the multiple ancient pantheons - Greek, Roman and Egyptian - he has brought to life across five cycles, is right up to the task here too. Not only does he introduce us to this sombre world (or worlds - nine of them) - of which we only usually know about Thor the Thunder God (thanks to the comic and movies), the Valkyries, and its reflection in the works of J.R.R. Tolkien - and its other inhabitants, but uses the ancient myths to provide an unforgettable and incisive view of modern life, and its problems. Riordan's intricately-plotted, but picturesque account is enlivened by irreverence only teenagers are capable of, while artfully satirising modern day fads that only teenagers are not only guilty of in the present (this includes but is not confined to selfies, being glued to TV, rock music, fashion trends and accessories), but also raises questions of choice (moral and otherwise), identity (including gender), parental expectations, costs and responsibilities of knowledge and loyalty - to family or friends, even when they may not be on the right track. And multiculturalism, diversity and acceptance are a major motif for Riordan as always. The author (who began the Percy Jackson series after retelling the old Greek myths to his dyslexic son) has focused on mental disabilities, homelessness, ethnic inclusiveness, and even homosexuality, in his earlier works, has a hijab-wearing Arab teenager among the principal protagonists. Samira Al-Abbas remains a devout Muslim despite her exacting work as a Valkyrie - and she herself points out, her situation is unique but not incongruous, due to the well-attested historic links between the Vikings and the Arabs (Remember Michael Crichton's "Eaters of the Dead?") The second in the series, (which is likely to be a trilogy like Riordan's Carter series about Egyptian demigods, rather than the five-volume Percy Jackson series), this can be read on its own too, though reading "The Sword of Summer" (2015) will make this more fulfilling. Riordan also ties it in with his earlier works - Annabeth Chase, daughter of Greek wisdom goddess Athena and major protagonist of the Percy Jackson series, is a cousin of Magnus and makes an appearance in both installments so far, while seeming set for a more active role in the next one. And while Percy Jackson (or Harry Potter or aficionados of magical fantasy) fans will enjoy this, a bonus Percy story in this volume will be an added allurement. Kanu Sarda By Express News Service NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi governments plan to ensure ease of doing business in India and increasing more arbitration facilities has hit a roadblock as the Bar Council of India (BCI), which had earlier agreed to allow the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms in India, has now withdrawn its own draft rules. In an unexpected move, the BCI, in its meeting held last month with the officials of Ministry of Law and Justice, announced it would no longer support the proposal as it is opposing the involvement of a lot of private organisations in the discussion. The ministries of Law and Justice and Commerce had conducted several rounds of discussions with all stakeholders involved in the process of the entry of foreign lawyers, including several private organisations such as International Council for Commercial Arbitration. The BCI, in its letter to the Law Secretary, said: It is apparent that a handful of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Law and Justice are trying to usurp the powers and functions of the BCI granted through the statute and are trying to bring separate legislation for regulating foreign law firms and lawyers without understanding the nuances and intricacies and the legalities involved. The letter reads: The BCI and state bar councils and the legal fraternity cannot and shall not accept such regulatory bodies at any cost and this will have strong and immense far-reaching repercussions and reactions from the lawyers. With the BCIs strong objections, law firms that were clamouring to enter India for decades have again been put on hold. This will also hit consumers who operate in international business and cross-country services. International trade and commerce are advancing at a great pace and a country that is not able to keep abreast with these global phenomenon is running a grave risk of being left out of the world market. The legal profession in India has to rise to the occasion to meet international challenges posed by the globalisation of business, reads the draft rule, which has been withdrawn now. BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has also sought an appointment with the Prime Minister, Law Minister and Finance Minister over the issue. NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi governments plan to ensure ease of doing business in India and increasing more arbitration facilities has hit a roadblock as the Bar Council of India (BCI), which had earlier agreed to allow the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms in India, has now withdrawn its own draft rules. In an unexpected move, the BCI, in its meeting held last month with the officials of Ministry of Law and Justice, announced it would no longer support the proposal as it is opposing the involvement of a lot of private organisations in the discussion. The ministries of Law and Justice and Commerce had conducted several rounds of discussions with all stakeholders involved in the process of the entry of foreign lawyers, including several private organisations such as International Council for Commercial Arbitration. The BCI, in its letter to the Law Secretary, said: It is apparent that a handful of bureaucrats in the Ministry of Law and Justice are trying to usurp the powers and functions of the BCI granted through the statute and are trying to bring separate legislation for regulating foreign law firms and lawyers without understanding the nuances and intricacies and the legalities involved. The letter reads: The BCI and state bar councils and the legal fraternity cannot and shall not accept such regulatory bodies at any cost and this will have strong and immense far-reaching repercussions and reactions from the lawyers. With the BCIs strong objections, law firms that were clamouring to enter India for decades have again been put on hold. This will also hit consumers who operate in international business and cross-country services. International trade and commerce are advancing at a great pace and a country that is not able to keep abreast with these global phenomenon is running a grave risk of being left out of the world market. The legal profession in India has to rise to the occasion to meet international challenges posed by the globalisation of business, reads the draft rule, which has been withdrawn now. BCI Chairman Manan Kumar Mishra has also sought an appointment with the Prime Minister, Law Minister and Finance Minister over the issue. By Express News Service NEW DELHI: In an apparent reference to the Armys surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this years Vijyadashami is very special and quoted BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay to say that very capable armed forces were a must for a strong nation. The Prime Minister also maintained that India should seek to be strong in its own interest, and this should not worry the neighbours. Speaking at a function held to release the complete works of Upadhyay, whose birth centenary celebrations are being organised by the government, Modi said, We will celebrate Vijayadashami in the coming days. This year it is very special for the country. His words elicited a thunderous applause from the audience at the Vigyan Bhavan. The Prime Minister is slated to take part in the Dussehra celebrations at Lucknow. With Uttar Pradesh heading for Assembly elections early next year, there appears a clear message that the BJP would seek to take credit for the effective response given to Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism. He (Upadhyay) used to say that the countrys armed forces should be very capable, then only can the nation be strong. In this time of competitiveness, the need is that the nation should be capable and strong, said Modi, who at the same time elaborated that being strong does not mean being against anyone. If we exercise for our strength, then the neighbour need not worry that it is to target him. I am exercising to strengthen myself and for my health, Modi stated in a subtle message to Pakistan. BJP chief Amit Shah said the Centre had made the country secure. Without diverting from the path of peace, the NDA government has ensured the countrys safety and security, he said. The second in command of the RSS, Suresh Bhayyaji Joshi, stressed the need for strengthening Indias security. Indias pursuit for national security was inspired by the need to defend itself rather than to defeat others. India should be safe and secure. Its borders are posing a challenge and everyone has seen that this issue can be resolved too, he said. NEW DELHI: In an apparent reference to the Armys surgical strikes in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said this years Vijyadashami is very special and quoted BJP ideologue Deendayal Upadhyay to say that very capable armed forces were a must for a strong nation. The Prime Minister also maintained that India should seek to be strong in its own interest, and this should not worry the neighbours. Speaking at a function held to release the complete works of Upadhyay, whose birth centenary celebrations are being organised by the government, Modi said, We will celebrate Vijayadashami in the coming days. This year it is very special for the country. His words elicited a thunderous applause from the audience at the Vigyan Bhavan. The Prime Minister is slated to take part in the Dussehra celebrations at Lucknow. With Uttar Pradesh heading for Assembly elections early next year, there appears a clear message that the BJP would seek to take credit for the effective response given to Pakistan for sponsoring terrorism. He (Upadhyay) used to say that the countrys armed forces should be very capable, then only can the nation be strong. In this time of competitiveness, the need is that the nation should be capable and strong, said Modi, who at the same time elaborated that being strong does not mean being against anyone. If we exercise for our strength, then the neighbour need not worry that it is to target him. I am exercising to strengthen myself and for my health, Modi stated in a subtle message to Pakistan. BJP chief Amit Shah said the Centre had made the country secure. Without diverting from the path of peace, the NDA government has ensured the countrys safety and security, he said. The second in command of the RSS, Suresh Bhayyaji Joshi, stressed the need for strengthening Indias security. Indias pursuit for national security was inspired by the need to defend itself rather than to defeat others. India should be safe and secure. Its borders are posing a challenge and everyone has seen that this issue can be resolved too, he said. PTI By NEW DELHI: With Masood Azhar-led JeM suspected to be behind the Uri attack, Congress leader Digvijay Singh today sought to put the National Democratic Alliance government in the dock, suggesting the earlier NDA regime had "compromised" with national security by releasing the terrorist following the 1999 Indian airlines hijack. In a series of tweets, he also made a strong pitch for building strong international pressure to isolate Pakistan in the wake of the terror strike and also stressed on looking into the "failure" of the Army to protect its camp near the LoC. "We compromised to let Masood Azhar go after Indian Airlines hijack. Lesson? Never compromise with National Security," the Congress General Secretary said. "Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Mohammad behind the attack. Of course with full connivance of Pakistan Establishment." "Should also look at the failure of the Army to protect its Army Camp near the LOC," he said. "Pay homage to the Martyrs in Uri. GOI must strongly build International pressure to isolate Pakistan", the Congress leader added. Flight IC 814, which was en route from Nepal to Delhi, was hijacked on December 24, 1999 with 176 passengers onboard. Three terrorists, including Masood Azhar, were released by the Indian government in exchange for the safe release of passengers and the crew. NEW DELHI: With Masood Azhar-led JeM suspected to be behind the Uri attack, Congress leader Digvijay Singh today sought to put the National Democratic Alliance government in the dock, suggesting the earlier NDA regime had "compromised" with national security by releasing the terrorist following the 1999 Indian airlines hijack. In a series of tweets, he also made a strong pitch for building strong international pressure to isolate Pakistan in the wake of the terror strike and also stressed on looking into the "failure" of the Army to protect its camp near the LoC. "We compromised to let Masood Azhar go after Indian Airlines hijack. Lesson? Never compromise with National Security," the Congress General Secretary said. "Masood Azhar's Jaish-e-Mohammad behind the attack. Of course with full connivance of Pakistan Establishment." "Should also look at the failure of the Army to protect its Army Camp near the LOC," he said. "Pay homage to the Martyrs in Uri. GOI must strongly build International pressure to isolate Pakistan", the Congress leader added. Flight IC 814, which was en route from Nepal to Delhi, was hijacked on December 24, 1999 with 176 passengers onboard. Three terrorists, including Masood Azhar, were released by the Indian government in exchange for the safe release of passengers and the crew. T J S George By It is not for nothing that every Rajinikanth movie is released with uproarious publicity brouhaha, from milk abhishekam of oversize portraits to trailers exploding with the heros superman feats. Marketing is everything. For film folk, it is the magic line between life and death. But the principle behind it applies to writers, artists and musicians as well. M F Husain became Indias most famous artist by being in the news always. He was of course one of our best. But so was Souza, so was Tyeb Mehta, so were Hebbar and Ara and Manjit Bawa. But none of them plunged headlong into controversy as Husain did with, for example, his portrait of Indira Gandhi, during the Emergency days, as a tiger-riding Durga. Then the Hindutva brigade did him a favour by vandalising some of his works and forcing him into exile, thereby making him even more celebrated. Yusuf Arakkal was of the opposite kindquiet, gentle and undemanding despite holding strong views. He was aware of the importance of pushing your way forward. His preferred term was performer. Like Picasso, he said, artists have to be performers. He wasnt one because it was not in him. Belonging to what may be called the post-Husain generation (or, should it be the post-Bombay Group phenomenon?), Arakkal ploughed his own furrow. He produced no genre of his own. His work focused on the evocative faces of ordinary people, on themes such as loneliness and gloom. He was unabashed in his admiration for his heroesthe masters of European art (the greats, as he called them) and the genius novelist of his native Kerala, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer; a typical Arakkal series is devoted to Basheer characters. The dramatic mass of Tyeb Mehtas colourations, the majestic contrasts of Husains blacks and whites, the violent liveliness of Souzas distortions, even the elegiac eloquence of Amrita Shergil no, Yusuf Arakkal would have none of these. He would choose colours and contours that brought out the desolation of city life, the darkness of marginality, the anguish of human struggles. Arakkal had experienced poverty and loneliness and dejection when he roamed the streets of Bangalore looking for a living. Only after he got a welding job in HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) could he think of doing an art course in the Chitrakala Parishad and gaining experience as a print-maker in a Delhi studio. Arakkals choice of Bangalore must have been by happenstance. It was a pensioners paradise, while the artists paradise was Bombay. Transformation began in 1970 when Gurudas Shenoy took the initiative in organising Karnataka Painters. Arakkal was in the original team along with S G Vasudev, Balan Nambiar, Milind Naik and others. K K Hebbar as chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi gave a boost to their efforts. Today Bangalore is a thriving centre of modern art, so thriving that galleries have come up in impressive numbers, obviously making good profit out of art shows, art sales and related art business. Although one of the pioneers of the art movement in Bangalore and always in the front row, Arakkal seldom played the activists role. Vasudev, for example, floated Artpark, a voluntary movement that enabled interested people to collect in a public park one Sunday a month and exchange ideas with established masters. He also started Ananya Drishya to expose school children to art. Balan Nambiar ran an informal art school in his flat for years, giving children tuition in drawing and colour mixing. Arakkal did give time and attention to young aspirants. But he was happiest when he could bury himself in painting portraits, in depicting scenes that expressed his inner conflicts, his hopes, his pain; the artist succeeds when his pain translates into the cognoscentis pleasure. Like Balan Nambiar, he ventured into media other than paint, stainless steel for example; his early days as a mechanic in HAL must have come in handy. But he did not diversify as Vasudev did with art direction in movies at one end and tapestry art at another. In the end, though, he surprised everyone by jumping the queue of life and departing ahead of his colleagues when he had just crossed the 70th marker. But this is one case where Death will not win. Yusuf Arakkal will mock it from galleries across the country and beyond. And he will be there to greet every arriving passenger at Bangalore International Airport with his mural, The Flight, a masterpiece in glittering steel, shaped and angled to take off any moment. Death, wheres thy sting? It is not for nothing that every Rajinikanth movie is released with uproarious publicity brouhaha, from milk abhishekam of oversize portraits to trailers exploding with the heros superman feats. Marketing is everything. For film folk, it is the magic line between life and death. But the principle behind it applies to writers, artists and musicians as well. M F Husain became Indias most famous artist by being in the news always. He was of course one of our best. But so was Souza, so was Tyeb Mehta, so were Hebbar and Ara and Manjit Bawa. But none of them plunged headlong into controversy as Husain did with, for example, his portrait of Indira Gandhi, during the Emergency days, as a tiger-riding Durga. Then the Hindutva brigade did him a favour by vandalising some of his works and forcing him into exile, thereby making him even more celebrated. Yusuf Arakkal was of the opposite kindquiet, gentle and undemanding despite holding strong views. He was aware of the importance of pushing your way forward. His preferred term was performer. Like Picasso, he said, artists have to be performers. He wasnt one because it was not in him. Belonging to what may be called the post-Husain generation (or, should it be the post-Bombay Group phenomenon?), Arakkal ploughed his own furrow. He produced no genre of his own. His work focused on the evocative faces of ordinary people, on themes such as loneliness and gloom. He was unabashed in his admiration for his heroesthe masters of European art (the greats, as he called them) and the genius novelist of his native Kerala, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer; a typical Arakkal series is devoted to Basheer characters. The dramatic mass of Tyeb Mehtas colourations, the majestic contrasts of Husains blacks and whites, the violent liveliness of Souzas distortions, even the elegiac eloquence of Amrita Shergil no, Yusuf Arakkal would have none of these. He would choose colours and contours that brought out the desolation of city life, the darkness of marginality, the anguish of human struggles. Arakkal had experienced poverty and loneliness and dejection when he roamed the streets of Bangalore looking for a living. Only after he got a welding job in HAL (Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd) could he think of doing an art course in the Chitrakala Parishad and gaining experience as a print-maker in a Delhi studio. Arakkals choice of Bangalore must have been by happenstance. It was a pensioners paradise, while the artists paradise was Bombay. Transformation began in 1970 when Gurudas Shenoy took the initiative in organising Karnataka Painters. Arakkal was in the original team along with S G Vasudev, Balan Nambiar, Milind Naik and others. K K Hebbar as chairman of the Lalit Kala Akademi gave a boost to their efforts. Today Bangalore is a thriving centre of modern art, so thriving that galleries have come up in impressive numbers, obviously making good profit out of art shows, art sales and related art business. Although one of the pioneers of the art movement in Bangalore and always in the front row, Arakkal seldom played the activists role. Vasudev, for example, floated Artpark, a voluntary movement that enabled interested people to collect in a public park one Sunday a month and exchange ideas with established masters. He also started Ananya Drishya to expose school children to art. Balan Nambiar ran an informal art school in his flat for years, giving children tuition in drawing and colour mixing. Arakkal did give time and attention to young aspirants. But he was happiest when he could bury himself in painting portraits, in depicting scenes that expressed his inner conflicts, his hopes, his pain; the artist succeeds when his pain translates into the cognoscentis pleasure. Like Balan Nambiar, he ventured into media other than paint, stainless steel for example; his early days as a mechanic in HAL must have come in handy. But he did not diversify as Vasudev did with art direction in movies at one end and tapestry art at another. In the end, though, he surprised everyone by jumping the queue of life and departing ahead of his colleagues when he had just crossed the 70th marker. But this is one case where Death will not win. Yusuf Arakkal will mock it from galleries across the country and beyond. And he will be there to greet every arriving passenger at Bangalore International Airport with his mural, The Flight, a masterpiece in glittering steel, shaped and angled to take off any moment. Death, wheres thy sting? By Express News Service Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has very high ambitions, but his exchequer is almost empty. He wants Amaravati to emerge as a world-class capital but his finance minister, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, talks in despair while commenting on states finances, indicating that he may have to go in for overdraft. Nothing could be more explicit than this contrast which sums up Naidus far-reaching ambitions and the stark realities in the state. The other day Naidu was in Delhi, delivering a lecture on urbanisation and how he wants Amaravati and Andhra Pradesh to become hubs for a technology revolution. At the India Economic Summit organised there by the World Economic Forum and the CII, he spoke at length about the critical role urban planning should play in ensuring balanced and equitable development. He wants the state to become one of the top three in India by 2022 and emerge with the highest happiness index by 2029 and as the most-preferred destination by 2050. But his finance minister eschews this bombastic talk. He is down to earth and keeps cautioning about the abysmal depths to which the states finances are sinking with each passing day. After presiding over a half-yearly review of the finances two days ago, Ramakrishnudu sent out a grim warning that the state may have to adopt strict austerity measures. He looked very tired apparently because his repeated calls for austerity had fallen on deaf ears. Even as the finance department issued orders prescribing austerity measures after the state inherited a Rs 16,000-crore revenue deficit post the bifurcation, several ministers and babus kept jetting around the globe on one mission or the other, despite orders to the contrary. Though Amaravati funding will have to come from the Centre and foreign investors, the tall talk of how the city will emerge as a spectacular capital sounds a little odd when the finance department is trying to make both ends meet. Though the Centre has promised funds not only for Amaravati but for several other projects listed in the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014, it has not yet released any substantial sums so far. The government estimated that it would require Rs 1,20,000 crore for Amaravati in the next 20 years and Rs 42,935 crore for building essential infrastructure, and government buildings, including the Raj Bhavan, Secretariat, High Court and an Assembly and a Legislative Council. But the Centre has released only Rs 1,850 crore so far. The health of states finances is being hit by profligate spending. Take for instance the two river festivals on which the government spent more than Rs 1,000 crore each. Or the Amaravati foundation-laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where more than Rs 100 core was lavished. Or the construction of the Rs 250-crore temporary secretariat at Velagapudi Naidu wants employees to shift from Hyderabad immediately and not until Amaravati is ready. That the state finances are bleeding is no secret and the figures speak for themselves. The gap between receipts and expenditure is widening by the day. It has touched a whopping Rs 6,403 crore. The receipts were Rs 58,912 crore and expenditure is Rs 65,315 crore during the first two quarters. As the state is hard-pressed for liquid cash, it has been borrowing left right and centre. It has already borrowed Rs 13,673 crore as against the projected figure of Rs 20,097 crore for the entire fiscal. Of the Rs 13,673 crore, Rs 12,661 crore is meant for servicing past loans. The annual revenue deficit was estimated at Rs 4,868 crore but it has already reached Rs 6,641 crore. The projected accumulated debt for 2016-17 is Rs 1.9 lakh crore which would be 27.88 per cent of the GSDP of the state as against the prescribed limit of 25 per cent. Welfare schemes continue to be major drain. The state government is now preparing to release Rs 3,000 crore towards the second instalment for DWCRA (Development of Women And Children in Rural Areas) groups as promised by Chandrababu Naidu to them. Adding to the haemorrhage is the governments commitment of Rs 3,000 crore for social security pensions and Rs 2,700 crore for PDS. What is more worrying is the fact that no one is bothered about the states finances except probably the finance minister. The spending spree is continuing. Though the chief minister, on more than one occasion, had said the employees should be prepared to work from under the shade of the trees, he has raised a wonderful building at Amaravati, which will serve as a temporary secretariat, at Rs 250 crore. Which means that when it comes to living in class, Naiud does not bother about purse strings. Whether or not he has money, he does whatever he wants to international standards. Even the swanky offices, be they in Vijayawada or Velagapudi, make one wonder if the state is really going through a financial nightmare. R Prithvi Raj Assistant Resident Editor, Andhra Pradesh Email: raj@newindianexpress.com Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has very high ambitions, but his exchequer is almost empty. He wants Amaravati to emerge as a world-class capital but his finance minister, Yanamala Ramakrishnudu, talks in despair while commenting on states finances, indicating that he may have to go in for overdraft. Nothing could be more explicit than this contrast which sums up Naidus far-reaching ambitions and the stark realities in the state. The other day Naidu was in Delhi, delivering a lecture on urbanisation and how he wants Amaravati and Andhra Pradesh to become hubs for a technology revolution. At the India Economic Summit organised there by the World Economic Forum and the CII, he spoke at length about the critical role urban planning should play in ensuring balanced and equitable development. He wants the state to become one of the top three in India by 2022 and emerge with the highest happiness index by 2029 and as the most-preferred destination by 2050. But his finance minister eschews this bombastic talk. He is down to earth and keeps cautioning about the abysmal depths to which the states finances are sinking with each passing day. After presiding over a half-yearly review of the finances two days ago, Ramakrishnudu sent out a grim warning that the state may have to adopt strict austerity measures. He looked very tired apparently because his repeated calls for austerity had fallen on deaf ears. Even as the finance department issued orders prescribing austerity measures after the state inherited a Rs 16,000-crore revenue deficit post the bifurcation, several ministers and babus kept jetting around the globe on one mission or the other, despite orders to the contrary. Though Amaravati funding will have to come from the Centre and foreign investors, the tall talk of how the city will emerge as a spectacular capital sounds a little odd when the finance department is trying to make both ends meet. Though the Centre has promised funds not only for Amaravati but for several other projects listed in the AP State Reorganisation Act, 2014, it has not yet released any substantial sums so far. The government estimated that it would require Rs 1,20,000 crore for Amaravati in the next 20 years and Rs 42,935 crore for building essential infrastructure, and government buildings, including the Raj Bhavan, Secretariat, High Court and an Assembly and a Legislative Council. But the Centre has released only Rs 1,850 crore so far. The health of states finances is being hit by profligate spending. Take for instance the two river festivals on which the government spent more than Rs 1,000 crore each. Or the Amaravati foundation-laying ceremony by Prime Minister Narendra Modi where more than Rs 100 core was lavished. Or the construction of the Rs 250-crore temporary secretariat at Velagapudi Naidu wants employees to shift from Hyderabad immediately and not until Amaravati is ready. That the state finances are bleeding is no secret and the figures speak for themselves. The gap between receipts and expenditure is widening by the day. It has touched a whopping Rs 6,403 crore. The receipts were Rs 58,912 crore and expenditure is Rs 65,315 crore during the first two quarters. As the state is hard-pressed for liquid cash, it has been borrowing left right and centre. It has already borrowed Rs 13,673 crore as against the projected figure of Rs 20,097 crore for the entire fiscal. Of the Rs 13,673 crore, Rs 12,661 crore is meant for servicing past loans. The annual revenue deficit was estimated at Rs 4,868 crore but it has already reached Rs 6,641 crore. The projected accumulated debt for 2016-17 is Rs 1.9 lakh crore which would be 27.88 per cent of the GSDP of the state as against the prescribed limit of 25 per cent. Welfare schemes continue to be major drain. The state government is now preparing to release Rs 3,000 crore towards the second instalment for DWCRA (Development of Women And Children in Rural Areas) groups as promised by Chandrababu Naidu to them. Adding to the haemorrhage is the governments commitment of Rs 3,000 crore for social security pensions and Rs 2,700 crore for PDS. What is more worrying is the fact that no one is bothered about the states finances except probably the finance minister. The spending spree is continuing. Though the chief minister, on more than one occasion, had said the employees should be prepared to work from under the shade of the trees, he has raised a wonderful building at Amaravati, which will serve as a temporary secretariat, at Rs 250 crore. Which means that when it comes to living in class, Naiud does not bother about purse strings. Whether or not he has money, he does whatever he wants to international standards. Even the swanky offices, be they in Vijayawada or Velagapudi, make one wonder if the state is really going through a financial nightmare. R Prithvi Raj Assistant Resident Editor, Andhra Pradesh Email: raj@newindianexpress.com By Express News Service CUTTACK: The Twin City police on Sunday busted a notorious female nomadic gang and arrested its six members from Mangalabaag area. The arrested women are Kiran Burma (30), K Nagu (46), K Asoda (50), K Geeta (40), K Baulamaa (41) and A Baby (30) of Rania Sahi village in Bhadrak district. Police also seized a stolen gold chain and two scissors from their possession. DCP Sanjeev Arora said from the primary investigation, the police knew that the looters carried out robbery by forming a gang named Erogolla. Taking advantage of huge crowd, they took away a gold chain from one Puspalata Sahu near Mangalabaag puja mandap. Sahu, who noticed the stealing of her gold chain, raised an alarm following which police deployed at the puja mandap conducted a search operation and busted the gang. During interrogation, they confessed to their crime and police seized the stolen gold chain. All the six arrested women have been forwarded to the court. Briefing about the modus operandi, Arora said members of the gang are usually active during festive season and move around with women visitors. Taking opportunity of the rush, they snatch chains and other ornaments using small scissors. Both police and members of all puja committees have been advised to keep an eye on such gangs during the festival, Arora added. CUTTACK: The Twin City police on Sunday busted a notorious female nomadic gang and arrested its six members from Mangalabaag area. The arrested women are Kiran Burma (30), K Nagu (46), K Asoda (50), K Geeta (40), K Baulamaa (41) and A Baby (30) of Rania Sahi village in Bhadrak district. Police also seized a stolen gold chain and two scissors from their possession. DCP Sanjeev Arora said from the primary investigation, the police knew that the looters carried out robbery by forming a gang named Erogolla. Taking advantage of huge crowd, they took away a gold chain from one Puspalata Sahu near Mangalabaag puja mandap. Sahu, who noticed the stealing of her gold chain, raised an alarm following which police deployed at the puja mandap conducted a search operation and busted the gang. During interrogation, they confessed to their crime and police seized the stolen gold chain. All the six arrested women have been forwarded to the court. Briefing about the modus operandi, Arora said members of the gang are usually active during festive season and move around with women visitors. Taking opportunity of the rush, they snatch chains and other ornaments using small scissors. Both police and members of all puja committees have been advised to keep an eye on such gangs during the festival, Arora added. Express News Service THANJAVUR/TIRUVARUR: Farmers of the Cauvery delta belt on Monday beseeched the visiting high level technical team headed by G S Jha, the Chairman of Central Water commission (CWC) to release more water in Cauvery from Karnataka to save the wilting samba crops in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur districts. The team constituted by the Union Water resources ministry to assess the ground realities in Cauvery basin following the Supreme Court order first visited the Cholagankudikadu village in Thanjavur district. They inspected a part of the 572 acres land where 29 - 47 days old paddy crops had already started wilting due to non-availability of water. The members also saw samples of earth with wilted crop brought from the adjoining villages. The farmers gave their petitions to the chairman of the committee and explained their travails due to non-availability of water. V Jeevakumar, a representative of the farmers, summing up the demands said that in Thanjavur district out of the normal samba area of 3.30 lakh acres, cultivation has been taken up only in 76,600 acres. In this area, 71 % of crops have started withering, he pointed out. He also said the North East monsoon has turned out to be a mirage in the past years and cannot be depended. Hence release of water from Karnataka is paramount to save atleast a single crop of Samba. Talking to media G S Jha, the chairman of the committee said their visit was part of the tour for assessment of the ground realities in the Cauvery basin. "I am taking care of the issues brought before me and will appropriately report to the Supreme Court", Jha added. Later the team visited the Chokkanvur village where the direct sown paddy in around 635 acre was in withering state. Farmers told the team members that they have gone in for direct sowing hoping for rains but the rains have failed and water also did not flow in from the Cauvery system. The team then visited the Perugavazhndan village in Tiruvarur district where the farmers poured out their grievances. Mannargudi S Ranganathan, the General Secretary of Cauvery Delta Farmers association and one of the original petitioners for Cauvery Tribunal made a detailed presentation to the committee. He pointed out that to save the standing crop till the onset of the monsoon, the delta needs an additional 25 TMC of water from Karnataka. "Even after monsoon is over, the Cauvery delta needs water from Karnataka for final wetting in the months of December to January", he added. He said that due to the introduction of turn system, ground water is not getting recharged. He charged the Karnataka Government for indirectly pushing the farmers of Cauvery delta to abandon the Kuruvai crop, which contributes to the food security. "The deficiency shown by Karnataka is an artificial deficiency as they deplete the storage in their reservoirs during the summer season and do not carry over the water after the normal season", he pointed out. He also said Tamil Nadu has been acting in a disciplined manner by closing the Mettur dam on January 28. He hoped the technical committee would present the delta farmer's case for release of water. At Nagapattinam, the team initially visited a farmland at Karunganni village of Keelaiyoor block where Samba cultivation has been taken up through direct sowing method. The block comprises of 1114 acres of farmland and relies on the Vellaiyaru and Cauvery Kondanar Milladi Channel. Due to the untimely release of Cauvery water and inadequate inflow in the Vennaru river which supplies water to Vellaiyaru and Cauvery Kondanar Milladi Channel, as much as 1002 acres of land have adopted direct sowing method and the remaining 112 acres have adopted transplantation method. According to the agriculture department officials, the total 1114 acres of land is under stress and around 864 farmers have been affected due to the non availability of Cauvery water. As soon as the team arrived at the spot, few of the distressed prostrated themselves before Chairman Jha and pleaded him to duly communicate their woes to Supreme Court in his report on October 17. The farmers showed their partially germinated Samba crop (BPT-5204) to the team. Similarly, farmers representing various outfits including Cauvery Vivasayikal Nala Paathukaappu Sangam, DMK farmers wing, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Association , Farmers wing of CPI have submitted individual petitions to Jha and pleaded him for the immediate release of remaining Cauvery water Tamil Nadu is entitled from Karnataka. On behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Nagapattinam, samples of affected, partially germinated and non-germinated paddy crops were collected from different villages such as Chinnathumboor, Palakurichi and Othathattai. However, the team did not examine it. It might be noted the Supreme Court, hearing a petition by Tamil Nadu praying for release of Cauvery water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) to save atleast a single samba crop, on October 4,2016 directed the Union Government to constitute a high level committee to assess the ground situation in the basin. The committee is to submit a report to the Supreme Court on October 17. (With inputs from Aruvel) THANJAVUR/TIRUVARUR: Farmers of the Cauvery delta belt on Monday beseeched the visiting high level technical team headed by G S Jha, the Chairman of Central Water commission (CWC) to release more water in Cauvery from Karnataka to save the wilting samba crops in Thanjavur, Tiruvarur districts. The team constituted by the Union Water resources ministry to assess the ground realities in Cauvery basin following the Supreme Court order first visited the Cholagankudikadu village in Thanjavur district. They inspected a part of the 572 acres land where 29 - 47 days old paddy crops had already started wilting due to non-availability of water. The members also saw samples of earth with wilted crop brought from the adjoining villages. The farmers gave their petitions to the chairman of the committee and explained their travails due to non-availability of water. V Jeevakumar, a representative of the farmers, summing up the demands said that in Thanjavur district out of the normal samba area of 3.30 lakh acres, cultivation has been taken up only in 76,600 acres. In this area, 71 % of crops have started withering, he pointed out. He also said the North East monsoon has turned out to be a mirage in the past years and cannot be depended. Hence release of water from Karnataka is paramount to save atleast a single crop of Samba. Talking to media G S Jha, the chairman of the committee said their visit was part of the tour for assessment of the ground realities in the Cauvery basin. "I am taking care of the issues brought before me and will appropriately report to the Supreme Court", Jha added. Later the team visited the Chokkanvur village where the direct sown paddy in around 635 acre was in withering state. Farmers told the team members that they have gone in for direct sowing hoping for rains but the rains have failed and water also did not flow in from the Cauvery system. The team then visited the Perugavazhndan village in Tiruvarur district where the farmers poured out their grievances. Mannargudi S Ranganathan, the General Secretary of Cauvery Delta Farmers association and one of the original petitioners for Cauvery Tribunal made a detailed presentation to the committee. He pointed out that to save the standing crop till the onset of the monsoon, the delta needs an additional 25 TMC of water from Karnataka. "Even after monsoon is over, the Cauvery delta needs water from Karnataka for final wetting in the months of December to January", he added. He said that due to the introduction of turn system, ground water is not getting recharged. He charged the Karnataka Government for indirectly pushing the farmers of Cauvery delta to abandon the Kuruvai crop, which contributes to the food security. "The deficiency shown by Karnataka is an artificial deficiency as they deplete the storage in their reservoirs during the summer season and do not carry over the water after the normal season", he pointed out. He also said Tamil Nadu has been acting in a disciplined manner by closing the Mettur dam on January 28. He hoped the technical committee would present the delta farmer's case for release of water. At Nagapattinam, the team initially visited a farmland at Karunganni village of Keelaiyoor block where Samba cultivation has been taken up through direct sowing method. The block comprises of 1114 acres of farmland and relies on the Vellaiyaru and Cauvery Kondanar Milladi Channel. Due to the untimely release of Cauvery water and inadequate inflow in the Vennaru river which supplies water to Vellaiyaru and Cauvery Kondanar Milladi Channel, as much as 1002 acres of land have adopted direct sowing method and the remaining 112 acres have adopted transplantation method. According to the agriculture department officials, the total 1114 acres of land is under stress and around 864 farmers have been affected due to the non availability of Cauvery water. As soon as the team arrived at the spot, few of the distressed prostrated themselves before Chairman Jha and pleaded him to duly communicate their woes to Supreme Court in his report on October 17. The farmers showed their partially germinated Samba crop (BPT-5204) to the team. Similarly, farmers representing various outfits including Cauvery Vivasayikal Nala Paathukaappu Sangam, DMK farmers wing, Tamil Nadu Cauvery Farmers Association , Farmers wing of CPI have submitted individual petitions to Jha and pleaded him for the immediate release of remaining Cauvery water Tamil Nadu is entitled from Karnataka. On behalf of the Department of Agriculture, Nagapattinam, samples of affected, partially germinated and non-germinated paddy crops were collected from different villages such as Chinnathumboor, Palakurichi and Othathattai. However, the team did not examine it. It might be noted the Supreme Court, hearing a petition by Tamil Nadu praying for release of Cauvery water as per the final award of the Cauvery Water Disputes Tribunal (CWDT) to save atleast a single samba crop, on October 4,2016 directed the Union Government to constitute a high level committee to assess the ground situation in the basin. The committee is to submit a report to the Supreme Court on October 17. (With inputs from Aruvel) By Reuters BEIJING: China is willing to discuss "possibilities" with India on its bid to become a fully fledged member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday, holding out an olive branch ahead of a summit in India. India last month said it had held "substantive" talks with China on its attempt to join the NSG, a 48-member grouping of countries that trades in civil nuclear technology. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is campaigning to join the NSG to back a multi-billion-dollar drive to build nuclear power plants in partnership with Russia, the United States and France, and reduce India's reliance on polluting fossil fuels. Yet his bid to win accession to the group, founded in response to India's first atomic weapons test in 1974, has failed to win over strategic rival China, which enjoys a de facto veto because it operates by consensus. Speaking to reporters ahead of a visit to India this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging nations, Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said new NSG members needed to be agreed upon by all existing members. "These rules were not set by China," Li said. "On the issue of joining the NSG, China and India have all along had very good communications, and (China) is willing to have further communications with the Indian side, to increase consensus," he said. "On this, China is willing to jointly explore all kinds of possibilities with India, but this must accord with the charter of the NSG, and certain rules need to be respected by all sides," Li said, without elaborating. The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognises the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - as nuclear weapons powers but not others. India has ruled out signing the NPT but says its track record of non-proliferation should entitle it to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group. India was granted an NSG waiver in 2008 that allows it to engage in nuclear commerce, but deprives it of a vote in the organisation's decision making. Backers of India's NSG bid, who include the United States, hope a deal can be reached despite a setback at the group's annual meeting in Seoul in June. Xi will also visit Bangladesh and Cambodia on his Asian trip. The BRICS group of emerging nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. BEIJING: China is willing to discuss "possibilities" with India on its bid to become a fully fledged member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG), a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday, holding out an olive branch ahead of a summit in India. India last month said it had held "substantive" talks with China on its attempt to join the NSG, a 48-member grouping of countries that trades in civil nuclear technology. Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is campaigning to join the NSG to back a multi-billion-dollar drive to build nuclear power plants in partnership with Russia, the United States and France, and reduce India's reliance on polluting fossil fuels. Yet his bid to win accession to the group, founded in response to India's first atomic weapons test in 1974, has failed to win over strategic rival China, which enjoys a de facto veto because it operates by consensus. Speaking to reporters ahead of a visit to India this week by Chinese President Xi Jinping for a summit of the BRICS group of emerging nations, Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong said new NSG members needed to be agreed upon by all existing members. "These rules were not set by China," Li said. "On the issue of joining the NSG, China and India have all along had very good communications, and (China) is willing to have further communications with the Indian side, to increase consensus," he said. "On this, China is willing to jointly explore all kinds of possibilities with India, but this must accord with the charter of the NSG, and certain rules need to be respected by all sides," Li said, without elaborating. The nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognises the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, Britain and France - as nuclear weapons powers but not others. India has ruled out signing the NPT but says its track record of non-proliferation should entitle it to join the Nuclear Suppliers Group. India was granted an NSG waiver in 2008 that allows it to engage in nuclear commerce, but deprives it of a vote in the organisation's decision making. Backers of India's NSG bid, who include the United States, hope a deal can be reached despite a setback at the group's annual meeting in Seoul in June. Xi will also visit Bangladesh and Cambodia on his Asian trip. The BRICS group of emerging nations include Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa. By Associated Press WASHINGTON A claim from the second presidential debate and how it stacks up with the facts: AP FACT CHECK 1: Trump says Clinton laughed at rape case DONALD TRUMP: When Hillary Clinton defended an accused child-rapist in court, she "got him off, and she's seen on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped." THE FACTS: Trump's depiction of Clinton laughing at a child rape victim is false, and his statement that she got the man off the hook isn't quite right. Clinton defended the man in 1975 at the demand of the judge in the case. According to both Clinton in a recorded interview and later statements by the prosecutor who handled the case, Clinton asked not to be assigned to defend the attacker of Kathy Shelton, but ultimately Clinton agreed to defend the man at the judge's insistence. According to audio of an interview Clinton gave to a reporter one decade later, Clinton suggested she believed her client, Thomas Alfred Taylor, was guilty, saying that his successful questioning under a polygraph test "forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs." Despite her discomfort with the case, Clinton aggressively defended her client. In an affidavit to the court, she said a child psychologist had told her that children "from disorganized families," such as the victim, "tend to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences." But it was a misstep by the prosecution that broke in favor of Clinton's client. The crime lab in the case lost a swatch of the victim's underwear that the prosecution had said contained Taylor's semen and the victim's blood. Clinton seized on the mistake, arguing that the absence of evidence fatally undermined the prosecution's case prompting the prosecutor to offer Clinton's client a plea deal to a lesser charge, "unlawful fondling of a child." In the recorded interview, Clinton never laughed at Shelton, calling it a "terrible" case and saying it was sad that prosecutors had lost the evidence against her client. But she did laugh at procedural errors in the case, and the judge's request to speak privately with her client at one point. AP FACT CHECK 2: Clinton cited Lincoln on political deals HILLARY CLINTON, in response to a question about her saying that politicians need to have "both a public and a private position" in a 2013 paid speech, said, "As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie called Lincoln. It was a master class watching President Lincoln get the Congress to approve the 13th Amendment." DONALD TRUMP replied, "She lied. Now she's blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln." THE FACTS: Clinton's recollection is correct. Clinton invoked the movie "Lincoln," and the deal-making that went into passage of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, in an April 2013 speech to the National Multifamily Housing Council. According to excerpts of the speech included in hacked emails published last week by WikiLeaks, Clinton said politicians must balance "both a public and a private position" while making deals, a process she said was like making sausage. "It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be," Clinton said according to the excerpts. "But if everybody's watching, you know, all of the backroom discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position." AP FACT CHECK 3: Trump wrong that Assad fights IS DONALD TRUMP: "I don't like Assad at all. But Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS." THE FACTS: Not true. Syria's President Bashar Assad considers the Islamic State group to be among numerous "terrorist" groups that threaten his government, but his military is not fighting them. It is focused on combatting Syrian opposition groups, some of which are supported by the United States. The fight against the Islamic State militants is being waged by a U.S.-led coalition, with help from Turkey, by training, advising and equipping Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters. While Moscow asserts that it is fighting the Islamic State extremists in Syria, the vast majority of its airstrikes have targeted opposition groups threatening the Assad government. AP FACT CHECK 4: Trump wrong that IS is taking Libyan oil DONALD TRUMP: "ISIS has a good chunk of their oil," referring to Libya. THE FACTS: Not quite. While it is true that the Islamic State group has targeted Libya's oil fields and has aspired to grab some of the country's oil resources, as it did in Syria, there is no evidence that it is reaping any revenue from Libyan oil. The prospect of the extremist group seizing Libyan oil is one reason the U.S. has conducted limited airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya, where it now has a very small presence. Libya's oil production plunged following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi, from 1.6 million barrels per day under the longtime dictator to just 200,000. AP FACT CHECK 5: Clinton on US advisers in Iraq HILLARY CLINTON: "I do think ... the use of (U.S. and coalition) enablers and trainers in Iraq, which has had some positive effect, are very much in our interest." THE FACTS: She's right about the positive effect, at least on the Iraqi military. After losing the city of Ramadi to the Islamic State group again in May 2015, the hundreds of U.S. military trainers and advisers have made some gains. It took more than a year, but the program Clinton cited has produced a more competent Iraqi military and set the stage for an Iraqi campaign to retake the northern city of Mosul. That city has been the Islamic State militants' main stronghold since they swept into Iraq in 2014 almost unopposed by the Iraqi army. As Clinton's characterization of the program suggests, it has not been an unqualified success and is expected to require years of additional effort to ensure that the Iraqi military does not collapse as it did in 2014. WASHINGTON A claim from the second presidential debate and how it stacks up with the facts: AP FACT CHECK 1: Trump says Clinton laughed at rape case DONALD TRUMP: When Hillary Clinton defended an accused child-rapist in court, she "got him off, and she's seen on two separate occasions, laughing at the girl who was raped." THE FACTS: Trump's depiction of Clinton laughing at a child rape victim is false, and his statement that she got the man off the hook isn't quite right. Clinton defended the man in 1975 at the demand of the judge in the case. According to both Clinton in a recorded interview and later statements by the prosecutor who handled the case, Clinton asked not to be assigned to defend the attacker of Kathy Shelton, but ultimately Clinton agreed to defend the man at the judge's insistence. According to audio of an interview Clinton gave to a reporter one decade later, Clinton suggested she believed her client, Thomas Alfred Taylor, was guilty, saying that his successful questioning under a polygraph test "forever destroyed my faith in polygraphs." Despite her discomfort with the case, Clinton aggressively defended her client. In an affidavit to the court, she said a child psychologist had told her that children "from disorganized families," such as the victim, "tend to exaggerate or romanticize sexual experiences." But it was a misstep by the prosecution that broke in favor of Clinton's client. The crime lab in the case lost a swatch of the victim's underwear that the prosecution had said contained Taylor's semen and the victim's blood. Clinton seized on the mistake, arguing that the absence of evidence fatally undermined the prosecution's case prompting the prosecutor to offer Clinton's client a plea deal to a lesser charge, "unlawful fondling of a child." In the recorded interview, Clinton never laughed at Shelton, calling it a "terrible" case and saying it was sad that prosecutors had lost the evidence against her client. But she did laugh at procedural errors in the case, and the judge's request to speak privately with her client at one point. AP FACT CHECK 2: Clinton cited Lincoln on political deals HILLARY CLINTON, in response to a question about her saying that politicians need to have "both a public and a private position" in a 2013 paid speech, said, "As I recall, that was something I said about Abraham Lincoln after having seen the wonderful Steven Spielberg movie called Lincoln. It was a master class watching President Lincoln get the Congress to approve the 13th Amendment." DONALD TRUMP replied, "She lied. Now she's blaming the lie on the late, great Abraham Lincoln." THE FACTS: Clinton's recollection is correct. Clinton invoked the movie "Lincoln," and the deal-making that went into passage of the 13th Amendment, which outlawed slavery, in an April 2013 speech to the National Multifamily Housing Council. According to excerpts of the speech included in hacked emails published last week by WikiLeaks, Clinton said politicians must balance "both a public and a private position" while making deals, a process she said was like making sausage. "It is unsavory, and it always has been that way, but we usually end up where we need to be," Clinton said according to the excerpts. "But if everybody's watching, you know, all of the backroom discussions and the deals, you know, then people get a little nervous to say the least. So, you need both a public and a private position." AP FACT CHECK 3: Trump wrong that Assad fights IS DONALD TRUMP: "I don't like Assad at all. But Assad is killing ISIS. Russia is killing ISIS." THE FACTS: Not true. Syria's President Bashar Assad considers the Islamic State group to be among numerous "terrorist" groups that threaten his government, but his military is not fighting them. It is focused on combatting Syrian opposition groups, some of which are supported by the United States. The fight against the Islamic State militants is being waged by a U.S.-led coalition, with help from Turkey, by training, advising and equipping Syrian Arab and Kurdish fighters. While Moscow asserts that it is fighting the Islamic State extremists in Syria, the vast majority of its airstrikes have targeted opposition groups threatening the Assad government. AP FACT CHECK 4: Trump wrong that IS is taking Libyan oil DONALD TRUMP: "ISIS has a good chunk of their oil," referring to Libya. THE FACTS: Not quite. While it is true that the Islamic State group has targeted Libya's oil fields and has aspired to grab some of the country's oil resources, as it did in Syria, there is no evidence that it is reaping any revenue from Libyan oil. The prospect of the extremist group seizing Libyan oil is one reason the U.S. has conducted limited airstrikes against the Islamic State in Libya, where it now has a very small presence. Libya's oil production plunged following the 2011 uprising that toppled and killed Moammar Gadhafi, from 1.6 million barrels per day under the longtime dictator to just 200,000. AP FACT CHECK 5: Clinton on US advisers in Iraq HILLARY CLINTON: "I do think ... the use of (U.S. and coalition) enablers and trainers in Iraq, which has had some positive effect, are very much in our interest." THE FACTS: She's right about the positive effect, at least on the Iraqi military. After losing the city of Ramadi to the Islamic State group again in May 2015, the hundreds of U.S. military trainers and advisers have made some gains. It took more than a year, but the program Clinton cited has produced a more competent Iraqi military and set the stage for an Iraqi campaign to retake the northern city of Mosul. That city has been the Islamic State militants' main stronghold since they swept into Iraq in 2014 almost unopposed by the Iraqi army. As Clinton's characterization of the program suggests, it has not been an unqualified success and is expected to require years of additional effort to ensure that the Iraqi military does not collapse as it did in 2014. News Story not available This story has been published on: 2022-10-31. To contact the author, please use the contact details within the article. This story is no longer available on our site. By PTI JOHANNESBURG: One of South Africa's top universities descended into violence today, with police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon at stone-throwing students who are locked in a bitter national dispute with administrators and the government over demonstrators' demands for free education. Stun grenades boomed and gunshots crackled as police cleared protesters at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, the most prominent site of a student movement that recently shut other universities and prompted official warnings that badly needed medics, engineers and other skilled workers might not be able to graduate this year. "Hell broke out," said Jo Seoka, an Anglican bishop who described the pandemonium that erupted as students hurled rocks at security guards blocking the entrance to the Great Hall, prompting police vehicles to rumble forward. Seoka, who joined an earlier student march, said police had "militarized" the campus, and he criticized them for not wearing IDs on their uniforms that would make them accountable. As police helicopters circled, some protesters spilled into city streets. A bus was set on fire, and thick smoke billowed into the air. A Catholic priest who appealed for the violence to stop was struck in the mouth by a rubber bullet and was being treated, South African media reported. The university, also known as Wits, accused students of throwing rocks "that could have maimed or killed people" and said protesters had responded to negotiation offers from the campus administration with threats. Education Minister Blade Nzimande appealed for dialogue and condemned the violence, saying the university's efforts to run its academic program were being "held at ransom by irresponsible and disrespectful striking students." Students disrupted classes and threw rocks on several other campuses nationwide, said Khomotso Phahlane, the acting police commissioner. He said there was no need for a national state of emergency. At least 27 students were arrested today around the country. Several people, including two police officers pelted with rocks, were injured. Large student protests in 2015 forced the government to freeze fee increases this year, but demonstrations started again a few weeks ago when the state recommended that universities increase fees by no more than 8 percent next year. While the government also said it will cover 2017 fee increases for poor students despite funding challenges, protesters argue that the country must address economic inequities in the education system that date from the country's former system of white racist rule known as apartheid. JOHANNESBURG: One of South Africa's top universities descended into violence today, with police firing tear gas, rubber bullets and water cannon at stone-throwing students who are locked in a bitter national dispute with administrators and the government over demonstrators' demands for free education. Stun grenades boomed and gunshots crackled as police cleared protesters at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg, the most prominent site of a student movement that recently shut other universities and prompted official warnings that badly needed medics, engineers and other skilled workers might not be able to graduate this year. "Hell broke out," said Jo Seoka, an Anglican bishop who described the pandemonium that erupted as students hurled rocks at security guards blocking the entrance to the Great Hall, prompting police vehicles to rumble forward. Seoka, who joined an earlier student march, said police had "militarized" the campus, and he criticized them for not wearing IDs on their uniforms that would make them accountable. As police helicopters circled, some protesters spilled into city streets. A bus was set on fire, and thick smoke billowed into the air. A Catholic priest who appealed for the violence to stop was struck in the mouth by a rubber bullet and was being treated, South African media reported. The university, also known as Wits, accused students of throwing rocks "that could have maimed or killed people" and said protesters had responded to negotiation offers from the campus administration with threats. Education Minister Blade Nzimande appealed for dialogue and condemned the violence, saying the university's efforts to run its academic program were being "held at ransom by irresponsible and disrespectful striking students." Students disrupted classes and threw rocks on several other campuses nationwide, said Khomotso Phahlane, the acting police commissioner. He said there was no need for a national state of emergency. At least 27 students were arrested today around the country. Several people, including two police officers pelted with rocks, were injured. Large student protests in 2015 forced the government to freeze fee increases this year, but demonstrations started again a few weeks ago when the state recommended that universities increase fees by no more than 8 percent next year. While the government also said it will cover 2017 fee increases for poor students despite funding challenges, protesters argue that the country must address economic inequities in the education system that date from the country's former system of white racist rule known as apartheid. P K Balachandran By Express News Service COLOMBO: The Colombo District Courts temporary injunction last week against the release of noted Sri Lankan film maker Prasanna Vithanages film Usaviya Nisandai (Silence in the Courts) has brought to the fore the issue of the immunity of judges from public criticism of their conduct. Campaigners for social justice have expressed concern over the injunction against the film which, according to Director Vithanage, is a docu-drama based on real life incidents of sexual misconduct involving a District Judge. The film was passed by the Public Performance Board with a U certificate long ago. It had been shown in several festivals abroad and there had been special shows in New Delhi and Colombo also. But just before it was to be released in theaters here in the first week of this month, an injunction was obtained. The case is to be heard again on October 19, Vithanage told Express. Silence in the Courts is an Indo-Sri Lankan collaborative effort. The Producer is Rahul Roy of the Delhi-based Aakar Films, the Editor is A.Sreekar Prasad of Chennai and the Director is Prasanna Vithanage of Colombo. The injunction came as a result of a petition filed by a former District Judge, Lenin Rathnayake. He sought a permanent injunction against the screening of the film on the plea that the allegations made in the film were baseless, unproven and unfounded and that a public showing of the film will cause damage to his character and the reputation of the entire judiciary. Vithanage however said that the docu-drama was based on a series of reports which appeared in the respected Sinhala language investigative periodical Ravaya when it was under the editorship of the veteran journalist Victor Ivan. Ivan had attended a special showing of the film in Colombo and answered question put by the audience. Earlier he had said that he had great difficulty in getting the judge investigated and punished because he was protected by the powers that be. Condemning the injunction, the Society of Social Art said: The temporary ban coming at a time when it is necessary to have a productive dialogue on the political environment in Sri Lanka and more and more artistic creations should be presented to society, amounts to a denial of artistes right to create; an obstruction on the freedom of expression. The communique signed by Chandrasoma Binduhewa, Deepani Silva and Premaratna Tennekone states, that court injunctions could be used by the government as precedents to censor artistes right of expression. Many artistes including Prasanna Vithanage are awakening the hearts of society against the present dark era through their imaginative creations, they said. The President of the Bar council of Sri Lanka Geoffrey Alagaratnam told the state-owned Sunday Observer that judges are not immune to scrutiny. But if there are issues of misconduct, the police or the Chief Justice should be approached ,he added. In the case of the sexual assault charge against Supreme Court judge, the Late Sarath Abrew, the victim, his maid servant, approached the High Court. The judge was indicted in November last year. But in September this year, after he died, the Colombo High Court declared him to be innocent. COLOMBO: The Colombo District Courts temporary injunction last week against the release of noted Sri Lankan film maker Prasanna Vithanages film Usaviya Nisandai (Silence in the Courts) has brought to the fore the issue of the immunity of judges from public criticism of their conduct. Campaigners for social justice have expressed concern over the injunction against the film which, according to Director Vithanage, is a docu-drama based on real life incidents of sexual misconduct involving a District Judge. The film was passed by the Public Performance Board with a U certificate long ago. It had been shown in several festivals abroad and there had been special shows in New Delhi and Colombo also. But just before it was to be released in theaters here in the first week of this month, an injunction was obtained. The case is to be heard again on October 19, Vithanage told Express. Silence in the Courts is an Indo-Sri Lankan collaborative effort. The Producer is Rahul Roy of the Delhi-based Aakar Films, the Editor is A.Sreekar Prasad of Chennai and the Director is Prasanna Vithanage of Colombo. The injunction came as a result of a petition filed by a former District Judge, Lenin Rathnayake. He sought a permanent injunction against the screening of the film on the plea that the allegations made in the film were baseless, unproven and unfounded and that a public showing of the film will cause damage to his character and the reputation of the entire judiciary. Vithanage however said that the docu-drama was based on a series of reports which appeared in the respected Sinhala language investigative periodical Ravaya when it was under the editorship of the veteran journalist Victor Ivan. Ivan had attended a special showing of the film in Colombo and answered question put by the audience. Earlier he had said that he had great difficulty in getting the judge investigated and punished because he was protected by the powers that be. Condemning the injunction, the Society of Social Art said: The temporary ban coming at a time when it is necessary to have a productive dialogue on the political environment in Sri Lanka and more and more artistic creations should be presented to society, amounts to a denial of artistes right to create; an obstruction on the freedom of expression. The communique signed by Chandrasoma Binduhewa, Deepani Silva and Premaratna Tennekone states, that court injunctions could be used by the government as precedents to censor artistes right of expression. Many artistes including Prasanna Vithanage are awakening the hearts of society against the present dark era through their imaginative creations, they said. The President of the Bar council of Sri Lanka Geoffrey Alagaratnam told the state-owned Sunday Observer that judges are not immune to scrutiny. But if there are issues of misconduct, the police or the Chief Justice should be approached ,he added. In the case of the sexual assault charge against Supreme Court judge, the Late Sarath Abrew, the victim, his maid servant, approached the High Court. The judge was indicted in November last year. But in September this year, after he died, the Colombo High Court declared him to be innocent. By IANS ST. LOUIS: The Latest on the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (all times EDT): 10:50 p.m. Maybe it was the compliments they'd just given each other. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump shook hands after the debate ended, something they refused to do 90 minutes earlier. The debate was especially icy at the outset, replete with talk of sexual impropriety and Trump threatening to jail Clinton over her erased emails. But the St. Louis rumble concluded with a voter asking them to say something nice about each other. Clinton's and Trump's families quickly joined them on stage as the debate wrapped up. The candidates greeted their relatives and then circulated the room, which is filled with undecided Missouri voters as well as supporters of the two campaigns. ___ 10:45 p.m. After 90 minutes of disagreeing, sometimes harshly, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are ending their second presidential debate on a positive note. They were asked by a town hall attendee to say something they admire about the other. Clinton says she respects Trump's children, a comment Trump calls "a very nice compliment." He says he sees Clinton as a "fighter" even though he disagrees with much of what she's fighting for. He says "she does fight hard and doesn't give up and I consider that a very good trait." ___ 10:40 p.m. Donald Trump says the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama has hurt domestic energy production with overreaching restrictions. Trump says: "Energy is under siege, under absolute siege. The EPA is killing these energy companies." Trump blames Obama, and by association Clinton, for coal mines closing. He first noted West Virginia, a state that typically votes Republican, before adding two key coal states Ohio and Pennsylvania he probably needs to capture to win the White House. Trump is also lamenting Chinese companies selling cheaper steel on the international market, hurting the U.S. steel industry. Clinton agrees that China is dumping cheap steel on the market, but notes that "Donald Trump is buying it to build his buildings." ___ 10:36 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are laying out their criteria for Supreme Court selections. Clinton said she wants justices who understand how the world "really works." She wants ones who will support the legality of abortion and same-sex marriage. She notes that several of the justices Trump has said he'd consider oppose those rights. Trump says he wants a judge in the tradition of Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia's death this winter opened a vacancy on the court that still has not been filled. The Republican-controlled Senate has refused to consider President Obama's nominee to fill Scalia's seat. ___ 10:34 p.m. Donald Trump is denying encouraging people to check out a sex tape of a former Miss Universe something he recently did on Twitter. Referencing the controversy over former beauty queen Alicia Machado, Trump said his past comments, "It wasn't, 'Check out a sex tape.'" Instead, Trump claims he just asked people to "take a look at the past of this of this wonderful Girl Scout who was no Girl Scout." But Trump did encourage his Twitter followers to "check out sex tape and past" of Machado. He also suggested, without evidence, that Clinton helped Machado become a U.S. citizen to vote against Trump. Clinton had criticized Trump for slamming Machado for gaining weight after becoming Miss Universe. ___ 10:32 p.m. Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton has "tremendous hate in her heart." Trump made the comment in reference to Clinton saying earlier in the campaign that half of Trump's supporters are "deplorables." Clinton apologized for saying that half of his supporters were deplorables, but didn't back down from using that word. After Trump said Sunday that Clinton had "tremendous hate in her heart," she laughed and shook her head. But she did not address the comment the next time she spoke. ___ 10:30 p.m. Hillary Clinton is flipping a question about her comments that half of Donald Trump's supporters fit into a "basket of deplorables" into a criticism of Trump's campaign. She says her problem is with Trump, not his supporters. She is accusing Trump of inciting violence and running a campaign based on insults. Clinton says she apologized for her remarks within hours. In a statement, she said she regretted saying "half" but did not retract the comments. ___ 10:28 p.m. Hillary Clinton is asserting that "bullying is up" among young people because of what she calls "the Trump effect." Clinton says there is "a lot of fear," ''people are feeling uneasy" and "a lot of kids are expressing their concerns." She is not citing any specific statistics to back up her assertions about a rise in bullying inspired by Trump's bombastic style. The candidates were asked if, as president, they would be devoted to all people in the U.S. Both candidates answered yes. Trump stressed he would be "a president for all of our people" specifically mentioning African-Americans, Latinos and Hispanics while highlighting what he described as poor conditions in the big cities where many minorities live. He asserted "education is a disaster" and "jobs are essentially non-existent" in the inner cities. ___ 10:23 p.m. Donald Trump says he disagrees with his running mate Mike Pence on the proper strategy to deal with the civil war and humanitarian crisis in Syria. Debate moderator Martha Raddatz pointed out that Pence had said provocations by Russia in Syria need to be met with "American strength" and the U.S. should be prepared to use air strikes in Syria against the regime of President Bashar Assad. But Trump says he disagrees with Pence, a former member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and notes they had not spoken about the issue. Trump says the U.S. focus should be on eliminating the Islamic State, and not getting entangled with fights with Assad and Russia. "We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved," Trump says. ___ 10:22 p.m. Hillary Clinton is pledging not to use American ground forces in Syria, saying it would be a "very serious mistake." Clinton says she doesn't think American troops should be holding territory as an occupying force, saying it's not a "smart strategy." Asked how she would fight the Islamic State in a different way than President Barack Obama, Clinton says she's hopeful that IS will be pushed out of Iraq by the time she's president. But she says she would specifically target IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and consider arming Kurdish fighters in Iraq. ___ 10:20 p.m. Donald Trump is blaming Hillary Clinton for what was called the "red line" in Syria, a generalization about the U.S. response to Bashar Assad's regime. But Clinton didn't make the claim. President Barack Obama did. And he did it after Clinton had left the administration as secretary of state. Trump says, "She's there with the line-in-the-sand." Clinton pipes in: "No, I wasn't. I was gone." Trump responds: "But you were in contact, excuse me. Sadly, perhaps President Obama was still listening to you." The exchange was about the city of Aleppo in Syria, where the Assad regime, backed by Russia, is fighting to root out rebels and killing civilians in the process. ___ 10:18 p.m. Donald Trump disagrees with his running mate over Syria. Trump says there's no point in trying to prevent civilian deaths in Aleppo. Syria's most populous city is under intense bombardment by Russian forces. The U.S. government has warned Russia that it's killing civilians rather than terrorists. Trump's vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, said last week the U.S. should use military force if Russia keeps attacking civilians in Syria. Trump says he disagrees with Pence. Trump says he's no fan of Russia or Syrian President Bashar Assad. But he says the two of them are fighting Islamic State militants, as is Iran. Despite repeated prodding by moderator Martha Raddatz, Trump did not say he'd try to check Russian actions. Hillary Clinton says she'd try to rein in Russia. She contends that Russia is trying to get Trump elected president. ___ 10:15 p.m. Hillary Clinton is listing her accomplishments during three decades as an elected official amid a series of interruptions by Donald Trump. When Trump pressed Clinton on why she hadn't changed tax policies that benefit the wealthy, like him, after so many years in office, Clinton said she opposed such policies "but that's not the point." Trump shot back, "If you were an effective senator, you could have done it." Clinton blamed President George W. Bush for thwarting her in the area. Clinton then added that, as senator, she helped "rebuild" New York after the Sept. 11 attacks, while getting proper health care for first responders sickened during clean up. She says that, as secretary of state, she advocated for global women's rights and reduced nuclear weapons with Russia. ___ 10:12 p.m. Donald Trump is repeatedly interrupting Clinton, while she is largely avoiding barging in as he speaks. The moderators have noticed. As Clinton tried to address why she didn't try to change tax laws when she was a New York senator, Trump tried to butt in. "Please allow her to respond," said CNN's Anderson Cooper said. "She didn't interrupt you." Clinton continued. A few moments later, when the two were addressing foreign policy, Clinton sniped to Trump, "I didn't want to interrupt you, but at some point we need to do some fact checking here." ___ 10:10 p.m. Hillary Clinton is promising that no one making less than $250,000 will pay higher taxes under her plan, but those with higher incomes could pay considerably more. Clinton says she wants to impose a special tax on people making over $1 million and a surcharge on those with incomes above $5 million. "We have to make up for lost times," Clinton says, telling the audience she wants to raise taxes on the rich "because I want to invest in you." She says Trump's proposed tax plan would end up raising taxes on millions of middle-class Americans. ___ 10:07 p.m. Donald Trump says he will get rid of the carried interest loophole that allows Wall Street traders to pay a lower tax rate on their earnings. Trump says he would eliminate the loophole that lets money managers count their earnings as capital gains, which carry a lower tax rate, instead of ordinary income. But Trump's carried interest provision doesn't actually raise taxes on hedge fund managers and it creates a new loophole that could provide them with an even lower rate. The Republican says he would cut taxes for the middle class and accuses Clinton of raising taxes on middle-class families. ___ 10:05 p.m. Hillary Clinton occasionally smiles, sometimes jots notes and frequently sits to listen as Donald Trump talks. Trump paces the room, forcefully points at Clinton when addressing her and keeps his lips pursed tight as she speaks. He's only used his chair to rest his hands on the back of it. The town hall-style format of this debate gives television viewers a look at how the presidential candidates carry themselves in stressful situations. There have been no shoulder shimmies. That Clinton move prompted in the first debate when Trump said he had a better temperament than her spawned a thousand GIFs. ___ 10 p.m. Hillary Clinton is saying it's OK to have a public and private position on an issue because Abraham Lincoln did. She is responding to a question about an email released by a WikiLeaks last week in which Clinton said it's acceptable for a president to project differing positions. She was asked whether that's "two-faced." She says Lincoln did whatever he could to get the 13th Amendment passed, allowing emancipation of the slaves, by lawmakers who did not support African-American equality. Clinton says: "I was making the point it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want them to do. That was a great display of presidential leadership." Trump began his response to Clinton's statement by rolling his eyes, and says, "Now she's blaming the late, great Abraham Lincoln." 9:57 p.m. It's hard to name the most memorable line in this combative debate. But the most memorable visual so far? That's easy. It's the image of Hillary Clinton answering a question, while Donald Trump looms behind her. Unrestricted by a podium, Clinton is using the whole stage at the town hall-style forum, crossing in front of Trump to answer audience questions. That's left Trump stuck in the camera shot behind her, standing awkwardly, at times swaying and pacing, while he listens to her answers. Trump often mocked Clinton for spending time preparing for the debate. It's not clear how much time he spent preparing for one of the trickiest elements knowing where the camera is at all times. ___ 9:55 p.m. Donald Trump is again insisting he opposed the Iraq War before it started. But despite his repeated claims, the facts are clear: He did not. There is no evidence Trump expressed public opposition to the war before the U.S. invaded. Rather, he offered lukewarm support. The billionaire businessman only began to voice doubts about the conflict well after it began in March 2003. Trump first known public comment on the topic came on Sept. 11, 2002, when he was asked whether he supported a potential Iraq invasion in an interview with radio host Howard Stern. "Yeah, I guess so," he said. His first public comments strongly opposing the war came in 2004. Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, voted in favor of the invasion in 2002 while she was a New York senator. It's a vote she has said was a mistake. ___ 9:53 p.m. Donald Trump says a U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq in 2004 would still be alive if he had been president at the time. Trump is talking about Captain Humayun Khan, whose Pakistan-born father gave an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention in July. Trump then got into a feud with Khan's parents. Trump now says Captain Khan is an "American hero" and "he would be alive today if I had been president." Trump's feud with the Khan family led to harsh criticism from veterans across the country and families of those killed in action. ___ 9:52 p.m. Donald Trump says the United States is allowing refugees from Syria and the Middle East to pour into America and "we have no idea who they are" or where exactly they are coming from. Asked about bans and strict limits on Muslim immigrants into the United States that he's supported in the past,Trump says it was a policy plan that would grow out of "extreme vetting" of people coming to the U.S. from global conflict areas. Trump calls allowing immigrants into the country without more scrutiny the "Greatest Trojan Horse of all time" and says it has to stop because "we have enough problems in our country." ___ 9:51 p.m. Hillary Clinton says she'll screen Syrian refugees but the country needs to take in more. Clinton says a proposal like Donald Trump 's to ban all Muslims from entering the country plays into the hands of terrorists. She also says Trump has alienated the country's Muslim allies. Clinton says "we will have vetting and it will be as tough as it needs to be." But she is evoking the image of a bloodied 4-year-old Syrian boy to argue the United States needs to do its share. ___ 9:50 p.m. Donald Trump isn't answering a question about how to stop Islamophobia in America. Instead, he's saying American Muslims must report other Muslims who are engaging in dangerous behavior. He's repeating the false claim that neighbors of the San Bernardino shooters saw bombs all over the floor in the shooters' home but did not report it. Clinton, meanwhile, is condemning "dark and divisive" things said about Muslims. She says the United States is not at war with Islam and says Muslims should feel welcome and included in society. ___ 9:45 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are clashing over the future of President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Clinton is vowing to fix the Affordable Care Act and Trump is promising to repeal and replace "Obamacare." Clinton says 20 million more people have health coverage because of the law. She says she wants to "save what works," but the next administration will need to get costs down and provide more help to small businesses. She says if the system is repealed it will be "turned back" to the insurance industry. Trump says the system is a "disaster" and "will never work." He says it needs to be replaced with a less expensive system that's more flexible for patients regardless of what state they live in. ___ 9:40 p.m. Donald Trump is repeatedly interrupting Hillary Clinton and talking over the debate moderators. He also accuses the two moderators of siding with Clinton and refusing to let him answer questions. The interruptions prompted Clinton to exclaim, "I know that you're into big diversions tonight." Trump seems sensitive to his interactions with Clinton. When the moderators asked a question and it was unclear whose turn it was to answer first, Clinton said, "Go ahead, Donald." Trump replied, "No, I'm a gentleman, Hillary, go ahead." Some in the audience laughed. ___ 9:38 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are clashing over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Clinton says she was "very sorry" for using the server, but she takes keeping classified information secret very seriously. She adds there's been no evidence her actions led to classified materials winding up in the wrong hands. Trump is accusing Clinton of lying, and says she improperly destroyed more than 30,000 emails that he says should have been turned over to law enforcement authorities. Trump says he was disappointed that Clinton had not been criminally charged. He tells Clinton, "Again, you should be ashamed of yourself." He is also complaining that the two debate moderators are not sufficiently pressing Clinton on the email issue. ___ 9:35 p.m. Donald Trump is sniffling again. The Republican nominee is noticeably inhaling deeply through his nose in the early part of the debate. Trump 's heavy inhalations became a hot topic in the previous debate, 13 days ago in Hempstead, New York. When asked about it the next morning, Trump denied he'd been sniffling. "No, no sniffles," he said on "Fox & Friends." ''No sniffles, no cold." ___ 9:33 p.m. Donald Trump is turning Hillary Clinton's demand for an apology back onto her, accusing her of stealing the Democratic nomination. Trump says Clinton unfairly won her party's nod by cheating rival Bernie Sanders. About Sanders, who eventually endorsed Clinton, Trump says, "I was so surprised to see him sign on with the devil." Trump went on to repeat debunked claims that Clinton started rumors that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Trump has fomented the conspiracy for years until last month, when he declared Obama, who was born in Hawaii, an American citizen. The long list of accusations was his response to Clinton's claim that Trump owes an apology to the many people and groups he has publicly quarreled with during his presidential campaign. ___ 9:30 p.m. Hillary Clinton is ignoring Donald Trump 's statements about her husband's sexual past. Trump referenced Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment, which followed an affair in the Oval Office and several other scenarios. Hillary Clinton responded by quoting Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention: "When they go low, we go high." Hillary Clinton then said Trump owes the nation an apology for the way he's conducted his campaign. ___ 9:25 p.m. Donald Trump is raising accusations of sexual misconduct by Bill Clinton, saying the former president "was abusive to women" and saying Hillary Clinton attacked the accusers "viciously." Trump is also noting that Hillary Clinton was a court-appointed defender for a man accused of assaulting a 12-year-old who was raped in Arkansas and says she laughed at some point while discussing it. He also says Bill Clinton paid a monetary settlement to Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state worker who alleged in 1991 that Bill Clinton propositioned and exposed himself to her. Trump says video where he made crude comments to women "it's just words, folks." He says Hillary Clinton's defense of her husband is "disgraceful and I think she should be ashamed of herself." ___ 9:20 p.m. Hillary Clinton says the Donald Trump heard on an 11-year-old recording making crude and vulgar remarks about women "is who Donald Trump is." Clinton addressed Trump 's predatory comments in the opening minutes of the second presidential debate Sunday. Clinton says the tape shows what Trump "thinks about women, what he does to women." She says that while Trump has claimed the tape doesn't represent who he is, "It's clear to anyone who heard it, it represents exactly who he is." Clinton says Trump has insulted not only women, but African-Americans, immigrants, people with disabilities, prisoners of war and others. ___ 9:15 p.m. Donald Trump denies he was discussing sexual assault in a 2005 recording that reveals him saying he can "do anything" with women because he is famous. He says he has never kissed or groped women without consent. And he's continuing to characterize the recording as "locker room talk." Debate moderator Anderson Cooper put it more bluntly, saying, "That is sexual assault." Trump responded: "No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understand what I said." Trump continually tried to pivot to foreign policy, seemingly suggesting his comments pale in comparison to the actions of the Islamic State. ___ 9:12 p.m. Trump did not, at first use, the opening question about setting an example for children to apologize for the vulgar comments he made about women in 2005 that were taped and recently released. Instead he attempted to echo Clinton's remarks. "I agree with everything that she said," Trump said. "I began this campaign because I was so tired of seeing such foolish things happen to our country. This is a great country, this is a great land." ___ 9:10 p.m. Hillary Clinton says at the start of the second presidential debate that the campaign needs to set an example to children that our country great "because we're good." Clinton was asked by a teacher if she thought the campaign was modeling "appropriate and positive" behavior. Clinton says the country needs to set big goals and work together to try to achieve them. She made no mention of Trump's vulgar comments in a 2005 tape that emerged Friday. ___ 9:05 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump refused to shake hands as they entered the debate hall in St. Louis. That's a break from traditional debate decorum. The town hall-style event is expected to be tense. Shortly before it began, Trump held a press conference with three women who had accused President Bill Clinton of sexual wrongdoing and Hillary Clinton of acting vindictively toward them. Trump also introduced a woman who as a 12-year-old had accused a man of rape; Hillary Clinton as a young lawyer defended that man. Those four women are seated with the Trump family in the front row of the audience of the debate hall. Bill Clinton shook hands with Trump's wife, Melania Trump, his two sons and daughter Ivanka as they entered the hall before the debate. ___ 8:50 p.m. The fireworks at the second presidential debate exploded even before the candidates took the stage. Donald Trump unexpectedly appeared live on his Facebook page with women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of rape and unwanted advances. They didn't take questions but repeated some of the claims they made against Clinton years ago. The women are expected to attend the debate as guests of Trump. Hillary Clinton's campaign responded by calling it a "stunt" that wouldn't alter Clinton's plans to speak directly to voters in the debate. The stunning moment raised further questions about how directly Trump plans to go after Bill Clinton in the debate. ___ 8:45 p.m. The second presidential debate is shaping up as potentially Donald Trump's final opportunity to keep his campaign from collapsing a month before Election Day. With prominent Republicans already abandoning him in droves, other Republicans, including leaders in Congress, are looking to the debate to see whether Trump shows enough contrition to stand by him despite his vulgar comments about women. There's been uncertainty about whether the Republican Party might shift resources away from his campaign in the final weeks or even try to replace him on the ticket. Another layer of unpredictability is the debate format. The candidates are taking questions from undecided voters and will be onstage with stools rather than traditional podiums. ST. LOUIS: The Latest on the second presidential debate between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump (all times EDT): 10:50 p.m. Maybe it was the compliments they'd just given each other. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump shook hands after the debate ended, something they refused to do 90 minutes earlier. The debate was especially icy at the outset, replete with talk of sexual impropriety and Trump threatening to jail Clinton over her erased emails. But the St. Louis rumble concluded with a voter asking them to say something nice about each other. Clinton's and Trump's families quickly joined them on stage as the debate wrapped up. The candidates greeted their relatives and then circulated the room, which is filled with undecided Missouri voters as well as supporters of the two campaigns. ___ 10:45 p.m. After 90 minutes of disagreeing, sometimes harshly, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are ending their second presidential debate on a positive note. They were asked by a town hall attendee to say something they admire about the other. Clinton says she respects Trump's children, a comment Trump calls "a very nice compliment." He says he sees Clinton as a "fighter" even though he disagrees with much of what she's fighting for. He says "she does fight hard and doesn't give up and I consider that a very good trait." ___ 10:40 p.m. Donald Trump says the Environmental Protection Agency under President Barack Obama has hurt domestic energy production with overreaching restrictions. Trump says: "Energy is under siege, under absolute siege. The EPA is killing these energy companies." Trump blames Obama, and by association Clinton, for coal mines closing. He first noted West Virginia, a state that typically votes Republican, before adding two key coal states Ohio and Pennsylvania he probably needs to capture to win the White House. Trump is also lamenting Chinese companies selling cheaper steel on the international market, hurting the U.S. steel industry. Clinton agrees that China is dumping cheap steel on the market, but notes that "Donald Trump is buying it to build his buildings." ___ 10:36 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are laying out their criteria for Supreme Court selections. Clinton said she wants justices who understand how the world "really works." She wants ones who will support the legality of abortion and same-sex marriage. She notes that several of the justices Trump has said he'd consider oppose those rights. Trump says he wants a judge in the tradition of Justice Antonin Scalia. Scalia's death this winter opened a vacancy on the court that still has not been filled. The Republican-controlled Senate has refused to consider President Obama's nominee to fill Scalia's seat. ___ 10:34 p.m. Donald Trump is denying encouraging people to check out a sex tape of a former Miss Universe something he recently did on Twitter. Referencing the controversy over former beauty queen Alicia Machado, Trump said his past comments, "It wasn't, 'Check out a sex tape.'" Instead, Trump claims he just asked people to "take a look at the past of this of this wonderful Girl Scout who was no Girl Scout." But Trump did encourage his Twitter followers to "check out sex tape and past" of Machado. He also suggested, without evidence, that Clinton helped Machado become a U.S. citizen to vote against Trump. Clinton had criticized Trump for slamming Machado for gaining weight after becoming Miss Universe. ___ 10:32 p.m. Donald Trump says Hillary Clinton has "tremendous hate in her heart." Trump made the comment in reference to Clinton saying earlier in the campaign that half of Trump's supporters are "deplorables." Clinton apologized for saying that half of his supporters were deplorables, but didn't back down from using that word. After Trump said Sunday that Clinton had "tremendous hate in her heart," she laughed and shook her head. But she did not address the comment the next time she spoke. ___ 10:30 p.m. Hillary Clinton is flipping a question about her comments that half of Donald Trump's supporters fit into a "basket of deplorables" into a criticism of Trump's campaign. She says her problem is with Trump, not his supporters. She is accusing Trump of inciting violence and running a campaign based on insults. Clinton says she apologized for her remarks within hours. In a statement, she said she regretted saying "half" but did not retract the comments. ___ 10:28 p.m. Hillary Clinton is asserting that "bullying is up" among young people because of what she calls "the Trump effect." Clinton says there is "a lot of fear," ''people are feeling uneasy" and "a lot of kids are expressing their concerns." She is not citing any specific statistics to back up her assertions about a rise in bullying inspired by Trump's bombastic style. The candidates were asked if, as president, they would be devoted to all people in the U.S. Both candidates answered yes. Trump stressed he would be "a president for all of our people" specifically mentioning African-Americans, Latinos and Hispanics while highlighting what he described as poor conditions in the big cities where many minorities live. He asserted "education is a disaster" and "jobs are essentially non-existent" in the inner cities. ___ 10:23 p.m. Donald Trump says he disagrees with his running mate Mike Pence on the proper strategy to deal with the civil war and humanitarian crisis in Syria. Debate moderator Martha Raddatz pointed out that Pence had said provocations by Russia in Syria need to be met with "American strength" and the U.S. should be prepared to use air strikes in Syria against the regime of President Bashar Assad. But Trump says he disagrees with Pence, a former member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, and notes they had not spoken about the issue. Trump says the U.S. focus should be on eliminating the Islamic State, and not getting entangled with fights with Assad and Russia. "We have to worry about ISIS before we can get too much more involved," Trump says. ___ 10:22 p.m. Hillary Clinton is pledging not to use American ground forces in Syria, saying it would be a "very serious mistake." Clinton says she doesn't think American troops should be holding territory as an occupying force, saying it's not a "smart strategy." Asked how she would fight the Islamic State in a different way than President Barack Obama, Clinton says she's hopeful that IS will be pushed out of Iraq by the time she's president. But she says she would specifically target IS leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi and consider arming Kurdish fighters in Iraq. ___ 10:20 p.m. Donald Trump is blaming Hillary Clinton for what was called the "red line" in Syria, a generalization about the U.S. response to Bashar Assad's regime. But Clinton didn't make the claim. President Barack Obama did. And he did it after Clinton had left the administration as secretary of state. Trump says, "She's there with the line-in-the-sand." Clinton pipes in: "No, I wasn't. I was gone." Trump responds: "But you were in contact, excuse me. Sadly, perhaps President Obama was still listening to you." The exchange was about the city of Aleppo in Syria, where the Assad regime, backed by Russia, is fighting to root out rebels and killing civilians in the process. ___ 10:18 p.m. Donald Trump disagrees with his running mate over Syria. Trump says there's no point in trying to prevent civilian deaths in Aleppo. Syria's most populous city is under intense bombardment by Russian forces. The U.S. government has warned Russia that it's killing civilians rather than terrorists. Trump's vice presidential pick, Mike Pence, said last week the U.S. should use military force if Russia keeps attacking civilians in Syria. Trump says he disagrees with Pence. Trump says he's no fan of Russia or Syrian President Bashar Assad. But he says the two of them are fighting Islamic State militants, as is Iran. Despite repeated prodding by moderator Martha Raddatz, Trump did not say he'd try to check Russian actions. Hillary Clinton says she'd try to rein in Russia. She contends that Russia is trying to get Trump elected president. ___ 10:15 p.m. Hillary Clinton is listing her accomplishments during three decades as an elected official amid a series of interruptions by Donald Trump. When Trump pressed Clinton on why she hadn't changed tax policies that benefit the wealthy, like him, after so many years in office, Clinton said she opposed such policies "but that's not the point." Trump shot back, "If you were an effective senator, you could have done it." Clinton blamed President George W. Bush for thwarting her in the area. Clinton then added that, as senator, she helped "rebuild" New York after the Sept. 11 attacks, while getting proper health care for first responders sickened during clean up. She says that, as secretary of state, she advocated for global women's rights and reduced nuclear weapons with Russia. ___ 10:12 p.m. Donald Trump is repeatedly interrupting Clinton, while she is largely avoiding barging in as he speaks. The moderators have noticed. As Clinton tried to address why she didn't try to change tax laws when she was a New York senator, Trump tried to butt in. "Please allow her to respond," said CNN's Anderson Cooper said. "She didn't interrupt you." Clinton continued. A few moments later, when the two were addressing foreign policy, Clinton sniped to Trump, "I didn't want to interrupt you, but at some point we need to do some fact checking here." ___ 10:10 p.m. Hillary Clinton is promising that no one making less than $250,000 will pay higher taxes under her plan, but those with higher incomes could pay considerably more. Clinton says she wants to impose a special tax on people making over $1 million and a surcharge on those with incomes above $5 million. "We have to make up for lost times," Clinton says, telling the audience she wants to raise taxes on the rich "because I want to invest in you." She says Trump's proposed tax plan would end up raising taxes on millions of middle-class Americans. ___ 10:07 p.m. Donald Trump says he will get rid of the carried interest loophole that allows Wall Street traders to pay a lower tax rate on their earnings. Trump says he would eliminate the loophole that lets money managers count their earnings as capital gains, which carry a lower tax rate, instead of ordinary income. But Trump's carried interest provision doesn't actually raise taxes on hedge fund managers and it creates a new loophole that could provide them with an even lower rate. The Republican says he would cut taxes for the middle class and accuses Clinton of raising taxes on middle-class families. ___ 10:05 p.m. Hillary Clinton occasionally smiles, sometimes jots notes and frequently sits to listen as Donald Trump talks. Trump paces the room, forcefully points at Clinton when addressing her and keeps his lips pursed tight as she speaks. He's only used his chair to rest his hands on the back of it. The town hall-style format of this debate gives television viewers a look at how the presidential candidates carry themselves in stressful situations. There have been no shoulder shimmies. That Clinton move prompted in the first debate when Trump said he had a better temperament than her spawned a thousand GIFs. ___ 10 p.m. Hillary Clinton is saying it's OK to have a public and private position on an issue because Abraham Lincoln did. She is responding to a question about an email released by a WikiLeaks last week in which Clinton said it's acceptable for a president to project differing positions. She was asked whether that's "two-faced." She says Lincoln did whatever he could to get the 13th Amendment passed, allowing emancipation of the slaves, by lawmakers who did not support African-American equality. Clinton says: "I was making the point it is hard sometimes to get the Congress to do what you want them to do. That was a great display of presidential leadership." Trump began his response to Clinton's statement by rolling his eyes, and says, "Now she's blaming the late, great Abraham Lincoln." 9:57 p.m. It's hard to name the most memorable line in this combative debate. But the most memorable visual so far? That's easy. It's the image of Hillary Clinton answering a question, while Donald Trump looms behind her. Unrestricted by a podium, Clinton is using the whole stage at the town hall-style forum, crossing in front of Trump to answer audience questions. That's left Trump stuck in the camera shot behind her, standing awkwardly, at times swaying and pacing, while he listens to her answers. Trump often mocked Clinton for spending time preparing for the debate. It's not clear how much time he spent preparing for one of the trickiest elements knowing where the camera is at all times. ___ 9:55 p.m. Donald Trump is again insisting he opposed the Iraq War before it started. But despite his repeated claims, the facts are clear: He did not. There is no evidence Trump expressed public opposition to the war before the U.S. invaded. Rather, he offered lukewarm support. The billionaire businessman only began to voice doubts about the conflict well after it began in March 2003. Trump first known public comment on the topic came on Sept. 11, 2002, when he was asked whether he supported a potential Iraq invasion in an interview with radio host Howard Stern. "Yeah, I guess so," he said. His first public comments strongly opposing the war came in 2004. Trump's opponent, Hillary Clinton, voted in favor of the invasion in 2002 while she was a New York senator. It's a vote she has said was a mistake. ___ 9:53 p.m. Donald Trump says a U.S. Army captain killed in Iraq in 2004 would still be alive if he had been president at the time. Trump is talking about Captain Humayun Khan, whose Pakistan-born father gave an impassioned speech at the Democratic National Convention in July. Trump then got into a feud with Khan's parents. Trump now says Captain Khan is an "American hero" and "he would be alive today if I had been president." Trump's feud with the Khan family led to harsh criticism from veterans across the country and families of those killed in action. ___ 9:52 p.m. Donald Trump says the United States is allowing refugees from Syria and the Middle East to pour into America and "we have no idea who they are" or where exactly they are coming from. Asked about bans and strict limits on Muslim immigrants into the United States that he's supported in the past,Trump says it was a policy plan that would grow out of "extreme vetting" of people coming to the U.S. from global conflict areas. Trump calls allowing immigrants into the country without more scrutiny the "Greatest Trojan Horse of all time" and says it has to stop because "we have enough problems in our country." ___ 9:51 p.m. Hillary Clinton says she'll screen Syrian refugees but the country needs to take in more. Clinton says a proposal like Donald Trump 's to ban all Muslims from entering the country plays into the hands of terrorists. She also says Trump has alienated the country's Muslim allies. Clinton says "we will have vetting and it will be as tough as it needs to be." But she is evoking the image of a bloodied 4-year-old Syrian boy to argue the United States needs to do its share. ___ 9:50 p.m. Donald Trump isn't answering a question about how to stop Islamophobia in America. Instead, he's saying American Muslims must report other Muslims who are engaging in dangerous behavior. He's repeating the false claim that neighbors of the San Bernardino shooters saw bombs all over the floor in the shooters' home but did not report it. Clinton, meanwhile, is condemning "dark and divisive" things said about Muslims. She says the United States is not at war with Islam and says Muslims should feel welcome and included in society. ___ 9:45 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are clashing over the future of President Barack Obama's signature health care law. Clinton is vowing to fix the Affordable Care Act and Trump is promising to repeal and replace "Obamacare." Clinton says 20 million more people have health coverage because of the law. She says she wants to "save what works," but the next administration will need to get costs down and provide more help to small businesses. She says if the system is repealed it will be "turned back" to the insurance industry. Trump says the system is a "disaster" and "will never work." He says it needs to be replaced with a less expensive system that's more flexible for patients regardless of what state they live in. ___ 9:40 p.m. Donald Trump is repeatedly interrupting Hillary Clinton and talking over the debate moderators. He also accuses the two moderators of siding with Clinton and refusing to let him answer questions. The interruptions prompted Clinton to exclaim, "I know that you're into big diversions tonight." Trump seems sensitive to his interactions with Clinton. When the moderators asked a question and it was unclear whose turn it was to answer first, Clinton said, "Go ahead, Donald." Trump replied, "No, I'm a gentleman, Hillary, go ahead." Some in the audience laughed. ___ 9:38 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are clashing over her use of a private email server while she was secretary of state. Clinton says she was "very sorry" for using the server, but she takes keeping classified information secret very seriously. She adds there's been no evidence her actions led to classified materials winding up in the wrong hands. Trump is accusing Clinton of lying, and says she improperly destroyed more than 30,000 emails that he says should have been turned over to law enforcement authorities. Trump says he was disappointed that Clinton had not been criminally charged. He tells Clinton, "Again, you should be ashamed of yourself." He is also complaining that the two debate moderators are not sufficiently pressing Clinton on the email issue. ___ 9:35 p.m. Donald Trump is sniffling again. The Republican nominee is noticeably inhaling deeply through his nose in the early part of the debate. Trump 's heavy inhalations became a hot topic in the previous debate, 13 days ago in Hempstead, New York. When asked about it the next morning, Trump denied he'd been sniffling. "No, no sniffles," he said on "Fox & Friends." ''No sniffles, no cold." ___ 9:33 p.m. Donald Trump is turning Hillary Clinton's demand for an apology back onto her, accusing her of stealing the Democratic nomination. Trump says Clinton unfairly won her party's nod by cheating rival Bernie Sanders. About Sanders, who eventually endorsed Clinton, Trump says, "I was so surprised to see him sign on with the devil." Trump went on to repeat debunked claims that Clinton started rumors that President Barack Obama was not born in the United States. Trump has fomented the conspiracy for years until last month, when he declared Obama, who was born in Hawaii, an American citizen. The long list of accusations was his response to Clinton's claim that Trump owes an apology to the many people and groups he has publicly quarreled with during his presidential campaign. ___ 9:30 p.m. Hillary Clinton is ignoring Donald Trump 's statements about her husband's sexual past. Trump referenced Bill Clinton's 1998 impeachment, which followed an affair in the Oval Office and several other scenarios. Hillary Clinton responded by quoting Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention: "When they go low, we go high." Hillary Clinton then said Trump owes the nation an apology for the way he's conducted his campaign. ___ 9:25 p.m. Donald Trump is raising accusations of sexual misconduct by Bill Clinton, saying the former president "was abusive to women" and saying Hillary Clinton attacked the accusers "viciously." Trump is also noting that Hillary Clinton was a court-appointed defender for a man accused of assaulting a 12-year-old who was raped in Arkansas and says she laughed at some point while discussing it. He also says Bill Clinton paid a monetary settlement to Paula Jones, a former Arkansas state worker who alleged in 1991 that Bill Clinton propositioned and exposed himself to her. Trump says video where he made crude comments to women "it's just words, folks." He says Hillary Clinton's defense of her husband is "disgraceful and I think she should be ashamed of herself." ___ 9:20 p.m. Hillary Clinton says the Donald Trump heard on an 11-year-old recording making crude and vulgar remarks about women "is who Donald Trump is." Clinton addressed Trump 's predatory comments in the opening minutes of the second presidential debate Sunday. Clinton says the tape shows what Trump "thinks about women, what he does to women." She says that while Trump has claimed the tape doesn't represent who he is, "It's clear to anyone who heard it, it represents exactly who he is." Clinton says Trump has insulted not only women, but African-Americans, immigrants, people with disabilities, prisoners of war and others. ___ 9:15 p.m. Donald Trump denies he was discussing sexual assault in a 2005 recording that reveals him saying he can "do anything" with women because he is famous. He says he has never kissed or groped women without consent. And he's continuing to characterize the recording as "locker room talk." Debate moderator Anderson Cooper put it more bluntly, saying, "That is sexual assault." Trump responded: "No, I didn't say that at all. I don't think you understand what I said." Trump continually tried to pivot to foreign policy, seemingly suggesting his comments pale in comparison to the actions of the Islamic State. ___ 9:12 p.m. Trump did not, at first use, the opening question about setting an example for children to apologize for the vulgar comments he made about women in 2005 that were taped and recently released. Instead he attempted to echo Clinton's remarks. "I agree with everything that she said," Trump said. "I began this campaign because I was so tired of seeing such foolish things happen to our country. This is a great country, this is a great land." ___ 9:10 p.m. Hillary Clinton says at the start of the second presidential debate that the campaign needs to set an example to children that our country great "because we're good." Clinton was asked by a teacher if she thought the campaign was modeling "appropriate and positive" behavior. Clinton says the country needs to set big goals and work together to try to achieve them. She made no mention of Trump's vulgar comments in a 2005 tape that emerged Friday. ___ 9:05 p.m. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump refused to shake hands as they entered the debate hall in St. Louis. That's a break from traditional debate decorum. The town hall-style event is expected to be tense. Shortly before it began, Trump held a press conference with three women who had accused President Bill Clinton of sexual wrongdoing and Hillary Clinton of acting vindictively toward them. Trump also introduced a woman who as a 12-year-old had accused a man of rape; Hillary Clinton as a young lawyer defended that man. Those four women are seated with the Trump family in the front row of the audience of the debate hall. Bill Clinton shook hands with Trump's wife, Melania Trump, his two sons and daughter Ivanka as they entered the hall before the debate. ___ 8:50 p.m. The fireworks at the second presidential debate exploded even before the candidates took the stage. Donald Trump unexpectedly appeared live on his Facebook page with women who have accused former President Bill Clinton of rape and unwanted advances. They didn't take questions but repeated some of the claims they made against Clinton years ago. The women are expected to attend the debate as guests of Trump. Hillary Clinton's campaign responded by calling it a "stunt" that wouldn't alter Clinton's plans to speak directly to voters in the debate. The stunning moment raised further questions about how directly Trump plans to go after Bill Clinton in the debate. ___ 8:45 p.m. The second presidential debate is shaping up as potentially Donald Trump's final opportunity to keep his campaign from collapsing a month before Election Day. With prominent Republicans already abandoning him in droves, other Republicans, including leaders in Congress, are looking to the debate to see whether Trump shows enough contrition to stand by him despite his vulgar comments about women. There's been uncertainty about whether the Republican Party might shift resources away from his campaign in the final weeks or even try to replace him on the ticket. Another layer of unpredictability is the debate format. The candidates are taking questions from undecided voters and will be onstage with stools rather than traditional podiums. By Associated Press ST. LOUIS: In a debate filled with tension, Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of attacking women involved in her husband's marital affairs and declared she would "be in jail" if he were president. Staring icily at her Republican rival, Clinton said Trump's own aggressively vulgar comments about women had revealed "exactly who he is." Sunday night's debate was the culmination of a stunning stretch in the race for the White House, which began with the release of a new video in which Trump is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. A flood of Republicans revoked their support, with some calling for him to drop out of the race. Answering for his words for the first time, Trump denied that he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely "locker room talk" and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton's abuse of women. "She should be ashamed of herself," Trump declared. Ahead of the debate, the businessman met with three women who accused the former president of sexual harassment and even rape, then invited them to sit in the debate hall. Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment. On the debate stage, Clinton did not respond directly to Trump's accusations about her husband or her own role, but was blistering in her condemnation of his predatory comments about women in the tape released Friday. "I think it's clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is," she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the "fitness to serve" as commander in chief. The second debate was a town hall format, with several undecided voters sitting on stage with the candidates. The voters, all from the St. Louis area, were selected by Gallup. The tension between Trump and Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate, the second time they have faced off in the presidential campaign. They did not shake hands as they met at center stage. Trump, who is nearly a foot taller than Clinton, stood close behind her as she answered questions from the voters. At other times, he paced the stage and repeatedly interrupted her. Ahead of the event, Trump brazenly met publicly with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances and even rape. Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about his own aggressive sexual remarks about women during the meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons. "Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me," Broaddrick said. "I don't think there's any comparison." Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations. Trump is trying to change the subject from his own conduct. Even before Friday's new revelations of his sexual remarks about women, his campaign was slumping. But the release of the 2005 video has some leading Republicans convinced the damage is insurmountable. The political firestorm was sparked by a 2005 video obtained and released Friday by The Washington Post and NBC News. In the video, Trump, who was married to his current wife at the time, is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also brags to Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood" about women letting him kiss them and grab their genitals because he is famous. NBC said Sunday that it had indefinitely suspended Bush, now a "Today" show personality, for his role in the crude conversation with Trump. Trump's own running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has declared he could neither condone nor defend the remarks in the video revealed on Friday. Other Republicans have taken the extraordinary step of revoking support for their party's nominee. Among them: Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte both are running for re-election and the party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Some called on Trump to quit the race. Trump's troubles have almost completely overshadowed the release of hacked emails from the Clinton campaign that revealed the contents of previously secret paid speeches to Wall Street. Clinton told bankers behind closed doors that she favored "open trade." Such remarks were at odds with her tough public comments. ST. LOUIS: In a debate filled with tension, Donald Trump accused Hillary Clinton of attacking women involved in her husband's marital affairs and declared she would "be in jail" if he were president. Staring icily at her Republican rival, Clinton said Trump's own aggressively vulgar comments about women had revealed "exactly who he is." Sunday night's debate was the culmination of a stunning stretch in the race for the White House, which began with the release of a new video in which Trump is heard bragging about how his fame allowed him to "do anything" to women. A flood of Republicans revoked their support, with some calling for him to drop out of the race. Answering for his words for the first time, Trump denied that he had ever kissed and grabbed women without their consent. He said repeatedly that his words in 2005 were merely "locker room talk" and paled in comparison to what he called Bill Clinton's abuse of women. "She should be ashamed of herself," Trump declared. Ahead of the debate, the businessman met with three women who accused the former president of sexual harassment and even rape, then invited them to sit in the debate hall. Bill Clinton never faced any criminal charges in relation to the allegations, and a lawsuit over an alleged rape was dismissed. He did settle a lawsuit with one of the women who claimed harassment. On the debate stage, Clinton did not respond directly to Trump's accusations about her husband or her own role, but was blistering in her condemnation of his predatory comments about women in the tape released Friday. "I think it's clear to anyone who heard him that it represents exactly who he is," she said, adding that she did not believe Trump had the "fitness to serve" as commander in chief. The second debate was a town hall format, with several undecided voters sitting on stage with the candidates. The voters, all from the St. Louis area, were selected by Gallup. The tension between Trump and Clinton was palpable from the start of their 90-minute debate, the second time they have faced off in the presidential campaign. They did not shake hands as they met at center stage. Trump, who is nearly a foot taller than Clinton, stood close behind her as she answered questions from the voters. At other times, he paced the stage and repeatedly interrupted her. Ahead of the event, Trump brazenly met publicly with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances and even rape. Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about his own aggressive sexual remarks about women during the meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Kathy Shelton, a fourth woman who appeared with Trump, was a 12-year-old Arkansas sexual assault victim whose alleged assailant was defended by Hillary Clinton. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons. "Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me," Broaddrick said. "I don't think there's any comparison." Broaddrick, a former Arkansas nursing home administrator, first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations. Trump is trying to change the subject from his own conduct. Even before Friday's new revelations of his sexual remarks about women, his campaign was slumping. But the release of the 2005 video has some leading Republicans convinced the damage is insurmountable. The political firestorm was sparked by a 2005 video obtained and released Friday by The Washington Post and NBC News. In the video, Trump, who was married to his current wife at the time, is heard describing attempts to have sex with a married woman. He also brags to Billy Bush of "Access Hollywood" about women letting him kiss them and grab their genitals because he is famous. NBC said Sunday that it had indefinitely suspended Bush, now a "Today" show personality, for his role in the crude conversation with Trump. Trump's own running mate, Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, has declared he could neither condone nor defend the remarks in the video revealed on Friday. Other Republicans have taken the extraordinary step of revoking support for their party's nominee. Among them: Ohio Sen. Rob Portman, New Hampshire Sen. Kelly Ayotte both are running for re-election and the party's 2008 nominee, Arizona Sen. John McCain. Some called on Trump to quit the race. Trump's troubles have almost completely overshadowed the release of hacked emails from the Clinton campaign that revealed the contents of previously secret paid speeches to Wall Street. Clinton told bankers behind closed doors that she favored "open trade." Such remarks were at odds with her tough public comments. By Associated Press WASHINGTON: The Latest on the U.S. presidential race- 8:04 p.m. Paula Jones says she's in St. Louis to support Donald Trump. She was the first of four women to speak at an unusual pre-debate meeting with Trump in St. Louis as the Republican presidential nominee tried to shine a spotlight on the sexual transgressions of Hillary Clinton's husband. Jones offered a message about Trump: "They should all look at the fact that he is a good person. He is not what other people are saying he's being." In 1998, Bill Clinton agreed to an $850,000 settlement with Jones. She was an Arkansas state worker who accused Bill Clinton of exposing himself and making indecent proposition when Clinton was governor. The settlement included no apology or admission of guilt. ---------------------------------- Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is offering his prayers to Israel in the face of "yet another act of terror in Jerusalem." Pence's Twitter message was posted just moments after his running mate, Donald Trump, concluded a pre-debate display of women accusing former president Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances . Although they share a ticket, the two have jarringly different political styles. Pence has not made any public appearances since a 2005 tape of Trump making crude sexual remarks engulfed the presidential race on Friday. He released a statement ---------------------------------- Before the second presidential debate, Donald Trump has appeared at an event with women who accused former President Bill Clinton of rape and unwanted sexual advances. The Republican nominee did not take questions as he appeared with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Jones is a former Arkansas state worker who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Bill Clinton in 1994 for allegedly exposing himself to her in a Little Rock hotel room. She says of Trump, "He's going to make America great again." Also at the event was Kathy Shelton, who was sexually assaulted as a 12-year-old. Hillary Clinton represented the suspect as a public defender ---------------------------------- Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is calling on Donald Trump to step down as the party's presidential nominee for his newly released remarks about his aggressive treatment of women. The Republican issued a statement Sunday calling on Trump to remove himself and clear the way for Trump running mate Mike Pence to face Democrat Hillary Clinton next month. He says the character of the nation's leaders does matter, adding, "the decisions that are made in the Oval Office have too many consequences to ignore the behavior we have seen" from Trump. Haslam never endorsed Trump. Trump has said he has no plans to quit. Haslam said if that's the case, he plans to vote for a write-in candidate for president from the Republican Party. ---------------------------------- President Barack Obama is suggesting that Donald Trump insults people because he's "insecure." Without saying Trump's name, he said there's a reason why the Republican presidential candidate has denigrated veterans, people with disabilities, Mexicans and others during the 2016 campaign. Obama said: "It tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down." Obama was addressing supporters Sunday at a fund raiser in Chicago. He said "the unbelievable rhetoric" from Trump has been "disturbing." "I don't need to repeat it there are children in the room," he said to laughter. ---------------------------------- Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she favors Donald Trump dropping out of the presidential race. The New Hampshire senator dropped her support for Trump on Saturday. She said she will write in Mike Pence, but initially stopped short of calling for Trump to step aside. But when she was asked by a reporter Sunday if Trump stood step down, she said "I would support that." Ayotte said recently released recordings of Trump making vulgar remarks about women are "fundamentally different" than his past comments. She said Trump is advocating assault, and that she wants her young daughter to know that she does not support the comments. She says speaking out for her daughter's sake is "more important to me than winning any election." Ayotte is in a close race for re-election. ---------------------------------- Democrats are discounting the idea that Republican leaders will encourage Donald Trump to step aside as their presidential nominee and urge voters to rally behind Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. Donna Brazile interim head of the Democratic National Committee notes that some states have begun early voting and mailed absentee ballots with Trump's name on it. Brazile says attempts to change the ballots would be "very confusing" to voters. She's suggesting on ABC's "This Week" that Democratic Party lawyers probably would fight any efforts by states to change the names on the ballot if it came to that. ---------------------------------- The chairman of the House Ethics Committee says there's still time for Republicans to rally behind an alternative to Donald Trump as their presidential nominee. GOP Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania says he hopes House Speaker Paul Ryan and party chairman Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) will withdraw their endorsements of Trump. Here's what Dent tells ABC's "This Week": "As a party leader, I think at times you have to stand up and do some pretty difficult things and this may be one of them right now." Dent floated a few names, including Robert Gates, defense secretary under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama; Condoleezza (kahn-duh-LEE'-zuh) Rice, secretary of state under Bush; Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sihk), who sought the GOP presidential nomination; or Mitch Daniel, a former Indiana governor. ---------------------------------- Donald Trump is lashing out at the growing list of Republicans abandoning his candidacy, predicting that they're the ones who will lose. Trump on Sunday tweeted: "So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers - and elections - go down!" Trump has also been re-tweeting a series of messages from supporters, including one that lashes out at "GOP traitors!" and says not supporting is voting for "destroying America." Another says "'Republican leadership' should have only one job: Help elect the nominee we voted for, Donald J. Trump." Trump has faced a mass exodus of support in the wake of the release of crude video footage in which he brags about making unwanted sexual advances on women. ---------------------------------- Donald Trump backer Rudy Giuliani says Trump is embarrassed by the airing of a tape in which the Republican presidential nominee makes vulgar and predatory remarks about women. But in Giuliani's words "it seems to me, we should move on." The former New York City mayor tells ABC's "This Week" that Trump is "very, very embarrassed and contrite about it." When asked whether Trump's comments described sexual assault, Giuliani said "that's what he's talking about." But Giuliani isn't sure whether Trump was exaggerating, as "some men" do. ---------------------------------- A GOP senator says Republicans can't win the White House with Donald Trump as their presidential nominee and having him at the top of the ticket could drag down other Republicans. Utah's Mike Lee says Trump and his backers can cement a lasting legacy if he were to step aside, allowing Republicans to find a candidate who can bring together all elements within the party and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Lee tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that "we've got candidates who can do it. There's still time to do it, but we have to actually do it." Lee is among a growing number of Republicans who've called for Trump to step aside following the release of a recording in which Trump makes crude comments about women. ---------------------------------- Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine says a recording that captured crude language from Donald Trump reveals "a pattern of sexual assault" by the Republican presidential nominee. Kaine tells CNN's "State of the Union" that it's "much more than words." Kaine notes that Trump has previously made disparaging remarks about women. Kaine says: "There's kind of a piece of the jigsaw puzzle missing in Donald Trump where he does not look at women and consider them as equal to himself." ---------------------------------- Donald Trump is thanking Republicans who are standing by him. Trump sent a tweet Sunday after a growing list of elected Republican officials have called on him to abandon his presidential campaign. That followed the release of a recording of Trump making vulgar comments about women. Trump tweeted on Sunday morning: "Tremendous support (except for some Republican "leadership"). Thank you." In a posting Saturday evening, Trump praised supporters who turned up at a party unity rally in Wisconsin an event that Trump was disinvited to by House Speaker Paul Ryan. The rally was in Ryan's congressional district. At the event, Ryan was booed and heckled by Trump supporters, who shouted "Shame on you!" and "You turned your backs on us!" Ryan hasn't withdrawn his endorsement. ---------------------------------- Donald Trump's campaign says the Republican presidential nominee may describe Bill Clinton's sexual history in criminal terms at Sunday's debate. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says Trump won't hesitate to talk about "the women that Bill Clinton raped, sexually abused and attacked." Trump on Saturday retweeted a pair of postings by Juanita Broaddrick. Her accusations that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 were never tested in criminal court. Bill Clinton has long denied the accusations. Giuliani says Trump will cast Hillary Clinton's "as the attacker" of women when she claims to be their champion. The strategy comes as Trump reels from the release of his recorded description of his sexual aggression toward women. Giuliani says "both sides have sinned. So how about we put that behind us?" He spoke Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." ---------------------------------- Donald Trump is limping toward the critical presidential debate against Hillary Clinton without the backing of a growing group of Republican leaders. Trump insists he'll "never" abandon his White House bid despite calls for him to step aside after his vulgar descriptions of sexual advances on women were revealed. Trump's task in Sunday's faceoff is enormous. Even before the recording of his remarks were made public, the businessman was lagging behind Clinton after an undisciplined first debate. And he was struggling to overcome deep skepticism among women about his temperament and qualifications to be commander in chief. Trump has hinted he may turn the debate into a referendum on Clinton's marriage namely her husband's extramarital affairs and her treatment of the women who were involved. WASHINGTON: The Latest on the U.S. presidential race- 8:04 p.m. Paula Jones says she's in St. Louis to support Donald Trump. She was the first of four women to speak at an unusual pre-debate meeting with Trump in St. Louis as the Republican presidential nominee tried to shine a spotlight on the sexual transgressions of Hillary Clinton's husband. Jones offered a message about Trump: "They should all look at the fact that he is a good person. He is not what other people are saying he's being." In 1998, Bill Clinton agreed to an $850,000 settlement with Jones. She was an Arkansas state worker who accused Bill Clinton of exposing himself and making indecent proposition when Clinton was governor. The settlement included no apology or admission of guilt. ---------------------------------- Republican vice presidential nominee Mike Pence is offering his prayers to Israel in the face of "yet another act of terror in Jerusalem." Pence's Twitter message was posted just moments after his running mate, Donald Trump, concluded a pre-debate display of women accusing former president Bill Clinton of unwanted sexual advances . Although they share a ticket, the two have jarringly different political styles. Pence has not made any public appearances since a 2005 tape of Trump making crude sexual remarks engulfed the presidential race on Friday. He released a statement ---------------------------------- Before the second presidential debate, Donald Trump has appeared at an event with women who accused former President Bill Clinton of rape and unwanted sexual advances. The Republican nominee did not take questions as he appeared with Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey. Jones is a former Arkansas state worker who filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against Bill Clinton in 1994 for allegedly exposing himself to her in a Little Rock hotel room. She says of Trump, "He's going to make America great again." Also at the event was Kathy Shelton, who was sexually assaulted as a 12-year-old. Hillary Clinton represented the suspect as a public defender ---------------------------------- Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam is calling on Donald Trump to step down as the party's presidential nominee for his newly released remarks about his aggressive treatment of women. The Republican issued a statement Sunday calling on Trump to remove himself and clear the way for Trump running mate Mike Pence to face Democrat Hillary Clinton next month. He says the character of the nation's leaders does matter, adding, "the decisions that are made in the Oval Office have too many consequences to ignore the behavior we have seen" from Trump. Haslam never endorsed Trump. Trump has said he has no plans to quit. Haslam said if that's the case, he plans to vote for a write-in candidate for president from the Republican Party. ---------------------------------- President Barack Obama is suggesting that Donald Trump insults people because he's "insecure." Without saying Trump's name, he said there's a reason why the Republican presidential candidate has denigrated veterans, people with disabilities, Mexicans and others during the 2016 campaign. Obama said: "It tells you that he's insecure enough that he pumps himself up by putting other people down." Obama was addressing supporters Sunday at a fund raiser in Chicago. He said "the unbelievable rhetoric" from Trump has been "disturbing." "I don't need to repeat it there are children in the room," he said to laughter. ---------------------------------- Republican Sen. Kelly Ayotte says she favors Donald Trump dropping out of the presidential race. The New Hampshire senator dropped her support for Trump on Saturday. She said she will write in Mike Pence, but initially stopped short of calling for Trump to step aside. But when she was asked by a reporter Sunday if Trump stood step down, she said "I would support that." Ayotte said recently released recordings of Trump making vulgar remarks about women are "fundamentally different" than his past comments. She said Trump is advocating assault, and that she wants her young daughter to know that she does not support the comments. She says speaking out for her daughter's sake is "more important to me than winning any election." Ayotte is in a close race for re-election. ---------------------------------- Democrats are discounting the idea that Republican leaders will encourage Donald Trump to step aside as their presidential nominee and urge voters to rally behind Trump's running mate, Mike Pence. Donna Brazile interim head of the Democratic National Committee notes that some states have begun early voting and mailed absentee ballots with Trump's name on it. Brazile says attempts to change the ballots would be "very confusing" to voters. She's suggesting on ABC's "This Week" that Democratic Party lawyers probably would fight any efforts by states to change the names on the ballot if it came to that. ---------------------------------- The chairman of the House Ethics Committee says there's still time for Republicans to rally behind an alternative to Donald Trump as their presidential nominee. GOP Rep. Charlie Dent of Pennsylvania says he hopes House Speaker Paul Ryan and party chairman Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) will withdraw their endorsements of Trump. Here's what Dent tells ABC's "This Week": "As a party leader, I think at times you have to stand up and do some pretty difficult things and this may be one of them right now." Dent floated a few names, including Robert Gates, defense secretary under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama; Condoleezza (kahn-duh-LEE'-zuh) Rice, secretary of state under Bush; Ohio Gov. John Kasich (KAY'-sihk), who sought the GOP presidential nomination; or Mitch Daniel, a former Indiana governor. ---------------------------------- Donald Trump is lashing out at the growing list of Republicans abandoning his candidacy, predicting that they're the ones who will lose. Trump on Sunday tweeted: "So many self-righteous hypocrites. Watch their poll numbers - and elections - go down!" Trump has also been re-tweeting a series of messages from supporters, including one that lashes out at "GOP traitors!" and says not supporting is voting for "destroying America." Another says "'Republican leadership' should have only one job: Help elect the nominee we voted for, Donald J. Trump." Trump has faced a mass exodus of support in the wake of the release of crude video footage in which he brags about making unwanted sexual advances on women. ---------------------------------- Donald Trump backer Rudy Giuliani says Trump is embarrassed by the airing of a tape in which the Republican presidential nominee makes vulgar and predatory remarks about women. But in Giuliani's words "it seems to me, we should move on." The former New York City mayor tells ABC's "This Week" that Trump is "very, very embarrassed and contrite about it." When asked whether Trump's comments described sexual assault, Giuliani said "that's what he's talking about." But Giuliani isn't sure whether Trump was exaggerating, as "some men" do. ---------------------------------- A GOP senator says Republicans can't win the White House with Donald Trump as their presidential nominee and having him at the top of the ticket could drag down other Republicans. Utah's Mike Lee says Trump and his backers can cement a lasting legacy if he were to step aside, allowing Republicans to find a candidate who can bring together all elements within the party and defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. Lee tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that "we've got candidates who can do it. There's still time to do it, but we have to actually do it." Lee is among a growing number of Republicans who've called for Trump to step aside following the release of a recording in which Trump makes crude comments about women. ---------------------------------- Hillary Clinton's running mate Tim Kaine says a recording that captured crude language from Donald Trump reveals "a pattern of sexual assault" by the Republican presidential nominee. Kaine tells CNN's "State of the Union" that it's "much more than words." Kaine notes that Trump has previously made disparaging remarks about women. Kaine says: "There's kind of a piece of the jigsaw puzzle missing in Donald Trump where he does not look at women and consider them as equal to himself." ---------------------------------- Donald Trump is thanking Republicans who are standing by him. Trump sent a tweet Sunday after a growing list of elected Republican officials have called on him to abandon his presidential campaign. That followed the release of a recording of Trump making vulgar comments about women. Trump tweeted on Sunday morning: "Tremendous support (except for some Republican "leadership"). Thank you." In a posting Saturday evening, Trump praised supporters who turned up at a party unity rally in Wisconsin an event that Trump was disinvited to by House Speaker Paul Ryan. The rally was in Ryan's congressional district. At the event, Ryan was booed and heckled by Trump supporters, who shouted "Shame on you!" and "You turned your backs on us!" Ryan hasn't withdrawn his endorsement. ---------------------------------- Donald Trump's campaign says the Republican presidential nominee may describe Bill Clinton's sexual history in criminal terms at Sunday's debate. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani says Trump won't hesitate to talk about "the women that Bill Clinton raped, sexually abused and attacked." Trump on Saturday retweeted a pair of postings by Juanita Broaddrick. Her accusations that Bill Clinton raped her in 1978 were never tested in criminal court. Bill Clinton has long denied the accusations. Giuliani says Trump will cast Hillary Clinton's "as the attacker" of women when she claims to be their champion. The strategy comes as Trump reels from the release of his recorded description of his sexual aggression toward women. Giuliani says "both sides have sinned. So how about we put that behind us?" He spoke Sunday on NBC's "Meet the Press." ---------------------------------- Donald Trump is limping toward the critical presidential debate against Hillary Clinton without the backing of a growing group of Republican leaders. Trump insists he'll "never" abandon his White House bid despite calls for him to step aside after his vulgar descriptions of sexual advances on women were revealed. Trump's task in Sunday's faceoff is enormous. Even before the recording of his remarks were made public, the businessman was lagging behind Clinton after an undisciplined first debate. And he was struggling to overcome deep skepticism among women about his temperament and qualifications to be commander in chief. Trump has hinted he may turn the debate into a referendum on Clinton's marriage namely her husband's extramarital affairs and her treatment of the women who were involved. By Associated Press LAS VEGAS: In a racially-motivated attack, a young woman's hijab was ripped off on a busy London street in broad daylight, prompting Scotland Yard to launch a probe into the assault. The force is treating the incident in north London as a racially motivated assault on the victim in her 20s, who was described as "shocked and distressed" by the incident. "This was a shocking attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street. Racially and religiously motivated crimes will not be tolerated. I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to contact police," said Detective Constable Ben Cousin of the Metropolitan Police's Haringey Community Safety Unit. The woman was walking with another female friend on the evening of September 28 when the attack took place. As they crossed the road, she was approached from behind by two men. The Met police said one of them pulled down the hijab she was wearing before both fled the scene. The first suspect is described as white, in his late 20s or early 30s, with blonde or ginger shaved hair and stubble. Police said he was about 5 feet 6 inches and wearing a burgundy hooded top and carrying a Tesco bag in his right hand. The second suspect was of Mediterranean appearance, in his late 20s or early 30s, and clean shaven, with spiky hair. He wore a grey hooded top LAS VEGAS: In a racially-motivated attack, a young woman's hijab was ripped off on a busy London street in broad daylight, prompting Scotland Yard to launch a probe into the assault. The force is treating the incident in north London as a racially motivated assault on the victim in her 20s, who was described as "shocked and distressed" by the incident. "This was a shocking attack in broad daylight in the middle of a busy street. Racially and religiously motivated crimes will not be tolerated. I would appeal to anyone who witnessed this attack to contact police," said Detective Constable Ben Cousin of the Metropolitan Police's Haringey Community Safety Unit. The woman was walking with another female friend on the evening of September 28 when the attack took place. As they crossed the road, she was approached from behind by two men. The Met police said one of them pulled down the hijab she was wearing before both fled the scene. The first suspect is described as white, in his late 20s or early 30s, with blonde or ginger shaved hair and stubble. Police said he was about 5 feet 6 inches and wearing a burgundy hooded top and carrying a Tesco bag in his right hand. The second suspect was of Mediterranean appearance, in his late 20s or early 30s, and clean shaven, with spiky hair. He wore a grey hooded top By IANS WASHINGTON: War is not an option for India and Pakistan, Islamabads envoy to the US says, while two visiting Pakistani MPs have called for talks between the two countries. "Going to war is not an option at all. Both countries need economic development and to focus on the welfare of their people," the Dawn on Monday quoted Pakistani ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani as saying. MPs Mushahid Hussain Syed and Shezra Mansab Ali Kharal, visiting the US to present Pakistan's views on the Kashmir dispute, disregarded with the view New Delhi and Islamabad were moving towards yet another war. "There will be no war," Hussain said. "Both sides are fully aware of the consequences of a war between two nuclear-armed nations." Kharal added: "Talks are important, not just for Pakistan and India but also for the people of Kashmir. They too deserve to live in peace and with dignity." The Dawn quoted the lawmakers as saying that Pakistan and India had already agreed to reduce tensions after their national security advisers spoke over phone last week. The ambassador urged the US and other major world powers to encourage India to engage with Pakistan for a peaceful resolution of all disputes, including the core issue of Kashmir. Earlier, at a meeting with Pakistani journalists, Hussain and Kharal said the Americans had maintained "very high-level" contacts with the Indian and Pakistani governments. "We are convinced that the (Narendra) Modi government will finally resume bilateral talks with Pakistan," said Hussain. India-Pakistan ties tensed after terrorists from Pakistan killed 19 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir last month. The Indian Army later carried out surgical strikes on terrorist positions in Pakistani territory. Kharal warned India not "to stir troubles in Balochistan as India too has faultlines." She said India had more than 17 separatist movements and if Pakistan wanted, it could have exploited those situations. "But we did not because we regard those as India's internal affairs. India should also stop interfering in our internal affairs." WASHINGTON: War is not an option for India and Pakistan, Islamabads envoy to the US says, while two visiting Pakistani MPs have called for talks between the two countries. "Going to war is not an option at all. Both countries need economic development and to focus on the welfare of their people," the Dawn on Monday quoted Pakistani ambassador Jalil Abbas Jilani as saying. MPs Mushahid Hussain Syed and Shezra Mansab Ali Kharal, visiting the US to present Pakistan's views on the Kashmir dispute, disregarded with the view New Delhi and Islamabad were moving towards yet another war. "There will be no war," Hussain said. "Both sides are fully aware of the consequences of a war between two nuclear-armed nations." Kharal added: "Talks are important, not just for Pakistan and India but also for the people of Kashmir. They too deserve to live in peace and with dignity." The Dawn quoted the lawmakers as saying that Pakistan and India had already agreed to reduce tensions after their national security advisers spoke over phone last week. The ambassador urged the US and other major world powers to encourage India to engage with Pakistan for a peaceful resolution of all disputes, including the core issue of Kashmir. Earlier, at a meeting with Pakistani journalists, Hussain and Kharal said the Americans had maintained "very high-level" contacts with the Indian and Pakistani governments. "We are convinced that the (Narendra) Modi government will finally resume bilateral talks with Pakistan," said Hussain. India-Pakistan ties tensed after terrorists from Pakistan killed 19 Indian soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir last month. The Indian Army later carried out surgical strikes on terrorist positions in Pakistani territory. Kharal warned India not "to stir troubles in Balochistan as India too has faultlines." She said India had more than 17 separatist movements and if Pakistan wanted, it could have exploited those situations. "But we did not because we regard those as India's internal affairs. India should also stop interfering in our internal affairs." By Associated Press FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.: The Latest on severe weather stemming from Hurricane Matthew (all times local): 4:15 p.m. Officials at Edisto Beach, South Carolina, say Hurricane Matthew dealt the community its worst hit since Hurricane David in 1979. The storm surge from Matthew destroyed one house on the island and ate away at the foundations of a number of others. Between 3 and 4 feet of sand has washed up on the four-lane avenue along the beachfront. Mayor Jane Darby says there's no power on the island and limited water. Residents will be allowed to return beginning on Tuesday to check on their property. The island has only about 400 permanent residents, but on busy summer weekends the population can swell to 30,000. ___ 4 p.m. Florida officials say that Hurricane Matthew is being blamed for at least five deaths. A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that officials have reported five deaths related to the powerful storm that scraped Florida's east coast. The storm caused downed power lines, beach erosion, flooding and at one point plunged more than 1 million people into the dark. State officials have not released details of the deaths, and say they have received reports only from a handful of counties, so that number could go higher under a fuller accounting. ___ 3:50 p.m. A Duke Energy official says work crews were stationed to handle the damages from Hurricane Matthew, "but the punch was bigger" than expected and they had to double the number of workers to deal with outages. Storm Director Bobby Simpson said Monday that the utility had resources in place and workers staged and lined up with what they expected to happen last weekend. But he said the storm's wrath exceeded expectations and led Duke to more than double the number of resources needed to handle the restoration of power. Now, Simpson said, more than 7,000 people are working to restore power and more are on the way. Simpson said that as of Monday afternoon, about 430,000 customers were without power, down from a high of about 1.2 million at the height of Matthew. Of those, about 300,000 customers are in North Carolina and around 100,000 were in South Carolina. ___ 2:45 p.m. Georgia's utility companies say about 150,000 customers remained without power in southeast Georgia and along the state's coast as crews continue working to restore services after Hurricane Matthew. Georgia Power reports that more than 122,000 of its customers remained without power Monday. Separately, the state's electric membership cooperatives said about 27,000 of its customers were without power Monday. They said that's down from around 100,000 Saturday morning. ___ 12:55 p.m. President Barack Obama says the dangers from flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew continue and that the response is "far from over." Obama spoke by phone on Monday with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and with Obama's homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco. The White House says Obama emphasized that all needed federal resources should be directed to affected states. Fugate told the president that the response continues in North Carolina, where federal and state resources are supporting "thousands of water rescues." Fugate says the Carolinas will continue facing life-threatening conditions for days because of the flooding. The White House says Obama will be updated on the hurricane response throughout the week. ___ 11:40 a.m. Officials in North Carolina say two of five people reported missing around Fayetteville after Hurricane Matthew have been found safe. But Cumberland County officials said in a news release that two other people around the city still haven't been seen in at least a day. Authorities say 43-year-old Boris Abbey was last seen Saturday afternoon, while 45-year-old Christy Woods hasn't been seen since around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Gov. Pat McCrory says at least one other person is also missing in North Carolina. So far, 10 people have died in North Carolina because of the hurricane. Most of them were in vehicles swept away by floodwaters. ___ 10:05 a.m. Virginia officials are reporting one storm-related death after Hurricane Matthew. That brings the overall U.S. death toll from the storm to at least 21. Officials in Virginia say the driver of a pickup truck was killed when the truck rear-ended a tractor trailer stopped for a downed tree on Interstate 64 in Chesapeake on Saturday. Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Dawn Brantley said Monday that the death was storm-related, but the person hasn't been named. She says officials haven't yet determined whether the death of a man found in standing water in Hampton is storm-related. Dominion Virginia Power says nearly 100,000 customers in Virginia are in the dark Monday, most of them in southeastern Virginia. Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Middlesex County have declared states of emergency. The other deaths occurred in North Carolina, with 10; Florida, four; South Carolina, three; and Georgia, three. ___ 9:10 a.m. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says that the death toll in his state from Hurricane Matthew now stands at 10. McCrory also said during a televised press conference Monday that 1,500 people remained stranded in the city of Lumberton, which is about 70 miles inland. Boats and helicopters have been deployed to rescue them. McCrory said that the Federal Aviation Administration has placed temporary flight restrictions over the city. He asked operators of drones to keep them out of the airspace over flooded areas so they do not endanger helicopter teams. He also said that "inland flooding" remains the greatest threat to the state. The additional fatalities in North Carolina bring to 20 the number of U.S. deaths from the hurricane. ___ 8:45 a.m. Power is slowly being restored to the hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians left without power when Hurricane Matthew hit the state over the weekend. As of early Monday, utility outage maps show that just under a half million electric customers across the state were still in the dark. That's down from 625,000 on Sunday and about 825,000 at the height of the storm. Power companies say it may be several days before power can be restored to all electric customers across South Carolina. Similar numbers were without power in North Carolina. North Carolina Emergency Management says about 491,000 residents were without service Monday morning. The state's largest utility, Duke Energy, had the biggest problems, with about 310,000 customers without service. ___ Matthew is long gone from the Atlantic coast early Monday, but the devastation lingers, most notably in North Carolina, where flooded cities are trying to dry out and those downstream are keeping a close eye on rising rivers. The flooding disaster is forecast to slowly unfold over the next several days as all that rain more than a foot in places flows into rivers and downstream, likely causing more inundation in many of the same places devastated by a similar deluge from Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Thousands of people found themselves suddenly trapped in homes and cars during the torrential rains. Rescuers in Coast Guard helicopters plucked some of them from rooftops and used military vehicles to reach others. The storm killed more than 500 people in Haiti and at least 18 in the U.S. FAYETTEVILLE, N.C.: The Latest on severe weather stemming from Hurricane Matthew (all times local): 4:15 p.m. Officials at Edisto Beach, South Carolina, say Hurricane Matthew dealt the community its worst hit since Hurricane David in 1979. The storm surge from Matthew destroyed one house on the island and ate away at the foundations of a number of others. Between 3 and 4 feet of sand has washed up on the four-lane avenue along the beachfront. Mayor Jane Darby says there's no power on the island and limited water. Residents will be allowed to return beginning on Tuesday to check on their property. The island has only about 400 permanent residents, but on busy summer weekends the population can swell to 30,000. ___ 4 p.m. Florida officials say that Hurricane Matthew is being blamed for at least five deaths. A spokeswoman for Gov. Rick Scott said Monday that officials have reported five deaths related to the powerful storm that scraped Florida's east coast. The storm caused downed power lines, beach erosion, flooding and at one point plunged more than 1 million people into the dark. State officials have not released details of the deaths, and say they have received reports only from a handful of counties, so that number could go higher under a fuller accounting. ___ 3:50 p.m. A Duke Energy official says work crews were stationed to handle the damages from Hurricane Matthew, "but the punch was bigger" than expected and they had to double the number of workers to deal with outages. Storm Director Bobby Simpson said Monday that the utility had resources in place and workers staged and lined up with what they expected to happen last weekend. But he said the storm's wrath exceeded expectations and led Duke to more than double the number of resources needed to handle the restoration of power. Now, Simpson said, more than 7,000 people are working to restore power and more are on the way. Simpson said that as of Monday afternoon, about 430,000 customers were without power, down from a high of about 1.2 million at the height of Matthew. Of those, about 300,000 customers are in North Carolina and around 100,000 were in South Carolina. ___ 2:45 p.m. Georgia's utility companies say about 150,000 customers remained without power in southeast Georgia and along the state's coast as crews continue working to restore services after Hurricane Matthew. Georgia Power reports that more than 122,000 of its customers remained without power Monday. Separately, the state's electric membership cooperatives said about 27,000 of its customers were without power Monday. They said that's down from around 100,000 Saturday morning. ___ 12:55 p.m. President Barack Obama says the dangers from flooding caused by Hurricane Matthew continue and that the response is "far from over." Obama spoke by phone on Monday with FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and with Obama's homeland security adviser, Lisa Monaco. The White House says Obama emphasized that all needed federal resources should be directed to affected states. Fugate told the president that the response continues in North Carolina, where federal and state resources are supporting "thousands of water rescues." Fugate says the Carolinas will continue facing life-threatening conditions for days because of the flooding. The White House says Obama will be updated on the hurricane response throughout the week. ___ 11:40 a.m. Officials in North Carolina say two of five people reported missing around Fayetteville after Hurricane Matthew have been found safe. But Cumberland County officials said in a news release that two other people around the city still haven't been seen in at least a day. Authorities say 43-year-old Boris Abbey was last seen Saturday afternoon, while 45-year-old Christy Woods hasn't been seen since around 12:30 p.m. Sunday. Gov. Pat McCrory says at least one other person is also missing in North Carolina. So far, 10 people have died in North Carolina because of the hurricane. Most of them were in vehicles swept away by floodwaters. ___ 10:05 a.m. Virginia officials are reporting one storm-related death after Hurricane Matthew. That brings the overall U.S. death toll from the storm to at least 21. Officials in Virginia say the driver of a pickup truck was killed when the truck rear-ended a tractor trailer stopped for a downed tree on Interstate 64 in Chesapeake on Saturday. Virginia Department of Emergency Management spokeswoman Dawn Brantley said Monday that the death was storm-related, but the person hasn't been named. She says officials haven't yet determined whether the death of a man found in standing water in Hampton is storm-related. Dominion Virginia Power says nearly 100,000 customers in Virginia are in the dark Monday, most of them in southeastern Virginia. Hampton, Newport News, Suffolk, Norfolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach and Middlesex County have declared states of emergency. The other deaths occurred in North Carolina, with 10; Florida, four; South Carolina, three; and Georgia, three. ___ 9:10 a.m. North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory says that the death toll in his state from Hurricane Matthew now stands at 10. McCrory also said during a televised press conference Monday that 1,500 people remained stranded in the city of Lumberton, which is about 70 miles inland. Boats and helicopters have been deployed to rescue them. McCrory said that the Federal Aviation Administration has placed temporary flight restrictions over the city. He asked operators of drones to keep them out of the airspace over flooded areas so they do not endanger helicopter teams. He also said that "inland flooding" remains the greatest threat to the state. The additional fatalities in North Carolina bring to 20 the number of U.S. deaths from the hurricane. ___ 8:45 a.m. Power is slowly being restored to the hundreds of thousands of South Carolinians left without power when Hurricane Matthew hit the state over the weekend. As of early Monday, utility outage maps show that just under a half million electric customers across the state were still in the dark. That's down from 625,000 on Sunday and about 825,000 at the height of the storm. Power companies say it may be several days before power can be restored to all electric customers across South Carolina. Similar numbers were without power in North Carolina. North Carolina Emergency Management says about 491,000 residents were without service Monday morning. The state's largest utility, Duke Energy, had the biggest problems, with about 310,000 customers without service. ___ Matthew is long gone from the Atlantic coast early Monday, but the devastation lingers, most notably in North Carolina, where flooded cities are trying to dry out and those downstream are keeping a close eye on rising rivers. The flooding disaster is forecast to slowly unfold over the next several days as all that rain more than a foot in places flows into rivers and downstream, likely causing more inundation in many of the same places devastated by a similar deluge from Hurricane Floyd in 1999. Thousands of people found themselves suddenly trapped in homes and cars during the torrential rains. Rescuers in Coast Guard helicopters plucked some of them from rooftops and used military vehicles to reach others. The storm killed more than 500 people in Haiti and at least 18 in the U.S. What's next for Water Brothers? Sid Abbruzzi has some ideas The local surf and skate legend was evicted from his space on Memorial Boulevard earlier this year. Champaign, IL (61820) Today Overcast with showers at times. High near 60F. Winds WSW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 50%.. Tonight Clear to partly cloudy. Low 43F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph. Photo: VNA The students were chosen for their They are the ones who have gained outstanding achievements in study, scientific research, physical practice and voluntary activities. During the honouring ceremony, Lam Dinh Thang, Standing Deputy Secretary of the city Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union, said he hoped that the students would gain more achievements, as the city leaders and unions were would always be side by side with them to care for their spiritual and material lives for better academic results. In particular, the city unions regularly organize programs and activities for Vietnamese, Lao and Cambodian students, to contribute to reinforcing the solidarity and friendship between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. He added that he hoped Lao and Cambodian students would have interesting experience with and good affection with for Vietnamese people. Lao and Cambodian students in the city continue to be those who foster the friendship between Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia in the future, he went on to say. Throughout 11 years, 335 outstanding Lao and Cambodian students have been honoured, including six Lao students being honoured for four successive times./. NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. Interferon beta-1a Consumer Medicine Information What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about AVONEX Solution for Injection (also known as 'Pre-Filled Syringe'). It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your specialist, doctor or pharmacist. The information in this leaflet was last updated on the date shown on the final page. More recent information on this medicine may be available. Make sure you speak to your pharmacist, nurse or doctor to obtain the most up to date information on this medicine. You can also download the most up to date leaflet from www.biogen.com.au. The updated leaflet may contain important information about AVONEX and its use that you should be aware of. All medicines have benefits and risks. Your doctor has weighed the benefits AVONEX is expected to have for you, against the risks of using it. If you have any questions about using this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist or contact the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society in your State. You can also telephone the MS ALLIANCE Helpline on 1800 286 639 in Australia or 0800 286 639 in New Zealand (NZ) for additional assistance on using AVONEX. Keep this leaflet, you may need to read it again. What AVONEX is used for AVONEX is used for the treatment of relapsing forms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). AVONEX treatment has been shown to: Slow the progression of disability Reduce the number of relapses Delay the onset of definite MS after an illness suggesting MS The cause of MS is not yet known. MS affects the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the body's immune system reacts against its own myelin (the 'insulation' surrounding nerve fibres). In relapsing forms of MS, people have 'exacerbations' from time to time (e.g. blurred vision, weakness in the legs or arms, or loss of control of bowel or bladder function). They are followed by periods of recovery. Recovery may be complete or incomplete. If it is incomplete there is 'progression of disability'. AVONEX belongs to a group of medicines called interferons. Interferons exist naturally in the body to help fight viral infections and regulate the body's immunity. Although the exact mechanism of interferons in MS is unknown, it is thought that AVONEX works by decreasing the unwanted immune reaction against myelin. There is no information on the use of this medicine in those below 12 years of age. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why AVONEX has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed AVONEX for another reason. AVONEX is available only with a doctor's prescription. Use only for the person for whom it has been prescribed. Before you use AVONEX When you must not use it Do not use AVONEX if you have an allergy to: AVONEX or any other interferon beta Any of the other ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet Symptoms of an allergic reaction may include shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body, rash, itching or hives on the skin. Do not use AVONEX if you have severe depression, and particularly if you are having suicidal thoughts. Depression is common in people with MS and in those using medicines like AVONEX. Tell your doctor if you are feeling depressed, or having suicidal thoughts. Your doctor can help you decide whether you should use AVONEX or not. Do not use AVONEX if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant. It may affect the development of your baby if you use it during pregnancy. If you wish to become pregnant and are having treatment with AVONEX, please discuss this with your doctor. Do not use AVONEX after the expiry date printed on the pack or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. Do not use AVONEX if the medicine is cloudy, contains particles or is discoloured. It should be colourless or slightly yellow. If it has expired or is damaged or looks differently than it should, return it to your pharmacist for disposal. If you are not sure whether you should use this medicine, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Before you use it Tell your doctor if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes. Tell your doctor if you have or have had: Depression or problems with your moods, or if you have ever considered committing suicide A seizure, fit or convulsion Liver or kidney problems Heart problems Bleeding problems, bruising easily, frequent infections (these could be signs of lower than normal blood counts in your bone marrow) Tell your doctor if you are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Your doctor can help you decide if you will use AVONEX or breastfeed. You should not do both. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell them before you start using AVONEX. Taking other medicines Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. In particular, tell your doctor if you are taking any medicine: Used to treat epilepsy (prevent fits) Used to treat depression That affects the bone marrow, such as medicines to treat cancer. Ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist if you have any questions about medicines to be careful with or avoid while using AVONEX. How to use AVONEX Follow all directions given to you by your doctor, MS education nurse or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. How much to use The usual full dose of AVONEX is 30 micrograms once a week, given as a 0.5 mL injection. Starting AVONEX If you are new to AVONEX, your doctor or MS nurse may advise you to gradually increase your dose to minimise potential side effects of AVONEX, such as flu-like symptoms, before taking the full dose. How to use it Starting AVONEX Your doctor or MS nurse may provide you with an AVOSTARTCLIP titration kit to help gradually increase your dose of AVONEX during the first 3 weeks of treatment. The kit contains 3 different coloured clips (labelled week 1, 2 and 3). Each clip is designed for use with AVONEX solution for injection and attaches to the pre-filled syringe. The clip enables either a quarter, a half or a three-quarter dose of AVONEX to be injected during your first 3 weeks of treatment. Each AVOSTARTCLIP should be used once and then discarded along with any remaining AVONEX. For further details on use, please follow the instructions provided with the AVOSTARTCLIP titration kit. AVONEX is given by injection into muscle, usually in the thigh or upper arm. The buttock is not a suitable site for injection. Your doctor will recommend an injection site suitable for you. How to inject Many people with MS learn to give themselves the injection or have it given by a carer. Self-injection needs to be taught and practised. It is important that a qualified health care professional supervises your first injection. Your doctor may teach you to self-inject or arrange for an MS education nurse to do so. Talk to your doctor or the MS Society or telephone the MS ALLIANCE Helpline (1800 286 639 in Australia or 0800 286 639 in NZ) for more information. After being taught to self-inject, you should refer to the leaflet in the pack for step-by-step instructions about how to prepare and inject AVONEX. Patient support kits are available by telephoning the MS Alliance on 1800 286 639 in Australia or 0800 286 639 in NZ. AVONEX Solution for Injection is pre-mixed ready for you to use and should be stored in a refrigerator. It is recommended that you remove it from the refrigerator about half-an-hour before you want to use it. This allows the temperature of the medicine to approach room temperature. Do not use heat sources (heater or hot water) to warm it. Heating can damage this medicine. Always inspect AVONEX Solution before use. The medicine should be clear and colourless or slightly yellow. Do not inject if the solution is discoloured or cloudy or contains particles. Talk to your specialist, doctor or pharmacist, contact the MS Society, or telephone the MS Alliance on 1800 286 639 in Australia or 0800 286 639 in NZ, if you have any questions about how to use AVONEX. How long to use it The positive effects of AVONEX are not seen immediately. They occur with long-term treatment. It is important to continue treatment with AVONEX unless your doctor tells you to stop. If you forget to use it If it is less than 2 days before your next injection, skip the dose you missed and have your next injection when you are meant to. Otherwise, have it as soon as you remember and then resume your regular weekly dosing schedule. Do not use a double dose to make up for the dose that you missed. This may increase the chance of you getting an unwanted side effect. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist, contact the MS Society in your State, or telephone the MS ALLIANCE Helpline (1800 286 639 in Australia or 0800 286 639 in NZ). If you have trouble remembering your injections, ask your pharmacist or MS education nurse for some hints. It is important not to miss injections as this can affect the success of your treatment. If you use too much (overdose) Immediately telephone the Australian Poisons Information Centre (telephone 13 11 26), or the New Zealand National Poisons Information Centre (telephone 0800 POISON or 0800 764 766), if you think you or anyone else may have used too much AVONEX. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. While you are using AVONEX Things you must do: If you become pregnant while on treatment with AVONEX, immediately tell your doctor. You and your doctor will decide what is best for you and your baby. It is likely that your doctor will recommend you stop using AVONEX during your pregnancy. If you are a female of childbearing age and are sexually active, you should use birth control during treatment with AVONEX. Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any other medicine while you are using AVONEX. If he or she recommends that you take a medication to reduce symptoms of pain and inflammation, follow their advice carefully. Do not take more than the recommended dose. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are using this medicine. If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you are using AVONEX. Keep all your doctor's appointments so that your progress can be checked. Your doctor may do blood tests before you start treatment and from time to time to monitor your progress and prevent unwanted side effects. Things you must not do Do not give AVONEX to anyone else, even if they appear to have the same condition as you. Do not stop using AVONEX or change the dosage, without checking with your doctor. Things to be careful of Be careful drinking alcohol while you are on treatment with AVONEX. Rarely, people treated with interferons including AVONEX, have experienced serious liver problems. It is not known whether this risk is increased by alcohol but it is possible. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about this if you want more information. Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while using AVONEX. AVONEX helps most people with MS but it may have unwanted effects in a few people. All medicines have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical attention if you get some side effects. Do not be alarmed by the following lists of side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor, MS nurse or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. The most common side effect is to feel 'flu-like' symptoms, e.g. mainly tiredness, muscle aches, shivering and fever. Your doctor or MS nurse may advise you to gradually increase your dose of AVONEX during the first 3 weeks of treatment to help reduce these symptoms. These side effects generally occur less often as therapy continues. To help further reduce these symptoms, your doctor may advise you to take a medication (e.g., paracetamol, ibuprofen) to reduce fever, pain and inflammation before your injection and for up to one day afterwards. Tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you: Headache Nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea Abdominal (stomach) pain Chest pain Migraine Joint or muscle pain, stiffness or spasms Dizziness, feeling faint Sleeplessness Soreness, redness or bruising at the injection site Loss of appetite Runny nose, coughing Increased sweating (sometimes at night) or flushing Rash Strong and frequent urge to urinate, with pain or burning sensation when urinating Reduced sensitivity to touch The above list includes the more common side effects of AVONEX. These effects might also be related to your general health or the MS process, or to a combination of these. Tell your doctor as soon as possible if you notice any of the following: Unusual confusion, anxiety, worsening of depression, severe mood swings or thoughts of suicide Seizures, fits, convulsions or fainting Yellowing of the skin and eyes (also called jaundice) Breathlessness, persistent coughing, swelling in hands, feet or lower arms and legs, or palpitations Unusual bleeding or bruising Hives or itchy skin The above list includes serious side effects that may require medical attention. Serious side effects are rare. If any of the following happen, tell your doctor immediately, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital: Swelling of the face, lips, mouth or throat which may cause difficulty in swallowing or breathing These could be symptoms of an allergic reaction. Discharge from the injection site or pain, redness or swelling that does not go away, tissue destruction (necrosis) The above list includes very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation. These side effects are very rare. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed above may occur in some people. Some side effects can only be found when your doctor does tests from time to time to check your progress. They include changes in thyroid function, liver function or blood counts. After using AVONEX Storage Keep your AVONEX in the sealed tray until it is time to use it. The medicine will not keep as well if taken out of the sealed tray. Keep AVONEX in the refrigerator at 2C to 8C. If necessary, you can keep AVONEX out of the refrigerator for up to 7 days. If out of the refrigerator, store the sealed tray in a cool dry place where the temperature stays below 30C. Do not use any AVONEX that has been out of the refrigerator for more than 7 days (refer to Disposal below). Do not store AVONEX or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it on a windowsill or in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. AVONEX MUST NOT BE FROZEN. Do not place in the freezer or freezing compartment of a refrigerator. Keep AVONEX where children cannot reach it. Disposal Please read the package insert carefully for full details, including safe disposal of needles and syringes after use. If your doctor tells you to stop using AVONEX or the expiry date has passed, ask your pharmacist what to do with any medicine that is left over. Product description Each pack of AVONEX contains 4 sealed blister trays. Use 1 blister tray for each weekly treatment. A pack of AVONEX provides treatment for 4 weeks. Your pack of AVONEX already includes a needle for injection. It may be possible for your doctor to prescribe you a shorter and thinner needle depending on your body type. Talk to your doctor if you are interested in whether this is appropriate for you. AVONEX Solution does not contain any preservative. Use on one occasion only. Do not reuse needles or syringes. What it looks like Each blister tray contains: 1 pre-filled syringe of sterile AVONEX Solution 1 needle Ingredients Each pre-filled syringe of AVONEX Solution contains 30 micrograms of interferon beta-1a in 0.5 mL of ready-to-use solution. It also contains: Sodium acetate Glacial acetic acid Arginine hydrochloride Polysorbate 20 Water for injections Further information You can obtain more information from your doctor, pharmacist or the MS Society in your State, or by telephoning the MS Alliance on 1800 286 639 in Australia or 0800 286 639 in NZ. Supplier AVONEX is supplied in Australia by: Biogen Australia Pty Ltd ABN 30 095 760 115 Level 4 2 Banfield Road Macquarie Park NSW 2113 AVONEX is supplied in NZ by: Biogen NZ Biopharma Limited 188 Quay Street Auckland NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. (fam-peer-a) Fampridine (fam-pri-deen) Consumer Medicine Information What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about FAMPYRA. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. All medicines have benefits and risks. Your doctor has weighed the benefits FAMPYRA is expected to have for you, against the risks of taking it. If you have any questions about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist or contact the Multiple Sclerosis (MS) Society in your state or region. Keep this leaflet with the medicine. You may need to read it again. What FAMPYRA is used for FAMPYRA is used in adult patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS) to improve walking. It belongs to a group of medicines called potassium channel blockers. They work by stopping potassium leaving the nerve cells which have been damaged by MS. This medicine is thought to work by letting signals pass down the nerve more normally, which allows you to walk better. Your doctor may prescribe FAMPYRA for another purpose. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why FAMPYRA has been prescribed for you. There is no information on the use of this medicine in those below 18 years of age. This medicine is available only with a doctor's prescription. Before you take FAMPYRA When you must not take it Do not take FAMPYRA if: 1. you have an allergy to FAMPYRA or any of the ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include, shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body, rash, itching or hives on the skin. 2. you are currently taking other forms of fampridine (4-amino pyridine). Taking FAMPYRA with other forms of fampridine may increase the risk of seizures, fits or convulsions. Ask your doctor or pharmacist if you are not sure if you have been taking one of these medicines. 3. you have ever had a seizure, or you have been told by your doctor you have a high risk of seizure (also referred to as a fit or convulsion) FAMPYRA may increase the risk of seizures, fits or convulsions. Some patients may be at a higher risk of seizure than others, due to other ongoing medical conditions. Your doctor will discuss your full medical history to advise on your seizure risk. 4. you have serious problems with your kidneys In patients with serious kidney disease FAMPYRA may increase the risk of side effects. Your doctor will be especially careful if fampridine is given at the same time as any medicine which may affect how your kidneys eliminate medicines for example carvedilol, propanolol, and metformin. Do not take FAMPYRA if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. Do not take FAMPYRA if the expiry date (EXP) printed on the pack has passed. If you take this medicine after the expiry date has passed, it may not work as well. If you are not sure whether you should start taking FAMPYRA, contact your doctor. Before you start to take it Tell your doctor if: 1. you are allergic to any other medicines, foods, dyes, or preservatives 2. you have or have had any other health problems or medical conditions, including: Problems with your kidneys History of a seizure (also referred to as a fit or convulsion) Sudden, repeated attacks of facial nerve pain known as trigeminal neuralgia 3. you are pregnant or intend to become pregnant. Your doctor will discuss the benefits and risks of using FAMPYRA when pregnant. 4. you are breastfeeding or wish to breastfeed. Your doctor will discuss the benefits and risks of using FAMPYRA when breastfeeding. Taking other medicines Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including medicines you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket, or health food shop. If you have not told your doctor or pharmacist about any of the above, tell them before you start taking FAMPYRA. How to take FAMPYRA Take FAMPYRA exactly as your doctor has prescribed. How much to take The dose is one tablet taken in the morning and one tablet taken in the evening (12 hours apart). It is important to take the tablets 12 hours apart. You must always leave 12 hours between tablets. Follow all directions given to you by your doctor, pharmacist, or MS education nurse carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. If you do not understand the instructions on the box/bottle, ask your doctor or pharmacist for help. How to take it Swallow each tablet whole, with a drink of water. Do not divide, crush, dissolve, suck or chew the tablet, as this may increase your risk of side-effects. How long to take it Continue taking your medicine for as long as your doctor tells you. This medicine helps to control your condition but does not cure it. It is important to keep taking your medicine even if you feel well. Your doctor will assess whether FAMPYRA is working for you with a walk test after an initial 8 weeks of treatment. If a response isn't seen, your doctor will stop treatment. If you forget to take it Do not double a dose to make up for the dose you have missed. If you forget to take a tablet, do not take two tablets at once to make up for a missed dose. You must always leave 12 hours between each tablet. If you have any further questions on the use of this product, ask your doctor, pharmacist, or MS education nurse. If you have trouble remembering to take your medicine, ask your pharmacist for some hints. If you take too much (overdose) Immediately telephone your doctor or Australian Poisons Information Centre (telephone 13 11 26) for advice, or the New Zealand National Poisons Information Centre, (telephone 0800 POISON or 0800 764 766) or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you think you or anyone else may have taken too much FAMPYRA, even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. If you take too much FAMPYRA, you may: Feel dizzy Become confused Feel agitated with trembling or shaking Notice increased sweating Have a seizure, fit or convulsion Temporarily lose your memory If you are not sure what to do, contact your doctor, pharmacist, or MS education nurse. While you are taking FAMPYRA Things you must do If you are about to be started on any new medicines, remind your doctor or pharmacist that you are taking FAMPYRA. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are taking this medicine. If you are going to have surgery, tell the surgeon or anaesthetist that you are taking this medicine. It may affect other medicines used during the surgery. If you become pregnant while taking this medicine, tell your doctor immediately. If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you are taking this medicine. It may interfere with the results of some tests. Keep all your doctor's appointments so your progress can be checked. Your doctor may do some tests from time to time to prevent unwanted side effects. Things you must not do Do not take FAMPYRA to treat any other complaints unless your doctor tells you to. Do not give your medicine to anyone else, even if they have the same condition as you. Do not take more than the recommended dose. Do not stop taking your medicine or lower the dosage without checking with your doctor. If you stop taking it suddenly, your condition may worsen, or you may have unwanted side-effects. Things to be careful of Be careful driving or operating machinery until you know how FAMPYRA affects you. This medicine may cause dizziness or a feeling of unsteadiness in some people. If you have any of these symptoms, do not drive, operate machinery or do anything else that could be dangerous. Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking FAMPYRA. FAMPYRA helps most people with MS, but it may have unwanted side effects in some people. All medicines can have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical treatment if you get some of the side effects. Do not be alarmed by this list of possible side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor, MS nurse or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. Tell your doctor, nurse, or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you: Urinary tract infection Headache Feeling weak Difficulty sleeping Sore throat Feeling sick (nausea) Being sick (vomiting) Constipation Upset stomach Back pain Dizziness Feeling unsteady Anxiety Numbness or tingling of the skin Tremor (minor shaking) Nerve pain in the face occurring for the first time Worsening of facial nerve pain in people with trigeminal neuralgia Spinning sensation (vertigo) These are the more common side effects of FAMPYRA. Tell your doctor immediately if you notice any of the following: seizure (also known as a fit or convulsion) This is a serious side effect. You may need urgent medical attention. Serious side effects are rare. If any of the following happen, stop taking FAMPYRA and tell your doctor immediately or go to casualty at your nearest hospital: Difficulty breathing (shortness of breath) Swelling of the face, mouth, lips, throat, or tongue Reddening or itching of the skin These are very serious side effects. You may need urgent medical attention or hospitalisation. Other side effects not listed above may also occur in some patients. Tell your doctor if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell. After taking FAMPYRA Storage Keep your tablets in their container until it is time to take them. If you take the tablets out of their container they may not keep well. Keep FAMPYRA in a cool, dry place where it stays below 25C. Do not store it, or any other medicine, in a bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it in the car or on windowsills. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep this medicine where young children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines. Disposal If your doctor tells you to stop taking FAMPYRA, or the tablets have passed their expiry date, ask your pharmacist what to do with any tablets left over. Product description What it looks like Each FAMPYRA tablet is an off-white oval tablet with A10 on one side. Ingredients Each tablet of FAMPYRA contains 10 mg of fampridine. It also contains hypromellose, microcrystalline cellulose, silicon dioxide, magnesium stearate and the film coat (Opadry White Y-1-7000 E171) contains hypromellose, titanium dioxide and macrogol 400. FAMPYRA does not contain lactose, sucrose, gluten, tartrazine, or any other azo dyes. Australian Register Number: AUST R 170002 NOTICE: This Consumer Medicine Information (CMI) is intended for persons living in Australia. (PLEGG-rih-dee) peginterferon beta-1a (rch) Consumer Medicine Information What is in this leaflet This leaflet answers some common questions about Plegridy. It does not contain all the available information. It does not take the place of talking to your doctor or pharmacist. This leaflet was last updated on the date at the end of this leaflet. Speak to your pharmacist or doctor to obtain the most up to date information on this medicine. You can also download the most up to date leaflet from: www.biogen.com.au/products/plegridy-CMI.pdf All medicines have risks and benefits. Your doctor has weighed the risks of you taking Plegridy against the benefits it is expected to have for you. If you have any concerns about taking this medicine, ask your doctor or pharmacist. Keep this leaflet. You may need to read it again. What Plegridy is used for Plegridy is a prescription medicine used to treat people with relapsing forms of Multiple Sclerosis (MS). It is not known if Plegridy is safe and effective in people under 18 or over 65 years of age. The cause of MS is not yet known. MS affects the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the body's immune system reacts against its own myelin (the 'insulation' surrounding nerve fibres). In relapsing forms of MS, people have 'exacerbations' from time to time (e.g. blurred vision, weakness in the legs or arms, or loss of control of bowel or bladder function). They are followed by periods of recovery. Recovery may be complete or incomplete. If it is incomplete there is 'progression of disability'. Plegridy belongs to a group of medicines called interferons. The active substance in Plegridy is peginterferon beta-1a. Peginterferon beta-1a is a long-acting form of interferon. Interferons exist naturally in the body to help fight viral infections and regulate the body's immunity. Although the exact mechanism of action of interferons in MS is unknown, it is thought that Plegridy works by decreasing the unwanted immune reaction against myelin. Ask your doctor if you have any questions about why Plegridy has been prescribed for you. Your doctor may have prescribed it for another reason. Plegridy is available only with a doctor's prescription. Use only for the person for whom it has been prescribed. Before you use Plegridy When you must not use it Do not use Plegridy if you have an allergy to: interferon beta or peginterferon any of the other ingredients listed at the end of this leaflet Some of the symptoms of an allergic reaction may include: shortness of breath wheezing or difficulty breathing swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body rash, itching or hives on the skin Do not use Plegridy: If you have severe depression or think about committing suicide If you are already pregnant Do not use Plegridy after the expiry date printed on the pack or if the packaging is torn or shows signs of tampering. Do not use Plegridy if the medicine is coloured, cloudy, or contains floating particles. If it has expired or is damaged or looks differently than it should, return it to your pharmacist for disposal. If you are not sure whether you should use this medicine, talk to your doctor or pharmacist. Before you use it Tell your doctor if you have allergies to any other medicines, foods, preservatives or dyes. Tell your doctor if you have or have had: Depression or problems with your moods, or if you have ever considered committing suicide A seizure, fit or convulsion Liver problems Bleeding problems, bruising easily, frequent infections Heart problems Thyroid problems Bone marrow suppression. Do not start using Plegridy if you are already pregnant. If you could get pregnant, you need to use contraception while you use Plegridy. Tell your doctor: If you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant If you want to breastfeed Your doctor can discuss with you the risks and benefits involved. If you have not told your doctor about any of the above, tell them before you start using Plegridy. Taking other medicines Tell your doctor if you are taking any other medicines, including any that you buy without a prescription from a pharmacy, supermarket or health food shop. Plegridy may interact with some other medicines that are broken down by the liver: medicines to treat epilepsy medicines to treat depression Ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist if you have any questions about medicines to be careful with or avoid while using Plegridy. How to use Plegridy Follow all directions given to you by your doctor, MS nurse or pharmacist carefully. They may differ from the information contained in this leaflet. How much to use Plegridy is only to be injected once every 14 days (two weeks). Plegridy is injected under the skin (subcutaneously). Try to use Plegridy at the same time on the same day every time you inject. How to use it Starting Plegridy If you are new to Plegridy your doctor or MS nurse may advise you to gradually increase your dose so that you can adjust to the effects of Plegridy before taking the full dose. You will be provided with a Titration Pack containing your first two injections. For further details on use, please follow the instructions provided with the Titration Pack. The recommended starting dose is a single injection of Plegridy 63 micrograms, followed by a single injection of Plegridy 94 micrograms two weeks later. Use the record table printed on the inside lid of the Titration Pack to keep a track of your injection dates. Many people with MS learn to give themselves the injection or have it given by a carer. Self-injection needs to be taught and practised. It is important that a qualified health care professional supervises your first injection. Your doctor may teach you to self-inject or arrange for an MS nurse to do so. After being taught to self-inject, you should refer to the leaflet in the pack for step-by-step instructions about how to prepare and inject Plegridy. Continuing to use Plegridy You will be provided with an Administration Dose Pack containing your next injections. The recommended third dose is a single injection of Plegridy 125 micrograms (full dose), two weeks after the second dose. Full doses of Plegridy 125 micrograms are then recommended every 14 days (two weeks). Keep referring to the leaflet for detailed instructions on how to use Plegridy. How long to use it The positive effects of Plegridy are not seen immediately. They occur with long-term treatment. It is important to continue treatment with Plegridy unless your doctor tells you to stop. If you forget to take it Inject as soon as you remember and then resume your regular dosing schedule. However, never inject more than once in a 7-day period. Do not take a double dose to make up for the dose that you missed. This may increase the chance of you getting an unwanted side effect. If you are not sure what to do, ask your doctor or pharmacist. If you have trouble remembering to take your medicine, ask your pharmacist or MS nurse for some hints. If you take too much (overdose) Immediately telephone the Poisons Information Centre (telephone Australia 13 11 26 or New Zealand 0800 POISON or 0800 764 766), if you think that you or anyone else may have used too much Plegridy. Do this even if there are no signs of discomfort or poisoning. You may need urgent medical attention. While you are using Plegridy Things you must do If you become pregnant while on treatment with Plegridy, immediately tell your doctor. If you are a female of childbearing age and are sexually active, you should use birth control during treatment with Plegridy. If you have new or worsening depression or suicidal thoughts, immediately tell your doctor: This could include feeling hopeless or bad about yourself, thoughts of hurting yourself or suicide, irritability (getting upset easily), nervousness, or new or worsening anxiety. Always talk to your doctor or pharmacist before taking any other medicine while you are using Plegridy. If he or she recommends that you take a medication to reduce symptoms of pain and inflammation, follow their advice carefully. Do not take more than the recommended dose. Tell any other doctors, dentists and pharmacists who treat you that you are using this medicine. If you are about to have any blood tests, tell your doctor that you are using Plegridy. It may interfere with the results of some tests. Keep all your doctor's appointments so that your progress can be checked. Your doctor may do blood tests before you start treatment and from time to time to monitor your progress and prevent unwanted side effects. Things you must not do Do not give Plegridy to anyone else, even if they appear to have the same condition as you. Do not stop using Plegridy or change the dosage, without checking with your doctor. Side effects Tell your doctor or pharmacist as soon as possible if you do not feel well while you are taking Plegridy. Plegridy helps most people with MS but it may have unwanted effects in a few people. All medicines have side effects. Sometimes they are serious, most of the time they are not. You may need medical attention if you get some side effects. Do not be alarmed by the following lists of side effects. You may not experience any of them. Ask your doctor, MS nurse or pharmacist to answer any questions you may have. Tell your doctor immediately, or go to Accident and Emergency at your nearest hospital if you experience any of the following: Yellowing of your skin or the whites of your eyes (jaundice) Itching all over Feeling sick, being sick (nausea and vomiting), loss of appetite Tiredness, sleepiness, confusion Bleeding more easily than normal, easy bruising of the skin Dark coloured urine, and pale stools Depression, thoughts of hurting yourself or suicide, new mood changes Symptoms of an allergic reaction such as shortness of breath, wheezing or difficulty breathing, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or other parts of the body, rash, itching or hives on the skin. The above list includes serious side effects that may require medical attention. Serious side effects are rare. Tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist as soon as possible if you experience any of the following: Seizure (fit) Severe swelling, weakness, shortness of breath, lethargy or confusion The above list includes signs of possible serious side effects that may require medical attention. Serious side effects are rare. Flu-like symptoms The most common side effect is to feel 'flu-like' symptoms, e.g. headache, tiredness, muscle aches, joint pain, shivering and fever. Your doctor or MS nurse may advise you to gradually increase your dose of Plegridy during the first month of treatment to help reduce these symptoms. These side effects generally occur less often as therapy continues. Three simple ways to help reduce the impact of flu-like symptoms: 1. Consider the timing of your Plegridy injection. The start and end of flu-like symptoms are different for every patient. On average, flu-like symptoms begin approximately 10 hours after injection and last for about 17 hours. 2. Take paracetamol or ibuprofen half an hour before your Plegridy injection. Speak to your doctor or pharmacist about how much to take and how long to take it. 3. If you have a fever, drink plenty of water to keep you hydrated. Injection site reactions You may get reactions around the place you inject. These usually get less over time. Reactions such as redness, itching or pain are very common. Swelling, bruising, warmth or rash at the injection site is common. To reduce injection site reactions, read and follow the advice given in the "Instructions for Use" at the end of the pack insert. Tell your doctor, nurse or pharmacist if you notice any of the following and they worry you: Headache Muscle pain Pain in your joints, arms, legs or neck (arthralgia) Fever, chills, feeling cold Feeling weak and tired (asthenia) Feeling or being sick (nausea or vomiting) Itchy skin (pruritus) Increase in body temperature The above list includes some of the more common side effects of Plegridy, effects that might be related to your general health or the MS process, or a combination of these. Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you notice anything else that is making you feel unwell. Other side effects not listed above may occur in some people. Some side effects (such as decreased blood cell counts, or changed liver function) can only be found when your doctor does tests from time to time to check your progress. After using Plegridy Storage Keep your Plegridy in its original pack until it is time to use it. Keep Plegridy in the refrigerator at 2C to 8C. Do not freeze. If necessary, you can keep Plegridy out of the refrigerator for up to 30 days as long as it is kept away from light. If out of the refrigerator, store the carton in a cool dry place where the temperature stays between 2C to 25C. Do not use any Plegridy that has been out of the refrigerator for more than 30 days (refer to Disposal below). Do not store Plegridy or any other medicine in the bathroom or near a sink. Do not leave it on a window sill or in the car. Heat and dampness can destroy some medicines. Keep Plegridy where children cannot reach it. A locked cupboard at least one-and-a-half metres above the ground is a good place to store medicines. Disposal Please read the package insert carefully for full details, including safe disposal of needles and syringes after use. If your doctor tells you to stop using Plegridy or the expiry date has passed, ask your pharmacist what to do with any medicine that is left over. Product description What it looks like The Plegridy pre-filled syringe Titration Pack holds 2 ready to use syringes. Each Titration Pack for Plegridy syringe contains a clear, colourless liquid (0.5 mL) containing either 63 or 94 micrograms of peginterferon beta-1a. The Plegridy pre-filled syringe Administration Dose Pack holds 2 ready to use syringes. Each Administration Dose Pack syringe contains a clear, colourless liquid (0.5 mL) containing 125 micrograms of peginterferon beta-1a. Every syringe has a pre-attached needle and is ready to inject. The Plegridy pre-filled pen Titration Pack holds 2 ready to use pens. Each Titration Pack for Plegridy pen contains a clear, colourless liquid (0.5 mL) containing either 63 or 94 micrograms of peginterferon beta-1a. The Plegridy pre-filled pen Administration Dose Pack holds 2 ready to use pens. Each Administration Dose Pack pen contains a clear, colourless liquid (0.5 mL) containing 125 micrograms of peginterferon beta-1a. Every pen has a pre-attached needle and is ready to inject. Ingredients Plegridy is available in 3 strengths: 63 micrograms, 94 micrograms, and 125 micrograms. Active Ingredient: peginterferon beta-1a (rch) It also contains: Sodium acetate trihydrate Glacial acetic acid L-arginine hydrochloride Polysorbate 20 Water for injections Further information You can obtain more information from your doctor, pharmacist or the MS Society in your State, or by telephoning 1800 852 289 in Australia or 0800 852 289 in NZ. Supplier Plegridy is supplied in Australia by: Biogen Australia Pty Ltd ABN 30 095 760 115 Level 4 2 Banfield Road Macquarie Park NSW 2113 Australia It is supplied in New Zealand by: Biogen NZ Biopharma Limited Auckland Australian registration numbers Plegridy 63 microgram/0.5 mL and 94 microgram/0.5 mL: AUST R 214198 (pre-filled syringe) AUST R 214200 (pre-filled pen) Plegridy 125 microgram/0.5 mL: AUST R 214199 (pre-filled syringe) AUST R 214197 (pre-filled pen) By Neil Morgan, Med Tech Specialist at Innovate UK Technology and innovation plays a big part in todays healthcare, agricultural and food production industries. As the UK governments innovation agency, Innovate UK has therefore prioritised Health and Lifesciences as one of its key investment areas. Innovate 2016 will give delegates a chance to hear more about future funding opportunities in these sectors. In addition, delegates will be able hear where past investments have had a positive impact in helping UK business innovate to address the opportunities offered by world health and food production challenges. As well as general seminars on business relevant topics such as exporting, intellectual property, funding and a host of other topics relevant to growing your business, there will be seminars led by Innovate sector specialists on: Next Generation Medicine: the UK as world leader The UK is at the forefront of next generation medicine and is creating a powerful infrastructure for the development and adoption of cell and gene therapies, and technologies that will allow early disease detection and treatment selection. Hear from experts in industry and the public sector about their vision of the future. Healthcare of the Future Find out how emerging and enabling technologies are contributing to delivering better healthcare services across the UK and beyond to minimise costs, improve diagnosis, reduce risk and support the self-management of health and wellbeing. Investment opportunities in agri-food innovation The UK is at the forefront of agricultural innovation with the opportunity to increase the pace and scale of the uptake of technologies around the world. With a strong focus on robotics and photonics as well as the development of more nutritious foods, find out the latest investment opportunities and how the country is competing on a global scale. Harnessing sector diversity to support community wellbeing Collaboration, diversity and learning are key to innovation. This session will explore learning from Independent Living programmes and consider cross-sectoral thinking to improve wellbeing. What technologies are transferable and how can they be harnessed to deliver and support better quality of life and future communities. Innovate 2016 is taking place on November 2nd and 3rd in Manchester. For more information, please contact - https://www.events.ukti.gov.uk/innovate-uk-2016 One Medicine: how human and veterinary medicine can benefit each other Professor Roberto La Ragione News-Medical speaks to Professor Roberto La Ragione, Chair of Trustees at Humanimal Trust, about the concept of One Medicine and how human and veterinary medicine can collaborate, share knowledge, and initiate research for the benefit of both humans and animals. The Toyota Corolla 50th anniversary Edition. (Photo: AFP Relaxnews) November marks the 50th anniversary of the Toyota Corolla, one of the most enduring automotive nameplates in history and thanks to 43 million sales and counting, the most popular car of all time. To celebrate this milestone, Toyota has unveiled a limited edition 50th Anniversary edition of the compact car for US customers that gets a unique paint finish, a sharper interior and a host of active safety and creature comfort systems as standard.Toyota jokes that the touchscreen infotainment system, Bluetooth hands-free smartphone connectivity and USB charging points represent a quantum leap from the AM radio that came in the first Corollas, but nothing could be further from the truth.As well as build quality and reliability (achieved through keeping design and 1100cc powerplant very, very simple), what helped Japanese car makers in general and Toyota, in particular, stand out from European and US competitors when they took their cars beyond domestic borders was standard equipment.Everything from AM radios to climate control and power windows found their way into Toyotas as standard, at a time when someone putting a deposit down on a Ford would have to specify the same equipment as options.This and the fact that the Corolla was built from the ground up to meet the new nuclear family's needs. People moving out to the Japanese suburbs and suddenly in need of their first automobile found that the Corolla was a perfect fit for their lives. Its seats were bigger and more comfortable, it had a floor, not column mounted, gear shift to make highway driving more relaxing and it used McPherson strut suspension.In this respect, it is the Japanese Beetle a true people's car. However, unlike the VW bug, which stayed stylistically untouched throughout its entire air-cooled lifetime, Toyota has continually updated and improved the Corolla. And as it is built in different countries around the world, including the US since 1968, it is also built to different specifications. The American version is wider, handling is tuned for the European market and so on.However, with every generation of the model that has followed (It is now in its 11th generation) the company has kept its focus on what the typical family needs from a car, even if it is now selling to families globally. Unfortunately, by creating a car that is purely about ticking boxes, it is often unfairly derided as a white good i.e. the automotive equivalent of a washing machine or fridge.But that's also the car's greatest strength it is and always has been, above all, a must-have modern convenience. Italian cars might have more passion, American cars more flamboyance, and German cars more precision, but very few are as reliable as a Toyota. Volkswagen Chief Executive Matthias Mueller had no knowledge of the carmaker's diesel emissions cheating scandal, Germany's Bild am Sonntag newspaper said, citing a report by Jones Day, the lawfirm tasked with investigating the scandal. Mueller found out about Volkswagen's emissions cheating software on Sept. 18, 2015, when U.S. regulators revealed the German carmaker had faked pollution tests, Bild am Sonntag reported. Mueller, who was Chief Executive of VW's sportscar division Porsche before the Diesel scandal erupted, was elevated to the position of Volkswagen Group's Chief Executive a week later on Sept. 25, and tasked with turning the firm around. A spokesman said Volkswagen could not comment on an ongoing legal investigation. When the prime minister of a country meets the chief of army to discuss a newspaper article, you know the stakes are high. Just how high is the question you would ask if you are a Pakistan watcher.On Monday, Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met army chief Raheel Sharif over an article in the countrys most reputed newspaper, Dawn, that broke the news of an unprecedented warning delivered by the civilian government to the military in the aftermath of Indias surgical strikes . PM Sharif also reportedly ordered authorities to take "stern action" against those responsible for publishing a "fabricated" story about the military and ISI.Pakistani and Indian analysts that News18 spoke to are of the view that it is highly unlikely that such a confrontation occurred, yet the report seems to have been serious enough for the PM to order stern action.Dawns original story pieces together details of an undisclosed meeting that took place between the civilian and military leadership on the side-lines of an all-party conference called last week. While the analysts feel that a meeting may indeed have happened, it was probably not as confrontational as the Dawn report has made it out to be, because of the nature of civilian-military relations in Pakistan.Some conversation of this nature would have happened, but not a confrontation, Ayesha Siddiqa, an Islamabad-based geo-strategist and political commentator, who has studied the Pakistani military, told News18 in a phone conversation from Dubai. In the report, it seems as though Nawaz Sharif angrily told them (military) we are getting isolated, I dont think that happened. The military is still completely in control, she said.Pakistani nuclear physicist and activist Parvez Hoodbhoy, in an email interview said there must be some truth to the Dawn report because such tensions between the two are definitely being felt. However, maybe the conversations were not exactly as reported, he said.Dawn reported that the government delivered a blunt message to the military leadership about Pakistans growing international isolation and sought consensus on actions by the state in a meeting. Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif had a verbal confrontation with the intelligence chief Gen Rizwan Akhtar during the same meeting, an exchange that the newspaper termed ground shifting.Mohan Guruswamy, chairman of the New Delhi-based think tank Centre for Policy Alternatives, agreed with Siddiqa that the notion that Shahbaz Sharif, who is also Prime Minister Nawaz Sharifs brother, could have had a bare knuckles confrontation with General Rizwan Akhtar, the head of the Inter-Services Intelligence, is incorrect.Thats a joke. I can only laugh about it. I dont think Mr Shahbaz Sharif could so angrily confront the director-general of the ISI. Hes somebody whos closer to the military of the two Sharifs. I dont think he has it in him to confront, Siddiqa said. Guruswamy said he had doubts that Shahbaz Sharif could have had a confrontation.Siddiqa and Hoodbhoy said the report could be a leak by the establishment, though both differed on the purpose of the leak. Siddiqa believes that the leak was by the military and Hoodbhoy thinks the government may be responsible.I think its a leak by the military (because) everybody benefits by the story: the government comes out looking strong, the military comes out looking neutral and Dawn comes out looking very good for having done a critical exclusive, Siddiqa said.This could have been a discreet and deniable leak intended to explain to Pakistanis that it is actually the army, not the government, which is responsible for this bad state of affairs, Hoodbhoy said, adding that, India's failure in Kashmir and human rights violations are not being translated into success for Pakistan. Nawaz Sharif's government is being blamed for this lack of success.Indian strategic analyst Mohan Guruswamy feels what actually happened between the government and the military was a consultation rather than a confrontation and the resulting leak was a spin by the political leadership. I think this is a spin by the political leadership to get a good cop, bad cop scenario going to confuse us, so that we will keep talking to the civilian leadership, Guruswamy, the Chairman of the Centre for Policy Alternatives said. Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar on Monday hit back at Rahul Gandhi over his 'dalali' remark, saying those who "focused on profiteering" in defence deals fully understood the meaning of the word and that BJP does not intend to use army's "valour" for elections.Needling Congress on the various defence scams during its stint in power, he said when he took over as Defence minister, he found "dalali" in several deals."When I became the minister and looked into it, I realised that there was dalali and scam in submarine deal, then in (AgustaWestland) helicopter there was dalali. There were allegations of dalali in Pilatus training aircraft (deal). After that in Embraer aircraft. Those who only focused on dalali (profiteering) fully understand what the word dalali means."The BJP government does not understand this... this is why we don't intend to use the valour of the Indian Army in any election," Parrikar said.Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Gandhi had recently told a rally in Delhi, "Jinhone Hindustan ke liye surgical strike kiye hain, unke khoon ke peeche aap chhupe hain. Unki aap dalali kar rahe ho. Yeh bilkul galat hai. (You are hiding behind the blood of soldiers in Jammu and Kashmir and those who carried out the surgical strikes for India. You are exploiting their sacrifices, which is very wrong)"Rahul's remarks that the Modi government was "profiteering" from the blood spilt by soldiers had drawn criticism from BJP which accused him of insulting the armed forces.However, Rahul and his party maintained that they supported the military action but denounced "political propaganda" on the issue.Responding to the criticism about credit-hogging following the surgical strikes across LoC, Parrikar said the BJP would never politicise the operation, but would surely speak about the political courage exhibited in backing the army action."We have seen severe criticism following the surgical strikes in PoK. We are being blamed for taking credit for surgical strikes and trying to gain political mileage from it."Let me make it clear, BJP does not want to take credit for the sacrifices of the Indian soldiers or their bravery," Parrikar said at public meeting in Mapusa town of Goa."In the last 25 years, none of the governments had the courage to take such a decision. Butthe Modi government took this courageous decision and we would surely inform the people about it," he said.The armed forces must be given due recognition for the strike, he said, adding it was the DGMO which announced its success and not the government.Parrikar appealed all the political parties not to politicise the issue and instead praise the bravery of armed forces.Without naming Pakistan, he said the statements from the neighbour reflected the success of the surgical strike."We don't need certificate from anyone for the success of the surgical operation, it has already been certified by those against whom surgical strikes have taken place," Parrikar said.The Defence Minister said those who feared that BJP will take credit for the success of the operation were the same people who would have lambasted the government had there been the slightest failure.Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Indian army was ready to face any situation, he said."The political will, courage and execution power showed by Modi-led government has not been seen in the past. In future, Indian army will have so much strength that none of the nations would dare to look at the country with an evil eye," he said.India had become so powerful now that the world was heeding its language of peace, he said."The country which is not powerful cannot talk of peace. Only the powerful nations are heard when they talk of peace. Today, the world is listening to us," Parrikar said. At the ceremony (Source: VNA) Addressing the event, Most Venerable Thich Thien Tam, Vice Chairman of the VBS Executive Council underlined the significant achievements made by the sangha over the past 35 years and attributed them to the solidarity and support of all Buddhist organisations, monks, nuns and followers. He highlighted the Buddhisms contributions to the prosperity and development of the nation, especially maintaining and promoting the traditional Vietnamese culture. Pagodas across the nation have continuously participated in education work and charitable activities, he said. The VBS has established its chapters across all the 63 cities and provinces as well as in foreign countries. The sangha has affirmed its role in the world Buddhist community and actively participated in the international integration, he stressed. On the occasion, a series of workshops on the Khmer Nam Tong (Theravada) Buddhism and the Sene Dolta Festival were organized./. Just a day ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's proposed visit to Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has sparked off political speculation with his soft endorsement of Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi's 'khoon ki dalali' remark.If he has said something, he must have given it much thought. He must have some information about it, Akhilesh said on Monday when asked about Rahul's remarks against the PM.This left many wondering whether it was just a casual observation from the mild-mannered Akhilesh or a political overture ahead of the crucial assembly polls early next year.If recent actions on the political turf of Uttar Pradesh are any indication, it was not a casual comment but a loaded political statement on the part of the young leader who has, off late, been battling his own father and uncle for a say in his party's electoral game plan.Speculation about a possible electoral understanding between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress are not new. Though leaders on both sides have been officially denying it, there had been a clear 'go soft' approach. It first started with Rahul Gandhi describing Akhilesh as a good man in July this year. This personal warmth was also evident during the month-long Kisan Yatra undertaken by Rahul across the state last month. It was clearly evident that more than the Samajwadi Party government, it was Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP which was on Rahul's hit-list.The yatra, which was initiated in the backdrop of Congress's electoral punch line 27 Saal UP Behal, did not reach Samajwadi Party's stronghold of Kannauj and Etawah. Congress MLA and spokesperson Akhilesh Pratap Singh, however, counters the observation that the SP government's failures were not made an issue."It's not just the Congress and SP but even others who are getting more and more concerned about Modi's style of politics. Hence, people are unanimous in their criticism of it," he says.Singh also rejects suggestions that this solidarity is a precursor to some sort of election-related political understanding between the Congress and the SP. "Akhilesh's support for Rahul Gandhi's comment should not be read in that sense. Congress is not looking forward to any alliance in UP polls," he says.But sources within both parties say senior leaders on both sides are open to the possibility of some sort of electoral understanding and that it is already being considered. Remember this statement from SP's newly appointed state president Shivpal Yadav: "Lohiyawadis and Gandhivadis, both can work together."Deepak Mishra, the SP spokesperson who is considered close to the party's top leader, endorses this point of view. "The Samajwadi Party has always believed that those believing in Lohia's socialist ideology and those believing in Gandhi-Nehru can work together to fight communalism," he says, quickly adding that agreeing to this fundamental principle should be read as an allianceMishra also says his party endorses Akhilesh's comment on Rahul saying it should be seen as a "comment from a humble politician who does not believe in personal attacks".Leaders on either side may not open up further, but one thing is certain the infighting in the SP may lead to new political possibilities. A section in the party is now strongly in favour of an electoral understanding with the Congress.None, however, is in a hurry as elections are still a few months away.As a senior leader in the Samajwadi Party says: "We are keeping an eye on political developments. Nothing can be ruled out, especially with an aggressive BJP round the corner and BSP chief Mayawati desperately trying to woo Muslim voters. 2017 polls will be a semi-final for the 2019 general elections." Pampore (J&K): Encounter between security forces and terrorists underway at EDI building (Visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/DStVl9WWgI ANI (@ANI_news) October 10, 2016 #BREAKING: Building within premises of the JKED Institute, Pampore catches fire. Reports of shots being fired. @islahmufti with the details pic.twitter.com/dDymkJXZUU News18 (@CNNnews18) October 10, 2016 No wonder for the 2nd time this year they have attacked the institute. They want young Kashmiris to be subservient & bitter not self-reliant Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) October 10, 2016 Every day it's either militants snatching guns or then militants staging attacks. How can the centre be so blase about where J&K is headed?? Omar Abdullah (@abdullah_omar) October 10, 2016 A gun battle has erupted in the building premises of the head office of Jammu and Kashmir Entrepreneurship Development Institute (JKEDI) in Sempora area of Pampore following reports of a fire that broke out early on Monday morning, police said.Initial reports suggested fire inside the building premises but combing operations intensified after the gunshots were heard and reports of the presence of a couple of terrorists emerged."The militants are trapped inside a building in the JKEDI complex near Pampore town," a senior police officer told IANS."Security forces surrounded the building and all escape routes of the militants were sealed," he said.The officer said that intermittent gunshots were heard inside the complex as the security forces were moving in cautiously to flush out the militants.The cause of the fire is not yet known.Fire tenders have been rushed to the spot, but they are not being allowed to enter the building due to security reasons, the official said.An encounter between militants and security forces took place at the same premises in February this year which lasted for more than 48 hours.The JKEDI complex is situated on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, about 10 kilometres from Srinagar.Vehicular movement on the strategic highway was also suspended.Meanwhile Army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag briefed Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar about the latest developments.Former J&K CM Omar Abdullah too reacted to the incident on Twitter.(With inputs from IANS) A police officer from Himachal Pradesh on Monday received a death threat on facebook for reciting a patriotic poem that warned Pakistan against any 'misadventure'. The poem was recited by the Himachal Pradesh head constable Manoj Thakur who is currently posted in Kinnaur in Himachal Pradesh. "Yes, I have received death threats from Pakistan and Dubai and I am not afraid of any threat. I have informed my superior about it" said the brave officer. The video was posted on Kargil Day on July 26 but went viral on social media after the militant attack on an army camp at Uri in Jammu and Kashmir on September 18. The key line of the poem said "Kashmir will survive but Pakistan will not". The 130-second video that sends a stark warning to Pakistan was shot on a bus carrying police personnel. The poem allegedly said that any "misadventure" would "wipe Pakistan out of the world map". The poem alludes to Pakistan's defeats at the hands of the Indian army in 1965, 1971 and 1999. New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee on Monday greeted the nation on the eve of Dussehra, urging citizen to follow the path of moral and ethical rectitude. "On the joyous occasion of Dussehra, I extend greetings and best wishes to my fellow countrymen in India and abroad," said Mukherjee in a statement. "May this festival inspire us to emulate the righteousness of the Maryada Purushottam (Ram), the loyalty of his brothers Bharath and Lakshmana, the virtues of Sita and the valour as well as humility of Hanuman," he said. "Let each one of us resolve to follow the path of moral and ethical rectitude which has guided us for centuries," he added. "May the celebrations bind the communities and regions of India in a true sense of brotherhood and motivate us to make renewed efforts for the unity and progress of our country," the statement said. Beijing: Ahead of President Xi Jinping's visit to India, China on Monday said it is "ready" for talks with India on its entry into the NSG but defended extending a hold on India's bid for a UN ban on JeM chief Masood Azhar, saying Beijing is opposed to anyone making "political gains in the name of counter-terrorism". Briefing media on Xi's visit to India this week to take part in the BRICS Summit in Goa, China's Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong again harped on the need to build consensus over the admission of new members in the 48-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). Asked if any progress on the issue of India's admission into NSG can be expected in the meeting between Xi and Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit, Li said NSG rules stipulate consensus among the members to admit new ones. "These rules are not to be decided by China alone. On the issue, China and India have maintained good communication and we are ready to continue consultations with India to build consensus and we also hope India can go to other members of the NSG as well," Li said replying to a question on China's reservations on India's admission to the elite nuclear trading club. "In this aspect we are also ready for discussions with India to explore possibilities but things need to be in keeping up with procedures, norms and regulations of the NSG. On this issue, China's position is consistent. That is why China has often said international law must be observed," he said. Xi will travel to Goa to attend the BRICS Summit scheduled to held between October 15-16. The BRICS grouping consists of Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa. While India has blamed one country, without naming China, for stalling its membership in the NSG, both the countries held talks recently to iron out differences. After talks with India, China also has held similar talks with Pakistan, which also applied for membership in the influential grouping. Replying to a question on criticism about China's move to stall India's bid for a UN ban on Azhar - head of Pakistan-based terrorist group Jaish-e-Muhammad, Li sought to justify Beijing's recent technical hold in the matter, saying: "China is opposed to all forms of terrorism." "There should be no double standards on counter-terrorism. Nor should one pursue own political gains in the name of counter-terrorism," he said in a veiled reference to India, which is pressing for the UN ban against Azhar over his role in the Pathankot terror attack. Madhubani: Two persons were arrested on Sunday and 160 cartons of Indian Made Foreign Liquor seized from them in town police station area of Bihar's Madhubani district. Superintendent of Police Deepak Barnwal said the police raided one Jaihind Sah and seized 135 cartons of Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) and Rs 3.09 lakh worth of cash from his house located at Laheriaganj locality of the town. The raid was carried out after the information given by Raj Kumar Yadav, a van driver, who was arrested in the morning with 25 cartons of liquor in his vehicle from the same area, Barnwal said. Both Sah and Yadav have been arrested for possessing and transporting liquor in violation of Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act 2016, the SP said, adding the van has also been seized. A total of 1,450 litres of foreign liquor were stored in 160 cartons whose value is estimated to be around Rs 30 lakh, Barnwal said. The state government had on Gandhi Jayanti notified the Bihar Prohibition and Excise Act, 2016 banning manufacture, trade, storage, transportation, possession, sale and consumption of liquor and IMFL through stringent provisions incorporated under the law. As per the new liquor law, both the persons could attract a minimum 10 years of jail term which may extend to imprisonment for life besides a minimum fine of Rs 1 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. Democratic Nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Nominee Donald Trump went face-to-face in the second of the three scheduled debates. The first debate was dominated fairly and squarely by Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton leading to her victory according to CNN poll while the second debate which lasted for around 90 minutes was a combination of insults and political jibes even though the final verdict over who performed better is yet to be put out. Republican nominee Donald Trump, who finds himself mired in various controversies for his irresponsible and derogatory remarks about women, Hispanics, Latinos and Muslims seemed to be on the back-foot throughout his The Washington Post on Friday released a video that showed Donald Trump making lewd remarks about women. Trumps remarks triggered leaders response from within the Republican Party as they continued mounting pressure on him to withdraw from the presidential race. However, Donald Trump was quick to come out and apologise for his derogatory remarks, but the number of Republicans denouncing his candidacy reached 150, including his running mate Mike Pence. While the first debate saw both candidates speaking from the Podium, the format for Mondays debate is Town Hall that requires stagecraft as the candidates move around the stage and take questions from the voters. Read all the Latest News , Breaking News , watch Top Videos and Live TV here. In 2012, the then vice-president of AMUSU had publicly expressed doubts about the capability of the sole woman cabinet member in the union saying, I wish I had another male member in the students union, my hands would have been stronger. Hurt at the demoralizing remarks, the woman cabinet member Wajiha Mehdi, a post graduate student protested and stopped visiting the Union Hall, where the Students' Union conducts its meetings. She resumed her visit only after receiving an apology from the Vice President." By way of reserving few seats for women, sensitizing male students, encouraging girls to come up and contest at the first place, there is actually going to be a challenge to regionalism on campus, said a former AMU student Anam Adil Khan who now practices law in Sydney, Australia. : The unprecedented election of three women candidates to the to the cabinet of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Students Union has given fresh lease of life to efforts to clean the campus off the double scourge of criminalization of politics and violent regionalism.Sadaf Rasool, Labiba Sherwani and Ghazala Ahmed won for the cabinet a panel tasked with implementing the students unions tasks while a former cabinet member Kehkashan Khanam put up a good fight to the prestigious post of AMU Union vice-president in the polls held on Sunday.The AMU Students Union comprises president, vice-president, secretary and 10 executive members elected in the cabinet who are entrusted with responsibility and budget to carry out Union programs throughout its tenure. The entry of three women is being celebrated and dubbed as unprecedented by the fraternity of the university spread across.Rasool, Sherwani and Ahmed, believe their supporters, bring in a healthy leadership to the 94 year old varsity that came into existence in 1920 from the erstwhile Mohammedan Anglo-Oriental College established in 1875, where women aspirants to the political body were humiliated many a time.Fawaz Shaheen, a former AMU student, who had actively campaigned for a campus free of violence and regionalism, said that participation of female students in campus politics has been growing for a number of years.Not many outside know that women moving away from public spaces in AMU is a relatively recent phenomenon, brought on by the increasing criminalization of politics from the 1990s. The growing consensus on campus against criminal elements in politics should encourage more participation from girls, and we have seen some evidence of that in the last couple of years, he added.In 2014, Khan wrote to the AMU Vice Chancellor Lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah demanding at least 30 percent reservation for females in the main union and a post of the chair to be reserved for them. Khan said that men in AMU are more prone to regionalism and women candidates have always fought beyond regionalism. Maybe it is because women are less approachable to the regional lobbies and ex-students who try to intervene in university for political mileage and their own vested interests, she added.Khanam, who almost made it to the vice-presidents chair this year, said that if the ratio of men-women participation in campus politics hits 50-50, most of these problems will be dealt with. Women think along the lines of rights and issues and not regions, she said. Jammu: Censor board chief Pahlaj Nihalani today said actors' comments on the controversy surrounding the demand for a ban on Pakistani artistes in Bollywood should not be given importance and people should rather think about the country's soldiers. Bollywood has been divided on the issue of the demand for the ban on Pakistani artistest in the wake of Uri attack. While Salman Khan, Karan Johar, Hansal Mehta and Anurag Kashyap have criticised it, many in the industry such as Ajay Devgn, Randeep Hooda, Sonali Bendre and Nana Patekar have supported the ban. "Every Indian should think of the soldiers who are fighting terrorism and the enemy on the border. Actors are insignificant and we should not waste our energy on the issue of who said what on the issue, people should not give any importance to the statements they make," Nihalani told reporters here today. He said that the country should show solidarity towards the soldiers for their fight against terrorism and everyone should work towards condemning and eradicating terrorism from the country. "Terrorism is our biggest enemy and our soldiers are fighting it, the need of the hour is to show solidarity with our soldiers." While refusing to comment on the statement issued by certain actors on the issue of ban on Pakistani actors in India, he said that what actors said was insignificant as the most important thing for every Indian was the soldiers and the tricolor. When asked to comment on the ongoing unrest in the Kashmir valley, the CBFC chief said that people of the country love Kashmir and its people, and would want to see peace return in the valley at an earliest. "Kashmir has always been the first love of the Indian film industry and once when the situation returns to normal, producers would once again love to visit Kashmir and shoot movies there. Every Indian wants peace in the country and we want peace in Kashmir." Mumbai: India's sarod maestro Amjad Ali Khan and his two sons Amaan and Ayaan performed live with musicians from across the world for the Chant4Change peace concert at Washingtons Lincoln Memorial on Saturday night. The concert made use of music as the healing unifying force in wounded and terror-infested universe. However, the rain gods played truant. Speaking after the concert, Khan said: "We three -- my two sons and I -- performed while it was drizzling. We dedicated our concert to world peace and harmony. We paid our humble tribute to Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Rabindranath Tagore and Hazrat Amir Khusro who created the qawwali and tarana singing styles." Khan and his sons began the historical Chant4Change concert with an inspirational number. "The first item was 'We shall overcome...' version 'Hum honge kamyaab'. Then we rendered 'Vaishnava jana to', 'Ramdhun', 'Raghupati raghav rajaram', 'Ekla cholo re' and then we sang a tarana. We ended with Bengali folk music. We hope the whole world soon realizes the value of peace and harmony. "Collectively, we must give our younger generations a peaceful and harmonious world. Our family feels very sad when we hear about young soldiers dying in the war, no matter which country. We feel connected with every soul, every religion and every song of the world," Khan said. Explaining how music can unify people across the world, he said: "People of the world have to think about the value of togetherness, peace and harmony. Collectively, people of India and the world have to create a peaceful and harmonious environment for our children and younger generation. "India was one before the Partition. That is why even today, it's Indian classical music that unifies the two countres and their people. We could only divide the land, but could not divide the music." He is also worried about the rampancy of terror attacks even in the US. "The US should not encourage people to openly buy weapons, especially for the younger generation, as it is very dangerous not to have licence for the weapons. The greatest mockery is that every political leader talks of peace and harmony, and at the same time every country is busy producing weapons, guns and missiles. "The future of the world looks aimless and bleak. The world is heading towards destruction... I hope the world soon understand the value of love peace and harmony." He made a plea for artistes to be exempted from political agendas. "Art, music and musicians don't belong to any cult or religion. Like flowers, air, water, colour, fire and fragrance, we of the artistic fraternity also belong to no religion. In our country, every classical musician is worshipped like Goddess Saraswati. If we can't help each other, for god's sake, don't destroy each other. Think seriously about the future of every child." Photo for illustration Of this, foreign arrivals staying overnight reached over 2.06 million, a year-on-year rise of 26%, while more than 13.57 million domestic tourists were provided services, up 6%; grossing a turnover of VND46 trillion, up 18% compared to the same period last year. Potential markets of the citys tourism saw sharp increases in tourist arrivals, such as India (up 46%), Denmark (50%), the Netherlands (40%) and Ireland (153%). Three among five Western European countries which were granted visa waiver extensions under the Governments Resolution 56/NQ-CP dated June 30th, 2016, still maintained two-digit growth rates: Italy (25%), France (21%) and Germany (33%). Meanwhile, tourists from Spain and the UK continued to see declines compared to the same period last year./. Los Angeles: Actor Brad Pitt will not be prosecuted by the FBI over an alleged altercation with his son Maddox, say law enforcement sources who claim there was no case to begin with. Pitt was on a private jet from France to Los Angeles with his wife and actress Angelina Jolie and children when he started screaming, prompting Jolie to file for divorce days later, it had been reported. Jolie has filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences while seeking physical custody of six children. The LA County Department of Children and Family Services looked into allegations that Pitt physically abused Maddox and notified the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), which turned to the FBI. Law enforcement sources said the FBI never opened an official investigation and that the agency should not have been involved in the first place, reports tmz.com. The bureau's official position is that it is still gathering facts. Sources close to Jolie said the actress would refuse to co-operate with police if Pitt was prosecuted. Maddox, 15, was not injured and law enforcement sources said there was no way to conclusively prove Pitt intentionally inflicted harm on his son, tmz.com reported Pitt and Jolie have since agreed to a temporary custody arrangement, which allowed him to see his kids since Jolie filed for divorce. Maharashtra Navnirman Sena has given open threat to filmmakers Karan Johar and Mahesh Bhatt for supporting and employing Pakistani artists. The political party is holding a firm stand on their previous decision of protesting against Pak artists and the films they are featuring in.After Uri Attacks, MNS issued an ultimatum to all Pak artists to leave India within 48 hours. They had also asked the makers of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Raees to remove Fawad Khan and Mahira Khan from the film.MNS Leader Amay Khopker says, "We haven't changed our stance against films featuring Pak artists. We will beat up anyone who tries to employ them be it Mahesh Bhatt or Karan Johar.""We will not allow these films (Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Raees) to release even if we have to go to jail."The news isn't too good for Karan Johar whose film Ae Dil Hai Mushkil is set to release this month. IMPPA officials had a closed door meeting with Shalini Thackeray, working president of Maharashtra Navnirman Chitrapat Karmachari Sena, to discuss the issue of release of Ae Dil Hai Mushkil but the party didn't budge.The party has also asked Multiplex owners to release the films featuring Pakistani artists at their own peril. The Multiplex Association is set to have a meeting on this issue by the end of this week.However, the government has come out in support of the filmmakers and the artist, saying that whoever is living and working in India lawfully will get all security. There is more bad news for Samsung. The company lost some ground following incidents of the Galaxy Note 7 battery exploding, and now a US court has reinstated its decision that Samsung had infringed on Apple's patents and owes the company nearly $120 million. A federal appeals court ruled that Samsung had infringed on Apple's famous slide-to-unlock patent as well as its quick links patent, which covers software that automatically turns information like addresses and phone numbers into links, The Verge reported. Earlier this year, when Samsung appealed against the previous decision of Apple being granted a win, a three-judge panel stripped away Apple's triumph, saying one patent was not infringed and the other two were invalid. However, on Friday the three judges who sided with Samsung did not win a single ally and Apple's win was restored on an 8-3 vote (One of the 12 sitting Federal Circuit judges, Richard Taranto, did not participate), Ars Technica reported. "We conclude that the jury verdict on each issue is supported by substantial evidence in the record. We thus reinstate the district court's award of costs which the panel had vacated," the court was quoted as saying. The full panel of judges determined that the three judges acted incorrectly by considering information that was not introduced in trial and by ruling on issues that were never brought up on appeal, the report added. The court also maintained a ruling against Apple, which found that it should pay Samsung $158,400 for infringing on a photo and video gallery patent, as was originally ruled back in 2014. After three full days of deliberations in May 2014, a jury in San Jose, California found that Samsung had infringed upon two out five Apple patents, and that it owed the Cupertino company $119.6 million in damages. The jury also found that Apple had also infringed on one of Samsung's two patents -- covering a photo and video gallery feature -- and as a result owed $158,400 to the South Korean giant. St Louis: Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump on Monday praised each other, in a rare gesture, with the Republican presidential nominee calling his Democratic rival a "fighter" who doesn't "quit" while she lauded his children for being "incredibly able and devoted". "She doesn't quit. She doesn't give up. I respect that. I tell it like it is. She's a fighter," Trump said. "I disagree with much of what she's fighting for. I do disagree with her judgment in many cases. But she does fight hard, and she doesn't quit, and she doesn't give up. And I consider that to be a very good trait," 70-year-old Trump said in response to the last question of the second presidential debate asked by Karl Becker, a town-hall participant. "My question to both of you is, regardless of the current rhetoric, would either of you name one positive thing that you respect in one another?" Becker asked the final question in St Louis after the 90-minute heated exchange between the two presidential candidates. The questioners were selected through an independent process. Clinton, 68, in response to the same question said that she respects Trump's children who are "incredibly able and devoted". "Look, I respect his children. His children are incredibly able and devoted, and I think that says a lot about Donald. I don't agree with nearly anything else he says or does, but I do respect that. I think that is something that as a mother and a grandmother is very important to me," Clinton said. Clinton said she believes that the election has become in part so conflict-oriented, so intense because there's a lot at stake. This is not an ordinary time, and this is not an ordinary election, she said. "We are going to be choosing a president who will set policy for not just four or eight years, but because of some of the important decisions we have to make here at home and around the world, from the Supreme Court to energy and so much else, and so there is a lot at stake. It's one of the most consequential elections that we've had," Clinton said. Trump thanked Clinton for praising his children. "I consider her statement about my children to be a very nice compliment. I don't know if it was meant to be a compliment, but it is great. I am very proud of my children. They've done a wonderful job, and they've been wonderful, wonderful kids. So I consider that a compliment," Trump said. I am away from my regular base in India, here in the United States watching this agonizing political cycle for about a year (studying and doing other amazing things as well), as it stumbled from anguish to denunciations to mocking to down right vulgarity, all in the course of electing the next President of the United States.Over the course of the last few months, I often wondered whether Donald Trumps misogyny would ever come to bite him in the a**. I want to be able to say ass. The word and many others, odious, toxic, crude and profane have to be allowed when it comes to covering this election cycle. They have over the months become the markers of American political discourse, that has frankly been in the dumpster.The truth is Donald Trump made this campaign a vulgar one. The fact is the campaign has actually been a lot more vulgar than people even realized it. Major news networks, all around the world routinely censor expletives, bleep, blank them. But in the case of Donald Trump, this was so very often. Bleeping words like shit and pussy and covering his mouth with pixels when he said the word fuck has been routine, according to many producers I met over the months. Newspapers asterix-ed the offending words. Trumps political speeches thus reached viewers sanitized, without the foul they came packed with.The other truth is Trump has made a successful campaign despite all this crassness. He's mocked a disabled reporter, called a woman Ms. Piggy, suggested Fox journalist Megyn Kelly questioned him in a tough manner during a debate because she was menstruating. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever, Mr. Trump had said.He has said worse, and every time he has been rewarded. People have welcomed his bluster. There is a large following of people who cheer his unwillingness to follow political correctness and thus feel they have the permission to do the same.At the Republican National Convention, in Cleveland earlier this year, I was witness to open misogyny on the streets, in full naked display, encouraged, traded and joked about in just the casual locker room banter that Trump spoke about in relation to the Washington Post video.This was a street just outside the Quickens Loan Arena, the RNC Convention premises where pins and lapels that read "Don't be a pussy or Trump that Bitch or "Hillary sucks but not like Monica" were all in easy sight and up for a sale.Yes, it could be argued the RNC had no control over merchandise that was being sold off the premises but Trump supporters at many boisterous rallies used much of the same language, often calling the opponent a bitch or holding placards Lifes a bitch. Dont vote for one, or wore pins like KFC Hillary special, 2 Fat Thighs, 2 Small Breasts. They often received encouragement, never an admonition.I have heard experts and Trump supporters on television networks over the last 48-hours give explanations like Trump is flawed, just like his opponent and that he never ran on the paragon of moral virtue or that he may just be bragging about his sexually aggressive and predatory behavior and the actions in question [although criminal in nature] never actually took place. It made me wonder why there was so little moral outrage at the words, just by themselves, plain and simple, even if the actions hadnt taken place. This is often exactly the sort of talk that an innumerable number of American television hosts and documentary filmmakers attack India over, when it comes to our shameful numbers of sexual violence against women. American campuses, its presidential campaign, even their court proceedings have been rife with a discourse that minimizes the severity of sexual assault and perpetuates a rape culture in the name of locker room banter. Trump has specialized in verbal abuse for months if not years. It is no small thing. Women [and men] in America and the world have heard the contents of that video. They are disturbing and should disturb all, even fathers and mothers of sons, or grandparents or single men and women, or members of the LGBT community, everyone, because as Justin Trudeau said (updating the quote), Because this is 2016, America.Trump's grotesqueries have been front and center with their tits and pussy all intact. It has suited the road to White House so far, and now it doesnt. Ironically, a few polls that have been done over the last 48-hours, suggest that the video has done nothing to dissuade Trumps band of supporters, only the undecided ones may be showing their backs.What an irony it would be if the United States of America would elect its first woman President on the back of such abominable comments against women and such pussyfooting. (PS: From an outsider: How about a political detox for the next 30-days. Imagine a conversation where you cant talk about peoples looks, bodies, how much they eat, ways to grab them or how long they take to go to the loo?) Dubai: Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an American destroyer passing by in the Red Sea, the U.S. Navy said on Monday, the second-such launch targeting ships in the crucial international waterway in recent days. The missile launches Sunday came as a ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies. Yemen's Shiite rebels known as Houthis and their allies offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital killed over 140 people and wounded 525 on Saturday. In a statement, the Navy said no American sailors were injured and no damage was done to the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Virginia. Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for U.S. Navy Forces Central Command, said Monday it's unclear if the USS Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction over an hour's time period, starting at around 7 p.m. An American defense official said the USS Mason used onboard defensive measures after the first missile was fired, but it wasn't clear if that caused the missile to splash harmlessly into the sea. The destroyer at the time of the missile fire was north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal, the official said. The official spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss details of the incident that haven't been made public. Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship. Meanwhile, Saudi state television aired a brief clip of what appeared to be a projectile that was said to have landed in Taif in the ballistic missile attack. The video shows the flash of an explosion, followed by images of emergency vehicles. Taif is home to Saudi Arabia's King Fahad Air Base, which hosts U.S. military personnel training the kingdom's armed forces. The Saudi military said the missile fired late Saturday night was intercepted and caused no damage. The U.S. military's Central Command, which oversees troops in the Middle East, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Al-Masirah, a satellite news channel run by Yemen's Shiite rebels known as the Houthis, identified the missile as a local variant of a Soviet-era Scud missile. It said the Volcano-1 missile targeted the air base. The Houthis have fired a series of ballistic missiles in Saudi Arabia since a kingdom-led coalition of Arab countries has launched an offensive against them in Yemen in March 2015. Most of those ballistic missiles have hit areas far closer to Saudi Arabia's border with Yemen, like an attack Friday night that targeted the southwestern city of Khamis Mushait. In the Taif attack, however, the missile struck a target more than 520 kilometers (325 miles) from the border. Taif also is just outside of Mecca, which is home to the cube-shaped Kaaba that all of the world's Muslims pray toward. The Saudi military also said it earlier intercepted another ballistic missile fired Sunday on the Yemeni city of Marib. The Houthis gave no reason for their targeting of Taif, but it comes after a Saudi-led airstrike Saturday targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital, Sanaa. On Sunday, thousands marched through the streets of Sanaa to protest the strike, one of the deadliest single attacks in the impoverished Arab country's relentless civil war. Yemen's war is largely overshadowed by the conflict against the Islamic State group elsewhere in the Middle East, though rights groups have mounted increased criticism of the Saudi-led airstrikes in recent months for killing civilians. The U.N. and rights groups estimate the conflict has killed at least 9,000 people and displaced nearly three million more. Register for more free articles. Sign up for our newsletter to keep reading. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox! Sign up! Already a Subscriber? Already a Subscriber? Sign in Terms of Service Privacy Policy El Camino Hispanic Store and Eatery is expanding from a small building on Lakeside Drive to a second restaurant location in the former Mahi Seafood and Steak at 6201 Fort Avenue. Instead of a combination store and restaurant, the Fort Avenue El Camino will be solely a restaurant. The new location will be open within two to three weeks, according to the owners. According to Alan Gutierrez, who manages the store his family owns, the current restaurant space is maxed out. We dont have room for more people anymore, he said. People like this place. They feel like theyre at home because were small. We want to be able to have more people in the restaurant. Despite the need to grow to a bigger space, the family is holding on to the Lakeside restaurant and store. The second location will let us have more people in the restaurant, but were keeping the original location, Gutierrez said. We want to keep it forever because its a reminder of how we started. Mahi Seafood and Steak posted on its Facebook page Aug. 28 about plans to return to Lynchburg soon. We are doing some revamping and do plan to return soon....stay tuned for updates....sorry for the inconvenience!! said the post. Making the mind a priority For too long mental health has been demonised and portrayed as negative, bad, violent or scary, and sensationalised with the repetition of horror stories of degrading conditions at the St Anns Hospital. But ignorance and intolerance place a huge burden on those who live with mental ill health, so it is time for the discourse to be shifted and taken to another level. In order to do that, however, there needs to be a clearer understanding of what is mental health because it is often misinterpreted to mean mental illness. Mental health is defined by the WHO as a state of well-being in which every individual realises his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community. It is therefore central to everything we do our sense of agency, and our ability to participate in society, yet it is a topic that most people are uncomfortable discussing unless it is to tell an offensive joke, make a snide remark or a dismissive aside about someone acting mad or crazy. Even mental health professionals are not immune to the negative comments a police officer at the airport scrutinising my immigration form commented Oh, so you are a shrink dealing up with dem mad psycho people, lady you brave! The officer equated mental illness with violence, and she is not the only one that type of thinking permeates throughout society. But there is significant research showing that people with mental illness are far more likely to be victims than perpetrators of violent crime (Appleby, et al., 2001). Stigma and discrimination The stark reality is that one in four of us will experience an episode of mental ill health during our lifetime whether it is anxiety, grief, depression, suicidal thoughts, substance misuse or dementia. Mental illness is the largest cause of disability and is not only disabling and distressing in its own right, but can profoundly impact upon physical health, education, employment and economic well-being. Yet it remains taboo. The WHO Suicide Report indicates that TT has disproportionately high numbers of suicides, and is ranked 34th in the world based on per 100,000 population size. Globally every 40 seconds someone dies of suicide, and for every person who dies by suicide there are 20 others who have made attempts to take their own lives. Cast your mind back to the recent reports of suicides in the local papers, where many people were lamenting Why didnt they talk about their problems instead of taking their life? The answer to that question lies in the intractable social ills such as the deep-seated stigma, prejudice and discrimination that prevents open and honest discussions on mental health, and the inequality between physical, and mental health service provision. Do we expect someone to say they are feeling mentally unwell and experiencing psychological distress when chances are they will become the subject of ridicule, and also have to endure the unnecessary obstacles in navigating in, through and out of the healthcare system? If you go into any public/state sector organisation or school there will most likely be a first aider trained and qualified in administering emergency physical first aid, but no provision will have been made for those who experience emotional crisis, so they often experience pain in silence. Consequently, until conversations about mental health are normalised and become socially acceptable many people will continue to bear unnecessary suffering. Mental health matters and needs to be everyones business. It can no longer be ignored, so my principal aim for this years World Mental Health Day is a call to action for open dialogue. That is a first step in the process for the development and implementation of sustained programmes of culturally appropriate psychological well-being strategies; training and awareness in how to offer reasonable support to distressed individuals, with the same responsiveness as given to physical health; and a human rights approach with adherence to the core values of fairness, respect, equality, dignity and autonomy. There are already existing frameworks upon which to build a human rights approach. For example, at the UN General Assembly, mental health was set as a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) stressing the need for world leaders to promote mental health and well-being as a health priority. In addition, TT has already ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) and that covers people with long-term mental illnesses. Article 17 of the CRPD is an example which speaks of the right to respect for physical and mental integrity on an equal basis with others. So, in keeping with this years theme of Dignity in Mental Health my sincerest hope is to see the commencement of widespread transformation in the negative culture of attitudes, systems and services to one that upholds the standards of inherent dignity by which every person should be treated. Mental health matters to all of us. Dr Yansie Rolston is a UK-based disability and mental health specialist advisor and a social change trainer and facilitator who works internationally, at various levels of government, business, and civil society Novel gem on teenage challenges The one thing teens have today that we didnt have growing up is great Young Adult (YA) books. In my time, we had to make the leap from elementary books to adult books. Now, YA books target readers from 12 to 23 with issues, themes and conflicts carefully crafted to address the needs of teens. YA books are generally fast-paced, edgy books that address relationships, drugs, sex and bullying. These books tackle ticklish themes in an age-appropriate manner without being condescending. Popular YA authors like John Green recognise that many of these themes need to be addressed right after elementary school or else it will be too late. I am reminded of teens challenges every time I discover a good YA book, and I discovered a gem this week, All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. Niven has a four-part series, a couple of non-fiction books and now, with All the Bright Places, she has her first official YA book. Today, lets look at Nivens book and another YA read that will certainly resonate with teen readers. All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven Nivens novel of teenage angst is destined to become a YA classic because it is simply unforgettable. Theodore Finch, a troubled teen always on the verge of suicide has much to teach both teenagers and adults. He battles his bipolar disorder in the best way he can, but Finch seems to have nothing to live for until the day he has to keep the secret of one of the schools most popular girls Violet Markey. Violet has her own problems, which, unlike Finch, she hides. This novel about teenage depression, teenage love and the purpose of life is a riveting read because Niven creates a compelling story with complex characters. Never dealing in stereotypes, she develops the story of these two teens with careful consideration and an understanding of how depression affects teens. All the Bright Places deserves an entire review, which will be coming soon. For now, just now if youre a John Green fan and you enjoyed The Fault in Our Stars, then you will want to read this brilliant novel. If you havent read a book this year, make this the one you read. I guarantee you wont forget this book for the rest of your life. The Lifeboat Clique by Kathy Parks When a tsunami hits the coast of California, a girl named Denver unexpectedly finds herself on a lifeboat with a popular boy and a set of girls who are bullies who make survival even more difficult emotionally speaking. Forms three through form five students will relish this novel that captures the complex relationships among teenagers who yearn to be accepted and popular. Theres some rough language, mostly in the beginning of the novel that book publishers and reviewers dont seem to warn you about, but language aside, this is an edgy book that will hit home with reluctant readers. Its a novel that will make teenagers reconsider their lives, their relationships and the power to overcome bullies. The Lifeboat Clique begs the question what is really important in life? It will make you consider the importance of being kind and fair to everyone. So, take your pick from these two books and discover YA books on a whole new level. TATTOO EYED RAPIST His latest attacker was abducted and taken to an apartment where she was beaten and raped repeatedly for hours by the human predator, before he later dropped her off along a road. Police said that based on the description given by the woman, they are hopeful the suspect will be arrested soon. The terrified woman told police that at half past seven on Thursday evening, she stood at Busy Corner in Chaguanas awaiting transport to be taken to her home in Central Trinidad. The 28-yearold woman said she boarded a silver-coloured Nissan Wingroad station wagon and asked the male driver to take her to her destination. However, the driver later picked up another passenger who asked to be taken to Montrose. The driver proceeded to drive to Montrose but instead of dropping off the male passenger there, he continued driving to Enterprise, Chaguanas where he dropped off the male passenger who grabbed the woman and pulled her out of the car, threatening to kill her if she screamed. As the driver sped off, the man forced the woman into an apartment. Inside the apartment, the womans terrifying ordeal began. She told police that the man who is African descent, slim build, with a black beard, three gold tooth caps in his mouth and the tattoo of an eye in the middle of his forehead, began to beat her mercilessly. He ordered her to undress and proceeded to rape her. Police sources told Newsday that investigators were told by the woman that throughout Thursday night and into the early morning hours of Friday, she was raped repeatedly by the man. When the woman failed to return home, her worried relatives made calls to her cellular phone but it was switched off and went straight to voice mail. Relatives made a report on her disappearance to the district police station. At 2.30 am, the man told her to get dressed while he made a call on his cellular phone. Holding onto her, the man took the woman out of the apartment and walked with her to the Southern Main Road where a red Nissan Almera car pulled up and she was ordered to get in. The driver later took the woman to Freeport and dropped her off. As she limped towards her home, the womans relatives ran out to greet her. On being told what she had endured, the relatives quickly called the Chaguanas police. She was taken to a health centre where she was medically examined by Dr Reddy. Because of the extent of her physical injuries the woman remains warded at a public medical facility. As she lay on her hospital bed, the woman was interviewed by police officers where she gave them a description of her attacker. Police yesterday warned members of the public especially women to exercise caution when travelling at nights and whenever possible, not to go in Private Hire (PH) taxis. We have a number of reports of women being abducted and attacked including robbed and in some cases raped, by either the driver of PH cars or persons in the car who may be associates of the driver but posing as passengers. When possible, try and avoid using PH cars as your means of transport, a senior police source stated. A sketch of the tattoo-eyed rapist will be distributed to police officers in Central Division to aid in his capture and prosecution. In an unrelated incident, at 4.30 am on Saturday, a 47-year-old self employed electrician was walking along Cemetery Street in Valencia when she was accosted by a man who began kicking her. Although she struggled with the man, the woman was overpowered, taken to some bushes and raped. A report was made to the Valencia Police Post and the woman was later medically examined by a district medical officer. WPC Joseph is investigating. Install the Newser News app in two easy steps: 1. Tap in your navigation bar. 2. Tap to Add to Home Screen. (Newser) In a stunningly brazen move, Donald Trump met Sunday night with several women who have accused Bill Clinton of rape and unwanted sexual advances, just over an hour before he was to step on the debate stage with Hillary Clinton. The Trump pre-debate event was the clearest sign yet that he planned to use Bill Clinton's extramarital affairs to try to distract from the swirling controversy over his own predatory remarks about women, reports the AP. Trump refused to answer questions from reporters about the video during his meeting in a hotel conference room with Paula Jones, Kathy Shelton, Juanita Broaddrick, and Kathleen Willey. Some of the women seated alongside him, however, were graphic in their accusations against the Clintons. "Mr. Trump may have said some bad words, but Bill Clinton raped me and Hillary Clinton threatened me," Broaddrick said. "I don't think there's any comparison." Broaddrick first claimed 17 years ago that Bill Clinton raped her during a meeting in Little Rock in 1978. Her lawsuit against him was dismissed in 2001 and criminal charges were never filed. Clinton has denied the allegations. Trump is trying to change the subject from his own conduct, as the release of the 2005 video has some leading Republicans convinced the damage is insurmountable. Clinton has stayed largely silent since the video was made public. Trump allies desperately hope the businessman can keep his focus in the debate on Clinton, raising questions about her trustworthiness and pushing his own populist economic ideas. But as Trump's meeting with Clinton's accusers indicated, he appeared to have other priorities. Clinton's campaign appeared unconcerned by the prospect of Trump raising Bill Clinton's past. "Were not surprised to see Donald Trump continue his destructive race to the bottom," Clinton communications director Jennifer Palmieri said, per Politico. "I'm not sure that's what voters are going to want to hear." (Read more Donald Trump stories.) (Newser) It took no time at all for Donald Trump's hot mic scandal to surface at Sunday night's debatea nasty affair that got underway without a traditional handshake. Trump flatly rejected the suggestion that his comments amounted to a description of "sexual assault," in the words of debate moderator Anderson Cooper. It was merely "locker room talk," he insisted. "Nobody has more respect for women than I do." At another point, he tried to transition into another topic: Im very embarrassed by it, Trump said of the tape. I will knock the hell out of ISIS. Hillary Clinton, meanwhile, said his comments made clear that he is unfit for the presidency because they fit a pattern of disrespecting women. "It represents exactly who he is," she said, as quoted by Politico. "But it's not only women, and it's not only this video that raises questions about his fitness to be our president, because he has also targeted immigrants, African-Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, POWs, Muslims, and so many others." After she spoke, he responded, "It's just words folks, it's just words." In comparison, he went on to assert that Bill Clinton was "abusive to women," worse than any politician in history. Prior to the debate, he hosted a forum with Bill Clinton's accusers, and those same women appeared at the debate. In reference to them, Trump said that Hillary Clinton should be "ashamed" of how she attempted to discredit the women when she was first lady. Clinton didn't respond directly to that allegation and suggested Trump was generally spouting lies. She quoted first lady Michelle Obama in saying, "When they go low, you go high." (Read more presidential debate stories.) (Newser) An upcoming trial against Facebook over a "revenge porn" picture of a 14-year-old could prompt an avalanche of similar lawsuits, the Guardian reports. Weeks after a Belfast court rejected Facebook's efforts to stop the lawsuit, many other victims are considering their legal options, media lawyer Paul Tweed told the paper. "A case like this risks opening the floodgates for other civil cases to be taken against Facebook and other social media sites, he said. "I can see it being a very real problem for all the social media sites going forward." The stakes are "seismic" for the tech world if Facebook is found negligent of misusing private info and violating the Data Protection Act, per the Guardian. The case revolves around a nude photo of the 14-year-old that appeared on a "shaming page" on the social network. Facebook maintains it removes lewd posts once notifiedas EU law requiresand cannot police the massive amounts of material that appear on its pages. A rep told the Guardian there was "no place for this kind of content on Facebook and we remove it when its reported to us." But victims' advocates say Facebook is not doing enough to combat shaming posts up front though it has the technology to do so. The company uses Microsoft's PhotoDNA to tag child exploitation posts so they won't repeat, yet the photo of the 14-year-old popped up multiple times over 14 months, per CNNMoney. "There is a widespread feeling that [Facebook] is not doing enough to tackle content that their own terms and conditions forbid," expert John Carr told the Guardian. The results of public shaming can be devastating, as seen last month when an Italian woman killed herself after a sex tape went viral. The suicide came even after Tiziana Cantone, 31, had won a legal case to have the material removed from social media and search engines. (Read more revenge porn stories.) (Newser) Two missiles fired from rebel-held territory in Yemen landed near an American destroyer passing by in the Red Sea, the US Navy said on Monday, the second-such launch targeting ships in the crucial international waterway in recent days. The missile launches Sunday came as a ballistic missile fired from Yemen apparently targeted a Saudi air base near the Muslim holy city of Mecca, the deepest strike yet into the kingdom by Shiite rebels and their allies, the AP reports. Yemen's Shiite rebels, known as Houthis, and their allies offered no reason for the launches, though they came after a Saudi-led airstrike targeting a funeral in Yemen's capital killed over 140 people and wounded 525 on Saturday. In a statement, the Navy said no American sailors were injured and no damage was done to the USS Mason, an Arleigh Burke class of guided missile destroyer whose home port is Norfolk, Va. Lt. Ian McConnaughey, a spokesman for US Navy Forces Central Command, said Monday it's unclear if the USS Mason was specifically targeted, though the missiles were fired in its direction over an hour, starting at around 7pm. An American defense official said the USS Mason used onboard defensive measures after the first missile was fired, but it wasn't clear if that caused the missile to splash harmlessly into the sea. The destroyer at the time of the missile fire was north of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait, which serves as a gateway for oil tankers headed to Europe through the Suez Canal, the official said. Last week, an Emirati-leased Swift boat came under rocket fire near the same area and sustained serious damage. The United Arab Emirates described the vessel as carrying humanitarian aid and having a crew of civilians, while the Houthis called the boat a warship. (Read more Yemen stories.) (Newser) Clare Hollingworth was a young reporter in her first week at Britain's Telegraph in 1939 when she broke the news to the world that World War II had begun. Hollingworth, who turns 105 on Monday, would go on to an illustrious career spanning a half-century as a war correspondent in far-flung places. Yet her exclusive at age 27 would remain her greatest scoop (though she also revealed that British spy Kim Philby had defected to the Soviet Union in 1963.) "Clare is a prodigy, one of those extraordinary people who has not recorded history but helped to make it," journalist Max Hastings told Time. "She was a pioneer among women journalists." In the prewar years, Hollingworth worked in Poland pulling strings that enabled more than 3,500 Jewish and political refugees entry into the UK. (The press nicknamed her the "Scarlet Pimpernel;" the British government suspected she let in spies.) She was in Poland working for the Telegraph in August 1939 when she made a discovery: "scores, if not hundreds of tanks" on the German border, she said per Time. A few days later, on Sept. 1, 1939, she was awakened by tanks rolling past her window. She raced to call her editor. World War II was on. "I must admit that I enjoy being in a war," Hollingworth told the Telegraph. She was in a few of them, and won awards for her coverage of the Algerian War. The trail-blazer celebrated her 105th birthday on Monday at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Hong Kong not far from her apartment. Despite suffering strokes, heart attacks, and dementia, she can still walk with assistance and dines monthly at "her" table at the press club. "She was the first female foreign correspondent to break the glass ceiling so that someone like me can do what I do now," says Times Africa bureau chief, Aryn Baker. (Read more Clare Hollingworth stories.) (Newser) For 25 years, Ethiopia's ruling party hasn't had to call a state of emergency, but it did just that Sunday in response to recent protests against the powers that be, and it's going to be a long one: six months due to the "loss of lives and property damages occurring in the country," the prime minister said, per local media via CNN. The most recent protests started on Oct. 2 after dozens of people died in clashes with government security forces during a holy festival celebrated by the country's Oromo people. But activists say it wasn't just 52 people (the official government tally) who died during that incident, but more than 500, downed by bullets and tear gas from the authorities. Locals also say the government has been blocking the Internet to keep people from communicating and rallying, the Guardian reports. The nation's communications minister scoffs at the October protest claims, saying none of the deceased had bullet wounds and were killed by stampeding crowds instead. The Oromo and Amhara people have long protested their marginalization, even though together they make up nearly two-thirds of the nation's population, per the BBC. Al Jazeera notes protests started in November, first over land rights, then including political, cultural, and economic issues. Activists say hundreds have been killed and tens of thousands detained. The government says the state of emergency entails, per the AP, some curfews, restrictions or bans on communication and public assembly, and more lenient rules for carrying out arrests. Meanwhile, the government blamed Egypt on Monday for supporting an Oromo rebel group. (A well-known Oromo member: Olympian silver medalist and wrist-raiser Feyisa Lilesa.) (Newser) German police searched for a Syrian terror suspect for almost two daysand found him Sunday night tied up in another Syrian national's apartment. Jaber Albakr, 22, came to Germany last year as an asylum seeker. After German officials got a tip from the country's intelligence service, they zeroed in on his apartment in Chemnitz Saturday morning. Albakr escaped, but authorities found several hundred grams of explosives and started a manhunt, NBC News reports. Albakr reportedly approached another Syrian national at a train station Sunday night and asked to stay overnight at the man's home. But the man recognized Albakr from news of the manhunt and called police, who found the suspect tied up at the man's apartment and arrested him. The Good Samaritan told police that he, with the help of two flatmates, "overpowered Albakr and tied him up," an investigator says, per the Local. Indeed, one of the flatmates was reportedly kneeling on Albakr to keep him on the ground when police arrived. No less than Chancellor Angela Merkel thanked the men who caught Albakr via her spokesperson. Investigators say they found the same homemade explosives that were used in the Paris and Brussels attacks last year in Albakr's apartment, and that they were "almost ready, or even ready for usage." He is accused of working with ISIS, and his own flatmate, another Syrian refugee, was also arrested as a suspected co-conspirator. Police are also questioning a third man. (Read more ISIS stories.) (Newser) Since mid-2014, about 75,000 Syrian refugees have been in limbo in the "berm"what the Guardian describes as the "no-man's land" at the border between Jordan and Syria. And since June of this year, those refugees have been living in what Doctors Without Borders has called "some of the most extreme conditions on Earth," enduring temperatures over the summer that surpassed 120 degrees Fahrenheit and watching humanitarian supplies and food come to a halt in June after Jordan cut off deliveries following a car bomb. But government spokesman Mohammad Momani told the Jordan Times on Sunday that while the borders remain sealed, a new method of delivery will be used: cranes that will lower the goods from the northeastern side of the border to the other side (there was a one-off delivery like this in August). And it sounds like the aid is coming just in time. Per the AP, the refugees are living in tents and suffering not only from hunger and exposure to the elements, but also from serious illness, including whooping cough and hepatitis. Last month, Amnesty International released chilling video footage and satellite images that showed graves and burial mounds in the berm, per the Washington Post. "Many people have died," a refugee living in one of the camps told the group, saying conditions were "awful." "The mood among the people is below zero." Two anonymous aid officials tell the news agency there's been no final confirmation, but Momani says the plans are being put in place to expedite the deliveries. "The aid will be given to community leaders of groups of Syrians so they can distribute it accordingly," he says, noting the aid groups will make the call on the pace of the deliveries. (One star offered comfort to refugees: Lindsay Lohan.) (Newser) Authorities say a 4-year-old central Florida girl has been recovered in Tennessee and that the man who took her is in custody, the AP reports. The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation said on its Twitter page Monday afternoon that Rebecca Lewis and 31-year-old West Wild Hogs were located in Memphis. Authorities didn't immediately release specifics about how the two were located or what charges Hogs might face. Polk County, Florida, sheriff Grady Judd said during a news conference earlier Monday that Hogs took Rebecca Lewis Saturday. They had been spotted on a surveillance video footage at a convenience store in Nashville. Hogs is a friend of Rebecca's family but had not seen them in more than two years. He was asked to leave the family's home over two years ago after pulling a gun on the family. CNN has background on the bizarre case: On Oct. 3, Hogs told his wife he had a surprise for her, and they drove from their home in Alabama to Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, Charlotte, North Carolina, Tennessee, and ultimately Georgia, where they arrived on Oct. 6. His wife left at that point, calling family members to pick her up and return her home. The following day, Hogs arrived at his grandmother's home in Florida, and asked her about Rebecca's family. The following morning, Saturday, Rebecca's 16-year-old sister discovered she was missing. It's not clear how Hogs allegedly abducted Rebecca, but it happened before 9:30am and he took her to a nearby McDonald's for breakfast. They were next spotted Saturday night at a Georgia gas station and then Sunday night in Tennessee. A ranger encountered the pair at a state park in Tennessee Sunday night, but since an Amber Alert had not yet been issued in that state, he didn't realize until it was too late that the girl had been abducted. (Read more crime stories.) (Newser) Oklahoma Gov. Mary Fallin plans to revise a proclamation inviting Christians to pray for the "blessings created by the oil and natural gas industry" to be more inclusive. Fallin spokesman Michael McNutt said Monday the proclamation, issued last month, declaring Thursday "Oilfield Prayer Day" will be revised to invite people of all faith to pray for the industry. Fallin has issued similar proclamations since she took office in 2011, reports the AP, but beginning last year the proclamation was changed to apply only to Christians. The proclamation also indicates that Christians believe oil and natural gas are "created by God." Fallin spokesman Michael McNutt says the proclamation doesn't exclude anyone and was requested on behalf of a group called the Oilfield Christian Fellowship. A recent study shows Oklahoma ranks fifth among states in oil and third in natural gas production. (Fallin has also fought with the state's Supreme Court over a Ten Commandments monument.) (Newser) The Fault In Our Stars actress Shailene Woodley was arrested Monday in North Dakota while protesting the construction of an oil pipeline on Native American lands. The $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline protest encampment has been the site of the largest gatherings of Native Americans in a century, CBS reports, as tribes come together to try and halt construction. The oil pipeline crosses sites sacred to some indigenous peoples. So far the courts have refused to halt production on the pipeline, and protest sites along the proposed route have seen several clashes between tribespeople and local law enforcement. Woodley was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing. She had been livestreaming the protest on Facebook Live for almost two hours before Morton County sheriff's deputies showed up and arrested her. Her mother, who was also present, continued streaming as Shailene was detained and arrested. The full video is archived on Woodley's public Facebook page. Skip toward the end for footage of her being arrested. (Read more Shailene Woodley stories.) Thank you for reading! Please log in, or sign up for a new account and purchase a subscription to continue reading. Mumbai: Actor Varun Dhawan got angry on a Twitter user's tweet that held Varun's car responsible for crashing another car in Mumbai on October 9. The 29-year-old "Badlapur" actor, while replying to the user, suggested he was not at fault and it was in fact his car, which got damaged, but there have been no injuries. "Just saw Varun Dhavan car dashed a Honda City at Juhu 10th road", wrote a Twitter user. To which, Varun replied, "The car that is damaged is my car. I had come to help someone in my family who had an accident. I suggest you shutup. For everyone asking everyone in my family is fine and no one is injured. Thank you." For all the Latest Entertainment News, Bollywood News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Pakistan-based terrorist organisation Jaish-e-Muhammed might be planning to target Indian Parliament according to chatter intercepted by intelligence agencies. According to information obtained by Newsnation, Indian intelligence agencies, Crime Investigation Department and Research and Analyses Wing, have intercepted chatter that JeM cadre might be planning revenge after Indias surgical strikes in Pakistan on September 28. Maulana Masood Azhar, chief of the Pakistan-based terror outfit, is thinking about attacking Indian Parliament, again. A Jaish module led by Afzal Guru had targeted Parliament in 2001. The reports suggest that Jaish is planning a "spectacular attack" and that operatives have been asked to make every attempt possible to once again target Parliament. Chatter picked by the agencies suggests that if the fidayeen fail to target Parliament, they should attempt to attack the Delhi Secretariat. Also on the target list are Akshardham and the Lotus Temple, documents with the intelligence agencies suggest. Apart from JeM, another terror outfit Jaish-ul-Tanzim, led by Maulana Abdul Rahman, may also attaempt to attack the Parliament. According to Jaish handlers, the operatives should launch their attacks in crowded places, such as markets, only if they fail to target places of prominence. This intelligence has been communicated to field officers and attempts are being made to foil any such attempt. Delhi has not witnessed a terror blast since September 7, 2011. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Indian telcom giant Vodafone India has sought bids for its Navi Mumbai data centre facility located in the suburb of Mumbai, said two people who were closely linked with the deals. As per reports in a leading financial daily, two strategic companies are interested in buying it out but at cost for Vodafone, said one of them. The data centre has been built at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore and was commissioned under ex-chief executive Marten Pieters. The data centre is now seen as a cost centre which wont increase (Vodafones) appeal, but in partnership with a bigger strategic could mean stick enterprise business, the second person said. It was part of the companys strategic plan to get enterprise customers, especially the booming medium segment and startups, the first person said. It was meant to compete with the service offering Tata Teleservices and Tata Communications that controlled cabled lease line business and had data centeres offered. The second person said the value of the asset after the launch may increase and could command a premium from buyers who are at the moment only offering to buy it at cost. Even if there is a little revenue to show on it, data centres in Asia can be very valuable for strategics, the person said. In 2011, Vodafone had announced a foray into the fixed line business along with instituting a business solutions unit that showcased global connections and offerings such as RFID tracking. The business was expected to treble by the year ended March from about 8-10% of revenue in 2011. However, as the telecom major gears up towards its initial public offer, bankers said it had too much debt on its books and was set to add more in the just ended spectrum auction, in which Vodafone spent Rs20,280 crores for 4G Airwaves. New Delhi: With the US Presidential debate turning ugly with the heightened animosity between the rival candidates, Republican nominee Donald Trump vouched to put rival Hillary Clinton behind bars if he gets elected as the US President. Trump vowed to launch a special investigation against Democratic rival Hillary Clinton over her use of a private email server as Secretary of State, if elected as the US President and ensure she is jailed. "We are going to get a special prosecutor and we are going to look into it, because you know what? People... their lives have been destroyed for doing one-fifth of what you have done. And it's a disgrace. And honestly, you ought to be ashamed of yourself," Trump said as held a feisty exchange of words with Democratic rival during their second presidential debate here. Clinton, 68, accused Trump of lying. "Because everything he just said is absolutely false, but I'm not surprised," she said. "Oh, really?" Trump remarked. "It is just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country," Clinton said. "Because you'd be in jail," Trump said in another interruption. "If you did that in the private sector, you'd be put in jail, let alone after getting a subpoena from the United States Congress," Trump said. He demanded that Clinton apologise for deleting 33,000 e-mails. "I think the one that you should really be apologizing for and the thing that you should be apologizing for are the 33,000 e-mails that you deleted and acid washed and then the two boxes of e-mails and other things last week that were taken from an office and are now missing," he said. "I did not think I would say this, but I am going to say it. And I hate to say it but if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it and we are going to have a special prosecutor," Trump said. People in this country get furious, the 70-year-old real estate tycoon said, adding, "In my opinion, the people that have been long-term workers at the FBI are furious. There has never been anything like this, where e-mails... and you get a subpoena and after getting the subpoena you delete 33,000 e-mails, and then you acid wash them or bleach them, as you would say, very expensive process." Clinton has been charged with using a personal email, endangering national security, during her tenure as US President Barack Obama's chief diplomat from 2009-2013. During the 90-minute debate, she reasserted that she made a mistake on the email issue. "I've said before, but I'll repeat it, because I want everyone to hear it that was a mistake and I take responsibility for using a personal e-mail account. "Obviously, if I were to do it over again, I would not. I'm not making any excuses. It was a mistake. And I am very sorry about that," she said. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Terrorist from across LoC are gearing up to launch a major strike in India to avenge September 29 surgical attack on terror launch pads in PoK by Indian Army, according to intercepts tapped by Indian Army. A plan for major attacks across India by Pak-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba has been intercepted by Indian intelligence agencies, sources said. The prime sites under target are Indian Parliament, Akshardham and Lotus Temple. Newsnation has learnt from the reliable sources that LeT terrorists are roaming the launch pads at the Line of Control in Pak Ranger uniforms, looking for opportunity to move across the international border. Watch: Jaish planning big strike on India; Parliament, Akshardham, Lotus Temple on target Intelligence Bureau has tapped into the intercepts of Lashkar commander Abu Dojani, which has revealed that at least three groups of Pak terrorists are planning to make their way in India. One of them is led by a woman named Fatima, second one is being led by Osama Jahangir and third by Hammad. 26/11 mastermind Hafiz Saeeds right hand Sajid Jat Nomi is believed to be supervising the movement across the border, whilst Abu Dojani is responsible for terrorists activities in India, intel sources said. According to sources, the code name given to the operation by terrorists is Karwayi, which means a big strike. The intelligence has been communicated to defence forces and the Indian Army is on high alert on northern and western borders. Watch discussion with our Editor, Investigation Dhirendra Pundir on his exclusive story of LeT plan to seek revenge of Indian Army's surgical strike: For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: The arrival of the 13th Airbus A320 aircraft from Toulouse in France marked the completion of Tata-SIA joint venture airline Vistara's induction of Airbus A320 ceo planes in its fleet. The airline will now induct fuel-efficient A320 neo (new engine option), which are scheduled to be delivered from the first quarter of the next fiscal. Vistara plans to use the 13th A320 plane in launching its operations from Kolkata to Bangalore, Guwahati and Port Blair. The city headquartered airline had in 2014 announced leasing of 20 Airbus A320 planes 13 A320 ceo (current engine option) and seven A320 neo (new engine option) from Singaporean leasing firm, BOC Aviation. "We have taken delivery of the 13th and final A320 ceo plane. The aircraft will be based in Kolkata for carrying out services on Kolkata-Bangalore, Bangalore-Guwahati (via Kolkata) and Kolkata-Port Blair routes," a Vistara spokesperson told PTI. These new services would commence operations from the 18th of this month, the spokesperson added. "The deliveries of the remaining seven of the 20 planes, which are A320 neo planes, will commence from the first quarter of the next fiscal," he said. All these seven planes are to be inducted in the fleet by June 2018. "Our fleet is growing bigger and stronger. We welcome the 13th member of Vistara family," Vistara had earlier tweeted after taking delivery of the aircraft from the Toulouse manufacturing facility of the European plane maker, Airbus. Vistara, in which Tata Sons and Singapore Airlines own 51 per cent and 49 per cent stake, respectively, currently operates over 430 weekly flights from 18 domestic airports. As part of its winter schedule, Vistara, the third full service domestic carrier after Government-owned Air India and Naresh Goyal-promoted Jet Airways, plans to offer a total of 490 flights besides adding some new destinations. Vistara had commenced operations from its base here in January 2015. It had flown a total of around 2.5 million passengers till August this year with 2.4 per cent market share. Islamabad: Iran, which is keen to join the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, has started talks with Pakistan to extend the ambitious project to the oil-rich nation. Irans envoy to Pakistan Mehdi Honardoost held talks with CPEC Projects Director Zahir Shah to discuss fields in which Iran would be able to participate and play an active role in the CPEC, Pakistan Today newspaper reported. Iran had showed willingness to become part of the CPEC in a recent meeting between President Hasan Rouhani and Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in New York last month. Irans different private sectors have huge capabilities in different fields including technical, engineering, energy projects, road and construction, building energy transmission line and are fully prepared to participate in different projects of CPEC, said Honardoost. The ambassador also stressed that Iran is ready to meet the energy needs of Pakistan, including natural gas and electricity, which is crucially important for Pakistan to move faster on completion of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. Shah praised Irans willingness and readiness to participate in the projects of CPEC and emphasised the importance of cooperation between Iran and Pakistan in different fields. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor should be extended to Iran, Shah said. India has already expressed concern over the USD 46 billion CPEC project that passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK). The lifting of international sanctions against Iran has paved the way for resumption of economic relations between Iran and Pakistan. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. London: Scientists have discovered new species of extinct marine reptiles. The results have been achieved from the fossils collected over a hundred years ago. Reptiles were from the age of dinosaurs. The species identified as British Ichthyosaur were ocean dwelling reptiles.The species looked like dolphins or sharks. They were 15 metre long and were coarse predators. British Ichthyosaur is from the Jurassic period, around 200 million years ago, when UK was series of islands. The University of Manchester conducted six-year study to search for British examples of Ichthyosaurs. The researchers managed to identify the features in the skulls and fins of fossilised remains, which shoed new species stand out from the others. The skeletal remains which were of help to identify the new species were on display at the University of Bristol for many years. Dean Lomax, scientist at University of Manchester and Judy Massare, professor at Brockport College, from US, carried out the whole research. City Museum donated the complete skeletal remains of the large Ichthyosaurus (Specimen 25300) found in Walton, Somerset to the University of Bristol around 80 years ago. The museum purchased it in 1915 from the Chaning Pearce, which originally had it as its part and donated it to the university in 1930. For all the Latest Science News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Around 250 terrorists have infiltrated into Jammu and Kashmir, Home Ministry sources said on Monday. According to sources, the terrorists had entered the Valley before Indian Armys surgical strike across the LoC targeting seven terror launchpads in response to the Uri terror attacks. The sources further said that more than half of the 250 terrorists who have infiltrated into Kashmir are Pakistanis. At least 18 Indian Army soldiers were martyred when four terrorists attacked the base camp in Uri area of Jammu and Kashmir on September 18. Earlier on Monday, intercepts tapped by Indian Army had revealed that terrorist from across LoC are gearing up to launch a major strike in India to avenge September 29 surgical attack on terror launch pads in PoK by Indian Army. Watch Exclusive: Lashkar planning big strike across India, say Intelligence sources A plan for major attacks across India by Pak-based terrorist group Lashkar-e-Toiba has been intercepted by Indian intelligence agencies, sources said. The prime sites under target are Indian Parliament, Akshardham and Lotus Temple. Watch 2016 Pampore attack | One army jawan injured in Kashmir Newsnation has learnt from the reliable sources that LeT terrorists are roaming the launch pads at the Line of Control in Pak Ranger uniforms, looking for opportunity to move across the international border. More than 250 LeT & Hizbul Mujahideen terrorists have infiltrated into Kashmir valley, had infiltrated before the #surgicalstrike:MHA Sources ANI (@ANI_news) October 10, 2016 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: With the Uttar Pradesh elections round the corner, political parties are sharpening their knives against each other. In a bid to take on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav endorsed Rahul Gandhis khun ki dalali remarks, saying the Congress Vice President couldnt have been off the mark. Its not a question of Congress but I have good relations with Rahul Gandhi. If he has said something he must have given it much thought. He must have some information about it, Akhilesh said when asked about Rahuls dalali remarks on PM. He also took a dig at Modi for attending the Dussehra festivities in Lucknow, saying had there been elections in Bihar, he would have slayed Ravan there. The Samajwadi Party leader said that he had visited the families of martyred soldiers and helped them. Ultimately, the poor lost their lives, the farmers are dying, their sons are dying, so what do they know about surgical strike? PM Modi is scheduled to visit Lucknow on Tuesday to attend the Dussehra festivities. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Kandahar: A suicide car bombing on Monday killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on the capital in southern Helmand province, the heartland of the insurgency. Since the beginning of this years fighting season, the Taliban have expanded their footprint across most of the province and have been at the gates of the city of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, for weeks. According to Haji Marjan, the police chief of Nad Ali district who has been deployed to the provincial capital, the explosion happened around 11.30 a.m., after the Taliban earlier targeted police checkpoints across the city. Marjan said at least 10 police officers, including his brother, and four civilians died in the bombing in the Mukhtar area of Lashkar Gahs police district 2. He warned that the death toll was likely to rise as it was unclear how many people remain unaccounted for after the explosion. A doctor at the international emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah said 14 bodies had been brought to the clinic. Speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, the physician said 15 wounded were also brought in, including 14 who were victims of the car bombing and one person who suffered gunshot wounds. In the Afghan capital of Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman, confirmed that the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on security checkpoints in Lashkar Gah on Monday but expressed confidence the Afghan security forces will soon push them back. Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, the deputy director of Helmands provincial council, said the militants entered the city after breaching the Afghan forces defense security belt. A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the insurgents were advancing through Lashkar Gah. Helmand is strategically important for the Taliban as it is the main source of the countrys opium output, worth an estimated USD 4 billion a year, much of which funds the war. Provincial officials have said the Taliban now control 85 percent of the province, while only a year ago, the government controlled 80 per cent. For all the Latest World News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. New Delhi: Once the largest phone selling manufacturer in the World until gradually losing its stronghold in the market, Nokia has seen it all. But now the Finland-based company is looking to make a comeback in the smartphone arena thorough two new smartphones in the lineup. Phone maker once famous for its durability is planning to bring an all new mid-range smartphone reported called Nokia D1C. This time the phone will be powered by Android sidelining Microsofts Windows. Reportedly the Nokia phone will carry a 64-bit Qualcomm Snapdragon 430 with an octa-core processor. It might come with 3GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage and a full HD display. While not confirmed, the smartphone could get a 13MP rear shooter while the front camera might feature an 8MP lens. Nokia is also looking to on board Android 7.0 Nougat while the device is set to support 4G LTE and Bluetooth 4.0. Further, two high-end flagship smartphones are also in the pipeline. Nokia might float smartphones with 5.2/5.5 inch QuadHD display. These devices could feature the powerful Snapdragon 820 processor and a 22.6MP rear camera with 4K video recording support. Coming on to the price, the mid-range D1C is expected cost around Rs. 20,000 while the flagship devices may need users to shell out around Rs. 30,000. For all the Latest Business News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Chennai: Two persons have been arrested in Chennai for spreading rumours on social media about Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaaas health. Around 40 cases have been registered against those who are "spreading rumours" about the Jayalalithaaas health. The police have accused such people of intending to cause riots. Jayalalithaa has been in hospital for nearly three weeks and rumours have been doing rounds on social media about her health. Now, in a bid to put an end to all the rumours, her party, AIADMK, has launched a social media campaign which says "all is well" with "Amma". Jayalalithaa was admitted to a hospital on September 21. He stay in the hospital was prolonged and VIP leaders including Rahul Gandhi were unable to meet her during their visits to the hospital. All is well with Puratchi Thalaivi Amma. Click this link, change your profile pic & put a full stop to rumours.https://t.co/mOwR6jaOWx a AIADMK (@AIADMKOfficial) October 10, 2016 For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. Lucknow: Rejecting Oppositions charge, the BJP on Monday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modis visit to the Aishbagh Dussehra Mela on Tuesday has no politics or hidden agenda. There is no politics or hidden agenda behind the prime ministers visit to the historic Dussehra Mela at Aishbagh ground tomorrow, BJP national vice-president and Lucknow Mayor Dinesh Sharma said. Ravan was the first terrorist and his effigy is burnt till this day... this is the feeling among countrymen, and the prime minister is coming here to commemorate it, he said, adding it is a traditional event and is totally apolitical. Earlier on Monday, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said Modi would have taken part in Ravan Vadh in Bihar had there been election there, while BSP president Mayawati termed the visit as politically motivated. This (Modis visit) is indicative of his belief and regard towards the land of composite culture (Lucknow), Sharma said. The PM and people are aware Ravan was killed hundreds of years ago and it is celebrated every year. Then what has it to do with Uttar Pradesh elections which are next year, the BJP leader asked. Mayawatis party is facing desertion while the Samajwadi Party family is breaking up. I do not want to say this but their duty is to look after their parties first, he said. A patron of the Aishbagh Ramlila committee, Sharma claimed the committee has been sending invitations to Presidents and PMs but this is the first time a PM has accepted it and will come here. He said the Ramlila ground, with seating capacity of 25000 people, is under the SPG control. Besides local police, central forces, a bomb disposal squad and RAF have also been deployed. The PM will land tomorrow at Amausi airport at 6pm and reach the ground. He will take part in Manglacharan before addressing people. Besides the Union Home Minister and local MP, Rajnath Singh, Governor Ram Naik and UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya will also attend the function. For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps. DANBURY - Two-term Democratic U.S. Rep. Elizabeth Esty is set to debate GOP challenger Clay Cope, the First Selectman of Sherman, in a Thursday debate in Danbury. The candidates will answer questions from a panel about representing the 5th Congressional District, which includes greater Danbury and central and northwestern Connecticut. Contributed After Sundays rainfall which totaled more than an inch in Bridgeport alone the National Weather Service is predicting a seasonably brisk Monday, with a high of 61 degrees Fahrenheit and a low of 42 degrees. Its supposed to stay in that range for much of the week, though temps could flirt with the low 70s on Thursday. Fairfield County residents no doubt felt a bit of a nip in the air as they started their Columbus Day. Around 7 a.m. this morning, the Weather Service reported a temperature of 44 degrees in Bridgeport, while Danbury was even crispier, at 38 degrees. This is a carousel. Use Next and Previous buttons to navigate For years, students from the University of Vermonts medical school have been coming to Danbury and Norwalk hospitals to round out their education in clinical rotations, where they get practical experience in an array of medical specialties. UVM wants to expand this partnership, so it applied in May to the state Office of Higher Education to make the Western Connecticut Health Network a branch campus of its medical school. The office has 180 days to approve or deny the request. Under the proposal, UVM medical students could complete their last two years of training in Danbury or Norwalk, starting in the 2017 academic year. Up to 35 third-year medical students would be enrolled that first year at the new branch campus, and up to 70 students in the following year. Weve spent a great deal of effort setting it up and making it work, said Dr. Rick Morin, dean of UVMs medical school. What we are trying to do is take the next step and make it a branch campus. The states decision is largely based on quality, and we are confident that we fully meet all their criteria, he said. But the University of Connecticut School of Medicine has filed a strong objection to the plan, saying the state already has a shortage of clinical rotation slots and WCHN shouldnt be giving them away to out-of-state students. In a June letter to the Office of Higher Education, Dr. Bruce Liang, dean of UConns School of Medicine, objected in the strongest possible terms to UVMs proposal. He argued UConn and other medical schools in Connecticut already face considerable challenges finding sufficient clinical rotation slots in the state. Existing, Connecticut-based schools ... should have priority for these slots, Liang wrote. This is particularly true since UConn (School of Medicine) primarily serves Connecticut students, and focuses on developing the next generation of physicians for our state. In fact, 85 percent of our incoming first-year medical students are generally Connecticut residents. It is unthinkable that another state medical school would be given slots for training students in Connecticut serving primarily out-of-state students while our own state university has to limit its class size or even consider hospital placements out of state, he said. Liang said UConn has repeatedly asked for slots at WCHN, only to be told no slots are available. Liang asked OHE to deny UVMs application and to institute a moratorium on approving any new medical school programs in the state to provide the time and opportunity to review and address the severe challenges in the clinical training environment facing medical students in established Connecticut-based schools. In a second letter to OHE in July, Liang described the UVM plan as a pay to play system that would drive up the cost of medical education in Connecticut. Dr. John Murphy, the president and CEO of WCHN, bristled at that description. Characterizing our highly productive and enduring working relationship as a pay-to-play system is both unwarranted and inaccurate, he wrote to OHE in August. We harbor no ill will toward UConn; on the contrary, we respect its medical school and believe that competition in clinical medical education in Connecticut is a good thing, Murphy wrote. But it is, of course, up to WCHN to select its own partners, not the OHE or UConn. Murphy added in a statement Friday that the network and UVM have spent years putting the program in place. UVM has worked seamlessly with us since 2009 to jointly develop our clinical training program, Murphy said. It is a program built by both institutions through years of shared investment, commitment, innovation and hard work. It has benefited the nearly 500 students who have done clinical rotations at WCHN, and it will yield even more benefits for students who choose to do their clinical education in Connecticut for years to come, assuming this application is approved. Dr. Bruce Koeppen, the dean of Quinnipiac Universitys medical school, also sent a letter in June, which didnt go as far as UConn in opposing UVMs application, but expressed some concern nevertheless. He urged the OHE to review its policies regarding the training of students from institutions outside of Connecticut, as well as the establishment of new health professions programs within the state. Koeppen elaborated on the point in an interview this week. The state of Connecticut is better served if Connecticut students are doing their training in Connecticut, because they are going to be more likely to stay here, Koeppen said. If a student is from outside of the state, they are eventually going back to their home institution in another state or country, so the chances of them contributing to the Connecticut physician workforce is very slim. He said Quinnipiacs medical school, which admitted its first class in 2013, has struggled to find clinical rotation slots in Connecticut, so the institution has partnered with a hospital in Florida. In letters to UConns Liang and Quinnipiacs Koeppen, UVM argued the clinical slots at Danbury and Norwalk hospitals were created specifically for its students and are not generic slots that WCHN would simply parcel out to other institutions. It is inaccurate to suggest that it is WCHNs small program that stands in the way of UConns expansion, wrote William Jeffries, senior associate dean for medical education at UVM, in the letter to Liang. The program at WCHN will address a significant need in Connecticut the shortage of primary-care physicians, by training a cohort of students at WCHN who want to do their clinical training in Connecticut at a program that is heavily focused on primary care, and who have an interest in pursuing their medical careers in Connecticut, Jeffries wrote. UVMs application to OHE actually contains two requests: for authorization to create a branch campus and for licensure of the programs clinical component. The 180-day window to rule on the application closes in November. If OHEs executive director rules against UVM, the decision could be appealed. The Liaison Committee on Medical Education, the accreditor for all medical education in the United States and Canada, already has given the go-ahead to create the campus. If you asked a dozen farmers what sustainable agriculture is, youd probably get a dozen diverging answers. Its a not-so-common ground. Everyone seems to have a different definition, said Henry Talmage, executive director of the Connecticut Farm Bureau. One way of looking at it, Talmage said, is to take the issue down to one simple dictum. It has to be economically sustainable, Talmage said. You have to be there next year. But how to make that happen given the cost of everything in Connecticut, given always-shifting markets, given a changing climate that could mean more rain, more droughts, more pests makes even that a tough goal to reach. Add in other elements evolving market for locally based foods, the desire for organic fruits and vegetables and the goal of simply staying in business from one season to the next gets even more complicated. It an attempt to look at all these issues, and perhaps find some consensus, Western Connecticut State University will host an idea-ripening two-day conference on Friday and Saturday. Entitled Socioeconomic Contexts of Sustainable Agriculture will be sponsored by the Institute on Science for Global Policy. The conference will involve debate by three experts: Talmage; Linda Lengnick, an author, educator and soil scientist; and Cristina Tirado-von der Pahlen, a professor at UCLA and moderator of the U.N. Standing Committee of Nutrition Working Group on Climate Change. Those attending the conference will not simply sit and listen. They will be asked to break into caucuses to discuss the issues raised at the conference and to make recommendations on how things might be improved. At a final session, the conference leaders will try and develop those ideas to a set of policies that the Institute can deliver to legislators. To learn more, or to register to participate in the conference, go to scienceforglogalpolicy.org and click on the box describing the conference. Theodora Pinou, associate professor of biologic and environmental sciences at Western, said the conference will allow people to debate a host of issues concerning the future of agriculture. The question is How do we feed ourselves? Pinou said. Anyone who is interested in the issue of food security should attend this. Pinou teaches an honors course on sustainable agriculture, and six of her students have worked as interns at the institute. The class helped develop the ideas that will serve as the backbone of the conference. The discussions there, she said, could touch on the topics of labor costs, on the inequities of government agricultural subsidies which favor industrial agribusiness over small farms and whether consumers will ever accept genetically-modified crops, even if those crops might better feed the world. The discussions may touch on how agriculture is evolving in Connecticut, Talmage said. More people are interested in growing crops in the state. In 2007, there were about 5,000 people who had some sort of agricultural enterprise in the state. By 2012, he said, that had grown to about 6,000. But many of these businesses are small and part-time. During that same five-year period, the states overall agricultural output declined, he said. Vegetables are 7 percent of the states crop, he said. Its still less than tobacco, if you can believe it. Lengnick, author of Resilient Agriculture: Cultivating Food Systems for a Changing Climate, has a broader definition of sustainable agriculture, one that brings social, environmental and health factors into the mix, along with abundant yields and making a profit. Because she is a soil scientist, Lengnick is interested on how farmers will have to improve and strengthen the earth they plant in to withstand some of the changes climate change will bring. These could include agricultural pests thriving in warmer summers, and plants that dont produce as well because warmer springs are throwing pollination patterns out of synch. Were finding that some tomatoes dont fertilize well when the temperatures get over 85 degrees, she said. Lengnick has been working with economists to expand her understanding of her field work. She says shes thinking of the nations agriculture as something that requires a balanced portfolio of high-quality assets stockbroker talk. Weve built up a very unbalanced portfolio right now, she said. We dont consider the ecological or the social assets of agriculture. Economics are part of it. But we have to consider all the different aspects. Contact Robert Miller at earthmattersrgm@gmail.com The installation of the containment structure over reactor four of Chornobyl nuclear power plant (NPP) will start on November 3, Ukrainian Ecology and Natural Resources Minister Ostap Semerak has said. "I spent the whole day in the Exclusion zone. I wanted to see at firsthand how the preparation for installing the containment structure that will begin on November 3 is moving. The works are being carried out well and will finish in the scheduled time," Semerak said on Facebook. He said that thanks to the unique technology to build the walls of reactor four the containment structure would be joined with the reactor absolutely leak tight. The minister said that he held a meeting in the Exclusion zone. The functioning of two plants to dispose liquid and solid radioactive waste was discussed. "Technologies are modern and the enterprises are to be launched. The issue of burring waste arises, and specialists have several concepts here. We will discuss them and approve by the end of this year," Semerak said. 9th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2016) in Mumbai Mumbai, Mon, 10 Oct 2016 NI Wire null (CNS): The joint United Nations programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS) is mobilizing governments and other partners to achieve new set of targets, referred to as, '90-90-90 by 2020', but with current set of tools, approaches, funding commitments, and challenge that HIV poses to the world, the goal seems certainly a bold and ambitious one. '90-90-90 by 2020' targets include increasing to 90% the proportion of people living with HIV who know their diagnosis, increasing to 90% the proportion of people living with HIV (PLHIV) receiving antiretroviral treatment (ART) and increasing to 90% the proportion of people on HIV treatment who have an undetectable viral load. Among the evidence-backed programmes to prevent transmission of HIV, one of which has proven to work so effectively so as to eliminate that form of transmission from a population is: eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV. Mother to child transmission has been eliminated from some nations already, such as Cuba, Thailand and Armenia. What is holding India back from joining nations that have ended HIV in infants said Dr Ishwar Gilada, President of AIDS Society of India (ASI). On the first day of 9th National Conference of AIDS Society of India (ASICON 2016) in Mumbai, the buzz was unanimous: how to accelerate progress towards eliminating mother to child transmission of HIV in India as well. This is perhaps one of the closest goalposts to 90-90-90 targets which India and other nations have promised to chase and rightly so. Where are we now? In 2015, there were an estimated 2.17 million people living with HIV in India, 40.5% of them being women and 6.54% children (142,000). Out of the 86,000 new infections in 2015, 10,500 were in children. 35,000 HIV positive pregnant women were still in need of prevention of parent to child transmission (PPTCT) services. Dr Glory Alexander who founded ASHA Foundation in Bengaluru, who was conferred upon one of the most coveted awards in medicine in India, Dr BC Roy Award, by the President of India this year, was among the key speakers at ASICON 2016. She said that HIV positive children are indeed a tragic consequence of the epidemic. More than 90% of children get HIV from their mothers through parent to child transmission route, and without treatment 50% of them die by their second birthday. So if we can prevent parent to child transmission of HIV, we can eliminate HIV in children. The most effective strategy for zero HIV infections in children is PPTCT, which the developed world has already implemented effectively. While India struggles with ensuring PPTCT for every eligible woman, few countries such as Cuba, Thailand etc have already eliminated parent to child transmission of HIV. Cuba was the first country to achieve it in 2015 and then Thailand followed suit in 2016, becoming the first Asia Pacific country to do so. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the criteria of elimination of parent to child transmission of HIV is when there are less than 50 new HIV infections in children per 100,000 live births; less than 5% HIV transmission in children in breastfeeding population and less than 2% in non breastfeeding population; more than 95% coverage of antenatal care, and more than 90% ART coverage of HIV positive pregnant women. Dr Alexander lamented that even today, only about an estimated 70% of pregnant women in India access antenatal care services nationally; less than 60% deliveries are institutional; and about 30% women do not know their HIV status. We indeed have a long way to go. Test and treat infants Other than strengthening PPTCT services, there is need to ensure early infant diagnosis in HIV exposed infants - those born to HIV positive mothers. With the rollout of PPTCT we now have many children born to HIV infected mothers, who may be HIV-negative because of PPTCT. The WHO recommends to screen these infants early on, as there is a high risk of death before the age of 2 years for infants with HIV. The WHO recommends that infants exposed to HIV should ideally undergo the 1st virological test for diagnosing HIV infection at 4 to 6 weeks of age. HIV exposed children should be given ART as post exposure prophylaxis soon after birth, without waiting to confirm HIV diagnosis. This is likely to eradicate the virus and perhaps lead to a functional cure, said Dr Ira Shah. She shared that the only reliable way to diagnose HIV in infants, especially those less than 18 months of age, is to do a virological test. ELISA test at this early age is likely to give false positives and should be done only in children above 18 months for confirmation and in children above 6 months for screening. A second confirmatory test should be performed on infants who test positive, but ART should not be delayed while waiting for results. They should again be tested at 6 months and 12 months. In case of breastfeeding infants, if the first HIV test is negative, a second test should be done after 4-6 weeks of stopping breastfeed. So there have to be 2 tests done before declaring an infant as HIV positive. The tests done for early infant diagnosis of HIV are DNA PCR or an RNA PCR. These tests are done in centralised hospitals while samples are picked up from various ART centres, so Dr Ira Shah recommended the 'dried blood spots' method over liquid blood sample, as the former is easy to prepare, and does not require refrigeration. Gaps to bridge In India early infant diagnosis was introduced in a phased manner in 2010. But Dr Shah said that there are huge time gaps in diagnosis, confirmation and initiation of ART in HIV exposed infants in India. The median age at first sampling was found to be 4 months, instead of 4-6 weeks. There are also huge delays and loss to follow up between 1st and 2nd testing. Turn around time for final confirmatory result (2nd test result) could be as high as 270 days. Another issue she mentioned was that of discordance. In her experience, many kids who had a positive DNA PCR were found to be negative when ELISA test was done at 18 months. RNA PCR for HIV viral load testing gave 100% sensitivity and specificity, while DNA PCR gives 100% sensitivity and only 54% specificity. Dr Ira Shah attributes this to DNA PCR often being done 'in-house' in India, leading to contamination of the sample. But RNA PCR for viral load testing is an automated PCR, and so no chances of error. Why early infant diagnosis of HIV is so vital? dvantage of early infant diagnosis is that together with PPTCT, it reduces prenatal transmission of HIV to infants, improves child survival, and early initiation of ART in perinatally infected children also give hope of remission or functional cure of HIV. There should be integration of early infant diagnosis services with PPTCT. "To have maximum advantage of early infant diagnosis of HIV, we must have decentralisation as it will reduce the dropout rate of HIV exposed children. Also we must reduce the possibility of false positives by using RNA PCR test for confirmation of diagnosis before starting ART," said Dr Ira Shah. From children to adolescents The WHO estimates that 10.3 million youth in the age group 15-24 years are living with HIV. It is believed that the number of adolescents with HIV is increasing in India. yet there is no separate data for HIV infection in adolescents. Dr Narendra Singh of Imphal explained that HIV positive adolescents belong to two distinct groups - those who acquire HIV perinatally and those who acquire it during their teens. He stressed that management of these two requires different approaches. The perinatally acquired ones go on to adolescence having been on ART since childhood. A majority of them remain oblivious of being HIV infected and a minority of them know their status. For those infected recently, infection is acquired mostly through the sexual route, and in some cases through injecting drug use. Adolescent HIV is the major driving force for the sustenance of HIV/AIDS in general population. Actively identifying and treating adolescent HIV/AIDS will curb the epidemic and help to decrease number of newly HIV infected people. They have to be counselled properly and made to understand and accept the reality and necessity of life long adherence. When and how to disclose their HIV status to the adolescents is a difficult task and needs to handled very carefully by parents and caregivers. Unless we make PPTCT services available to all pregnant women, diagnose and treat HIV exposed infants early on and and manage HIV/AIDS in adolescents through a multidisciplinary approach, we will not be able to achieve the sustainable development goals (SDGs) one of which is a promise to end AIDS by 2030. null The World Bank and Ukraine are currently passing the important phase of cooperation the revision of the project portfolio, Ukrainian Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk said in a video blog from Washington in early hours of Monday, presenting the results of his visit to the annual meeting of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank. "We will close some that are old and outdated and release the resources to invest these funds to [settle] urgent problems and [projects] important for the development of the country's economy," he said. According to information at the website of the World Bank, at present the project portfolio for Ukraine includes 12 projects under implementation. The total sum of financial liabilities under them for 2016 is $1.56 billion compared to $1.346 billion a year ago. The finance minister also said that he discussed the current state of cooperation between Ukraine and the IMF. He held meetings with finance ministers of other countries. He put an increased focus on the meeting with Finance Minister of Germany Wolfgang Schauble. "Along with other issues we have also discussed how to effectively use the EUR 300 million loan [from Germany] to make it work for the economy's as effectively as possible," Danyliuk said. He said that he also met top managers of the U.S. customs service and discussed the next steps of the Ukrainian customs reform. "[U.S.] has positively assessed the bill amending the Tax Code aimed at combating corruption in the tax and customs administration and relaxing tax procedures which would improve business climate," he said. The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has broken his silence on the raid on the houses and arrests of two Justices of the... The Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, has broken his silence on the raid on the houses and arrests of two Justices of the Supreme Court and other judges by the Department of State Services, describing the operations as regrettable.Justice Mohammed spoke on Monday at the valedictory court session held in honour of a retiring Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Suleiman Galadima.He said at the event which was held at the ceremonial courtroom of the Supreme Court in Abuja that the National Judicial Court would meet on Tuesday to take a position on the incident.Mohammed commended the Nigerian Bar Association for the step that it had so far taken on the matter.He said, My lords, invited guests, ladies and gentlemen, not to detract from this occasion, it is indeed very saddening and deeply regrettable, the distressing and unfortunate incident which occurred on Friday, October 7 and Saturday, October 8, 2016.However, I must ask all Nigerians to remain calm and prayerful, as emergency meeting of the National Judicial Council, which will take place tomorrow (Tuesday), will comprehensively look into the matter.Furthermore, I must express my sincere appreciation to the executive of the Nigerian Bar Association ably led by the President, Abubakar Mahmoud (SAN), and indeed all members of the legal profession for their prompt action and continued support.The DSS had, in what it called a sting operation, arrested Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro, both of the Supreme Court; the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Tsamiya; Justice Kabiru Auta of the Kano State High Court and Justice Adeniyi Ademola of the Federal High Court, Abuja.Other arrested were a former Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike, and Muazu Pindiga of the Federal High Court, Gombe Division. The Kaduna State government has ordered the arrest and prosecution of Ibrahim Musa, who allegedly said he was a spokesperson of the Isla... The Kaduna State government has ordered the arrest and prosecution of Ibrahim Musa, who allegedly said he was a spokesperson of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shiites group.The government made an order declaring the group an unlawful society, from last Friday.Meanwhile, the government said a violation of the order attracts a seven-year imprisonment or a fine or both, according to sections 97 (A) and 97 (B) of the Penal Code.A statement by Governor Nasir El-Rufais media aide Samuel Aruwan said: Few hours after commencement of the order, Ibrahim Musa admitted his membership of the unlawful society and identified himself as its spokesman in widely publicised statements.This is deemed as a deliberate and determined affront to order, and the law has to take its course.According to the statement, the commissioner of Police has been directed to ensure the arrest to enable prompt prosecution by the Kaduna State attorney general and commissioner of Justice.The statement reads: Security agencies in the state have been directed to vigorously enforce the law, and they have demonstrated a clear resolve by arresting Ibrahim Musa, who is further advised to report himself to the nearest police station or any of the security agencies.The government cannot allow the laws to be wantonly tested and confronted by any one or group who might have the mistaken belief that they are above the law.The government, hereby, reiterates that it fully respects the freedom of religion and other rights as guaranteed by sections 38 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution. The same Constitution imposes an obligation on the government to secure the state and protect every citizen against infringement of their rights by others.Drawing on powers vested by Section 45 (1) of the Constitution, and Section 97 (A) of the Penal Code, the governor signed an order declaring IMN an unlawful society in the interest of public order and to protect the rights and freedoms of all persons in Kaduna State. Nigeria was again omitted as Pope Francis I yesterday appointed 17 new cardinals across the world, 14 of which are likely successors to th... Nigeria was again omitted as Pope Francis I yesterday appointed 17 new cardinals across the world, 14 of which are likely successors to the Papal throne.Announcing the new cardinals at the Vatican yesterday, Pope Francis harped on the need for the church to restore mercy, particularly in the southern hemisphere; where the Catholic Church is expanding exponentially.The Catholic pontiff explained that the new promotion of Archbishops to the rank of cardinals would in the long run show the universality of the Church which proclaims and bears witness to the Good News of Gods Mercy in every corner of the earth.The 17 new cardinals have 13 electors who are under 80 years and eligible to participate in the election of a new Pope, while four are above 80 and not eligible to vote in the selection process of a new Pope.Out of the 17 new cardinals, only Archbishop Dieudonne Nzapalainga of Central Africa Republic and Archbishop Sebastian Koto Khoarai of Lesotho made the list from Africa.Nzapalainga at 49 will now be the youngest cardinal in the Catholic conclave.Before the Popes announcement, there were insinuations that President of the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) and Archbishop of Jos Ignatius Kaigama and the Archbishop of Lagos Adewale Martins were likely candidates for the rank of cardinal.Commanding one of the highest growing numbers of Catholics, it was hoped that the new appointment would include Nigeria, given its strength and support base to the Vatican.The expectation was that Nigeria was ripe for another cardinal given that only the Archbishop of Abuja Metropolitan See, John Cardinal Onaiyekan, is an active member of the conclave, considering that the Archbishop Emeritus of Lagos Archdiocese, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, has retired from service. French champions Paris Saint-Germain are ready to renew their efforts to sign Barcelona star Neymar, and are planning a bumper package worth up to 200 million in order to land their man.After a long, fruitless quest to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to Paris, leaders of the French club turned their eyes on Neymar last summer. Nasser Al-Khelaifi and Olivier Letang rolled out the red carpet to try to sign the Brazilian this season, offering an astronomical salary (matching Messi's Barcelona deal) as well as several hefty financial clauses to entice the striker.PSG are sparing no expense in trying to bring Neymar to the French capital, and the Parisian sporting director keeps in regular contact with the Brazilian's inner circle.The operation was close to being completed this summer, according to sources close to the player, as he was tempted to join up with friends Marquinhos, Lucas Moura and Thiago Silva in Ligue 1. The attacker eventually declined to continue talks in favour of signing a new deal with Barcelona at the beginning of July, for a salary estimated at 25 million per year until 2021.Barcelona, meanwhile, remain firm on the subject. "The deal was agreed in January, only administrative snags stopped us from signing before," a source in the Spanish city explains. Agent Wagner Ribeiro and Neymar Sr. without a doubt used PSG's interest to push up Barca's offer, but ultimately the player turned down a massive contract offer - worth 40m - to stay at Camp Nou. His salary, however, remains some way behind the 42m that Messi receives annually, even with the revisions made in the face of the French club's advances. Some residents of Maiduguri on Monday commended the Federal Governments crackdown on judges alleged to have engaged in corruption. Some residents of Maiduguri on Monday commended the Federal Governments crackdown on judges alleged to have engaged in corruption.A cross section of those who spoke, said the action was a right step in the right direction.Mr Ali Shuwa, a veteran journalist said the government must sustain the crackdown to sanitize the judiciary.Yes, I am in full support of the action. I think it is a step towards sanitising the judiciary; government must sustain such crackdowns until the entire process is sanitised, Shuwa said.He absolved government of any blame in carrying out the crackdown. This kind of thing is not peculiar to Nigeria alone.Even in the United States, raids were conducted on corrupt judges, so what are we saying, Shuwa said. He added that the crackdown was also a pointer to the fact that the Buhari administration was serious in its anti corruption crusade.We are very happy about the development, I think government is serious about fighting corruption now, he said. Shuwa also advised that people should ignore threats of boycott of courts by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), saying it was empty.Similarly, Malam Bakura Baana, an opinion leader, said Nigerian judges had been taking advantage of the independence of the judiciary.Buharis government has shown that it is focused on fighting corruption in all sectors of our economy. The crackdown on the judges is a welcome development, Baana stressed. He urged Nigerians to rally round the administration to ensure that the future of the country was safeguarded.But Malam Ibrahim Jumma, a civil servant, expressed reservation over the governments action.Well, the federal government has been saying that it is fighting corruption. But all along, what we have been seeing is different kinds of illegalities in the guise of fighting corruption.They claimed to have found money in the houses of some judges, but is it the right way to go about it?, Jumma asked. He supported NBAs planned boycott of courts to put pressure on government to change its style of doing things.Since we are not in a military regime, we should learn to do things properly.Government must follow the normal channel if it is serious in winning the war against corruption, he said. Fresh allegations were made yesterday against some judges. One got a bribe in a department store. Another travelled to Ghana, Niger Re... Fresh allegations were made yesterday against some judges.One got a bribe in a department store. Another travelled to Ghana, Niger Republic and Benin Republic to collect bribe, a security source alleged.It is all in a bid to explain the controversial sting operations in which some judges were arrested at the weekend.Eight more judicial officers, including one or two justices of the Supreme Court, may soon be invited for questioning as part of the controversial battle to rid the judiciary of corruption, it was learnt.About 15 judges are under investigation for alleged corruption.The outgoing Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike, has been arrested.The Department of State Services (DSS) is expecting a Federal High Court ( Port Harcourt) judge, Justice Mohammed Liman, to honour its invitation after a botched attempt to arrest him on Saturday.It was also learnt that the DSS yesterday exchanged correspondence with the National Judicial Council( NJC) ahead of its meeting today.But the secret service made a shocking discovery on some of the judges under investigation.The DSS was said to be in possession of audio and video tapes of some of the judges collecting bribe.While one of the judges just acquired a N1.5billion mansion, another allegedly collected bribe in a department store and one allegedly crossed the borders to Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Ghana to collect money.A Court of Appeal judge allegedly collected N200million but he was only recommended for retirement and the NJC directed him to refund the cash installmentally.According to investigation, seven of the 15 judges under probe have been detained by the DSS.Those detained are two Supreme Court judges-Justices Sylvester Ngwuta and Inyang Okoro; the suspended Presiding Justice of the Court of Appeal, Ilorin Division, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, who was picked up in Sokoto; Justice Adeniyi Ademola( Federal High Court); the Chief Judge of Enugu State, Justice I. A. Umezulike; Justice Kabiru Auta of Kano State High Court; and Justice Muazu Pindiga( Gombe State High Court).A source, who spoke in confidence, said: I think so far, about seven judges have been detained but altogether 15 judges are under investigations. We still have about eight others already being probed. There may be one or two Supreme Court Justices among the remaining eight.The DSS has also invited three registry staff of some courts, who probably played some roles in the bribery saga, for questioning.Asked of the welfare of their Lordships, the source said: We have treated the seven judges in custody with utmost respect, decency, they are not treated like criminals at all. Their interrogation does not last more than two hours and they are given meals of their fancy.The judges are being detained. They need to fill some forms. Also, if they had answered our questions, they would have been released under one hour.Some of these judges have made statements to our team. We have also shown them some evidence in order to show that the DSS was tidier in in its probe.The source, who pleaded not to be named because of the sensitivity nature of thise probe gave insights into curious findings against some of the judges.He said: A Supreme Court Justice has a property worth N1.5billion. If not DSS, which other agency will unravel this? Are you expecting the police to take on these judges?Another Supreme Court justice credited everything to his son. If the son started earning a living from the day he was born( assuming he was earning N1million), he cannot be able to earn one quarter of what he is claiming to have.We said it is very simple, tell us the business or the work you have done to have been able to earn so much.A judge entered a department store not to buy anything but to collect bribe, inside a supermarket from a go-between. Unknown to the judge and the collector, there are cameras in the store. The video clip is there.Another judge under probe has perfected the art of being a bribe collector on behalf of others. He is notorious in crossing the borders to Benin Republic, Niger Republic and Ghana. We know some of the hotels where he used to lodge.The source went on: We have the case of a judge who issued bail conditions to an accused person but the conditions were not met and the suspect was released. After the court session, the accused person sent word to the judge that he could not meet the conditions but take this amount to set me free.Of course, the judge did not act alone; the court clerk, the bailiff and the Registrar were involved. The DSS knew all that transpired, the amount involved and who took what. When we confronted the Registrar to give us the details of how the bail conditions were met, there was no single evidence.The judge in Port Harcourt is under probe for about $2.5million. Out of that amount, $500,000 was moved elsewhere and we know where it went.They mobilised thugs because the recovery of the remaining $2million will be a lead that will open a can of worms. That face-off was used to remove the money. We are tracking the money, we already have the idea of where the $2million was hidden. We will get it.Governor Nyesom Wikes fear was that once that money was taken, the judge must account. So, there was need to cover up. The judge exposed himself by bringing Wike into the investigation and he has made his case worse. The question is: Why was Wike at the judges house? Is the judges house a government house? How can a governor be in that place at that hour?The judge gave a ruling on the PDP crisis by legitimising the illegitimate for a purpose.On the alleged planting of recovered cash in the judges quarters, the source said: The DSS did not do anything like that. In fact, the judges signed for items recovered from their residences.If you crosscheck, the operation was spontaneous and simultaneous in the judges quarters. It started between 10.30pm and 11pm on Friday night. It was painstaking and professionally conducted. Technically speaking, the DSS gave the time and the cameras used for the operation were digitalised.The search was conducted in the presence of the owners of the houses. There was no molestation, no harassment. We dont need to plant money in anybodys house because we have all subscribed to the oath of office. In an era where the government is trying to be fair, we dont need to do that.There was search warrant duly obtained from the court. The execution of a search warrant does not require the presence of a lawyer. Even at that, one of the judges invited his lawyer who examined the warrant and asked him to cooperate with the DSS operatives.Responding to a question, the source said: The DSS is in custody of some audio and video tapes of some of these judges. By the time we start running these tapes, Nigerians will appreciate that we have done a good job.The DSS did not just jump into investigation, it received petitions on these judges on how they literally took money. The worst aspect is that they took money with both hands. Some of these things were becoming disturbing and people were bringing facts and figures. We went to verify these. If a judge builds a house, it is easier to discover because he might have bought the land from an individual or an agency or estate agent. There is no way you can cover up all these things.Concerning why the DSS stormed the official quarters of the judges, the source added that the poor cooperation of the NJC accounted for it.He spoke of how the DSS decided to go through the NJC to invite the judges for investigation in a less dramatic way. Correspondences were exchanged between the NJC and the Federal Ministry of Justice for certain information and dossier. The Ministry of Justice complied but the NJC refused, he claimed.We wanted to intervene in a less dramatic way. In fact,MIT was our wish, it would have been seamless. But it did not work that way.In the last two weeks, the NJC submitted the names of three judges for sanctions. By what the NJC told the press, one of the judges, Justice Mohammed Ladan Tsamiya, only demanded N200million from a litigant, but the DSS discovered that he took the money.The NJC asked the Appeal Court Justice to be paying back the N200million instalmentallly. Is that punishment proportionate to the offence? The NJC went ahead to give such a judge soft landing. That in itself is corruption, the source said, adding:Other officers were to be retired. Then, what happens to the proceeds of the crimes committed? How is that action going to stop corruption?Notwithstanding, DSS is working with everybody. We are in touch with NJC. Even today, we exchanged correspondence with the NJC. We dont personalize issues.For record purpose, NJC is not a court of law; it is an institutional disciplinary body which ought to collaborate with security and anti-graft agencies.The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has criticized the arrests, saying the judges should be released. The source faulted the NBAs reaction, stressing that the cleansing of the Judiciary was not peculiar to Nigeria.The source said: I think there is nothing like tension; whoever tries to provoke national insecurity will be dealt with according to the law of the land.There is nobody that is above the law. In Ghana, 32 senior judges and over 20 magistrates were sent out if the bench because of corruption. Did the Ghana Bar Association threaten to shut down the courts? The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has denied any connection to the alleged bribery of Justices of the Supreme Court. The Senate Minority Leader, Senator Godswill Akpabio, has denied any connection to the alleged bribery of Justices of the Supreme Court.A story making the rounds in the social media and circulated by the Akwa Ibom State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a screaming headline: Breaking News! 2015 AIbom polls: Fear grips Akpabio over arrest of Supreme Court Justices, had alleged that the Senator was scared over the ordeal of the Judges.A statement by the Special Assistant to the Senate Minority Leader, Mr Anietie Ekong, described the story as being spurious, baseless, false and the figment of the imagination of mischief makers who concocted it. Their frantic and desperate attempt to link Senator Akpabio with the saga is to tarnish his image in their continuing pull-him-down syndrome, which has increased in intensity since the party lost Akwa Ibom State.According to the statement the avoidance of doubt, we wish to state most emphatically that Senator Akpabio is in no way involved in the alleged bribery of Supreme Court judges and so has no reason whatsoever to be scared over the arrest of the Judges. He has had no contact with any Judge with the intention of bribing them.Continuing the statement said: In the last few years, Senator Akpabios only contact with Supreme Court Justices was on December 13, 2015 when as the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters the members, led by the Chairman of the Committee, Senator David Umaru paid a courtesy visit to the Chief Justice of the Federation and other Supreme Court Justices. After the event which was widely reported the Supreme Court Justices and members of the committee took group photographs.Senator Akpabio as a democrat believes in the sanctity of the electoral process and so has not been involved in bribing any Judge as it is not in his character to do so. His election as a Senator which was seen as a no contest after a sterling performance as Governor of Akwa Ibom State was widely held as free and fair.Senator Akpabio like many other Nigerians learnt of the news of the arrest of the Judges/ Justices on Saturday while he was in Irrua, Edo State when he along with the Senate President and other Senators attended the wedding of the daughter of their colleague, Senator Clifford Ordia.It is most disingenuous and reprehensible for Akwa Ibom State APC to attempt to link Senator Akpabio to something he has no knowledge of and impute he was gripped with fear when he was busy celebrating with his colleague on the marriage of his daughter in Irrua, Esan Central Local Government of Edo State.We condemn it in very strong terms and advice those whose stock in trade and preoccupation is to link Senator Akpabio to every ignominious scheme to desist from such pull-him-down syndrome. It is however sad that Akwa Ibom State APC, rather than wait for the investigation to take its course, have already condemned their son, Justice Inyang Okoro and celebrate his present ordeal.Senator Akpabio will explore available legal remedies to protect his hard earned reputation from being dragged into the mud by political mischief makers. Distinguished Senator Akpabio however cautions all political players to take actions that will sustain democracy and not actions that imperil our hard earned democracy, the statement said. Ukraine's Infrastructure Ministry is to hold talks with top managers of Hutchison Ports, a leading global port operator owning ports in 25 countries, on October 13, Ukrainian Infrastructure Minister Volodymyr Omelyan has said on Facebook. He said that on October 13, DP World Chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem will arrive to Ukraine. The group manages 77 logistic terminals (marine and continental) and 50 adjacent companies in 40 countries on six continents. It is a large global port operator. "We hope that they will soon enter the Ukrainian market," the minister said. He also said that he decided jointly with volunteers to popularize electric cars and provide state help to develop them. P&O Maritime, a subsidiary of DP World, earlier said that the company is ready to invest in development of tugboats of Odesa Maritime Merchandise Port. The issue was discussed at a meeting of Ahmed Bin Sulayem and Omelyan in Dubai. In a 30 minutes of Sundays October 9, presidential debate between Republican U.S presidential candidate, Donald John Trump and his Democ... In a 30 minutes of Sundays October 9, presidential debate between Republican U.S presidential candidate, Donald John Trump and his Democratic counterpart, Hillary Diane Rodham Clinton, you might have thought the event was an intense discussion between Trump and Clinton over Obamacare, terrorism, taxes and the role of Muslims in America.Yet those first 30 minutes defined the candidates second encounter. Trump turned accusations that he spoke crudely about women into retorts that Clintons husband, former president Bill Clinton, did far worse by sexually assaulting women. Just before the debate began, he even brought those women together before television cameras.Clinton used the town-hall style forum at Washington University in St. Louis to argue that Trumps words showed the real man -- one who isnt fit to be president. She refused to engage in a point-by-point rebuttal of Trumps charges against her husband but criticized the Republicans temperament in an exchange over his late-night tweets.In many ways, it was exactly the event Republicans feared -- Trump living up to his threat to bring Bill Clinton into the debate and even saying he would try to jail Clinton if he wins the election -- and it seems unlikely that Trumps performance will do anything stop the defections from a campaign in free-fall.And the public mudslinging -- along with Trumps admission he took hundreds of millions in tax deductions -- seemed certain to overshadow attempts to hit Clinton over Obamacare, foreign policy, and revelations about her paid speeches to Wall Street.Heres the tale of the tape:The early minutes were dominated by the story that has gripped the political world for the past 48 hours: Trumps lewd comments about women in a 2005 tape that became public on Friday. Pressed on the issue, Trump repeatedly dismissed his words as "locker-room talk" while insisting that he had "great respect for women.""Im not proud of it," he said. "I apologize to my family. I apologize to the American people."Trump has seen a flood of Republican leaders abandon his campaign after the release of the tape in which he crudely describes attempts to force himself on women sexually and to seduce a married woman. A number of Republican members of Congress and governors withdrew their support for his campaign, and close allies -- including his vice presidential running mate, Mike Pence -- released statements critical of the comments.Pressed by Anderson Cooper, one of the debate moderators, about whether he had actually carried out the sexual assault described in the conversation, Trump initially demurred, before saying that he hadnt.At first, Clinton avoided discussing the controversy head-on, responding to a teachers question about the tone and tenor of the campaign by describing her aspirations to bring Americans together. But as the conversation continued, Clinton said the tape was evidence of Trumps true feelings about women."What we all saw and heard on Friday was Donald talking about women," Clinton said. "What he thinks about women. What he does to women."She also said it was evidence the Republican nominee was unfit to serve as president, unlike predecessors his party put forward."Donald Trump is different," she said.Trump telegraphed that he was ready to slam Clinton over her husbands sexual misconduct shortly before the debate began, appearing in front of television cameras with women who had previously accused the former president of unwelcome advances.Sure enough, Trump quickly pivoted from tough questioning about the 2005 tape to a condemnation of Bill Clintons conduct."Mine were words, his were action," Trump said. The Republican nominee went on to describe the former president as having treated women worse than "anybody in the history of politics" and "disgraceful."Bill Clinton was abusive to women, he said. Hillary Clinton attacked those women.Trump invited three of Clintons accusers -- Paula Jones, Juanita Broaddrick and Kathleen Willey -- to the debate, as well as Kathy Shelton, a child rape victim angry that Hillary Clinton had served as defense attorney for her rapist.Jones, an Arkansas state employee who accused Clinton in 1994 of making an unwanted sexual advance, also said the Clintons had attempted to find out sordid information about her. It was in a deposition for a lawsuit brought by Jones that the president lied about an affair he had with Monica Lewinsky, a White House intern. Congressional Republicans launched impeachment proceedings over the incident.During that investigation, Broaddrick, a campaign volunteer in the late 1970s, told FBI investigators that Clinton raped her. In subsequent interviews, she has said that Hillary Clinton was aware of the incident and had made veiled threats to her. The former president has denied a alleged sexual assault occurred.Shelton was 12 years old when she was allegedly raped by 41-year-old Thomas Alfred Taylor on the side of an Arkansas road. Clinton, then a 27-year-old law professor, defended Taylor as part of her work for a law clinic for underprivileged defendants. Taylors charges were reduced from first-degree rape, and he served just 10 months in jail.Clinton said Trumps characterization of the cases was "not right," and cited first lady Michelle Obamas speech at the Democratic National Convention."When you go low, we go high," Clinton said, echoing that address.In one of the most dramatic moments of the debate, Trump looked at Clinton and said that as president he would seek a special prosecutor to investigate her use of a private e-mail server while working as President Barack Obamas secretary of state.Its just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Trump isnt in charge of law enforcement, Clinton responded.Because youd be in jail, Trump interjected.The e-mail issue has haunted Clinton throughout her campaign and will continue to do so in the month remaining. Its regularly cited as a reason many voters dont trust her.Trump falsely said that Clinton destroyed 33,000 e-mails after they were subpoenaed. She and her legal team did so earlier on the grounds that they were personal and not work-related. A technician said he acted on his own to delete an archive of e-mails after a congressional subpoena because hed failed to do so earlier.Pushed by the debate moderators to respond to specific statements made by the FBI after its investigation, Clinton responded by reiterating her position that using the private e-mail system was a mistake. She added, Im very sorry about that and noted that the FBI probe found no criminal activity.Clinton didnt mention that FBI Director James Comey called her handling of classified information extremely careless or that her public explanations about the system have repeatedly changed. She initially said she sent no e-mails with classified information but later said she sent none that were marked classified and finally settled on saying she sent none that were marked classified in the header at the top.Those shifting explanations came as the FBI concluded that more than 100 messages in more than 50 threads contained classified information at the time that they were sent and that three had markings in the body of the text showing they were confidential, a type of classification.The e-mail issue isnt over. The State Department on Friday started releasing hundreds of additional work-related e-mails found by the FBI but not turned over by Clinton. The department is under court order to release more of them before Election Day.Clinton, who has posted nine years of her tax returns online, repeated her call for Trump to post his. Trump has declined to do so, saying hes under audit by the Internal Revenue Service, and will release tax returns once that audit is complete. Theres no law to prevent him from releasing them, even if they are under audit.Clinton referred to the recent disclosure of state tax forms from 1995 that showed Trump recorded a $916 million loss that year -- a loss so large it might have allowed him to avoid or reduce his federal income taxes for as many as 18 years, according to tax specialists.Trump acknowledged for the first time Sunday night that he had used that loss to avoid federal income taxes -- though he didnt say for how long, and he said such tax-avoidance is common practice among wealthy businessmen.Did you use that $916 million loss to avoid paying personal federal income taxes? moderator Cooper asked.Of course I do, Trump responded.Trump also said that most of Clintons donors have done the same. I know many of her donors. Her donors took massive tax write-offs, he said.Trump said that a lot of tax deductions over the years have come through depreciating the value of his real-estate holdings. A lot of things that Hillary, as a senator, allowed, Trump said. And shell always allow them because the people that give her all this money -- they want it.Trump also said: I pay hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes and said that includes federal taxes.Trump broke with his closest ally on his Syria policy during the debate: his own running mate.Martha Raddatz, the other debate moderator, asked Trump if he agreed with his vice presidential nominee, Pence, who said during the vice presidential candidates debate that their administration would deploy ground forces in Syria."He and I havent spoken, and I disagree," Trump said.Trump proved evasive when Raddatz tried to pin down why he changed his policy on Muslim immigration amid the refugee crisis in Syria.Trump said his position had "morphed into an extreme vetting" of immigrants and refugees from areas with high terrorist activity, but didnt answer --- even after being pressed --about why he abandoned his original call for a ban on immigration by Muslims.Trump called Syrian refugees "the great Trojan horse of all time" and said the U.S. had "no idea" who was entering the country. Refugees to the U.S. are subject to an intense vetting process that takes more than a year and involves background checks by multiple agencies.Clinton has said she would increase the number of Syrian refugees coming to the U.S. to 65,000. That would amount to an 81 percent increase over the current level.She defended that position in the debate, saying the U.S. needed to shoulder more of the burden of the humanitarian crisis. She also attacked Trumps earlier call for a ban on Muslim immigrants as anti-American."It is important for us as a policy not to say, as Donald said, were going to ban people based on religion," Clinton said. "How do you do that? We are a country founded on religious freedom and liberty."The pair also sparred over support for the Iraq war, with Trump saying he "would not have had our people in Iraq."Clinton said fact-checkers had debunked that claim.When Trump was asked whether he supported going to war in Iraq in a 2002 appearance on Howard Sterns radio show, Trump said, Yeah, I guess so. You know, I wish it was, I wish the first time it was done correctly." In a 2004 interview in Esquire magazine, he said all of the reasons for the war were blatantly wrong. All this for nothing!As a senator from New York, Clinton voted in 2002 to give President George W. Bush the authority to wage the Iraq war, a decision that may have cost her the Democratic nomination in 2008 and which she later called a mistake. Clinton has said she wouldnt have voted for the war if shed known at the time what the world learned later, that Iraq didnt have the weapons of mass destruction claimed by the Bush administration.Both candidates said Obamacare has problems. But while Clinton said she wants to improve "what works" about the Affordable Care Act, Trump called it "a disaster" and said it will "never work."The law has succeeded at its primary goal. It has expanded insurance coverage to 20 million Americans who previously lacked it, driving the U.S. uninsured rate down by better than six percentage points to 10.8 percent, according to a Gallup survey.Clinton accurately described some of its most popular features, including allowing parents to keep their children on their health insurance plans until they turn 26 and prohibiting insurers from refusing coverage for sick people or charging more based on health or gender. She accurately said that those benefits would be "lost" if the law were repealed, absent a replacement policy.Clinton said she would "get costs down and keep quality up" and would provide "additional help for small businesses." She didnt explain how she would do that, and the debate moderators didnt challenge her vague promises.Keep up with the race of a lifetime.Trump said he would improve U.S. insurance markets by "getting rid of lines around states" -- a reference to a years-old Republican proposal to allow insurers in one state to sell plans in others without being subject to state regulators.State-level regulation of health insurance predates the Affordable Care Act, however, and changing that structure is opposed by state insurance regulators, including Republicans, who say consumers could be harmed and that out-of-state insurers would have trouble assembling sufficient local networks of doctors and hospitals.Trump accurately said that "lines around states" were "almost gone" until just before the Affordable Care Act was passed by Congress. The House version of the legislation would have created a single national insurance exchange. But Congress passed the Senate version of the bill, which created separate insurance exchanges in all 50 states.Trump said that Clinton wants a "single-payer plan," a system in which the government pays all of its citizens medical bills directly. She has never publicly advocated such a change, and accurately said during the debate that the U.S. "has an employer-based" health care system in which most Americans are covered through their jobs.The candidate who has previously advocated for a single-payer plan, in fact, is Trump. He has since disavowed that position.(Bloomberg) Kyiv's business court has scheduled a hearing of a claim filed by Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee asking to collect UAH 85.966 billion from Russia's Gazprom for October 31, 2106, the court has said. As reported, Ukraine's higher business court dismissed a counterclaim of Gazprom against decisions of lower instance courts which returned without review its claim challenging the decision of Ukraine's Antimonopoly Committee to fine the Russian company UAH 85.966 billion. The Antimonopoly Committee levied the fine on January 22, 2016, after determining that Gazprom had abused its monopoly position in transiting gas through Ukraine. However, Gazprom argues that the Antimonopoly Committee does not have the authority to regulate transit through Ukraine. Kyiv's business court on April 13 dismissed the Gazprom's claim challenging the committee's decision. The decision of Kyiv's appeal court dated May 18, 2016 in the case was left unchanged, and Gazprom's counterclaim filed on May 4 was dismissed. Gazprom filed a counterclaim on June 7 to Ukraine's higher business court that on July 13 did not satisfy the claim declaring valid the ruling of a lower instance court and the appeal court. Progresstech-Ukraine: Share of Ukrainians involved in Boeing projects grows in last three years The share of Ukrainian professionals involved in Boeing projects has increased significantly over the past three years - from 0.1% to 2%. According to the press service of the Progresstech-Ukraine engineering company, its director Andriy Fialkovsky said this at the international aviation forum Aerocongress 2016. According to him, three years ago the share of Ukrainians involved in modeling next generation Boeing aircraft did not exceed 0.1%, and Ukrainian engineers working outside the country were involved in this work. "We returned them to Ukraine, offering highly intellectual jobs, and invited new talented engineers," he said. Fialkovsky expressed hope that in the coming years this figure will increase by 1.5-2 times. He also noted a gradual increase in the demand for engineering services from Ukrainian aviation market entities. Given the apparent revival of air traffic, managers of Ukrainian airports, who think several moves ahead, are already preparing for the arrival of new airlines and accepting new types of aircraft. Many of them need to upgrade infrastructure, prepare for the increase in passenger traffic. Ukraine needs to lift ban on timber export, ensure IDP welfare to get 2nd tranche of EU macro-financial aid Ukraine needs to lift the ban on export of timber and settle the issue of social payments to internally displaced persons in order to get the next tranche of macro-financial assistance to the tune of EUR 600 million from the EU, new head of the EU Delegation to Ukraine, Ambassador Hugues Mingarelli has said. The EU has already issued the first tranche worth EUR 600 million to Ukraine and expects Kyiv to comply with two remaining conditions for the provision of the second EUR 600 million tranche, Mingarelli said at his first press conference in Kyiv on Monday. To get this tranche Ukraine needs to meet two conditions - lift the ban on timber exports and make all the necessary social payments to internally displaced persons, the ambassador said. According to Mingarelli, EU representatives are currently discussing these matters with the Ukrainian authorities. The EU ambassador expressed the hope that this tranche will be provided to Ukraine soon, but said he cannot yet name a specific time frame. Mingarelli was appointed head of the EU Delegation in Ukraine on July 21, 2016. Look for popular awards and laureates in different fields, and discover the history of the Nobel Prize. Select the category or categories you would like to filter by Physics Chemistry Medicine Literature Peace Economic Sciences Select the category or categories you would like to filter by Physics Chemistry Medicine Literature Peace Economic Sciences Decrease the year by one - Choose a year you would like to search in Increase the year by one + Oliver Hart Interview Nobel Prize Conversations Imagine youre married, but you never discussed children with your partner beforehand. Then imagine your partner doesnt want children, but you do. Your wedding day contract made no mention of kids, and legally everything is fine but youre still disappointed. Contracts are everywhere in society, and the example of children and marriage is just one example that shows that many contracts are as Oliver Hart would say incomplete. In this conversation, conducted in April 2020, Hart explores the importance of words and language for a researcher, how being good at economics is about learning to THINK like an economist and how his parents influenced him to think that anyone whos not left-wing is an idiot. Interview, December 2016 Your browser does not support the video tag. Interview with the 2016 Laureate in Economic Sciences Oliver Hart on 6 December 2016, during the Nobel Week in Stockholm, Sweden. Interviewer is freelance journalist Henrik Hojer. Nobel Minds 2016 Your browser does not support the video tag. The 2016 Nobel Laureates gathered for a conversation about research, drive and vision on 11 December 2016. The conversation was filmed at the Grunewald Hall at Stockholm Concert Hall, and was hosted by BBC Worlds Zeinab Badawi. Interview, October 2016 Your browser does not support the video tag. My first action was to hug my wife, wake up my younger son who is up for the weekend, so in the house, and I actually spoke to my fellow Laureate Telephone interview with Oliver Hart following the announcement of The 2016 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. The interviewer is Adam Smith, Chief Scientific Officer of Nobel Media. Interview transcript Oliver Hart: Hello. Adam Smith: Hello, this is Adam Smith, calling from Nobelprize.org the official website of the Nobel Prize in Stockholm, Sweden. OH: Yes. AS: Congratulations on the award of the Prize. OH: Well, thank you very much, Im absolutely thrilled. AS: How did you hear the news? OH: Well I got a call at about, I think two minutes past five. AS: And it woke you? OH: I have to admit I was awake. I hadnt been awake for long, but you know such is life. I think I woke at about 4:40 and was wondering whether it was getting too late for it to be this year, but then fortunately the phone rang. AS: Gosh, what a thrilling feeling of excitement and relief then, when it came. OH: Well it was, yes it was rather amazing. AS: What was you first action after hearing? OH: My first action was to hug my wife, wake up my younger son who is up for the weekend, so in the house, and then I actually spoke to my fellow Laureate, Bengt Holmstrom, whos a friend of mine, a great friend of mine. I knew he knew and I gave him a call, so we had a chat. AS: Am I right in thinking in was your birthday yesterday? OH: It was, yes it was. AS: Thats a nice present then, to receive, a little late. OH: Its a lovely present. Friends of mine said I have a decent a shot at this for a few years and its always around my birthday, which actually makes celebrating my birthday a little tricky. This is always in the background, and that was certainly true yesterday. So its going to be, you know, one of the smaller benefits of winning the Prize, is in the future I will be able to celebrate my birthday without thinking about it. A minor thing, but still. AS: Interestingly, youre the fifth Laureate this year to have been born and educated in the UK but then to have moved to the US. OH: Yes, I noticed that. Yes, and that was true of the one last year. Angus Deaton was in that category too. I think it says two things. The British education system is really quite good, but certainly there was a period when the opportunities to actually develop ones work were better in the US. AS: Just one last question. This is for your contributions to contract theory, so it will introduce lots of people around the world to contract theory. What do you hope it brings to the field, the award? OH: Well, I think contract theory contracts are just an incredibly powerful way of thinking about parts of economics. I mean theyre just fundamental, the whole idea that trade is a quid pro quo, there are two sides to a transaction and that any transaction that you have in economics, whether its between a buyer and a seller or an employer and an employee or a creditor and a debtor, that the way the thing is structured, you know, is very useful to think of it as being done to increase efficiency so both sides have an incentive to construct the transaction in the most, so that it generates the greatest value. You know, even a simple thing like people often think that one side dictates the terms to the other side. It may look like that but actually even then the side dictating the terms wants to choose terms which are acceptable to the other side and generate the most value because if theres money left on the table then you can write a better contract, so in a way its a very good side to economic transactions, and you see it through the design of the contract. AS: Thank you. OH: I dont know whether that made any sense? I think its something that people truly lose sight of. AS: It made a lot of sense. It was beautifully explained and especially beautifully explained so early in the morning after receiving such news. OH: Well, thats right. Well, I could do better later in the day. Thanks a lot, nice to talk to you. AS: Congratulations. OH: Bye bye now. Did you find any typos in this text? We would appreciate your assistance in identifying any errors and to let us know. Thank you for taking the time to report the errors by sending us an e-mail. To cite this section MLA style: Oliver Hart Interview. NobelPrize.org. Nobel Prize Outreach AB 2022. Mon. 31 Oct 2022.